Booklist Review

Reinvented for Marvel NOW!, Young Avengers brings together teen heroes with ties to the company's highest-profile superheroes, including some familiar faces from previous incarnations of the title as well as a newcomer or two. As a youthful Loki attempts to bring the team back together for unrevealed purposes, the reality-altering Wiccan casts a spell for his boyfriend that goes hideously awry. Now, the teammates must reunite to fend off their own deceased parents, plucked from various realities with violently prohibitive attitudes that would make any teen revolt. Centering on a gay teen-superhero couple, Wiccan and the shape-shifting Hulkling, the book gives each character an engaging personality or, at least, a fun agenda to play out. The story is tightly bound to established continuity, but it flies by, thanks to clever banter and lightning pacing. It also manages to set a creepy tone with its not-quite-right parents and relevant conflicts that teens will find satisfying. McKelvie turns in clean, polished pages with eye-popping character work and shows some real and very welcome imagination with action sequences.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2010 Booklist