U.S.Avengers #1 Review: Land Of The...$kullocracy?


U.S.Avengers is a tribute to America, both the good and the bad aspects. I appreciate this, not only because the history of my country is a nuanced and controversial subject, with an equally controversial history, but also because I wouldn't really appreciate a "Rah, rah, rah! 'MURICA!" story at this moment in time.

This is best demonstrated at the beginning of the issue, where a heartfelt monologue by Roberto Da Costa immediately cuts to a group of villains espousing precisely the opposite of what he just said. The group is meant to be the polar opposite of what he stands for. The U.S.Avengers are about the optimism of America and the freedom to be who you are and help others. They are a diverse range of heroes. The villains?
Yeah...this is definitely because of the election. Remember, Earth-616 follows real-world politics.
Yup. Honestly, we don't see a lot of them, save for the opening battle. They're terrorists, but that's mainly it. It remains to be seen if they will appear again in later issues. On the other hand, our main antagonist for the evening is the Golden Skull. Man, how many characters are there with different variations on that name? We have Blazing Skull, the Red Skull, his daughter Sin, numerous Red Skull impersonators, and even Green Skull! What's next? After IDW and DC are done with Justice League/Power Rangers, will Bulk and Skull make a guest appearance? In all seriousness, he seems like a cool villain, with a wealth of material to mine if the intent truly is to parody Trump.

In between the battle, prerecorded video footage of each member of the team is shown, helping to simultaneously explain who they are to the in-universe audience and to anyone reading the comic. For the most part, they succeed in introducing the characters without requiring any prior knowledge. It doesn't work as well for Enigma or Cannonball, making some research necessary.

Still, for a first issue, it's very good. Al Ewing is one of the greatest comic book writers in the genre, and I hope that the next issue contains more of his trademark humor and action. At the very least, the short teaser for future events after the issue ends seems to indicate so. I hope that when Danielle Cage, otherwise known as the Captain America of the year 20XX arrives, there's some weird reference to when Squirrel Girl used to be her nanny. Definitely check it out!

U.S.Avengers is written by Al Ewing and drawn by Paco Medina. You can find it at your local comic book shop.

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.