Young Avengers!

Young Avengers is an American comic book series written by Allan Heinberg and published by Marvel Comics. It follows a group of young superheroes, each of whom patterns himself or herself after a member of the long-established Marvel superhero team the Avengers.

The series won the 2006 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Comic Book and the 2006 Harvey Award for Best New Series.

It's also awesome.

YA follows the events of the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline. The four founding members of the team were gathered together as a result of the Vision's plan for the reformation of the Avengers in the event the team disbanded. In the series, newspapers refer to the young heroes as "super-powered fanboys" and label them the "Young Avengers," a name the team members initially disliked but which stuck nonetheless.

Hulkling: (resembling Captain Marvel and the Hulk) is Teddy Altman. He is a shape-shifter who also possesses enhanced strength and healing. He is the son of Kree hero Captain Mar-Vell and the Skrull princess Anelle; he is a Kree-Skrull hybrid.


Iron Lad: (resembling Iron Man) is the young man who will one day become Kang the Conqueror. He is armed with a neuro-kinetic suit given to him by Kang the Conqueror (of the future) that responds to mental commands. (No longer a team member)


Patriot: (resembling Captain America). Initially he had no inherent powers, obtaining enchanced abilities through drug use. Patriot was revealed to be the grandson of super-soldier Isaiah Bradley and claimed to have gotten his powers through a blood transfusion from his grandfather, though it was later revealed to be a lie. However, he eventually did receive his grandfather's powers through a blood transfusion. His original costume resembled that of Bucky Barnes.

Wiccan: (formerly Asgardian; patterned after the Scarlet Witch and Thor) is Billy Kaplan, who may be the son of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision. Billy uses magic for various effects, such as casting spells for flight, lightning generation, and locating people, and activates these spells by repeating the intended effect out loud. Thomas Shepherd (Speed) may be his twin brother, and the reincarnation of the twins that the Scarlet Witch lost.


Hawkeye: (a combination of the original Hawkeye/Mockingbird/Swordsman), whose real name is Kate Bishop, is a civilian who forcibly introduced herself into the Young Avengers, saving them from a botched rescue. While Kate has no inherent powers, she is competent with a bow and arrow as well as a sword. She later adopted the codename Hawkeye with the blessing of Captain America, who bestowed to her the original Hawkeye's bow and arrows as a gift.
Speed: (patterned after Quicksilver) is Thomas Shepherd, a boy the team rescued from imprisonment. He may be the son of the Scarlet Witch and the Vision, and thus the twin brother of Wiccan. Though he was part of the Vision's contingency plan, he was not an original team member. He is a speedster who can also accelerate atomic matter as well as destabilize it.


Stature: (patterned after Ant-Man/Giant-Man) is Cassie Lang, daughter of the late Scott Lang. She has the power to change size at will. Initially planning on running to Los Angeles to join the Runaways before learning of the group's existence, she instead tracked down the Young Avengers along with Kate, convincing them to allow them membership.


The Vision: (a combination of Iron Lad and the original Vision) Iron Lad uploaded Vision's "operating system" into his armor to execute the android's contingency plan. After Iron Lad was forced to leave the team, he activated the software, causing his armor to become a new version of the Vision — albeit one with none of the memories or life experience of his predecessor.