Young Avengers #7 Review

Much like Hawkeye, Young Avengers is well worth a purchase each month simply for the visuals. The sheer energy and creativity that goes into designing each installment can't be ignored. Issue #7 brings Jamie McKelvie back into the fold after a brief absence. And while issue #6 was quite the looker in its own right, nothing beats having McKelvie and Kieron Gillen working their magic together. This issue is chock full of inventive page design and visual gags befitting Marvel's most quirky band of teen heroes. And it's worth pointing out how much colorist Matthew Wilson brings to the table. McKelvie's style is very clean and economical, and the colors lend just the right amount of depth and texture to keep the pages from looking overly simplistic.

Fortunately, fans don't need to resort to buying this series for the pretty pictures alone. Gillen's scripting holds up its end of the bargain as well. This issue jumps forward a few months from where we last saw the team. They're still on the move, honing their skills and preparing for the day when they can confront Mother and win back their families. For now, their adventures boil down to beating up geeky aliens in Space Cadillacs and scarfing down breakfast food at Loki's favorite diner. Loki has lately developed a Ron Swanson-like obsession with breakfast meats in addition to his milkshake addiction, and he remains a highlight each and every month.

Eventually, this issue picks up on threads from last month's standalone installment involving Prodigy and the mysterious disappearance of Speed. Prodigy quickly finds his niche within the team dynamic, particularly as he butts heads with Loki. There's not much sense as to where this arc is headed at the moment but who cares? The book is even more fun now than it was in the first arc, and the newfound sense of unpredictability only adds to the excitement.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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