Avengers Academy #13 & Avengers Academy Giant-Size #1

wo more reviews on tap for tonight, both of them involving the Avengers Academy series, and both of them done with little to no proof-reading! Yup, that's right, this is one of THOSE posts... Besides getting this post done, I made some pretty good headway with my end of the year schoolwork this fine Saturday. Before you know it, your good friend and humble servant will be done with school and busting out reviews and idiotic opinion pieces like there's no tomorrow! Until that wonderful day comes though, we'll all have to make do with this post...

Avengers Academy Giant Size #1:

Summary: The Academy kids are given the day by their instructors to go to NYC and just hang out. Naturally, things don't stay calm as the kids(as well as Toro, Spider-Girl and Firestar from the Young Allies) get dragged into Arcade's latest Murderworld event. Thanks to a shipping snafu, Reptil and Spider-Girl don't get delivered to Murderworld with the rest of their teammates, instead coming face to face with Arcade, who tells them to do as he asks lest they want him to kill their teammates. The two play along with Arcade for a while until Spider-Girl manages to hack into Arcade's systems, getting the address for the warehouse Arcade had Murderworld hidden in. By the time the two heroes locate the warehouse, their teammates had managed to break free of their various deathtraps, leading to Arcade trying to make a break for it. Unfortunately for Arcade though, he runs right into Reptil, who knocks him out. With that, Arcade gets sent to prison, and this issue ends.

Thoughts: This issue was 80-pages long, and was WAY better than the JLA 80-page giant I read a few weeks back. So that's the good. The bad? This comic was $8!!! I was thisclose to not picking this one up, but my obsessive collecting got the better of me, and I did(obviously) decide to give this comic a shot. I wasn't expecting anything from this comic(especially when I realized Arcade was the main villain!), but it told a good little one and done story. Will I remember it a month from now? No, probably not, but it was a fine way to spend a couple of minutes.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Wow, could Arcade sound like any more of a pervert here?! "Hey kids, come into my house and check out my computers..." Sheesh!


Avengers Academy #13:

Summary: Pym decides to hold a prom for the Academy students as a way to have them relax after the past few issues and the battle with Korvac. Besides the Academy students(and staff), we also have a few of the Young Allies present, as well as a couple of members of the gone(but not forgotten) Avengers Initiative series. Reptil nearly comes to blows with Hardball(!!!) after Komodo(!) hits on Reptil, but the two are separated by Pym. Pym actually hooks up with Tigra in this issue, Firestar and Justice bury the hatchet(again!), Mettle and Hazmat continue to grow closer, as do Striker and Veil. As for Reptil, he reverts back to his regular age after Spider-Girl tells him that she liked him the way he was. After Speedball breaks up another altercation between Reptil and Hardball(somebody PLEASE get him his own series!), everything settles down and everybody enjoys the party... Za-Huh?!

Thoughts: First things first, the mere fact that Hardball appeared in this issue was enough to give it a minimum of a 7 for a score. Seriously, if he would have shown up in ONE panel and said NOTHING, I STILL would have given this comic at the very least a 7. What can I say, my blog, my rules! :P As for the story itself, it served it's purpose well. After the stuff with Korvac, the kids needed some down time, which is exactly what they got. Was it super hokey at times? Yes it was, especially the ending, which I can't say I liked at all. But there were several little character development scenes that made this comic worth my time, as usual. I know I say it a lot, but Avengers Academy is the BEST teen-centered super-hero comic on the stands today!

Score: 8 out of 10.Hardball = Win.