ED BRUBAKER ON YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS: PATRIOT

[MattBrady]

While it may be a while before readers see a return of the team in a series, Marvel’s Young Avengers will be getting a workout individually beginning in January with Young Avengers Presents, a six issue miniseries spotlighting individual heroes.

Each of the issues and characters will be handled by a different creative team, with Captain America writer Ed Brubaker and artist Paco Medina tackling Elijah Bradley, the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, the black Captain America from Truth. The story catches up with Patriot after the death of Captain America, and sees the young hero searching for the Winter Soldier in the hopes of finding some guidance.

We spoke with Brubaker about the story, and Marvel provided an art preview.

Newsarama: First off Ed – how’d you get involved with this issue? Obviously, there’s a Cap connection here with Patriot, but is that the main one, that is, you get all the Cap-related characters throughout the Marvel Universe these days?

Ed Brubaker: I basically just got the call from Tom Brevoort, who asked if I wanted to be involved. He knows my schedule is pretty jammed up, but he figured I could fit in a single issue and not explode my head. Plus, Tom knows I was a fan of the Young Avengers series that Allan [Heinberg] did, and wanted to play with the characters when I could. And naturally, because of Cap, Patriot was right up my alley.

NRAMA: That said, what’s your take on the Young Avengers as a concept, and how Allan expanded upon it?

EB: I like it. I always wished there were more teen heroes in the Marvel U when I was a kid. They're a lot of fun to write, and I thought the mysteries of their links to the original Avengers were really cool. I hope Allan or someone gets a chance to explore that stuff more deeply now that they're coming back into the forefront a bit.

NRAMA: When you were approached for the issue, how did it work out? Did Marvel just ask if you had a Patriot story in you or pitch the larger plot to you?

EB: Each issue of this mini-series is a standalone, focusing on one of the characters, so there's really a lot of room to play. There are some links between the issues, and we all read each other's scripts, and various characters from the group appear in the different books, but at the heart of it, these are character pieces... So, I took that to heart and decided to explore Eli's character a bit, and get to the question of how it might feel to be a black kid with his history, with his family's history, calling himself Patriot in the post-Civil War Marvel Universe. Might that be a difficult and conflicting thing in many ways? And how does he feel about the death of Captain America, who he'd actually come to respect recently?

NRAMA: We really can’t get into Elijah without touching upon Truth, the story of the “black Captain America.” It was one of the most controversial Cap stories in years – well, prior issue #25 – but in your Cap-view, is Truth consistent with how you see the larger story of Captain America within the Marvel Universe and in Cap’s history?

EB: I don't know. I'm a little conflicted about it, personally, because some of the timing of it was off, which is a nerdy complaint, I know. But I certainly have no problem with the basic idea behind the storyline, and I like Eli and his grandfather as characters. I think now that Eli has become a more prominent character in the current Marvel U, that helps make it integral to the history, actually. But, the idea that the Super Soldier Serum was tested on black soldiers first seems fairly honest with the times it was set in, even if it is controversial. Bad things were done in our history, and in the history of a lot of nations. Hell, bad things are being done right now all over the world, that we don't even want to know about, really.

NRAMA: This will be Elijah’s first major appearance since the Young Avengers/Runaways miniseries during Civil War. How far away from that does this catch him? Where’s his head at, generally speaking?

EB: He's kind of down, post the end of the Civil War, and with Cap's death and all. This takes place in between Cap issues #33 and #34, so it's just before the appearance of the new Cap. So, it's pretty current.

NRAMA: From the solicitation, he’s off to find the Winter Soldier, someone who’s been going through his own tough times since Cap’s death. Why does Elijah want to find Bucky?

EB: You'll have to read the comic to find out, but it has to do with his granddad, basically, and Cap's death.

NRAMA: Gotcha. With this, you’ve now used him in the Winter Soldier: Winter Kills special last year – how do you see Elijah fitting into the Cap “family” in the future? Looking to bring him back any time soon? Would he want to be involved in the battle that Sam, Sharon and Bucky are fighting, or does he even feel that much connection to Cap and his legacy?

EB: I like him as a character, and I may use him now and then, depending on what happens with Young Avengers in the future, but as you can see, I've got soooo many characters in Cap currently, that I'm not sure where he'd fit in.



Young Avengers Presents: Patriot is due in stores on January 23, 2008.

[GSHAG]

cant wait at all.

[Stormbreaker]

Well, I didn't read too much of Young Avengers (the first ish or two) before I gave it the boot. I don't remember why, though...

Anyway, this seems like an interesting one-shot (of sorts), so I think I just may pick it up!

[HartyPotter]

I'm really only interested in their team dynamic. Not really interested in their solo stories

[MF Stark]

That cover is sweet, great use of juxtaposition.
Looking forward to this issue.

[Skinshark]

I liked this character quite a bit.

I, like everyone, was a little annoyed by the discontinuation of Young Avengers. It was really a fun book.

=s=

[Hypestyle]

hopefully it will get into Eli's heroics..

too bad that JOSIAH X is not really dealt with anymore..

[Marius665]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

This will be Elijah’s first major appearance since the Young Avengers/Runaways miniseries during Civil War. How far away from that does this catch him? Where’s his head at, generally speaking?

um...Winter Soldier: Winter Kills and Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America both showed what's been happening with Patriot

Originally Posted by Hypestyle

too bad that JOSIAH X is not really dealt with anymore..

they said he had been missing for some time in the first arc of Young Avengers, probably MIA since the CREW story

a comeback would be sweet


are Hawkeye and Patriot registered
when Cap returns if would be nice if he took Patriot under his wing(no pun intended)

[JamesMallone]

This looks like it'll be great. Defintately some of Medina's better work IMO, the guy's really improved from New Warriors forward. Love the Young Avengers, it was my favourite book when it was still going on, I've been really anxiously waiting for a return to the characters, even spotlighting individual members like this. I'll be picking all the issues of this up for certain.

[mdg1]

I wonder if anyone at Marvel even remembers Josiah X....

[Marius665]

Originally Posted by mdg1

I wonder if anyone at Marvel even remembers Josiah X....

give it time, Bendis will scoop him up

can I ask you guys a question?
doesn't the Vision have GPS locations of all the next generation of Avengers in his memory?
wouldn't Stark use that to his advantage?

[whitemarkd]

Sounds great - I never read any YA, but anything Bru does connected with Cap is worth buying, IMHO.

[RedPhoenix]

I absolutely love that cover!

[CaptainCanad]

Originally Posted by Marius665

um...Winter Soldier: Winter Kills and Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America both showed what's been happening with Patriot

I think the operative word is "major," ie, a story where he's the main character.

Looks awesome; Brubaker can seldom do wrong in my book. The art is nice, too (all Medina needs now is a guest-shot on Runaways and he'll have done all the big teen teams).

So Kate is tagging alone on Patriot's adventure (with an assist from Wiccan). So, they appear to be living at home, which seems to suggest "registered" to me, since if they were on the run, their homes seem like the most obvious places to look. Maybe they've not been sent to Hammond, or otherwise are on leave/vacation/whatever.

[Bird Flu Man]

Originally Posted by Marius665

give it time, Bendis will scoop him up

Then I guess not being remembered by anyone at Marvel is sometimes the lesser of two evils.

[NightRiver]

Man, I cant wait.

Anybody else want a Teen Titans/Young Avengers crossover?

[AbacusComics]

The art looks fantastic, and I too like the cover a lot. Great idea.

[Vintage]

Look forward to picking this up. The Bradleys are a fascinating family considering their history and it's a nice touch to see Eli back in action since I can't get my Young Avengers fix anymore.

[Marius665]

BRUBAKER should have done Ultimates vol. 3

or Moon Knight!

[IllShogun]

Originally Posted by mdg1

I wonder if anyone at Marvel even remembers Josiah X....

Better hope Christipher Priest gets another series at Marvel then.

[I-Ching]

About time Marvel got back to these characters!! The absolute best concept they've had in 10 Years and they're collecting dust...until now.

Paco's artwork looks awesome too!

Can't wait for the spotlight on Kate...is she officially called "Hawkeye"? I can't remember.

[samnoir]

It's a shame that Brubaker won't be using Patriot more in the pages of Captain America. With Bucky taking over the mantle of Cap, it would be interesting to see how he interacts as a mentor being a former "sidekick" himself.

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[artiepants]

Originally Posted by HartyPotter

I'm really only interested in their team dynamic. Not really interested in their solo stories

I mostly thought the team kinda sucked, way to "after-school-special" for me. Patriot and Iron Lad were the best characters, and Iron Lad's probably "gone".

but I'll be picking this issue up, cause it's Bru on something Cap-related.

i agree that i wish Patriot was going into Cap's book proper, either as "bucky" for the new Cap or as a sidekick for Sam...

Originally Posted by Stormbreaker

Well, I didn't read too much of Young Avengers (the first ish or two) before I gave it the boot. I don't remember why, though...

i dumped it because it was really pretty dull under the beautiful art...

[CaptainCanad]

Originally Posted by I-Ching

Can't wait for the spotlight on Kate...is she officially called "Hawkeye"? I can't remember.

Yes, she is. The solicitation for this issue calls her Hawkeye, and the first Hawkeye is going by Ronin these days.

[Chief Jon]

Cool. I didn't read Young Avengers when it was comming out though I'm thinking I may check out the trades. Having Brubaker on this has sold me though. I'll pick this one up even if I don't go for the other one-shots.