Saturday, April 13, 2013

Uncanny Avengers #6

Well, I decided to review this comic instead of Ultron #1.  After reading Age of Ultron #5, my interest in that event is at an all time low, so I figured I'd change gears and go with Uncanny Avengers.  Rick Remender has yet to disappoint with this series, here's hoping he keeps that up.

Uncanny Avengers #6: 

Summary: Woooo, this was a good one!  This issue mainly takes place in 1013 AD(so a thousand years ago), back when Thor was a brash young god.  Thor is celebrating a battle with his worshipers, when he is suddenly attacked by Apocalypse(!).  Apocalypse wipes the floor with Thor, while Thor can do nothing to harm Apocalypse.  Before he is killed by the big A, Thor retreats from battle, promising revenge.  Apocalypse heads back to his ship, where we learn he was told by Rama-Tut(Kang!!) to kill Thor now, since Thor would prove to be a thorn in Apocalypse's side in the future.  Apocalypse complains that somebody as weak as Thor would never prove a threat to him, and demands Rama-Tut give him the name of a true threat.  And so Rama-Tut does just that, sending Apocalypse after an ancestor of Wolverine(!).  As for Thor, he asks Odin to assist him against Apocalypse and his indestructible Celestial armor, but Odin refuses, telling Thor that if he were to defeat Apocalypse now, he would create a far greater catastrophe in the future.  Thor is steamed over that, so Loki comes over to help his brother out.  Loki tells Thor about a special way to enchant his battleaxe(Jarnbjorn), so that it could cut through Apocalypse's armor.  Thor goes off to do that, at which time we learn that Loki was actually a disguised Kang(!!!).  Meanwhile, Apocalypse sends his Four Horsemen to London, where Wolvie's ancestor was a member of the army.  The Horsemen cleave through Wolvie's ancestor's allies, and are preparing to do the same to him, when Thor arrives on the scene.  Thor kills the Horsemen, while an enraged Apocalypse watches from his ship.  Rama-Tut taunts Apocalypse about this before teleporting away, because Kang is awesome.  Thor arrives on the ship to get his revenge for the earlier battle, but Apocalypse again turns Thor aside.  Not fearing Thor, Apocalypse moves in to finish Thor off, but is nearly cleaved in two by Jarnbjorn.  Needless to say, Apocalypse is shocked, and sets the self-destruct on his ship.  Thor escapes, and figuring Apocalypse to be dead, heads back to Asgard to celebrate his victory.  Odin crashes the party and reprimands Thor for his brash actions, telling him he'd regret what he did in the future.  This issue ends in the present with Kang gaining possession of the now forgotten Jarnbjorn.

Thoughts: Absolutely perfect.  That's what this issue was.  I literally don't have a single bad thing to say about it.  It was absolute comic book perfection.  Thor vs Apocalypse?  Kang manipulating BOTH of them in order to gain a weapon of immense power?  Everything here was fantastic.  This is EXACTLY what this series should be!  You have one of the greatest X-Men foes, as well as one of the Avengers greatest threats.  And it's not like this was one of those lame, "Two villains randomly team-up to pester two groups of heroes" stories, the story was great, and the reveal at the end with Jarnbjorn tied everything together so perfectly.  Amazing work by Remender here, this comic is definitely the front-runner for best single issue of the year for 2013.

Score: 10 out of 10.
uncanny avengers #6 thor apocalypse
Awesome!!

4 comments:

  1. I was reading an interview with the writers and they seemed quite serious about mixing Avengers and X-men lore but to do it in a way that seems natural and not forced. This issue seems evidence of their efforts paying off.

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    1. Yup, that's one of the many things I'm enjoying with this series. The villain appearances haven't felt forced. It's not like two random villains pop up and suddenly team-up for no reason, everything here makes sense! I love it!

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  2. Alright I'm getting into this series. I'm just constantly hearing positive feedback about it so I gotta check it out.

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  3. Agreed.  I love how Remender is playing a long game here, but remembers to actually still write fun scripts and keep it interesting. I definitely anxious to return to see how Havok's doing keeping all the egos in check, but this issue was a good read from start to finish. I loved Kang manipulating everyone like he was Loki.

    I was OK with "Ultron" #1 as a story, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they called it "Ultron" or why they thought it was a necessary addition to the event...other than the fact that no one would've bought it if it was called "Random Guy from that Other Teenage Superhero Team...No, the Other One...That You Didn't Read in the First Place" #1.

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