Where has this version of Uncanny Avengers been the whole time?!? The obnoxious and awkward narration is only present for a couple of pages – and it mostly works! Since the story is set in the past, and mostly centered around Thor, the bombastic tone actually fits for once. There’s some great action, there’s gorgeous art, and there’s a much larger story being told.
The issue begins 1000 years ago, with Apocalypse picking a fight with a very drunk Thor – and winning. Thor, never one to lose gracefully, rushes off to Asgard to speak with Odin. The All Father reveals that all Earth deities have made a pact not to interfere with Celestials. Loki, however, knows of a way to fight them, and shares this with Thor in exchange for a favor. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) this “Loki” is actually Kang in disguise. Whose side is he really working on?
Meanwhile, Apocalypse travels to London to dispose of Wolverine’s ancestor Folkbern Logan (a pagan, naturally). Luckily Thor intervenes, much to the displeasure of Apocalypse. The Jolly Blue Giant then does what every Celestial-powered, time-traveling, egomaniacal dictator would do: he burns down London. Before he can get too far, however, Thor attacks with his newly-enchanted axe, forcing Apocalypse to retreat and apparently setting off a chain of events that even Odin cannot stop. Events that seem to greatly please Kang.
This issue was immensely satisfying – not just in its own right, but because it proved that last issue wasn’t just a fluke. Remender writes an excellent Thor and an even better Apocalypse. And while the first arc was often painful to read, this one has been tons of fun. En Sabah Nur and Kang make fantastic villains, as both are time travelers who have enslaved populations time and again. There’s a lot of potential just in seeing them trying to outwit each other, manipulating time and characters in a twisted game of chess.
Furthermore, Daniel Acuna’s art is superb. While the painted quality sometimes causes faces and figures to lose detail, overall the look is perfect. It very much fits the gloomy, raining 11th century we’re shown here. Apocalypse’s Horsemen are wonderfully bizarre, and Thor’s action scenes are very well-done. He is, however, the third artist in three issues, so it would be nice for the series to have a little visual consistency – maybe with Cassaday and Acuna alternating arcs?
Hopefully Uncanny Avengers keeps up this trend of improvement. As Remender solidifies the cast and gets more comfortable with their roles and voices, the series should continue to get better. At this point all it really needs is to lose the terrible narration, find a little deeper/meatier content (such as Uncanny X-Force had), and maybe a central character to explore (like Psylocke in UXF) and it would be an excellent book. As it is, it has gone from decent to quite good.
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