(W) Rick Remender
(P/I) John Cassaday
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, than we're all currently holding. Uncanny Avengers #1 is, simply put, an achievement. Rick Remender has taken all the convoluted tension between the Avengers and X-Men and brought it to the surface, making these characters actually talk about it instead of beating the crap out of each other on a whim. That might sound less-than-interesting, but it's actually the one type of confrontation that hasn't been done to death in comic books, and it's absolutely refreshing.
Fittingly, the funeral for Professor Charles Xavier begins the tale of these Uncanny Avengers, with a speech by Wolverine that has enough gruff to make it seem believable, but still conveys the fact that Logan is an intelligent person. This segues into Captain America's meeting with Alex Summers (a.k.a. Havok), the brother of Scott Summers. While not the biggest name in the X-Men roster, Havok has put in his time and paid his dues. Steve Rogers sees that and wants to make Alex the leader of a new Avengers/X-Men hybrid team. In years passed, this book would have been made to take a more natural-sounding path to it's inception. Remember the first arc of The New Avengers, when Brian Michael Bendis wanted so much for the team to feel natural that he set up a massive prison break out that was supposed to be the basis of the series, but was quickly forgotten. Rick Remender isn't beating around the bush, not with his writing style or with these characters' motivations. Steve Rogers comes out and explains his intentions to Alex Summers, explaining that there needs to be something more inclusive.
It may come as a surprise, but many writers like to dumb down their characters and turn them into simple action-and-fight props used to propagate ridiculously complicated plots. It is actually very rare to get a writer who understands that these characters are just like real people when they aren't fighting crime, which means they think like real people and have real people solutions to problems. Instead of using adamantium claws or vibranium shields to solve their problems, these heroes are talking, explaining their feelings to one another and hoping they can work together to make the world a better place. Remender's dialogue comes from a place of unfettered sincerity, and it's what's going to make this series a delight to read.
I can't say enough good things about Uncanny Avengers #1. Rick Remender's plot and scripts are just magnificent - there's no deep connections to continuity, there's no huge revelations about characters we didn't already know (how many issues can depict Cyclops be transported to his cell?) and the characters used are either largely identifiable, or get amazingly organic profiling through character dialogue. All of these elements make Uncanny Avengers one hell of a read. Marvel is really striving to bring in new readers with 'Marvel NOW!', and if this first issue of concept is an example of the quality we'll be getting going forward, then it will be tremendously successful.
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| Thought I'd throw up one of the 20 variants for this issue. |
Fittingly, the funeral for Professor Charles Xavier begins the tale of these Uncanny Avengers, with a speech by Wolverine that has enough gruff to make it seem believable, but still conveys the fact that Logan is an intelligent person. This segues into Captain America's meeting with Alex Summers (a.k.a. Havok), the brother of Scott Summers. While not the biggest name in the X-Men roster, Havok has put in his time and paid his dues. Steve Rogers sees that and wants to make Alex the leader of a new Avengers/X-Men hybrid team. In years passed, this book would have been made to take a more natural-sounding path to it's inception. Remember the first arc of The New Avengers, when Brian Michael Bendis wanted so much for the team to feel natural that he set up a massive prison break out that was supposed to be the basis of the series, but was quickly forgotten. Rick Remender isn't beating around the bush, not with his writing style or with these characters' motivations. Steve Rogers comes out and explains his intentions to Alex Summers, explaining that there needs to be something more inclusive.
It may come as a surprise, but many writers like to dumb down their characters and turn them into simple action-and-fight props used to propagate ridiculously complicated plots. It is actually very rare to get a writer who understands that these characters are just like real people when they aren't fighting crime, which means they think like real people and have real people solutions to problems. Instead of using adamantium claws or vibranium shields to solve their problems, these heroes are talking, explaining their feelings to one another and hoping they can work together to make the world a better place. Remender's dialogue comes from a place of unfettered sincerity, and it's what's going to make this series a delight to read.
I can't say enough good things about Uncanny Avengers #1. Rick Remender's plot and scripts are just magnificent - there's no deep connections to continuity, there's no huge revelations about characters we didn't already know (how many issues can depict Cyclops be transported to his cell?) and the characters used are either largely identifiable, or get amazingly organic profiling through character dialogue. All of these elements make Uncanny Avengers one hell of a read. Marvel is really striving to bring in new readers with 'Marvel NOW!', and if this first issue of concept is an example of the quality we'll be getting going forward, then it will be tremendously successful.
GRADE
9/10
9/10
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