CREDIT: Marvel
Rating: 3/5 – Avengers + X-Men + FF = Uncanny Avengers.
By ComicSpectrum senior reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
With a team that includes Deadpool, Rogue and a Human Torch that isn’t part of the Fantastic Four, I didn’t think I’d enjoy the Uncanny Avengers. I was completely wrong. Over this weekend I caught up on this series and the latest issue, the recently released issue number five. Writer Gerry Duggan continues his writing of a team that includes a mix of Avengers, X-Men and the Fantastic Four (Human Torch). I’ve really enjoyed the Ryan Stegman art, more so than anything he’s worked on in the past, but this issue is a filler issue before the next storyline kicks off and Carlos Pacheco steps in on the art duties.
In a story titled the Bagalia Job, the Uncanny Avengers are on the hunt for the the brain of Professor X that’s fused with the Red Skull. This storyline should be familiar from past Uncanny Avengers storylines, which does show that not everything is new, or has been changed since Secret Wars “changed” everything. That hunt leads them to a bank where the team, minus Cable who needed to step away, investigates what the Red Skull may be holding in it’s vault. It’s mostly an entertaining story but to me, it’s definitely the weakest of the series so far.
Carlos Pacheco’s art falls flat for me in this issue, after coming off Stegman’s detailed and energetic pencils it was a let down. His character work is strong and like Stegman, I’m glad he’s embraced Cable’s use of “larger than him” guns, but everything else just comes off as generic. Buildings are drawn with simple angular lines, there’s plenty of empty gradient colored backgrounds, and Richard Isanove’s fantastic coloring isn’t enough to add life to the pencils. There is a great image at the end that I didn’t see coming and is so reminiscent of Kirby, but it wasn’t enough to make this issue a must read. Despite my lack of love for the art, which I admit may be because Stegman’s pencils are tough to topfor me in this series, I’ll be awaiting Stegman’s return with issue number seven and seeing this team’s role in Marvel’s next big storyline called “Standoff”.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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