Young Avengers #12

By Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie.

The conflict with the inter-dimensional parasite Mother comes to a head in the latest issue of Young Avengers. The YA team heads back to New York City in order to protect the world from the evil versions of the team that Mother has kept locked in her dimension. Mother is ready to release the tide of evil teens on the world and absorb Billy’s powers as the magical messiah. With the help of other teen heroes, the Young Avengers take the fight to Mother as a last ditch attempt to save Teddy from her evil clutches and save the world.

This is the issue that Gillen has been building up to since the beginning of his arc. The pieces of the story are all starting to come together and we start to see the final tricks and ploys that the characters, mainly Loki, are putting forward. While Gillen has started to bring the puzzle pieces together, this was the first book that raised a lot of questions that have been unanswered within the pages of the same issue. Some of the interactions of the characters left holes and questions in the action that was going on. Since the beginning of this run Gillen has not revealed all his cards and it’s very apparent in this issue. While he handles the character interactions masterfully, there are still questions that need to be answered about the relationship dynamic between Miss America and Loki or what the true intentions between the conversation Kate and Prodigy had during the battle with Mother.

That being said, Gillen still approaches the story with the same candor and creativity that he has shown through the entire run. The interactions between the characters are what really make this book shine and Gillen handles their personalities and relationships superbly.

Jamie McKelvie once again delivers the quality of art that we have come to expect from him; particularly in the conflict between Billy and Mother during the battle in New York City. The page design of magical energy flowing between the two of them and outlining sections of the battle was great. The page literally became part of the battle, which showed that the focus of the battle was between Billy and Mother. The containing of the evil versions of the YA team was a secondary concern for most of the battle, and McKelvie does some really great artwork to emphasize this.

Since this is the first part of a two part battle we will get to see the answers Gillen has worked up to soon. It’s rough that we will have to wait a month* to find out what is really going on between these characters.

*Correction: The next issue of Young Avengers will be released in two weeks.