Here it is, the big wrap up for Marvel's huge summer event, Avengers Vs. X-Men. With a premise that seemed very much like Civil War, many were a little apprehensive when it was initially announced. However, the story for AvX was very much different that Civil War. Now, I'm not going to go play by play with this, as it would take me forever to write. I will, however, give my general opinion about the event as a whole.
Let me lead off by saying this: I was on the Avengers side. From the moment this event was announced, I sided with the Avengers, as I had more ties with them than I did with the X-Men. However, through the process of the book, I couldn't help but feel like the X-Men kept getting screwed over, being made to look like the villains of the event. I mean, it's obvious in issue #12 that one X-Man, Cyclops, is the true villain of the story with Emma Frost being the Harley Quinn to Cyclops' Joker. But, man, the X-Men got jipped during this event. Especially in the AvX: Versus book. Marvel had the Avengers winning fights they had no right winning, like Iron Man vs Magneto and Thing vs Namor especially, seeing as that fight happened under water. Namor should have kicked Thing's ass in that one yet the Avengers somehow one that one. Then there were fights that the X-Men won that the Avengers should have. The one specifically would be Colossus versus Spider-Man. I already wrote about this, but to recap my feelings about that fight: Spider-Man won that fight. I don't care what Marvel says, Spidey won. The only reason Colossus won was because Spidey fell back when it was revealed that Hope wasn't in Latveria (plus the X-Men needed a win, as they were winless up to that point).
Storywise, I really enjoyed the plot. Surprisingly, there really wasn't any bad issue or, really, a slow issue. Yes, there were issues where not as actiony as the others but those issues were the more personal, character driven ones. The hook of the Phoenix Five was definitely an interesting aspect. My favorite characters were, surprisingly, the two characters in the forefront towards the end of the event: Scarlet Witch and Hope. This strikes me as odd, because I've never really been a X-Men person (minus Wolverine), yet two of my three favorite characters for this event were mutants (the other one being, of course, Spider-Man). Both the characters emerged as new favorites of mine, especially Hope. I'm anxious to know where she ends up at in the Marvel NOW! era. I do kind of wish that Cyclops didn't go all villain on the Avengers, yet I understand why he needed to be pegged as the villain. Scott was already heading down the dark path, plus it gives the parallel between him and Jean. But the death of Professor X is what I had the most issue with. We all knew it was coming, but the death just felt cheap. True, it showed that Scott was the villain of the story, but we had known that since the Phoenix Five showed up. But the death was so quick and then they moved on just like that. I know that it is a staple in Marvel events for someone to die, but I really wish they broke that chain with this event. The story could have moved on just as well without Xavier dying.
For the first time in a Marvel event, there was a rotating cast of writers. The writing team for Avengers Vs. X-Men consisted of the usual suspects: Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, and Jonathon Hickman. You would think that having a rotating cast of writers for an event would be terrible, with each issue being different from the others. Shockingly, that was not the case. Each issue connected smoothly together. Most of the time, you could hardly even tell that the book switched writers between issues. Sure, there were times where you can tell which writer was writing the issue (notably Bendis and his Bendis speak) but 99% of the time everything was nice and smooth.
Artist-wise, the event had an A-list line up. The first five issues were drawn by John Romita, Jr., Olivier Coipel on issues #6, #7, and #11, and Adam Kubert on issues #8, #9, #10, and #12. Last, but certainly not least, Jim Cheung did the covers for all 12 issues, which were just spectacular. Before this event, I really only knew JRJR, as he has been a Spidey staple for the past few years. I knew a little bit of Coipel's work, but this event really opened my eyes to how amazing his and Adam Kubert's art is. Before this event, I don't believe I've ever seen Kubert's art, but man, was it nice to look at. I'm happy to see that Adam is going to be on the artist rotation for Jonathon Hickman's Avengers series. I'm equally as excited to see JRJR is going to be on Rick Remender's Captain America. However, I really, really want to know where Olivier Coipel is going to be in the Marvel NOW! era. His art was arguably the best in this event and he is primed to be Marvel's next superstar, go-to artist. So I just find it odd that he hasn't been announced on anything yet. Anyways, the art on Avengers Vs. X-Men was top class, and it really helped me enjoy this series even more.
When it came down to deciding my favorite issues of the event, two stuck out to me. Obviously, issue #9 was a favorite, as it was the issue that had Spider-Man in the spotlight. Seeing as Spidey is always the comedic relief in events as of late, it was great to see him actually do something in an event. The team of Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert did a fantastic job on this issue, as they show Spider-Man making the ultimate sacrifice: letting the Avengers escape with the members that were taken prisoner. Spider-Man takes on not just one, but two members of the Phoenix Five and puts up a fight, but eventually the fight turns bad for him, especially when Colossus basically breaks Spidey's face in. Yet, somehow, Spider-Man is able to get to Colossus and Magik, causing the two to take each other out, eliminating two more members of the Phoenix Five. Though it was a brutal issue for my favorite hero, it was also good to read him actually doing something in an event besides standing in the back making some quips about the current situation (which he did a couple times during the event). This was my personal favorite issue of the entire series, making me happy to be a Spider-Man fan. Also, Jason Aaron is welcome to write Spider-Man whenever he wants. He seems to be one of the few writers that actually gets the character and I would love to see him get a run on a Spider-Man book sometime in the future.
Though the Spider-Man centric issue #9 was my personal favorite, the best issue of the event was Avengers Vs. X-Men #6. Written by Jonathon Hickman and drawn by Oliver Coipel, this was without a doubt the best issue of the series, in both writing and art. Up until this point, the issues had been pretty well done; however, this was the perfect issue. It was the first issue that explored the newly minted Phoenix Five, as we got to see their powers in effect, with Coipel drawn pages that were just stunning. The pages where the Phoenix Five (minus Scott) are using their powers to eliminate the violent threats were just jaw dropping. Then you also had the excellent sequence where the Avengers infiltrate Utopia to grab Hope. We get the first fight between the Avengers and the Phoenix Five and, at first, you expect the Phoenix Five to mop the floor with the Avengers, just as they did before. However, the tides turn when the Scarlet Witch shows up, revealing that the Phoenix Five actually have some kind of weakness. The issue ends with the brilliant line delivered by Cyclops: "No more Avengers", setting the stage for an action-packed second act.
Overall, Avengers Vs. X-Men was a great mini-series. Not only was the story itself great, but many of the tie-in issues were of equal greatness as well. Ever since Civil War came out, Marvel has not put a mini-series that came close to its greatness. Avengers Vs. X-Men is the event that does just that; it is the best mini-series Marvel has put out since Civil War. Not only was it written extremely well, but it was drawn spectacularly as well. Initially, I wasn't so keen on this series when it was announced, but now I can look back and realize how silly those thoughts were. Hopefully, Marvel has learned something with this event; don't be afraid to have multiple writers on one project and to give Coipel more work. I personally had a few gripes here and there with the event, with Professor X's death being the big one, but besides that, I really had no problem with this event and I hope to see more events like this down the line.
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