“The moon’s dropping on us! Someone get an ocarina!
Uncanny Origins #3
Marvel Comics (November, 1996)
Archangel: “The Outsider”
WRITER: Matt Idelson
PENCILER: Dave Hoover
INKER: Bill Anderson
COLORIST: Bob Sharen
LETTERER: Jack Morelli
EDITOR: Mark Gruenwald
It’s the history of the Angel. Warren Worthington was born into a rich and loving family, was great at pretty much everything. Guys wanted to be his friend, girls wanted to be his girlfriend, but he felt oddly alienated. Then the wings started growing out of his back. Soon they were too big to hide and, after rescuing a fellow student from a burning building, moved to New York and became a superhero (because that’s where all the superheroes are in the Marvel Universe), calling himself The Avenging Angel. Professor X learns of his mutant heritage and wants to recruit him, but Cyclops and Iceman are forced to stop him when a whiff of his own gas gun messes with his head and he takes a device that turns out to be the prototype for a new explosive. Cyclops and Iceman manage to distract him enough that the professor can make mental contact, clearing his mind and directing him in getting rid of the bomb. Back to his old self, Warren joins the group and becomes a founding X-Man. The book also speeds through his time as Archangel after losing his wings and being transformed by Apocalypse before finding love with Psylocke.
What they got right: I like that a mutant gets superpowers and for once goes right into the crimefighting business. He also gets a really cool costume when he isn’t wearing the standard-issue X-duds, making a convincing case to not have an “official” uniform. I also like flying heroes, a contrast to my own fear of heights perhaps.
What they got wrong: So does his gas gun usually turn bad guys nice? Is he just allergic to his own gas gun and would others be? Also, they have him excelling at everything under the sun in order to make his fall that much more tragic but they kind of overdid it. There has to be something he couldn’t do. There’s also a panel where Warren looks less “loving” towards Psylocke and more smirking angrily.
Recommendation: I’m not really into the X-Men but what little I’ve seen of Angel I’ve always liked and this story stands well on its own even if it’s out of date by now with the character’s current events. It’s worth picking up.
BW Media Spotlight 
[…] “Yesterday’s” Comic> Uncanny Origins #3 […]
LikeLike