Uncanny Avengers 8 review

The Apocalypse twins have made their move, and it’s up to the Uncanny Avengers to figure out how to stop them. Of course with their team dynamic more fragile than ever, and with both Wolverine and Thor holding secrets regarding the twin’s rise to power, it’s unclear how they can possibly succeed. After all, the twins killed a celestial.

For what it is, this is a very good comic. The story is simply epic in scale and there are obviously a lot of story details that haven’t been revealed yet. There are a lot of little character moments – Thor, Wolverine, Rogue, Sunfire and Captain America all have traces of development spread through this issue. The team dynamics are also explored, and somehow none of it gets in the way of the storytelling.

There is also a lot of focus on the Apocalypse twins. We learn minor details about their origin story, explored through their dialogue and narrations. Interestingly enough, the girl is blind and has some other sense that hasn’t been fully explained yet. You don’t get enough blind villains in comics, so that was kind of refreshing. Their powers are explored a little, but there’s plenty of room for more reveals down the road. Their motivations are explored, but their plan has yet to be fully revealed. The Apocalypse twins are intriguing villains and I want to see more of them.

The art is also very good. It’s deceptively simple looking, yet there is plenty of detail in both the action scenes and the backgrounds. There’s a lot of shadow work that adds plenty of shape to characters’ faces. I can’t think of anything bad to say about it.

Today’s Uncanny Avengers isn’t quite without its flaws though. While this comic is never hard to follow, there is almost too much going on. Captain America’s escape pod landing in Sudan feels a little pointless, even if he happens across a very well hidden message to him alone. The scene between Wolverine and Rogue is a nice little moment, but it might have worked better in an issue that spent a lot of time revealing both Wolverine’s and Thor’s secrets to the team. There’s also a scene where the Apocalypse Twins do something “merciful” to a lot of former apocalypse followers, and while it helps showcase the male twin’s powers, it might not have been explained well enough for non X-Men fans. These are relatively minor flaws, but they’re still worth mentioning.

Xmenxpert commented on my earlier post that he would have preferred this to be a more of a politically themed book than the epic action series this is becoming. I agree that it would be interesting, and there are more than enough epic comic books at Marvel lately – maybe even too many. These large scale stories can be great, but more balance between grand stories and the politics the Uncanny Avengers would have to face would help it stand out more. For example, the press conference ending with Rogue accidentally killing a villain probably should have received more attention. Still, for what it is, Uncanny Avengers 8 is a great comic and an easy recommendation for Avengers fans and X-Men fans alike.