Wednesday 28 November 2012

Uncanny Avengers #1 Review


Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: John Cassaday

First issue of the new series coming out of Avengers Vs. X-Men, and is the first issue to be released from the Marvel NOW! concept. I was really looking forward to this series as it made AvX feel more meaningful, and the idea of an Avengers team consisting of both Avengers, and X-Men, especially with everything that went down in AvX, I was very intrigued.

Plot


This issue sees Wolverine remembering Professor X and talking at his funeral. Meanwhile Havok (Alex Summers) goes to visit his brother Cyclops (Scott Summers), who's imprisoned in a ruby-quartz jail cell. Captain America, along with Thor then try to recruit Alex to lead a team which consists of both Avengers and X-Men.

Review


This was a brilliant start to the series, and was a brilliant aftermath to the death of Professor X. I've enjoyed Rick Remender work over the last few years (mainly Uncanny X-Force), and when I heard he was working on this series I was ecstatic, and he didn't disappoint. Remender produced in this issue something that was truly amazing, being both emotional and entertaining, whilst still interesting. What I liked most about the way Remender wrote this issue was that he showed the effects that AvX had on the Marvel Universe perfectly, whilst also building something that was new and unique, which was very nice. Remender also did a brilliant job of writing all the characters, as although I've seen how good he can write certain characters involved, he didn't half do a splendid job on the rest, and I'm not surprised, as he's truly a very talented writer, and one of the best Marvel currently have working for them. I also loved how Remender was able to develop two different sub-plots in this issue, whilst also giving plenty of action, and emotion, whilst also showing that they're both part of a bigger picture, which was a nice.

The art from John Cassaday was nothing short of amazing, and I'm not surprised. I've really loved Cassaday's art over the years, as besides being one of the best cover artists, he also did a fantastic job on Astonishing X-Men, which had amazing artwork throughout his time on the series, and I'm happy to see him on interiors once more. The detail in Cassaday's art is simply wonderful, as even the small details looked realistic. The emotion showed on the characters facial expressions were also brilliant, and although there were the odd expression of art that looked slightly awkward, it was overall very well drawn, and showed the emotions brilliantly. Cassaday did an amazing job on all the characters in this issue, but in my opinion the best artwork Cassaday has produced has been on Captain America, whether from his run on the Captain America series written by John Ney Rieber, or his variant covers for other series, as he always makes Cap look magnificent, and the powerful symbol that he's meant to be, and he did the same in this issue, which was brilliant. I also loved the way that Cassaday showed a lot of drama, and emotion throughout the layout of his art, as it really gave more depth to the story.

This issue started with Wolverine thinking of Professor X, and then talking at his funeral. Although Wolverine has always been close to the Professor, if you told me say five to ten years ago that the Professor was going to die I would never of thought of Wolverine as the main person to have talked at his funeral, with it being someone from the original X-Men, and most likely Cyclops, but due to the events that occurred in AvX it was obvious that it wouldn't be Cyclops speaking at his funeral as it'd be a bit tasteless, and due to that on top of the fact that Wolverine's the person that been the polar opposite, it made sense for him to have been the speaker at this time. The dialogue itself was very emotional, and a fitting send of to the Professor, but the thing that made this more emotional was how Wolverine remembered him, as it showed great a more sensitive, side to Wolverine, as he knew how much the Professor believed in him.

Alex's visit to Scott in his ruby-quartz cell was also very emotionally driven, as well as being very interesting. The best thing about this sequence was the way Cassaday drew the ruby-quartz cell, as well as the way Laura Martin coloured, as it truly looked stunning, as well as looking beautiful. Seeing Alex and Scott speak itself was an interesting thing, as no matter what the circumstances it's always interesting whenever the two meet, giving for some exciting, and sometimes volatile situations. Due to the circumstances of this visit it wouldn't be realistic if it got volatile, and it would have also taken away some of the emotions. Anyway, it was very interesting seeing Alex someone who although he respected the Professor, didn't ever follow him, talking to the man who killed him, a man who followed Professor for years about his funeral. The thing for me that made this sequence so emotional was the lack of remorse in Scott, as he appeared to see death of the Professor as a small thing compared to the fact that there are new mutants in the world.

There was also a sequence later in the issue where Scarlet Witch pays her respects to the Professor, which Rogue isn't happy about. I won't go into a lot of detail as to avoid spoilers but I will still say how I felt on the subject. I found this a really powerful, and yet again emotional sequence, and it really showed the feelings between each character perfectly. With Scarlet Witch being the cause of no more mutants in the first place, during House of M, you can see why she may be at least partly to blame for the Professor's death, as if it wasn't for that Scott wouldn't have been so determined to find a way of brining the mutants back, hence the Professor wouldn't be dead. This subjects a thing that didn't really get said much after the Scarlet Witch's return, at least not until later on in AvX, and I was happy to see it brought up again, and it made for a really entertaining sequence.

There was also a surprise at the end of this issue, and although I won't spoil it I will say that due to Marvel's advertising it's not a big surprise, and could have been much bigger. Anyone who's seen the cover for issue 2 will know what I mean, but I'll still say no more as to avoid spoiling it for those who've avoided the cover.

Final Verdict


A nice start to this new series and I hope it continues, as it's has so much potential, and there isn't an Avengers title that's both consistent, and good. I would highly recommend this issue to anyone as it's truly wonderful, and I'd also recommend anyone that's bought AVX: Consequences #1 to read this issue first as the events take place before AVX: Consequences #1.

Rating: 4/5

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