Uncanny Avengers

Uncanny Avengers is an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in October 2012, with the launch of Marvel NOW!. The series centers on a superhero team of Avengers composed of classic members of both the Avengers and X-Men, that came together following events of the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline. Within the Marvel Universe itself, the team was officially named the Avengers Unity Squad^[1] but now is called Avengers Unity Division.

Publication history

Marvel Comics announced Uncanny Avengers by the creative team of Rick Remender and John Cassaday in August 2012. Uncanny Avengers is a new team of Avengers that features a line-up of both classic Avengers and X-Men including Captain America, Havok, Rogue, the Scarlet Witch, Thor and Wolverine. The team is a response to the events of Avengers vs. X-Men. Remender said, "There’s something that Cyclops said to (Captain America) on Utopia that’s ringing in his head. He didn’t do enough to help. And Steve (Captain America) is taking that to heart. Coming out of AvX with the landscape shifted and changed as much as it is, there are events that lead Steve to recognizing that he needs to do more".^[2] In March 2014, Marvel released Issue #18. Now, which was the first issue of 'Uncanny Avengers', to have the All- New Marvel Now icon on the cover. In October 2014, a second volume of Uncanny Avengers was announced to start in January 2015. Relaunching with issue one, to be drawn by Daniel Acuna and written by Rick Remender. The new team roster will include Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Rogue, Quicksilver, Vision, Sabretooth, and Brother Voodoo.

Fictional team history

The Red Shadow

Wolverine gives a eulogy at the funeral of Professor X, which is held at the Jean Grey School, while Havok visits Cyclops in prison to discuss Cyclops' actions as the Phoenix. Afterwards, Captain America and Thor meet with Havok, where Captain America offers him the chance to lead a new Avengers squad. They are attacked by a lobotomized Avalanche and unite to defeat him while saving as many civilians as possible. While paying her respects to Professor X at his grave, Scarlet Witch is confronted by Rogue about her role in everything that has happened to the X-Men and the mutant race. While arguing, they are attacked by Red Skull's S-Men, who defeat them both and steal Professor X's body. In his lair, the Red Skull is seen removing Professor X's brain as part of his plan to gain the power to "eradicate the mutant menace".^[3]

While looking for survivors after Avalanche's attack, Wolverine questions Captain America's choice of having Havok lead the team and Thor vows to resolve the mutant conflict. Meanwhile, through a televised appearance of "Honest John, the Living Propaganda", Red Skull is able to make certain people kill their mutated friends. In addition to this, Rogue is seen escaping after being captured by the S-Men and Scarlet Witch is tempted by Red Skull to repeat the events of House of M. Rogue attacks the Scarlet Witch and they fight until they both discover the lobotomized body of Professor X. Red Skull arrives and reveals that he has fused his brain with Professor X's brain. Red Skull also reveals that he is a clone of the original Red Skull that was created in 1942 and held in cryogenic stasis in the event that Germany lost World War II.^[4]

Using Professor X's telepathy, Red Skull provokes ordinary citizens of New York into joining the S-Men in a mass assault against even potential mutants and force Scarlet Witch and Rogue to allow themselves to be attacked, even managing to take control of Thor after Red Skull had Honest John take the form of Odin to manipulate him. When fighting Wolverine, Red Skull has Goat-Faced Girl negate Wolverine's healing factor so that Thor can land a cataclysmic blow on Wolverine. However, Red Skull is unable to completely control Captain America, and an attack against him disrupts his powers long enough for Rogue and Scarlet Witch to break free.^[5]

As the Scarlet Witch fights the mind-controlled Thor, Red Skull once again tries to tempt Captain America into joining his anti-mutant crusade. With some help from Havok, Scarlet Witch removes Thor from the battle allowing Havok and Rogue to aid Captain America against the Red Skull overpowering him until Dancing Water saves him. With the people around them free, Havok tells them that the attacks on the mutants wasn't their fault. Back at the Avengers Mansion (the base for the newly coined Avengers Unity Squad), Captain America and Havok look at leads to find the S-Men and Havok expresses doubts over his own leadership. The Scarlet Witch attempts to start again with Rogue, who refuses, stating that she is joining the team to honour Xavier and keep an eye on Wanda. Thor tells Wolverine that he hasn't failed Professor X's dream.^[6]

The team makes their debut as the Avengers Unity Squad (which also contains Sunfire, Wasp, and Wonder Man as the team's latest recruits) during a press conference that debuts them. The press conference is then crashed by a resurrected Grim Reaper who attacks the Avengers Unity Squad while claiming that he is now unable to die. During the fight, Rogue absorbs some of Wonder Man's powers and seemingly punches Grim Reaper harder than normal which apparently kills Grim Reaper.^[7]

Apocalypse Twins

In 1013 AD at a Scandinavian inn, Thor is in a bar fight when he is attacked by Apocalypse, who acts to safeguard the future due to information given him by Rama-Tut. Thor finds that Apocalypse is wearing Celestial-built armor that can withstand the powers of a god. Thor returns to Asgard and demands an audience with his father Odin, but when Odin asks him to take the high road, Thor turns to Loki for help. Loki leads him to a hidden scroll in Odin's library which could bless a weapon to pierce Celestial armor, only for "Loki" to later be revealed as Kang the Conqueror. Thor returns to London and slays the 11th Century's version of the Horsemen of Apocalypse. He then breaks into Apocalypse's craft and manages to cut his armor open with his axe "Jarnbjorn", but Apocalypse escapes. In the present day, Kang the Conqueror appears at the final resting place of Baron Mordo in Brazil. Kang then takes the axe Jarnbjorn and appears to have a plan for the weapon.^[8]

Havok clears Rogue's name with S.H.I.E.L.D for killing Grim Reaper having her start an investigation into Magneto. While Wasp shows Havok her clothing line to promote mutants, a Celestial ship controlled by the Apocalypse Twins crashes into S.W.O.R.D.'s Peak base with Captain America and Sunfire aboard. Sunfire lets Captain America escape while Thor flies towards the wreckage. Thor breaks pieces of the falling wreckage, and with the help of Sunfire, prevents casualties. Thor and Sunfire travel throughout space to the Apocalypse twins ship, and are teleported away upon entering. Meanwhile, the remaining members of the team, travel in the Quinbird, on a search for the twins. In South Sudan, Captain America exits his pod, and is attacked by local soldiers. He travels to an demolished Church for shelter, and finds a message with his name on it there. In Akkaba metropolis, Thor and Sunfire learn how their manipulation long ago, was in the twins favor. The twins then cause an explosion seemingly killing all de-powered mutants, who lost their powers long ago at the hands of the Scarlet Witch, and the Avengers Unity Squad.^[9]

Age of Ultron

Issue #8AU featured a one issue tie in with the series 'Age of Ultron'. In an alternate reality, the Earth is near the end, due to Ultron nearly destroying the world. Wolverine tried to fix the world by using time travel to go kill Hank Pym before he invented the being known as Ultron. By doing so, the world was altered. This issue features the Apocalypse twins trying to kill Colonel America (an alternate form of Captain America) while under orders of Kang the Conqueror. While Colonel America goes into the sewers to meet Havok, he is attacked by the twins. Colonel America manages to escape injured, but results in the deaths of the alternate versions of Havok and Rogue. After the twins failed their task, Kang plans to send the twins back to the mutant camps for the next few years.

Ragnarok Now

A story-line in which the remaining members of the Avengers must work together to stop the Apocalypse Twins, after the team splits up.

Avenge the Earth

A storyline in which all the world's mutants are living on Planet X, following the destruction of Earth by the Celestials. While most of the mutant population has accepted the new status quo--believing that the Scarlet Witch died willingly to save them, while the Avengers tried to stop the inevitable--the remaining free Avengers (Havok, Thor and Wasp, aided by Beast) must work with Kang and his Chrono-Corp to defeat Eimen. Having rescued Wolverine and Sunfire from being tortured on the Apocalypse Ark, the Avengers use Kang's technology to project their minds back into their past selves, and stop the Celestials before they can strike.^[10] The plan succeeds despite Kang's attempt to steal the power of the Celestial for himself, but Sunfire is converted to an energy-based form when his body is destroyed, Havok is left badly burned, and Havok and Wasp lose their daughter (conceived in the future and taken by Kang to protect her from the change in the timeline), when Kang uses her as a hostage to prevent Havok from attacking him.^[11]

Uncanny Avengers Annual

A one-issue story following the introduction of the Avengers of the Supernatural, including Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Blade, Satana, and Manphibian. The Avengers of the Supernatural are chosen by Mojo for his newest reality show. Under mind-control, they abduct the Avengers Unity Division from the Avengers Mansion, and once in Mojoworld, both teams are made to take part in a reality show called "Martian Transylvania Super Hero Mutant Monster Hunter High School". In the show, the mutants of the Unity Division are goth outcasts, the rest are football stars and cheerleaders, and the Avengers of the Supernatural are the geeks of the High School. As part of the show, the Scarlet Witch tells Johnny Blaze she is pregnant, but the Spirit of Vengeance believes it really has an offspring. As Blaze was possessed by the spirit, he goes "too far out of character," and Mojo's influence over the other heroes is broken. Ghost Rider then starts rampaging through Mojoworld looking for sinner souls to punish, until Mojo convinces The Avengers to save Mojoworld, as there were numerous innocent lives. Both Avengers teams fight Ghost Rider in order to distract him, and let Satana pry the Spirit of Vengeance from Blaze and temper it. Satana fails, but Rogue manages to sneak up on Ghost Rider and absorb his powers. She becomes the new Ghost Rider and tempers the Spirit of Vengeance, but as it begins taking control of her, Blaze reabsorbs the spirit into him, becoming the Ghost Rider once more. Having controlled the Spirit of Vengeance and saved Mojoworld, the Avengers of the Supernatural and the Unity Division return to their universes.^[12]

Trip to Counter-Earth

The Avengers Unity Division are joined by a reformed Sabretooth when they head to the High Evolutionary's Counter Earth (which somehow resurfaced) to look for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.^[13]

Roster

Reception

• Comic Book Resources gave Uncanny Avengers #1 a 4.5/5, declaring it to be a "grand opening to Marvel NOW!".^[14]

• IGN gave Uncanny Avengers #1 a 7.9 "Good" rating.^[15]

• Havok's speech in #5 in which he rejected his mutant identity because it represented everything he hates, and Remender's response to detractors to "drown yourself [in] hobo piss," caused some controversy among online internet reviewers.^[16][17]

Collected editions

This series has been collected in the following trade paperbacks:

References

15. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/uncanny-avengers-volume-5-marvel-comics/1119994925?ean=9780785154259

External links

• Marvel Now - Marvel Comics