YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE #13 - June 1998

For Whom the Bell Grumbles

Credits: Dan Raspler (writer), Christopher Jones (penciler), Keith Champagne (inker), Bill Oakley (letterer), Noelle Giddings (colorist)

Following last issue’s revelation, the team now debates whether or not to go forward. And if they go forward, who should lead the Young Heroes?

Monstergirl seizes the opportunity to present herself as the clam, mature voice of reason. She also kisses Off-Ramp during a transparent attempt to draw him closer to her.

Bonfire discerns Junior’s secret identity during a debate over DC continuity (apparently, it’s very important to some people when the term “meta-human” was coined).

Thunderhead is unsure about going forward, especially if it means replacing Hard Drive as the team’s “cape guy.”

Off-Ramp is hurt the most by Hard Drive’s actions. He remains unsure of his decision to join the team and requests a few days off. The team realizes that Off-Ramp is the most valuable member of the Young Heroes, due to his teleportation powers. Without a means to travel to their battles, the team doesn’t have a lot of options.

Junior accidentally tells Zip-Kid he thinks she’s beautiful. She tells him not to apologize for being nice.

Zip-Kid is upset with her boyfriend for casually dismissing her. When she returns home to have “the talk” with him, he unexpectedly proposes to her.

Frostbite views Off-Ramp as his only way home. When he tries to explain this to him, Off-Ramp thinks he’s hitting on him.

More conversations, more manipulation, and more romantic entanglements. Raspler doesn’t advance any of the ongoing storylines very far, but he’s still able to make a conversation scene worth your time. His treatise on how valuable a long-range teleporter would be for a superhero group is something I’ve never thought of before, and he’s managed to make the idea work as a credible conflict for the team members. If you really did live in a remote area of Canada, losing your teammate teleporter would have a fairly significant impact on your life. I’m not sure if he’s serious about a homoerotic subtext to Frostbite and Off-Ramp’s relationship, though, largely because Christopher Jones’ facial expressions can occasionally be hard to decipher.

YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE #10 - March 1998

Tremble in Fear -- For the Beast Hunts You!

Credits: Dan Raspler (writer), Christopher Jones (penciler), Keith Champagne (inker), Bill Oakley (letterer), Noelle Giddens (colorist)

So, the logical follow-up to a slow, character-driven issue is to do an action-packed hero vs. monster story. I’ve never heard of Grundómu before, but apparently he lives for “the hunt” and speaks in non-sequiturs like “Belching! Bellicose! I Besiege!” The Young Heroes travel to Brazil to stop the monster, encounter a bratty twelve-year-old scientific genius, and talk about the DC Universe’s abundance of super-powered primates. Finally, they encounter Grundómu. Junior notices that Grundómu actually has a nice smell, which is surprising given his size and sheer monsterness. Why exactly this is brought up is left unclear, but presumably the smell mystery will tie into next issue’s conclusion.

In non-monster news…

Bonfire and Frostbite have returned from their naughty vacation. They want to test their mysterious psychic bond, but are interrupted when Off-Ramp abruptly abducts Bonfire away to participate in the mission.

Thunderhead misses Bonfire. Due to his giant size, he can no longer play guitar and take his mind off his problems.

Zip-Kid considers hanging out with Thunderhead, but when she realizes that going to a bar would require her to take off her mask, she decides to keep her secret identity.

There’s a lot of action here for a book that isn’t supposed to be about the action. Raspler is still incorporating a respectable amount of character work, so this doesn’t feel like a total switch, but I wonder what exactly prompted the change. The Grundómu fight is fun, even if it feels like an unnecessary diversion at this point. The most interesting team interaction this issue comes from Thunderhead and Zip-Kid. Thunderhead’s depression is heightened by his inability to play the guitar (Grant Morrison does the same bit with Beast in New X-Men years later), and Zip-Kid is only now realizing that fraternizing with the team in public will require her to give up her secret identity. At least, she seems to think so. Who’s to say any of her teammates would recognize her face?

YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE #9 - February 1998

Bury My Heart at the Bottle City of Love

Credits: Dan Raspler (writer), Dev Madan & Christopher Jones (layouts), Keith Champagne (finishes), Bill Oakley (letterer), Noelle Giddings (colorist)

The team recuperates from their exposure to fear gas, discusses where they were when they learned Superman was alive, and, I hope you’re sitting down for this, some romantic subplots continue…

Bonfire and Frostbite are off on the beach, engaged in lengthy foreplay that’s often depicted in giant splash pages.

Hard Drive wants to know where Bonfire and Frostbite are, incensed that they might be off having s-e-x.

Zip-Kid is ordered by her boyfriend Lou to quit the team.

Monstergirl shows actual human emotions this issue. She talks to Thunderhead about his problems with Bonfire, and apparently feels some remorse over manipulating the big idiot. Later, she joins Off-Ramp on one of his global joyrides, an honor he rarely shares with anyone.

It’s obvious this was never intended to be a plot-heavy series, but this is the first issue that feels padded. Frostbite and Bonfire’s relationship has been teased since the first issue, so I get that their “first time” is supposed to be a big deal, but I don’t need splash page after splash page to sell the idea. I’m not too interested in what exactly they’re into sexually either, so the lovingly rendered pages of Bonfire biting Frostbite’s fingers and scratching his chest are particularly gratuitous. I do like the conversation scenes, which add more insight into what “real” life must be like in the DC Universe. Hearing descriptions of total strangers joining together in pure happiness and dancing in the street at the news of Superman’s revival adds a touch of verisimilitude to this universe. I’m trying to think of a modern real world parallel, but all I can come up with is the reaction to Bin Laden’s death, oddly enough.