Marvel NOW!’s flagship title finally continues after being pushed back a little bit and it was worth the wait. In what is probably one of the darkest Avengers titles in the whole line up so far, in this issue of ‘Uncanny Avengers’, we find out more about the Red Skull’s plan for Mutant kind. Elsewhere, Captain America is trying to convince Wolverine that his new team featuring Havok is a good idea for everyone, human and mutant.

Rick Remender gets quite creative with a few things in this issue, to varying degrees of success. On one end of the spectrum, there is a scene involving Rogue where she takes Dancing Water’s powers without physically touching her was genius. Rogue’s powers are triggered by physical contact, so the water from the cup touching the water that made up the captor’s anatomy worked out. I don’t think I could’ve thought of that in a million years.

On the flip side, there were the two pages where the Red Skull is broadcasting his message of hate across the country or all over the world. I had to read these pages a couple of times to really understand what was going on. There were three different anchors sharing the same message and then suddenly, it was the Red Skull on screen talking. Maybe if they had included the locations of each TV, then the context would have been clearer. Maybe I’m reading too deeply into it, but the time I read through the book, I was pretty confused at these pages in terms of what was going on on the pages. I got the message, but not the method.

Despite a couple of hang-ups here and there, Remender and artist John Cassaday still deliver some dark and disturbing images, as well as some heart-wrenching ones at the end of the book just as they did in the first issue. They don’t pull the punches on what the Skull has done and they show you the full extent. The one panel in particular that I won’t spoil by including it here (you gotta buy the book for that) is almost reminiscent of the death of Captain America back in ‘Civil War’ when you see Iron Man sitting next to Steve Rogers’ body on a table. It’s super unsettling, yet it’s a sign of how many lines are going to be crossed in the story that’s unfolding. I’m willing to come back to see what other lines Remender and Cassaday cross in the next issue.

Final Score:

 

 

UNCANNY AVENGERS #2

Written by RICK REMENDER

Art by JOHN CASSADAY & LAURA MARTIN