Oh, Of Course It’s That Guy: Reviewing ‘Uncanny Avengers’ #4

Time is quickly running out as Captain Krakoa makes his next move, while Orchis and the Uncanny Avengers are scrambling. Good thing Captain America seems to know just who they’re fighting behind that stolen mask.

Uncanny Avengers #4 brings the series one step closer to its big Fall Of X conclusion, thanks to Gerry Duggan, Javier Garrón, Morry Hollowell, and Travis Lanham. There are not enough face palms that can be given for this series right now. Turn back now if you don’t want to be (disappointed) spoiled.

Shocker not shocker, Captain Krakoa is just who some probably assumed he was. It might have been hard to figure out who he was if one only went by how over the top he was being written. That’s right, Captain Krakoa is Stevil, oh sorry the Hydra Steve Rogers/Captain America from the Secret Empire era. Guess we should have known when he got all hot and bothered for a Nazi two issues ago.

What began with such promise quickly became something far too familiar and with very little bite. All that talk about avenging mutants that were wiped out, imprisoned, or forced off Earth faded. Instead it’s just a typical story about chasing a shadowy bad guy with delusions of grandeur or something. The only bronze lining is that this doesn’t also come with another very ill-timed misguided inaccurate “I’m a great ally” speech from Captain America.

I swear, as a member of various marginalized groups, reading that speech aged me ten years.

Once again I have to point to just how disjointed this whole Fall Of X event feels. Characters are all smiley, horny, flirty, acting like freshman heroes when mutants are in the middle of an attempted genocide. Rogue/Quicksilver joke about racing for the second time in four issues. There is no actual threat, as stopping a nuke in the city is just typical old school shrug-able hero book stuff.

Avengers might be in the title but this is very much a Captain America book, since he’s both the hero and the villain. Rogue, the promoted supposed co-lead, is all but invisible in this book. Psylocke and Black Widow are here to do violent things while Quicksilver is reckless and busy flirting with Monet. Even Wade/Deadpool, who Duggan wrote superbly for years, feels sort of one-note background here.

Nothing about the Brotherhood/Mutant Liberation Front needed four issues. They were barely powered nuisances in most cases, dispatched quickly (as they should be) by the powerhouse team of Avengers. It’s like they spent issues toying with their food rather than just eating it. If this is how Krakoa is going out, I kind of wish they would bury it faster.

It’s such a weird departure from what Duggan did the first time he wrote this team in the past, but also his current X-work.

Since I’m being honest here, this feels like a waste for Garrón and Hollowell. They deliver some very solid, energetic, bright, fun artwork. A big hero book is for sure something they can and should be doing, but not this one.

Plenty of details and depth bring things to life, and the action scenes do have a lot of movement to them. Especially the stuff with Quicksilver, it does feel like he’s speeding around. All the spaces they are within feel actually defined and tangible, with the right amount of room. It helps that much of the panel perspective keeps us at their level, allowing us to be within the space with the characters.

Again, there are some spots where faces get wonky (almost cartoony) but overall it’s very solid.

As noted there is plenty of bright poppy colors, as there should be with heroes, but Hollowell also peppers in the right amount of darkness. There are some brutal scenes here (they do happen to Nazis though) but they are done in a way that speaks to how painful/bloody they are but not in a gory way. Garrón and Hollowell make sure it has weight but also feels lighter at the same time.

Characters have a lot of stuff to say. Some of it over the top, and some of it out of weird left field. Either way, Lanham does a solid job bringing those voices to life. Shifting bubbles, fonts, sizes, colors, etc to enhance the voices and give them uniqueness in personality. Plenty of colorful bold SFX that set the mood, and deepen the experience.

The Krakoa age began with a bang, and ends with a partial whimper. Sounds about (sadly) right.

Uncanny Avengers #4 is now available from Marvel Comics.