Quick Reviews: Avengers vs X-Men

New Avengers #25 by Brian Michael Bendis & Mike Deodato

Hundreds of years ago, The Master Yu Ti foresaw a redheaded girl who would wield the power of the Phoenix. He locates the redhead from his dreams and decides that she will be K’un Lun’s next Iron Fist.

GOOD: K’un Lun isn’t a corner of the Marvel Universe I get to visit much.

BAD: It’s part of an attempt to tie the Iron Fist to the Phoenix force. I have two problems: 1) if Danny was connected, where was he the last 20 times the Phoenix force wreaked havoc on the Earth and 2) if you repeatedly fight an omnipotent cosmic being that rarely kills anyone, how serious am I supposed to take the threat? Phoenix only seems to decimate inhabited worlds we’ve never heard of.

VERDICT: Another useless tweak to continuity that only muddles the mythology.

Avengers vs X-Men #1-3 by Ed Brubaker & John Romita Jr.

The Phoenix force is coming and the Avengers and the X-Men agree that it’s coming for Hope. But they disagree on each other’s course of action. Cyclops wants to see what happens while the Avengers want to keep the Phoenix away from Hope. So of course they’re going to throw down to see who gets their way.

GOOD: Nice to see dissenting opinions on each team and conversations like Iron Man asking Cap if taking down the X-Men is the right move.

BAD: It’s tough to buy the premise since the Phoenix force isn’t new to the Marvel Universe. If this was the first time it had been to Earth, I would agree with both teams and understand why they’re overreacting. Instead of the Avengers forming a plan, they should have gone to offer support to the X-Men. Even if they win and get Hope, they’re exhausting themselves and their resources (especially if one of them gets injured) and they’ll need all the help they can get if the Phoenix force tries to destroy the world. Also, I don’t like the drama with Wolverine and Cap kicking him off a Quinjet. It doesn’t make sense that, with the resident experts on the Phoenix force in the wind, you would willingly lose one of the last experts you had access to (he still has Beast).

VERDICT: It’s a crossover for no other reason than to have one. It doesn’t add to the mythology and pours another layer of crazy to the relationships of these characters that will be glossed over when a writer wants Iron Man to team up with the X-Men or the X-Men to appear in Captain America. I don’t know how it will end but here’s an early prediction – the Phoenix force will come, it will inhabit Hope, the Earth will be safe, and the Avengers and X-Men will shake hands and go their separate ways. Not interested. The first three were enough for me. I didn’t read Schism and I’m not reading this either. I’m still into Ultimate X-Men and Astonishing X-Men though.

VS: The Avengers vs The X-Men #1 by Kathryn & Stuart Immonen, Jason Aaron & Adam Kubert

This limited series goes deeper into the fights you don’t get to see in the main Avengers vs X-Men issues. In this issue, Iron Man battles Magneto and Thing goes toe-to-fin with Namor.

GOOD: Iron Man vs Magneto was a really interesting read. Even though Tony came prepared to handle Magneto, Magneto still has a lot of surprises up his sleeve. It was a good fight and, considering Tony came prepared, it ended how it should have.

BAD: Thing vs Namor? Seriously? We needed a deeper view into a battle that has been fought over and over again over the last 50 years? I can’t think of two older enemies or a more uninteresting fight. It would have been awesome to see Magik take Strange out on her turf but we got Thing vs Namor instead. Oh, and some of the “AvX Fun Facts” were informative but the ones meant to be funny undercut how grave the battles were supposed to be in light of what was at stake.

VERDICT: It’s an okay attempt at a tie-in mini that’s not another boring ‘Frontline’ mini. Some of the fights could be really fun but considering this issue, I would expect a 50/50 chance of enjoying one of the stories in each issue.

Quick Reviews

Avengers Assemble #1-2 by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley

The movie-lineup roster of Avengers goes up against a group known as the Zodiac.

GOOD: Bendis & Bagley are consistently amazing together. Bendis writes a story that easily teams the movie lineup of Avengers without making it seem forced and while making that story actually exist in the mainstream Marvel Universe continuity. Mark Bagley effortlessly delivers page after page of fantastic artwork (what else is new?).

BAD: Nothing yet.

VERDICT: It’s a little lighter in tone from the other Avenger titles on the stand which makes it stand out to me. It might be a new fan’s gateway to the Marvel Universe. It’s a fun read and I look forward to picking up the trade paperback.

Amazing Spider-Man #683 by Dan Slott & Stefano Caselli

Spidey and the Avengers go up against the Sinister Six and come up short.

GOOD: Spidey punching ‘Al Gore’ and the many cool gadgets in his armor.

BAD: These aren’t fair criticisms since this is part 2 of an arc I don’t have part 1 of. I didn’t know how Spidey got armor or how Doctor Octopus is holding Earth hostage.

VERDICT: I will get this TPB. The Avengers vs The Sinister Six with Doc Ock dying? Dan Slott usually doesn’t disappoint and I bet, in context, this issue will be great when read with part 1.

Avengers Academy #27-28 by Christos Gage & Karl Moline

Chase’s psychic connection to Old Lace is active but the team saw her die. The Runaways’ search for Old Lace takes them to Avengers Academy and to another dimension. But if Henry Pym and Tigra have their way, the juveniles of the group will be taken away to be raised somewhere safe.

GOOD: I’ve loved the Runaways since their first appearance. While they pop up in books around the Marvel Universe, the stories vary in quality. While the story might first appear pretty standard, when Henry and Tigra argue with the team about taking Molly & Klara away, Reptil suggests Nico use magic to make everyone there understand everyone else’s point of view. This leads to the last 10 pages of #28 packing a lot of emotional impact and giving each team a deep connection one another. And I love that Old Lace is back – she’s all Chase had to remember Gertrude by. It’s a great story and one all Runaways fans should read.

BAD: I’m not generally an Avengers Academy fan so at first I only cared that the Runaways were in it (though between this and X-23’s appearance, Avengers Academy has been pretty good and might deserve a serious look).

VERDICT: I’m absolutely getting the TPB volume that includes this story.

Supurbia #1 by Grace Randolph & Russell Dauterman

A neighborhood of superheroes, secret identities, and scandalous secrets.

GOOD: Great introduction to all the various characters who skew their archetypical roles (like Batsu, a Wonder Woman-like warrior who is serious, deadly, and raising three normal children).

BAD: Nothing yet.

VERDICT: I think it’ll be worth getting a few more before deciding on getting the TPB. I like regular superhero books but I also like a little soap opera drama and, in the absence of Noble Causes, this book is poised to take its place.

Fairest #1 by Bill Willingham & Phil Jimenez

Ali Baba, Prince of Thieves, discovers a bottle but instead of a genie, it contains a bottle imp. When the imp promises to locate treasure, he directs Ali Baba to a camp full of goblins where he must wake a sleeping woman with a kiss.

GOOD: A few Firefly references were very welcome. A good, solid story that was very entertaining.

BAD: I quit Fables long ago – that means I got bored of it. But this book is good which means I might have to re-explore Fables. And that could be expensive.

VERDICT: Good story + Adam Hughes cover = I’ll pick up the next few issues.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #6 by Scott Lobdell & Kenneth Rocafort

When Red Hood is hurt on a mission, a mysterious orange woman helps him recover. This is the story of how Red Hood meets Starfire.

GOOD: Great story and dialogue. A fun first meeting between 2 heroes that doesn’t start out in a misunderstanding where the two fight each other which is a nice change of pace. The story really dives into who these two are people and how they relate to their pasts.

BAD: I was initially pretty irritated at the first two issues of this series. I thought Starfire was badly written and severely mishandled. I was obviously mistaken.

VERDICT: It might be worth picking up the first TPB of the series to give this series a fair look. It might be that I’ve overlooked a fantastic title (it wouldn’t be the first time).

Daredevil #10 by Mark Waid & Paolo Rivera

The Mole Man empties a cemetery looking for the body of a woman he once knew. Unfortunately for him, one of those bodies is Matt Murdock’s father.

GOOD: Good story that stays true to Matt’s core values, emphasizing justice and law over revenge.

BAD: For a guy who commands all kinds of fearsome creatures, Mole Man is mostly alone. And his fighting skills are almost Daredevil-level? WTF?

VERDICT: I’ve been hearing great things about this title and this story suggests I should pick up a few more issues and give it a chance.

The New Avengers #24 by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato, and Will Conrad

The Avengers #25 by Brian Michael Bendis and Walt Simonson

The Avengers & The X-Men are about to have throw down in a big way. These two issues delve into life right before everything hits the fan.

GOOD: Good stories.

BAD: It sucks that a lot of the Avengers/New Avengers tie in issues don’t have much to do with the main event. If it starts with the Avengers about to go at The X-Men or in mid-battle and then cuts away for some side adventure that has nothing to do with the event on the cover, it’s irritating.

VERDICT: I’m a huge fan of both titles and will still get the hardcovers, I just wish during the actual events, the stories were more about that event. Actually, I wish Marvel would take a year off from ‘events’ and get back to telling stories.