Avengers Academy has been one of the best new books of The Heroic Age, and Multiversity staff overall has been really enjoying it. Brandon and myself of our video podcast 4 Color News and Brews have been in particular, and we openly wondered on our our show…which member of Avengers Academy is going to end up being the bad one? With their team all being considered potential villains by Norman Osborn and his Dark Reign, one has to wonder if one (or more) of these Avengers will end up being bad.
Brandon and I discuss the book and each of the characters chances of being bad after the jump.
David: Brandon, we promised the viewers an Avengers Academy Off. An Avengers Academy Off we’ll give them. This book from Christos Gage and Mike McKone is one that follows the next Avengers in training…except they were originally picked out by Osborn as the next, best villains. Before we get started on it, are you liking this book?
Brandon: Hells yes.
This book itches my teenage superhero itch. Which is something everyone needs scratched. Am I right?
David: Of course. I mean, we’re both Teen Titans fans, big Young Justice fans, big New X-Men fans…I mean, you name it. This book fits into the same awesome niche.
Brandon: Indeed.
But it adds another dimension to a lot of those as it feature characters that are on the cusp of villainy.
David: Absolutely. I mean, so far, all of these kids could end up great, all of them could end up bad, or a mix of both. That’s because Gage has been killing it. I don’t know what to think!
Brandon: Yeah, he’s played a great mind game with the fans. Each issue has spotlighted a different character and while doing so has given us a glimpse at each characters inner workings. It’s been a great way to really endear the characters to readers but at the same time he leaves us crazy suspicious of each of them too.
David: No doubt. Well, what we’re going to do is go through each character and figure out which ones are the most likely to be bad in our eyes. Then lay down what odds Vegas would give them on being a bad guy when we’re all said and done. Are you ready to do this?
Brandon: Ready if you are good sir. We all know how good I am with numbers so let’s make it happen captain.
David: haha of course.
David: First up, we’ve got the recently anointed team leader Reptil. Good guy? Bad guy? What do you say Burpee?
Brandon: You know I want to say the best of the bunch but because I want to say that I feel like maybe he’s the worst.
David: Isn’t it funny how that works? I am so suspicious of anything they do, but for some reason the goodness makes me most suspicious. This guy wanted to be an Avenger and seemingly has a fairly classic hero origin. But something doesn’t smell right.
Brandon: Yeah, the way he took the leadership reins the last issue was awesome. Though having said that while it may seem on the surface we have a budding leader on our hands it may actually be that we are seeing the beginnings of a master manipulator.
David: I think that’s because Gage is just an awesome writer and setting everyone up. Besides one other character, I feel the most solidly about Reptil being good.
Brandon: I agree. I think he will be a good guy when it’s all said and done. My reason though has nothing to do with the comic. I think he’ll end up on the side of angels because Marvel has already put the white hat on him by introducing him in their Marvel Heroes cartoon on the Cartoon Network.
David: Oh shit, really?
Brandon: Yeah, he’s actually a character that was introduced first on Super Hero Squad.
Continued belowDavid: I had no idea. You know me and my extreme lack of cartoon skills.
Brandon: Actually, I take that back i think he was developed for the cartoon but was actually first introduced in an Avengers Initiative one-shot.
David: Well either way, that nails it. Reptil is good as all get out. Personally, I’d rather just say this as “off” because nobody is going to bet Reptil as a bad guy. Agreed?
Brandon: I don’t know it would make for a pretty awesome mind bender for all those little fanpeeps.
David: That’s true. Alright, how about some seriously long odds?
Brandon: His odds of being bad are about as solid as my dumps after Mexican food though.
David: Mother of god. Do I even want to know the answer to that?
Brandon: The answer is not very solid. But if I had to give it a number value it would be somewhere in the ballpark of 1000000000000000000000000000.5 to 1
David: That’s true. Alright, how about some seriously long odds? Agreed. Exactly.
David: Alright, next. VEIL. What say you Brandon Burpee?
Brandon: She’s a little trickier I think. Gage has kind of played her fairly close to the vest. At first it seemed like she might be the character that fans would use as their eyes into this world but that turned out to be her spotlight issue. Since then I feel like she has gotten less play than some of the other characters. This makes me awfully suspicious.
David: That’s true. Alright, how about some seriously long odds? It’s made me super suspicious. In fact, I thought about it earlier and I think she’s the one I think is the most likely to be bad. This bitch is evil!
Brandon: I agree. I think she has a really good chance of being the bad apple.
David: That’s true. Alright, how about some seriously long odds? I think two things do it for me: the fact that she’s dying basically AND that her power set gives her the ability to mess people up if she really learns to use them.
Brandon: The fact that she’s dying is the one that sells it for me the most as well. I mean what wouldn’t she potentially do to save herself? All these other characters are mad because they look crazy or they can’t touch anyone but she’s freaking dying. I’d turn evil if I was her and I had to listen to everyone whine about their “hardships”.
David: That’s true. Alright, how about some seriously long odds? Well, not only that, but think about all of the people that have crossed her. The people in high school, Osborn, her hopeful lover Justice, everybody!
Brandon: That and a tricky name like Veil. What’s behind the Veil? FUCKING EVIL! That’s what!
David: Veil is an anagram for evil!
Brandon: Wow! Good point!
David: Right?!
Brandon: Never thought about it but now i’m totally sold.
David: The power thing, I want to say this: doesn’t she kind of have a Bobby Drake thing going on? “Oh, yeah, I turn into mist and am pretty much useless…until the day I figure out I’m basically an omega mutant and kill everyone really easily!”
Minus the killing for Bobby.
Brandon: Well maybe he’ll see her snap and do the same.
David: Alright, so let’s give her good odds of being bad. How about 2/1?
No one is a sure shot, but I think she’s the clubhouse favorite.
Brandon: Yeah that sounds good to me.
David: Alright, next, let’s go with the most obviously evil so far…Hazmat.
Brandon: Ah yes…Hazmat. She is one crazy manipulative chick. I wouldn’t peg her as the most obvious but she is a little more suspect in my mind than some of her classmates. I mean she can’t touch anyone which takes her teenage angst to another level right?
David: Right.
David: Hazmat is super intense. She just seems like she’s got the highest asshole level and that makes it seem like she’s the most likely to be evil. She hates everyone!
Continued belowBrandon: Yeah she is a rather spiteful character at this point. I see that as giving her a solid character arc as she develops into one of the good girls more than setting her up to be a pissed off villain.
David: I was thinking that too. It seems too obvious that she would be bad, and more that they’re going to give her a good arc where she becomes firmly good.
Whether or not we’re right remains to be seen. She is a jerk now, but maybe when her and Mettle start hooking up she’ll get nice?
Brandon: They’ve got to hook up now right? My guess is one of them will die leaving the other one on the path to righteousness in their name.
David: That’s a possibility.
Brandon: Or maybe one will die and the other will be traumatized and nuke the Savage Land and develop it into the world’s most ridiculously large and hard to get to Super Wal-Marts.
What’s more evil than a woman scorned? A woman scorned with nukes and a corporate agenda. That’s what.
David: I could see Hazmat doing that. She doesn’t even need nukes. She’s like a nuclear bomb herself. I’m betting this will happen!
Alright, so we’re both out on Hazmat, excluding the chance her Mettle love will lead her to nuke the Savage Land?
Brandon: Yeah.
David: haha Okay, I’m down. I’m going to put her in as a 10 to 1 longshot.
David: Up next, her potential boytoy Mettle. I think he’s out entirely. He’s too nice! There’s no way he goes bad, right?
Brandon: Yeah, no way. Unless like I mentioned earlier he and Hazmat hook up and she is killed tragically in his arms or something.
David: To me, he’s out because his power set just doesn’t lend himself to being a good villain. He’s a weird looking dude who is indestructible and super strong. He’s like…Stilt Man scary.
Brandon: I don’t know. What about Juggernaut?
He’s like Juggernaut with a Red Skull face.
David: That’s true. But Juggy was an ahole since birth. Mettle is a chill dude who just wants to surf and be loved!
Brandon: True.
Either way I’m guessing we agree he is not our likely bad guy of the bunch.
Also, how awesome would it be to see him and Rockslide play off each other in a book at some point?!
David: No way. I think he’s 100% out.
I’d love that. See, Young X-Men and this book would be the perfect books to pair up.
Brandon: I’d prefer New X-Men and this but Young X-Men wasn’t bad either.
David: Well, same teamish, right?
Brandon: Nope haha
A couple bleed overs but then a bunch of newbies.
I think there was only like three carry overs.
Rockslide, Anole and Dust.
David: See, I didn’t read New X-Men.
Brandon: Oh and Blindfold.
David: But yeah, it’d pair up well with either of them.
Brandon: Indeed.
David: Well, I’d love to see them together. I feel like they’d pair up well. Mettle is getting super long odds – 200 to 1.
David: Two of the most questionable are left. Let’s start with Finesse. What do you think? Bad potential?
Brandon: Ah, and also my two favorites. I think Finesse has very evil potential. I mean we’ve already seen her manipulate Quicksilver. He’s one of the most dastardly grey area characters in the Marvel U and she essentially has him by the balls. In the end though I think she’ll be like Quicksilver. I don’t think she’ll be bad but she sure won’t be a nice good guy.
David: Yeah, she’s interesting. What is her power set exactly? She’s kind of like a lady version of Taskmaster right?
Brandon: Yep, some have even speculated he is her father. Have you seen the new solicitations? He’s actually going toe to toe with her in the issue from that month. Should be extremely awesome.
David: Crazy! That will be awesome.
Her extremely cold nature lends me to think of her as a villain type, but the thing about her is she’s cold but she wants to learn more, not gain anything material.
Continued belowThat kind of leads me to think she’ll be good.
Like her relationship with Reptil. It’s not to get power over him. It’s just to understand.
Brandon: I think she’ll maintain the cocky which way will she go attitude but in a jam she’ll be backing up the Avengers before the Masters of Evil.
David: So we think!
Brandon: So tricky these characters are.
David: Do you think Striker could lead the Masters of Evil? Or do you think he’s just a glory hound?
Brandon: I think Striker is awesome! That’s what I think. I also think he shares the name of an NFL player.
David: What was his name?
Brandon: Brandon Sharpe.
David: That doesn’t sound familiar. Close to Shannon Sharpe, but I don’t know Brandon Sharpe. He’s kind of like Ochicinco deep down though. Maybe that’s why you like him so much.
Brandon: I think more than anything though he is a guy with little self-confidence. I think he is a prime example of the idea that any attention is good attention. That’s why it was such a cool, yet suspect, moment for Reptil to give him over the good publicity in that issue.
David: See, I don’t think it was that suspect. That was just good leadership by Reptil.
Striker is sketch because he’s willing to hire mercs like Whirlwind to boost his Q rating, but he doesn’t feel bad to me. But holy shit, his power set is kind of perfect for a bad guy. Electricity guys are always bad!
Brandon: Yeah, he’s more of an old school Booster Gold.
David: Oh shit, you played the Booster card on me. How did I not think of that? He totally even did that in 52.
Comic fail by me.
Brandon: hahaha Booster Gold for the win!
Per usual.
David: I kind of like Striker as a Booster type.
Brandon: We all just want to be Booster Gold when it comes down to it David.
David: Eff that, I want to be Supernova.
Brandon: I wanna be Skeets! That’s a whole other story though.
David: Haha of course.
Alright, so if we were going to have opposite ends of the spectrum, we’d probably put Veil as most likely to be bad and Mettle to be least likely?
Brandon: I’d go Reptil to be least likely with Veil being most likely. They’re raising children to think Reptil is a good guy.
David: That’s true. I keep forgetting that angle. Damn cartoons!
Brandon: Brianwashing via cartoon. the oldest trick in the book.
You gotta watch more cartoons Mr. Harper.
David: One of these days…one of these days.
