Previously in Uncanny Avengers, Captain America put together a mutant/Avenger hybrid team to combat the massive bad press caused by the Phoenix Force-possessed Cyclops and company. Meanwhile, a new incarnation of the Red Skull has taken Charles Xavier’s brain, and is using the massive psychic powers to broadcast a message of anti-mutant hysteria across the world. He has also assembled a team of “S-Men” to capture Rogue and Scarlet Witch, along with any other mutant they can find.
In this issue, we see pretty much a straight brawl as Manhattan descends into chaos. Red Skull gifts the humans with the ability to see who is and is not a mutant, allowing for brutally efficient… well… brutality. Luckily, Cap’s new team – under Havok’s leadership – is there to contain the madness. Or at least they try. Unfortunately for them, Captain America is a mostly-normal human, and as such highly susceptible to Red Skull’s telepathy. Rogue and Scarlet Witch are already in his thrall. And even Thor – the big hitter – is hit by psychic propaganda. In short, things are as bad as they can get for our heroes.
Overall, this is a good issue of a good series, even if it doesn’t seem as intelligent or thought-provoking as its predecessor Uncanny X-Force. Hopefully that will come with time, but so far it just seems like fairly standard super-hero fare. Remender seems to be doing this intentionally, invoking old-school (and somewhat overblown) narration and a classic villain like the Skull. Only time will tell if this series can reach the admittedly sky-high bar set by UFX.
What this issue did have was beautiful art. John Cassaday and Laura Martin are the dream team, and anything that reminds readers of Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men is a good thing. I’m not sure if anyone ever consciously wanted to see Thor fighting a Ninja Turtle, but now that it’s out there, lives will never be the same. There’s a great sense of menace throughout the issue, and mutants feel truly persecuted for the first time in a long time. Skull is an excellent villain, combining big-brain planning, evil charisma, and now the psychic power to back up his bravado. How this new team will turn things around – both in terms of this battle and the anti-mutant sentiment – remains to be seen, but this is Rick Remender. It’ll be great.
In the end, this is still an issue worth buying. It has flaws, but if anyone has earned faith and patience, it’s Remender and Cassaday. With any luck, we’ll begin to see the introspection, the stellar character interaction, and the off-the-wall craziness his previous series was known for in the coming weeks and months.
