Monday, July 9, 2012

AvX #6 & 7

So the X-Men are still pretty much the bad guys, right? I mean, Cyclops is doing his best to maintain his boyscout status, but clearly, the rest of the Phoenix Five are not doing so well. I suppose Colossus might still be OK, since he hasn’t done anything, but Namor, Emma Frost, and Magik are all looking a lot like villains.

Emma Frost full-on torches Hawkeye, and while we know he survives, that’s got to be a pretty traumatic experience. I’m also amazed that Scarlet Witch retained her “break people apart/House of M powers.” She touches Namor and he makes like the Thing and crumbles! It’s an interesting twist that she’s the one Avenger the Phoenix Five fear, but c’mon, couldn’t we have seen a bit more of the reunion? This lady has been dead for a long time, and last I saw (in issue 0 of this very series) she was not on good terms with the team!

It’s amazing that with a 12 part series, I can still feel like I’m missing stuff. When did Namor and Emma start cheating on Cyclops? I guess the X-Factor and other X-people reunion happened off-screen somewhere, since Havok and Polaris are now clearly with the X-Men? It’s like I missed the pieces where Cyclops put his plan into action, and we’re already in the middle of it. This really feels like a series written by a bunch of different people. “I thought YOU were writing Cyclops’ master plan!”

There are some great elements in here. Black Panther is back where he belongs at the forefront of the Avengers. Tony Stark’s self-obsession is always entertaining. Captain America seems a lot more ragged than I can remember. As I said above, I really like Cyclops trying to toe the line and prove the X-Men are still a force for good.

(And we’ve got some wonderful set up for the next couple issues of Versus, no doubt about that.)

Olivier Coipel’s pencils are still an acquired taste, but I really like his stuff now. His Black Panther is simply awesome, and I love the cutaway shots of Utopia with Magneto floating serenely, guarding his kingdom. Best of all, Coipel’s Hawkeye actually looks pretty cool before he pulls a Johnny Storm.

It’s funny. I’m so clearly supposed to be cheering for the on-the-run Avengers that I find myself pulling for the X-Men. The Avengers had their chance!

Fair

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