Oh you wouldn't believe the speed with which I picked up Uncanny Avengers #9 and #10 when I saw the cover for Issue 10. The Flash(es) would be proud. Er, I guess, Quicksilver since we're talking about Marvel...look I tossed money at my comic retailer and said "GIMME" because we finally got a follow up to last year's original graphic novel Rage of Ultron. I hadn't read anything of the Uncanny Avengers and only knew three things about the title prior to picking it up: Spider-Man quite the team because of Deadpool, Deadpool is on the team, and Captain America was the leader (now in his youth). This is also back when everyone thought he was a Nazi (remember that?) but that stuff wouldn't come into play until the book began tying into Civil War II. But I'd heard good things about the title and the new arc was more than enough for me to dive right in!
Uncanny Avengers is essentially a sequel to what the previous Avengers title had been about before Secret Wars came and reset everything. It features the Avengers Unity Squad: a team dedicated to uniting humans, mutants, and now Inhumans, in order to show the world that they can all work together peacefully. Oh, and Deadpool. That's probably the biggest selling point. Again, I hadn't read really much Avengers stuff because big Marvel book bore me, unless they involve Ultron or Dr. Doom apparently.
One thing I'll get out of the way before jumping into the critiques and praises I have for the title is that it was pretty easy for me to slide into. Granted this book kicks off right after the highly-publicized "Standoff" crossover, which only served to grant Captain America his youth and make him believe he's an agent of HYDRA, so I wasn't in the complete dark for this book's backstory. But the focus of this issue is where it should be so it makes the minor characters that I might not be so familiar with less worrisome.
The big thing that you have to know about this book is that it is a direct sequel to, as I mentioned, Rage of Ultron. That was a single graphic novel that showed two different eras: the 70s/80s era Avengers as well as the modern Avengers, featuring Lady Thor, Sam Wilson Captain America, Sabretooth. The book, one of the few good Marvel books by Rick Rememder recently, did feature other random characters because AXIS had just wrapped, but again, it's a matter of focus.
The focus of Rage of Ultron is not what they marketed. The big thing for this book was that Ultron takes over Thanos's home world (Moon?) of Titan and leads it like the Death Star over to Earth. However, that is not what the book is about. As we see in the first part, with the way Act I wraps, the book is actually about Hank Pym and how he does see Ultron as a son. An estranged son, certainly, but he created him and brought him into the world.
Spoiler alert for Rage of Ultron, obviously, but Hank Pym and Ultron do come to blows again later...only this time, Vision is involved. Now he is the son, and Ultron the father. But with Pym still lingering as an element, you have the entire family to deal with. Essentially, the entire lineage makes an appearance, even with Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and the Wasp getting involved in parts. Rage of Ultron is ultimately about family and desperately trying to love one another, but knowing when the time to show discipline in the face of guilt is appropriate. It's a tragedy, showcasing how Ultron and Hank Pym are tragic characters and Vision is the greatest blend between the two. Not fully a machine, but not all that human, either. It's an epic read if ever there was one.
The book ends on a bit of a downer, as Vision is forced to, as he sees it, basically end the life of Hank Pym and then cast Ultron into space. It haunts him, for this story at least, and I did want a sequel Graphic Novel to explore the fallout. Instead we got this, which will deal with that for the most part. The final image is also one of my favorite in recent years: a Hank Pym-infused Ultron sitting in the fetal position in the deepest reaches of space while his heart begins to beat, signalling a new life form has been born.
A new Ultron has been created.
You wouldn't know that this is a sequel by the looks of it, but don't worry, that's why I'm here to ruin things for you. Granted there are elements that we'll dive into for the review, but good on the creative team for keeping the arc's name vague. While not exactly like the story it's named after, "The Man Who Fell to Earth" is similar enough to what this issue deals with.
Speaking of, let's finally get into it!
The cover is pretty basic, as it's just a lot of superhero posing. In terms of marketing it's always a good idea to slap Deadpool in the center, where all of our attention is drawn. But besides him, Rogue, and Quicksilver, the other characters may not be as familiar to others. I don't get why they didn't add the new, youthful Steve Rogers. Perhaps for the purposes of solicitation, but we've seen them change covers before. Tim Drake was on the cover of Detective Comics #940 before he was *wipes away tear* taken away. The other characters on the cover are Doctor Voodoo, Synapse, and the Human Torch. Okay, most people would know him, but most people also might just think of the latest "Fan4stic" movie and would try to forget him. So yeah, not a great cover, but hey, it's got Deadpool.
We open with Gambit, of all people, hanging out in New Orleans preparing for a heist. Because, you know, when your entire race is being wiped out by some airborne disease you can't explain, the first thing you do is go on a heist!
This scene with Gambit really only exists for Rogue to appear and for them to have a moment for the fanboys who've been asking for it. Even in the solicitations for the issue, Rogue and Gambit meeting is played up as a bigger deal than the real events this issue deals with. It's a fine scene for the two of them, but it just feels out of place with the rest of the story.
If anything it shows Rogue's insecurities about being a part of the Avengers Unity Squad, and does touch on how Red Skull affected her in "Standoff," but we don't see that come up again for a bit. The characterization portrayed her for Rogue does come up at the end of the issue, but picking Gambit, a love interest of hers, just doesn't feel quite right. It's a fun scene that just gets Rogue moving toward becoming the main character for this part of the arc.
After she busts Gambit and his goon friend she takes the skies and gets an order from Captain America Steve Rogers to intercept a capsule from the International Space Station that is in free-fall toward Earth. She moves to intercept but something catches it first, landing in a forest. Rogue tails it, only to discover who it was that caught the thing.
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| Guess who's back. BACK AGAIN. |
However it's here that we have our first continuity hiccup. Pym refers to Rogue as if he's worked with her on the Avengers before. However, when last we saw him, Rogue wasn't on the Avengers. In fact, of all the members of the Unity Squad, the only returning one is Steve Rogers. The way that Pym responds to seeing them all isn't with confusion over the new team, although as a longstanding member I suppose he gets that the Avengers are more like a revolving door at this point.
More importantly, though, is that Hank says he's mastered Ultron, "his creation" and that their time is space was being used to "gel" together. It seems like he's in full control but Rogue isn't so quick to believe him, and for good reason. Ultron in Rage of Ultron showed his ability to merge his consciousness with others and he is one of the more brilliant villains that the Marvel Universe has seen so far. Not to mention that, in general, Hank Pym is one of the least most trustworthy of people. The Marvel U has a terrible track record of reliable scientists.
We finally get to catch up with a younger Steve Rogers as he and Deadpool deal with domestic terrorists at a wildlife resort.
It's a real shame that people are going to associate this costume with Steve Rogers thinking himself as something of a Nazi because I do like the design. I'm iffy on the shield (although it is much more like a shield than anything else) if only because I don't understand how it bounces back at him so easily unlike the Frisbee he had before, but the overall colors and aesthetic of his suit are cool.
Rogue and Pym arrive at the scene, and naturally, Deadpool has the best line of dialogue in the entire comic that simultaneously captures the thoughts of anyone that sees Hank Pym back again.
 |
| Same. |
The rest of the Unity Squad arrives and we see some animosity toward Pym on their end if only because he's in the Ultron suit. Again, fair enough. It's just that Hank Pym has never been on the humble end of the spectrum, calling the Unity Squad a "charity squad" instead. A bad joke, but hey, there's a lot of those in this comic. Even from Deadpool.
There was a bit of a missed opportunity here, too, as Quicksilver inspects the Ultron-infused body of Pym. Technically, if we're observing the Ultron family tree, Pym and Quicksilver are related as in-laws, since Scarlet Witch is his sister, and she married Vision, who is Ultron's son. I do wish there had been a quick little glance or remark about him, but it's sadly never brought up.
But, we do get to see what the man within the suit is like. Or, rather, what the man and the suit are like.
It was an interesting choice by Gerry Duggan, the writer, to have Pym slide Ultron's Jack O' Lantern helmet over his normal body. The entire comic beforehand had been Pym's face, and this is our first glimpse of Ultron in the flesh. It could be foreshadowing, or it could be just used as a way of creating contrast between his human dialogue and the demonic robot we're so used to seeing.
Pym and Rogue fly off and Steve returns the team to the base, where they recount the events of Rage of Ultron. Steve tasks Cable of finding a way to non-lethally neutralizing Pym if necessary, and Voodoo asks Steve if it were possible that Pym could wrangle and ultimately win over Ultron. But for that, Steve must phone a friend!
It's a pleasant surprise to see Janet in this comic. I mean, you could probably assume it would happen, but she's been out of the main picture in the comics for a while and it was good to see her make an appearance in this book, hinting at a bigger role to come.
Still, her showing up does make me wonder: why this book? Why Uncanny Avengers? I get that All-New, All-Different Avengers was dealing more with the fallout of bigger events, but, half of that team was around when Ultron came to Earth. Plus we could've had moments of Pym winning over the younger members of that team, like showing some sort of influence over Miles Morales or Sam Alexander. Sam Wilson, after all, was the last one that Ultron defeated and Vision is on that team. There's a major disconnect between Pym and the rest of the Unity Squad besides Steve Rogers that Gerry Duggan is desperately trying to tie together.
Another thing that informs this idea of Pym being misplaced is how the book ends. Granted, for the purposes of this story, it does create a nice book-end to where we saw Rogue when everything started. Pym and Rogue talk about legacy and how the Avengers have sort of fallen out of place with their own legacy. One major thing of note that goes on here is that Pym is definitely not thinking straight, he's not thinking like a scientist. Or, really, just an intellect in general.
The first sign of this is when he destroys his memorial.
And the second is how the book ends. Like, ends-ends.
Notice it?
It's not that Pym is like Ultron. Well, it is, but not really.
Pym is a child. Think about it. His first reaction to something being different, aka the team around him, was cold indifference. The first thing he does isn't to go and find Janet, or others that loved him, but to parade around in the Ultron suit and revel in how he's alive...even though he's been alive but whatever.
What does he do when he sees something he doesn't like? He blows it sky high. He doesn't take responsibility and just flies away. For some idiotic reason Rogue just rolls with it, but I'm sure this is a bit of a load off of her as well after the stresses of Red Skull.
Do I think the normal Hank Pym would be like this? No. Because it's clear as day, right from this ending, that Hank Pym is infused with Ultron. Ultron, ultimately, is a child. He's never quite grown out of his childhood and that's why he keeps coming back to the Avengers. He's looking for validation for his actions, and when he doesn't get it, he flips out and causes mayhem. Pym is the same way. He wanted validation for his death, but wasn't satisfied with the idea of dying, so he destroyed his memorial.
This is why I think Pym returning in All-New, All-Different Avengers would've worked better: there are teenagers on that team. Rogue is a grown woman, but Ms. Marvel isn't. Nova and Spider-Man aren't. Their behavior with Pym would've been acceptable, and the rest of the team, having experienced what Ultron and Pym can do, would be preparing to neutralize him if necessary.
As it is, though, this issue does a good job of opening up the story potential of Pym returning with Ultron's body, basically. The mystery elements are subtle and the shock is also a bit more subtle, but it's on purpose. Nobody is freaking out because nobody wants to cause a panic.
The artwork by Pepe Larraz is good, but nothing to write home about. I've seen this style quite a bit in the bigger, more grandiose Marvel titles. It reminds me quite a bit of Humberto Ramos, who is a good artist, but I'm kind of over that style. His expressions are good but it's something in the eyes that bug me. At times Larraz goes for a more realistic approach but other times the expressions are cartoonish and over-exaggerated.
Next week, we continue our examination of this series, as Pym continues to soar about and revel in his return. But remember: Like father...
Like son.
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Review of: Issue 10/ Part Two
Review of: Issue 11/Part Three
Review of: Issue 12/ Part Four
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