Hickman (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c)
Right now the event and, in turn, this book are both a little chaotic. On top of the fact that this seems to fall very slightly out of order, giving the reader a sense that he's missed something (he's right, but how much he's missed that's necessary to understanding this part of the plot is debatable). In addition, this is a Hickman-driven event, meaning it's bound to have lots of little pieces and parts covering grand sweeping gestures. He's a phenomenal writer and his ideas are often grandiose but they can certainly take some time to make themselves clear. Meanwhile, the team itself seems to be going through its own issues, as Panther and Namor have plenty left to settle, Black Bolt hides something or other, and Iron Man and Reed have machinations of their own. There are plenty of things happening here and all of it is interesting. It's tempting to get bogged down in the event even before it starts, which is definitely a problem, but there is the sense that this will be worthwhile if it can find its footing. It's easy (and right) to be wary of events at Marvel, especially the way they've begun bleeding into one another, but it's not worth throwing them out just yet. Comics are stories and stories worth telling are still stories worth telling. You can write off events after they lose purpose or if they clearly drag on just to sell more issues. I'm not willing to write anything off before it starts. Boy, this got weirdly accusatory for something that literally no one is capable of responding to as I write it. Suppose I'm a bit defensive.
Uncanny Avengers 10
Remender (w) and Acuña (a and c)
The team is split up into two factions right now, people who are siding with Rogue and Wolverine and people who are siding with Alex and Cap. It's a really interesting division that feels like it's been a long time coming and this issue revolves mostly on what the people in these factions are thinking as they superhero about and try to locate Uriel and Eimin. That's not going so well but specific people pretty quickly run into the twins' new Horsemen as each Horseman hones in on the Uncanny Avenger who is most affected by their rebirth. Therefore Banshee goes after Alex (whose younger brother Gabriel, AKA Vulcan, caused his death), Sentry goes after Thor (who officially killed him after the Void went crazy during Siege and killed Loki), Grim Reaper goes after Wonder Man (who, you know, is his brother and is, in fact, the only one who didn't go after someone related to his death), and Daken goes after Wolverine (who killed him and is ALSO his father so double whammy). Everything is going crazy for the Uncanny Avengers and there are workings here that Uriel and Eimin have ready to put into motion but aren't ready just yet. Those workings mostly include who is taken and who is killed and who is spared and so on, or so it seems, but not everything is working out that way immediately. Look, it's a very interesting, very action-packed book and it's well worth your time.The two factions have a chance to interact amongst themselves for the first extended time as the lines in the sand have been drawn. What's most interesting, though, is that despite the faction dividing up mutants and Avengers, there are people from both the X-Men and the Avengers within each faction. Thor, with the mutants Sunfire, Wolverine, and Rogue, is hailed for his loyalty in staying with the mutants and protecting them from Cap's anger. Rogue and Thor, particularly, hit it off, despite Rogue's problems with the Avengers and this whole team in general. Havok and Scarlet Witch, still siding with Cap, talk about what Xavier's dream means and Havok is lauded for his dedication to this team. Wanda even invokes Cap, telling Alex that Steve looked truly proud when Alex stayed with his team. Meanwhile, like in New Avengers, things in this book are a little ahead of where they should be, though it's not so sudden as in New Avengers. We learn here that Cap has just returned from Dimension Z, a fact he's refusing to tell anyone else in the fear that it will make him look weak, shaken, and off his game. Wasp gets the truth out of him but he won't go further into it. I don't think it's as distracting as the weird discrepancies in New Avengers because this question has loomed over this book through its duration so far and it's just getting a bit settled now. Cap also uses it to explain why he's been so quick to anger in this book, which is a welcome explanation but not one that really needed explaining. He was acting a little out of character but not so far that it couldn't have been ignored. It's even better to have that explanation, though, because it grounds this more in the Universe and it also does satisfy any of those character discrepancies between books. Solid issue. Things are moving rapidly now and it's hard to say where we'll end up next.
Young Avengers 8
Gillen (w) and McKelvie and Norton (a) and Wilson (c)
This team is perfect. It's something that's so hard to do, giving every character in a team book something to do and a personality that both differentiates itself from and gels with the team in general. It's also a great idea to change the narrative between different characters which, in truth, has changed the outlook of the book for me from even what it was before it started. Young Avengers has always kind of had Billy at its center. Billy's certainly an interesting character but putting him in charge of narrating and giving him the biggest set of powers made him something of the team leader, even if the team leader had been announced as Patriot or Kate. Billy's an interesting character but he's not the leader of the team and it's hard to say he's the most interesting; in a really good team book, no character should be the "most interesting," they should all have their moments and their qualities. Just in this issue, we see Kate and Noh-Varr acting in a sort of leader way, with Kate actively leading and Noh-Varr's extensive experience peeking through. At the same time, America is physically leading them from dimension to dimension and often at the direction of Loki, who is the one most closely following the trail laid by Patri-not. America doesn't seem to want anything to do with leading and Loki's style is to stick to leading without appearing to lead, so everything is working perfectly according to these characters. We also get delightful moments of real shock from Loki and an extremely fascinating relationship brewing between, well, everyone really but specifically America and Loki. Gillen made a great name for himself in his Journey into Mystery run and he's brought that Loki perfectly into this book (even if it is technically a somewhat different Loki now). Amazing book. If this review got you at all interesting in reading the issue (despite the babbling), it's worth remembering that I didn't even get into any specifics or any of the many twists and turns. You should probably be reading this book.
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