Wow. I was eagerly anticipating Uncanny Avengers. It was going to be the book I read that would get me my Uncanny X-Men and Mighty Avengers fix in one title. Writer Rick Remender has some good street cred and artist John Cassaday’s art is pretty much beloved by anyone who sets their eyes on his work.
DC Comics chose writer Geoff Johns and penciller Jim Lee’s Justice League #1 as its kick off book for the New 52 relaunch. It was an “debut” issue that started slow, but had the action and enough of the cosmic wonder that set up the new world for the DC Universe (DCU). It ended with its most iconic and hopeful hero.
Uncanny Avengers #1, Marvel Comics’ Marvel Now launch title, ends on an impactful cliffhanger too. It certainly sets a different tone for the rest of the Marvel Now rebranding.
Spoilers ahead.
You have been warned.
Uncanny Avengers #1 ends with a villain doing something grotesque to one of Marvel’s most beloved characters.
On the below left you have the end to 2012’s Uncanny Avengers #1 and on the right the end to 2011’s Justice League #1.
You decide what tone each cliffhanger sets for each company’s line-wide publishing initiatives of Marvel Now and DC New 52 respectively.
My concluding thoughts follow the pics.
Uncanny Avengers SHOULD be Marvel Now’s kick off title. It should be a standard-bearer book with its amalgam of Marvel’s two key franchises: Avengers and X-Men. However, the question I ask is whether the book should be as dark as it is? Everything between the lobotomy that opened the book to the lobotomy that ended the book was dynamic and accessible. The lobotomies? Not my cups of tea.
I still enjoy Remender’s writing generally and Cassaday’s art. I just hope the rest of Uncanny Avengers and Marvel Now isn’t so dark (except for books called X-Force and Thunderbolts ;) ).
I’ll be back next month anyway to see where the story goes from its Charles Xavier, um, close-up.
Thanks for reading. As always, all feedback welcome.
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