Uncanny Avengers ends this week with its fifth and final issue. The identity of Captain Krakoa is revealed, and now it’s time to take him down. Gerry Duggan and Javier Garrón aim to entertain in big, needle-drop ways, and they mostly succeed. This series has largely been about mutants banding together with Captain America to do some good in the world and stop Orchis, but the threat has become something even Orchis can’t control anymore.
Uncanny Avengers #5 opens a handful of weeks prior as the man behind Captain Krakoa interacts with Dr. Stasis. It’s a bold move to put Stevil in the suit when he can barely be contained and ran an army last we saw him. This scene helps establish his racism towards mutants, leading to the story picking up where we left off. Captain America is down for the count, and the Avengers Unity Squad looks pretty beat.
This issue is mostly a Stevil vs. Avengers Unity Squad matchup, and Duggan and Garrón get all the team members involved. Characters like Psylocke and Penance make moves and help convey how powerful Stevil is in this battle. He’s just a superhuman man, but he’s tactical and powerful.
Two elements float to the top as to why this issue works so well: Deadpool and Rogue. There are multiple moments where Deadpool flings himself into the fray regardless of his safety or well-being. That is doubly true in an incredibly powerful scene. Leading to it is Rogue, who valiantly risks her own life to save the city. In a key moment, we see her rocketing into the sky, and the characters look proud of her for being so selfless.
This dude is super strong.
Credit: Marvel
This all builds towards a moment you have to see to believe. It involves a nuclear bomb and some fast thinking. Duggan gets to show off the teamwork of this crew while also revealing a rather clever way of dispatching a combo power. It’s also a deeply heartfelt moment between two characters. It’s so impactful that one can only imagine it’ll stay with them forever, which is saying a lot for legacy characters.
Garrón’s art is, as you’d expect, super clean and dynamic. It’s a style that suits Marvel Comics in general, and it looks great, especially with colors by Morry Hollowell. He’s clearly having the time of his life, rendering Deadpool in the most extreme ways, like biting a dude’s head or being blasted with green poison shots.
The issue ends with a rousing speech, which I think works better than the Steve Rogers speech earlier in the series. It’s, of course, twisted and bigoted, but it suits the character. It also builds towards a reveal of their new identity, which works.
The only thing that didn’t work for me in this issue was Steve saying, “Maybe she’ll survive.” Maybe it’s the way he’s drawn here, but it comes off like he’s giving up, which doesn’t seem like him. He’s the master tactician, shouldn’t he have come up with the plan to save her?
All in all, Uncanny Avengers is a great adventure with emotional moments you’ll adore. It leads to the creation of a new villain while giving Deadpool plenty of time to chew up the scenes. Sometimes literally!
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