The Good
There was a bit of nostalgia seeing the old Avengers West Coast mansion, but the memories attached to it (see below) weren't that fond. I would have preferred them to use the old Mansion grounds from Disassembled, instead of moving cross-country.
The Bad
The characters in this issue just felt weird. I know that isn't exactly a quantifiable description, but everyone just seemed off by about ten degrees. Decisions that are deeply personal seemed to be made in the space of a panel, and a lot of plot points just seemed cobbled together at the last minute. The plot was rushed, the dialog weak, and the hooks for the next arc just have me not caring at all.
Everyone just felt really bland. The subject matter at hand just seemed to serious for the way everyone was portrayed, and the art didn't do a good job of helping along the dialog. The art was solid, but it just seemed unwavering: when people are quitting the team and generally going through some tough times, the mood should not be the same as every other issue.
The Verdict
One of the first comics I ever read was a West Coast Avengers issue, and I couldn't help but think about how hokey it sounded; it took a good concept like the Avengers and just said "Yeah, we're in a new setting! That's cool, right?"
That's what this issue felt like: a bunch of "shocking" events that ultimately didn't mean jack in the long run. Will we ever see Vance Astro and Speedball's road trip? Unlikely. Will we really care about the new recruits to the Avengers Academy (apart from Butterball, of course)? Not really. Do we want to see characters written like they were in the past, with actual emotions and feelings? I'd like to think so.
This issue just felt like a huge transition, but not in a good, "looking forward to things to come!" way. It feels like the "revolving door" period of the Teen Titans post-Infinite Crisis; people are coming and going so quickly that it's hard to care one way or the other. Sadly, with teen heroes, that emotion just happens to be lifeblood of the story.
This issue isn't horrible, just terribly bland: if I had to give an example of what a completely mediocre comic looked like, this week's Avengers Academy would be it.
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