Uncanny Avengers #17 Review – Peace for Bruce
Even in death, there is no peace for Bruce Banner. His body is barely cold in the ground before the Hand dig it up and resurrect it to send his zombie Hulk form on a rampage through Japan. Even without Steve Rogers, the Unity team a/k/a the Rogue Avengers knows they must stop the Hand and poor angry Hulk. Doctor Voodoo has the medicine to do so, but he needs time and he needs the Avengers to send this angry Hulk to a specific spot.
It has all the ingredients for a disaster recipe (or is that disasterpe?), but they have to try. The jolly green giant is running right toward a nuclear power plant, and if he reaches it, that certainly won’t go over well. The craziest part of this whole issue is the jarring fact that this team works even better without Steve Rogers. Oh we’re so close to stopping the Red Skull from brainwashing him, aren’t we?
We always knew this team would stop the Hulk in one way or another. What we didn’t know was when, be it this issue or three others down the road, and what would happen after “saving” him. Does that mean Banner is back to life? Does he go back to the grave? Is he lost forever and only the Hulk remains? For a series that has been rather comical, they are really able to heap on the emotion when it counts. I’ll never forget this look on Bruce’s face for as long as I live, when Dr. Voodoo taps into Bruce’s soul to release him from the Hand’s magic.
And I’ll leave all of it at that. How the team is able to get Hulk to this point is definitely worth reading yourself. This Duggan-Larraz team-up is simply brilliant in their plan and execution of their action storylines. Well, their storylines, period. I don’t think I’ve come across a bad panel yet.
Also, how can you not appreciate genius like this?
I do have to drop one more tidbit in here. In the aftermath of this issue, as Rogue’s inner monologue prepares us all for future arcs, a Civil War II spoiler is dropped that hasn’t been revealed in that series yet. The writers’ Google Calendars are definitely not in sync, because this one mention (that I will not spoil) hasn’t been even broached in the Civil War II series. That’s a big oops, Marvel.
Our Rating: YUS
Author: Gerry Duggan
Artists: Pepe Larraz and Steve McNiven
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Publish Date: 12/14/2016
Acquired via Purchase
