Uncanny Avengers (2015) #1 Review

 COUNTER-EVOLUTIONARY PART 1

From the ashes of AXIS an all-new, all different Avengers assemble!

The tragedy at the end of AXIS has left the Uncanny Avengers vulnerable, and someone is taking advantage of it.

One of the Avengers oldest foes returns with a terrible secret that will, all hyperbole aside, shatter the lives of two members of the squad.

What is Counter-Earth? What terrible secrets does it house?

The Good

Art- Daniel Acuna’s art looks awesome on every single page! I dig it!

Cover– This is one slick, sexy beast of a cover! Logo on the top left corner, issue number on the right, the team is a series of awesome poses coupled with delicate yet intricate coloring make this quite the little beauty.

Summary– The Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver, still reeling from the revelation that Magneto is not their father venture to counter Earth to locate the High Evolutionary. They are taken down by a mysterious foe. On Earth Rogue gathers Sabertooth, Captain America, Dr. Voodoo and Vision to track down the twins. At Wundagore the team realizes the twins are on counter Earth. While Dr. Voodoo starts to teleport them he is attacked by a sentry who renders him unconscious and unfocused as the team are transported. They all land on Counter Earth, separated.

Team– All hail this fantastic team! Once upon a time I was a fan of the Scarlet Witch until the HOM debacle. I’ve enjoyed her attempt at being a hero once more though real world logic would dictate she be killed on sight but hey, suspension of disbelief and all that! She flip flops between being a hero and villain based on what  We also have Rogue, the power stealing thief and former villain, now she has Wonder Man’s powers right now due to fallout from the first Uncanny Avengers title. Vision, the original version and long time on again off again love interest to the witch, is present and accounted for. Victor Creed is also here after his change during Avengers and X-men-AXIS. My man Doctor Voodoo is also here thanks to a return from the great beyond in AXIS. All New Captain America in all his glory and Quicksilver is also here. I must say I dig the line up allot. Only Grant Morrison’s New X-men and Uncanny X-men volume two, which showcased the extinction team have me as excited as this line up.

The Bad

Cliche– So we get the old “something goes wrong during the magic spell trope”, seriously? Didn’t we just get the banal AXIS for that exact reason? The house of ideas must be saving the big ideas for some other time because they have beat this dead horse so much the damn bones are turning to dust.

Leash– I never quite get PIS (plot induced shit) writing where some characters never have to deal with consequences of their actions and others do. In this issue we have Creed leashed by Dr. Voodoo despite him now being “good”. Yet I don’t recall Scarlet Witch needing any type of leash despite being more of a threat than Creed on is worst day. I don’t get it!

The Ugly

The bottom line is this issue did not meet my lofty expectations. It has a great cast, great art, slick cover but the finale product is just a hollow and lifeless husk of what could have been. It’s not all bad but it has nothing that would make me scream “run out and buy it”. I give Uncanny Avengers #1 2015 2.5/5 stars