Uncanny Avengers Annual # 1

"Avengers of the Supernatural!"

Cover Date: June 2014

On Sale Date: April 2014

Writer: Rick Remender

Artist: Paul Renaud
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Paul Renaud
Editors: Tom Brevoort & Daniel Ketchum
Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso

Cover Artist: Arthur Adams
 

In the Mojoverse, a dimension controlled via television broadcasts and mind-control, a group of TV executives have brought former ruler Mojo in to pitch them ideas for a new show to broadcast throughout the multiverse. Mojo reveals to them his idea for the "Avengers of the Supernatural", consisting of the kidnapped and brainwashed Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange, Blade, Satana, Manphibian, and Man-Thing. The executives listen to the pitch, requesting that the real Avengers be featured as well.

At Avengers Mansion, the team of heroes (consisting of Captain America, Wasp, Havok, Rogue, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Sunfire, and a very drunk Wolverine and Thor) are having a relaxing day inside their home and outside at the pool. Suddenly, Ghost Rider bursts through the wall on his hellcycle, grabbing both Thor and Wolverine as he crashes through the back of the house. He throws Wolverine into his poolside teammates and slaps a slaver strip to Thor's forehead, instantly transporting him to Mojoworld. Before the Avengers can gather their wits, they are attacked by the other brainwashed supernatural heroes. Each of the Avengers are defeated in turn and sent to Mojoworld, leaving only Captain America as the last hero to fall.

On Mojoworld, Mojo directs his newest hit show (titled "Martian Transylvania Super Hero Mutant Monster Hunter High School"), which has cast the enslaved Avengers as high school jocks, the mutants as punks, and the monsters as nerds. High school drama unfolds, what with the Scarlet Witch having broke off her relationship with Thor. The TV executives order Mojo to "turn Ghost Rider evil", which forces Mojo to introduce a plot twist to his show. Wanda goes to visit the monster nerds and asks about Johnny Blaze. Dr. Strange tells Wanda that Blaze is cursed by a demon and that she will become his victim. Wanda professes her love for Johnny and runs out of the library, where Blaze waits for her in the street on his motorcycle. When Wanda tells Johnny that she's pregnant, however, it breaks the enslavement on him and he loses control of the Ghost Rider. The Spirit of Vengeance breaks free of the set, setting the other heroes free from the slaver spell, and rides away demanding vengeance. The Scarlet Witch confronts Mojo, telling him that his tampering has shut down Blaze's control of the Ghost Rider, driven it mad, and sent it out into the Mojoverse. Without Blaze to temper it, the Rider will seek vengeance on all life, everything viewed as a sin through its eyes.

Recognizing that the citizens of Mojoverse are guilty of gluttony and greed through their addiction to television, Ghost Rider soars through the air to land atop the artificial moon hanging low in the sky. Using his vantage point, Ghost Rider unleashes his Penance Stare down upon the city, driving all of the inhabitants mad with reliving their sins and misdeeds. While Dr. Strange is able to protect most of the heroes from the Penance Stare, the Man-Thing bursts into flame in empathic agony. They devise a plan for Satana to rip the Ghost Rider free from Blaze and take it into herself, hopeful that once he's regained control Johnny will take the Spirit back. The Avengers attack, but not even Thor is able to stop the Ghost Rider, who grows to giant-size during the battle. Satana is unsuccessful in stopping the Spirit of Vengeance, but the Man-Thing envelops the Rider in an attempt to stop the anguish the creature is feeling. Scarlet Witch distracts the Ghost Rider long enough for Rogue to grab him, absorbing the Spirit of Vengeance into herself and freeing Blaze. She begs Johnny to take the Spirit back, and though he does hesitate, he finally admits that no one should bear the curse but him and becomes the Ghost Rider again.

Dr. Strange teleports the heroes back to Earth, and when Blaze starts to become morose about being the Ghost Rider once again, the Wasp pushes him into the pool. The other Avengers jump into the pool as well, while an unhappy Blaze floats in the water and broods.

"Rebel Without a Soul"

THE ROADMAP

Outside of a 1-panel cameo in Wolverine and the X-Men # 20, Johnny Blaze last appeared in Ghost Rider (2011) # 9. He appears next in Thunderbolts (2013) # 20.

The Spirit of Vengeance inhabiting Johnny Blaze is the demon Zarathos, as revealed in Ghost Rider (2011) # 4.

Blaze recently relinquished the curse of the Ghost Rider to a new host, a young woman named Alejandra Jones, in Ghost Rider (2011) # 0.1. He realized his mistake and reclaimed the Spirit of Vengeance in Ghost Rider (2011) # 9.

CHAIN REACTION

Rick Remender and Paul Renaud smash together the Avengers, the X-Men, Mojo, Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange, and a bunch of other Marvel Monsters to create one hell of a fun comic.

Remender is a writer that seems to be very polarizing for fans. On the one hand, he's written the near-universally acclaimed Uncanny X-Force series and the much-loved Flash Thompson revamp of Venom...but then on the other hand, he tends to take the piss with some of his projects, like with the Punisher and its transformation under his pen into Franken-Castle. He also tends to be really obnoxious towards his critics, as with the "Franken-Castle" deal and in the Uncanny Avengers series itself (see his reactions to the criticism for Havok's "don't call me a mutant" speech in an earlier issue of the series). All that said, I tend to like what the guy produces, I think he's an excellent writer on his best days and an interesting one on his worst. I stuck with Uncanny Avengers up through the first 11 issues, and dropped it more out of monetary than quality concerns.

Of course, one sure fire way to get me to pick a series up again is to have Ghost Rider make an appearance, and this Annual doesn't disappoint. Outside of the original Longshot series from the 1980s by Ann Nocenti and Art Adams, I've never really cared much for Mojo and the usual trappings that accompany them. This story has the usual focus on mass media and its effects on people, but Remender takes it way further than most writers before him by making the commentary as blatant as humanly possible. You have the TV executives calling viewers out on their stupidity and desire to latch on to things they only pretend to understand (slyly name-dropping the show "Lost", which gave me a laugh) and you have the bit at the end where Remender essentially calls himself out as a lazy writer that wraps things up with as little explanation or resolution as possible. I think it's pretty brilliant, but I can see people not getting the joke (or getting the joke and becoming angry, because they're the target).

I was actually surprised by how much Ghost Rider was involved, though it was to the detriment of the other monster characters. While Dr. Strange, Satana, and Man-Thing all have roles to play, I can't figure out what the purpose was for including Blade and Manphibian other than to pad out the roster. Remender's Ghost Rider (and Johnny Blaze) are written damn near perfectly, though. It reminds me a lot of that classic Jim Shooter Avengers issue where Ghost Rider stomps his way through the Avengers, Remender's Ghost Rider is appropriately a supernatural juggernaut that not even Thor can stop. I love it when writers recognize just how powerful a character the Rider is, whereas a lot of creators treat him as a B-lister in comparison to his more popular fellow heroes. The most entertaining part of the comic, by far, is the sequence with the heroes as part of Mojo's TV show. Seeing Thor talk like a dumb jock and Blade saying "glavin!" was hilarious.

I'm not overly-familiar with artist Paul Renaud, I don't think I've ever encountered his work before, but damn if he doesn't knock it out of the park on this issue. His layouts and character work are clear and choreographed well, and though there's a bit of the Marvel house style in his work (possibly to try and line up with the work John Cassaday did on the series?) it still looks great. His Ghost Rider, in particular, looks fantastic.

So, regardless of how you feel about Remender's past work, I highly recommend Ghost Rider fans to pick this comic up. I thought it was great!

Not so cocky now, are you, Rogue?