This issue is destined to be considered a classic.  I had my doubts about this title after last issue when it seemed that Finesse’s particular motivation for learning about Quicksilvers’s experience with Magneto was not well explained.  This issue consists largely of the Avengers students receiving lessons from superpowered adults that go hilariously awry.  In an era when Hollywood thinks idiocy is an acceptable substitute for humor (See “The Other Guys,” or rather don’t see it.  It’s horrible.)  Christos Gage injects this comic with some genuine humor that is tinged with a great deal of satire.  I love that the kids are portrayed as being knowing and cynical.  Hazmat mocks Iron Fist for being a wannabe Asian, and the kids know that their trip to the Raft is an attempt to scare them straight.  Valkyrie appears ostensibly to teach the girls combat skills, but ends up serving these underaged kids alcohol, and going off on a feminist diatribe that crosses over into misandry.  This scene flows out of continuity as Valkyrie first appeared in the Avengers as the mind controlled leader of the “Lady Liberators.”  That comic, as is this scene, was a satire on feminism.  Most comic creators, like most creative people in general, tend to be political liberals, so it is interesting that Gage chooses to satirize liberalism taken to the extreme.  He does it again when the Thunderbolt’s Ghost starts railing against the evils of corporatism, and can’t help but bring in paranoid theories about how Tony Stark is plotting to control the world.  Moonstone’s scene may not be overtly political, but it is funny as she uses her professional psychological skills not to help, but to degrade and insult everyone from Speedball to Wasp to the Avenger’s Academy kids.  As entertainment, this comic is executed in a more intelligent manner than most of today’s television or movies.  With “Avenger’s Academy” and “Young Allies,” Marvel has hit two homeruns with teen themed comic books.  May they both run forever, if the quality can be maintained.

            As for the art of Mike McKone, can you say, “gorgeous?”  McKone and the rest of the art team portray beautiful, expressive bodies that are quite often in fluid movement.  The level of detail is impressive.  For instance, McKone remembers that Speedball has a pet cat, and one notices that there is a play structure for the cat in Speedball’s room.