I'm really digging Avengers Academy, because so far, there has been a lot of team dynamics and character building. I also like how it is relatively accessible to newcomers since it uses new characters and doesn't have too much backstory (I'm pretty unfamiliar with comics and I only know the major recent Marvel events). It reminds me of Yost and Kyle's New X-men run, which I really dug as well for similar reasons.

What are some similar comic series? I read the first five issues of Secret Avengers, but I disliked how much it focused on the story and not on the characters. I find most X-books difficult to read because of the convoluted stories and of the knowledge required of previous events.