Marvel’s Kids of the Atom comedian e-book sequence was launched in March 2021 however solely ran for six points with a disappointing, abrupt ending. The preliminary storyline ostensibly targeted on youngsters emulating their favourite X-Males with alien tech they discovered on a spaceship. Nevertheless, it shares comparable tropes with one other superhero crew from DC Comics that featured in an animated tv sequence titled Young Justice.
The X-Males spin-off sequence follows 5 youngsters who idolize the favored crew of mutants a lot that they aspire to be like them. There’s only one small downside: solely one in every of them is a mutant, whereas the remaining are powerless. In the meantime, the Young Justice animated TV present is concerning the prodigies of beloved Justice League heroes forming their very own crew. The 2 sequence each have their deserves whereas sharing the identical narrative DNA; nonetheless, there are key similarities and variations between the 2 that should be examined additional.
Each of those properties function youngsters that emulate features of their heroes, whether or not that be from their coaching, powers, or values. They work to cease villains and combat crime when they’re of their heroic identities. Moreover, they’re all a tightly-knit group. They deal with one another like household. There is a sense of camaraderie and of kinship between everybody. One can argue that these qualities are virtually required amongst a superhero crew, besides, a lot of the similarities cease there.
Whereas the members of Young Justice are prodigies being educated by their predecessors, the Kids of the Atom imitate their heroes with no supervision or mentorship. On this sequence, the kids are liable to being arrested because of Kamala’s Regulation, which prevents little one vigilantes from combating crime with out some type of mentorship. They meet the X-Males on a number of events in the course of the sequence, who even supply recommendation to the kids. Nevertheless, as a result of the Kids of the Atom are largely human, they can not supply them safety.
In the meantime, the heroes in Young Justice have the complete help of the Justice League. They’ve entry to gear, particular coaching, and Justice League archives ought to they want any of these issues. There are not any legal guidelines or constraints on their presence, and so they can act as wanted throughout their missions. Regardless of the mentorship they obtain, every of them needs to department out and surpass their academics, like Dick Grayson. Through the course of the present, he went from being Robin to turning into Nightwing. Some members had been even promoted to the Justice League, like Zatanna and Rocket.
Young Justice continued to stay related over a protracted time period, with the sequence Young Justice: Outsiders bringing new members onto the crew and telling a brand new story and Young Justice: Phantoms bringing the sequence to a deliberate finish. In the meantime, Kids of the Atom solely lasted six points earlier than its cancellation. There are various components that led to the sequence’ cancellation. Sadly, its debut grew to become interrupted and confronted many delays because of components outdoors of Marvel’s management. This inhibited gross sales, prevented followers from selecting up the comedian e-book and saved the sequence from gaining much-needed traction.
Maybe most jarring, although, was when Kids of the Atom’s second challenge noticed an abrupt change within the creative crew. Artist Bernard Chang was changed by Paco Medina, and colorist Marcelo Maiolo was changed by David Curiel. Regardless of this, Vita Ayala (author for New Mutants, Ironheart 2020, and Nubia) was in a position to script a compelling story with an attention-grabbing perspective alongside the rotating panel of artists.
Total, Kids of the Atom had a pleasant run match for a miniseries regardless of the publishing hiccups it had alongside the best way. Maybe this sequence and idea will achieve a second probability and faucet into the identical themes and character arcs that made Young Justice a hit.