Avengers vs. X-Men #3: Given this issue's focus on Cap, it makes sense that Brubaker wrote it. Anyone reading "Captain America" right now would recognize the Cap that we see here, a guy who's starting to question the world around him and struggling under the pressure of being the America' top cop. Brubaker underlines the pressure that Cap's feeling by having Tony draw parallels to his time at the top during "Civil War." Although I was 100 percent on Cap's side during "Civil War," Tony makes a pretty effective argument for why Cap has to stop and consider the black-and-white way that he's seeing the conflict, advice that Cap ultimately disregards. He can't help but be impatient with both Cyclops and Wolverine for defying him. Although it's understandable, his inability to control his anger over it forces him to make some questionable decisions. Brubaker implies that it's Cap's arrogance (or, at least, absolute belief in his position and the belief that other people would eventually come to his side) that leads him not to question Cyclops' surrender, a ruse that Wolverine immediately identifies. Moreover, it results in him jettisoning Wolverine, a decision that I think will ultimately prove costly to him in the long-term even if it made sense in the short-term. It's this moment where we see Cap the most unhinged and when Brubaker makes us realize that, between Cap and Cyke, no one is really playing with a full deck in this conflict.
On a negative side, for the anal-retentive reader like me, it becomes pretty apparent in this issue that the authors of the main mini-series will abandon the attempt to keep all the characters in play. For example, here, we see Cyclops and his Extinction Team leave Utopia, but we never really address where the rest of the X-Men are. For example, what happened to Domino, Magma, Psylocke, Sunspot, and Warpath? We saw them in action against the Avengers in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #2, but they disappear here. Did the Avengers actually capture them? (In addition, we never really got an explanation why they were in play in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #2 but other members of "New Mutants" and "X-Men" weren't.) In terms of the Avengers, we've got three active Avengers teams fully engaged, but we definitely drop some members as we go. By my reckoning, the following people are assignment-less after Cap's role call in this issue: Black Widow, Daredevil, Mockingbird, Quake, Thing, and Venom. I'm assuming Cap was including Daredevil, Mockingbird, and Thing in the "and his team" part when he said that "Luke Cage and his team" would be going to Tabula Rasa. But, given that other members of Luke's team -- like Daredevil, Dr. Strange, Iron Fist, Ms. Marvel, and Spider-Man -- are assigned other tasks, it's not entirely clear who Cap meant to be on Luke's team. Moreover, we still don't get assignments for Black Widow, Quake, or Venom, who seems like the type of folks that you'd want fully deployed in this scenario.
In the "Unknown" category, Brubaker raises the possibility that the X-Men (and, by extension, the Avengers) could suffer another schism after the dust settles. Rachel working with Scott is probably not going to sit all that well with Logan, particularly given his hostile reaction to Rogue calling Utopia for help during the Exodus arc. I think that we're likely to see a number of defections and, um, refections, but Brubaker makes it pretty clear that Marvel intends for a number of relationships to be strained as a result of this event.
At this point, I'm still intrigued where we go from here. One would presume that the events of "Secret Avengers" will, at some point, start to appear in the main mini-series, particularly as the Phoenix gets closer and closer to Earth. Moreover, with the initial skirmish between the Avengers and the X-Men over, I'm assuming that "Uncanny X-Men," "Wolverine and the X-Men," and "X-Men Legacy" are going to start playing a more vital role in the event than they have at this point. Fingers crossed that it's a good one.
New Avengers #26: I'm...not exactly sure what happens here. We continue to see more of this Hope-of-the-past, with the confusing addition of Leonardo da Vinci, faux Hope's successful evolution into the Iron Fist, and the imminent arrival of the Phoenix Force added to the mix. Bendis appears to be wrapping up this arc next issue (given that Hope and Spidey appear on the cover), so hopefully we'll learn why we care that the Phoenix once approach an avatar who looked like Hope at some point a few hundred years ago. Given that Cap assigned members of the New Avengers' regular cast to four of the five teams created in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #3, I have to say that I'm hoping Bendis has a good reason for taking us on this journey to the past and not setting up the adventures of one of these teams, other than giving Marvel the ability to slap an "Avengers vs. X-Men" banner on the front cover.
Wolverine
and the X-Men #10: OK, at some point, someone needs to tell us WHY
SCOTT THINKS THAT PHOENIX IS GOING TO SAVE THE MUTANT RACE! He AGAIN
says here that he believes that the Phoenix gave the mutants Hope.
Given my theory that Phoenix created Hope, I don't disagree with him.
But, I think Phoenix did it to help it build power to destory the Universe. Why would he think it had anything to do with saving the mutant
race? Destiny's prophecy said that Hope would save mutantkind...or
destroy lives. At this point, we've seen no reason why Scott thinks
it's the former and not the latter. Given that Scott isn't exactly a
blind optimist, it's really hard to believe that he's banking on Hope
being a savior and not a destroyer just because he wants to believe it.
Without that explanation, then we're all left to believe what Logan
says here, that Scott merely wants a weapon of mass destruction in his pocket to scare the
world into respecting mutants. As such, is it any wonder that so many of
us are having troubles taking the X-Men's side? It would be a little
easier to see the X-Men's point if we knew that Cyclops had a reason for believing Hope
held the potential to restart the mutant race. Without it, it's hard
not to agree with Logan that it's a power play.
One of the drawbacks of this issue is that it felt excessively talky to me. Aaron tries to cram a LOT of conversation into one issue, from Scott's confrontation with Logan (which weirdly happens as they roam around the school) to Bobby and Rachel's defection at the end (upping the possibility that, whatever happens, the post-"Avengers vs. X-Men" world isn't going to look like it does now). He might've been able to make it work had he not also crammed in the odd Angel/Genesis sub-plot, which I assume was needed to get Angel to go with Bobby since he'll play some sort of future role in this event. At some point, I just started reading as fast as I could just to get to the end. Given that it was my eighth "Avengers vs. X-Men" issue of the day, I acknowledge that it could've just been event fatigue. But, something about the issue lacked heart to me, feeling more like a story that came from Aaron's need to make sure the characters ended the issue in a certain place than one that showed the characters reaching a decision organically based on the events of the issue.
X-Men Legacy #266: I shouldn't be surprised that Gage gives us the most nuanced view of the Avengers/X-Men conflict, given the great work that he's been doing on this title lately. First, he clarifies why Scott thinks that the Phoenix can save mutantkind. At some point, in one of the other issues reviewed here (though I don't remember which one), someone mentioned that Rachel was able to control the Phoenix Force, something Rachel herself notes in this issue. Gage makes it clearer than I think other authors have that i'ts the issue of control that forms the core of the dispute between the Avengers and the X-Men. The X-Men say she can, the Avengers say she can't. The problem is that it still doesn't convince me that Cyclops is right. Sure, Falcon and his team are dicks here, essentially treating the Institute faculty as potential criminals despite the fact that they had already decided not to get involved in the ongoing conflict. Sure, Cap might've been too quick to confront the X-Men in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #1, arriving with a helicarrier full of Avengers ready to kick ass. I'm not saying that the Avengers are totally blameless. But, I've got two problems with the X-Men's position. First, particularly in this issue, we see people like Iceman and Rachel frame the dispute in terms of their struggle for respect. However, even if Hope rekindles the mutant race, it's not likely to be any stronger than it was before Wanda reduced its population to 200. Given that they weren't exactly treated well before Wanda did so, why do they think that everything is going to be magically OK once they're reborn? Second, and most importantly, at the end of the day, the X-Men are still willing to bet the lives of everyone on Earth -- including the mutants -- that they're right. If they're wrong, it means that Hope can't control the Phoenix Force and will likely destroy the entire planet, including the mutants who live on it. How is that supportable behavior? I mean, sure, Rachel managed to control the Phoenix Force, but Jean couldn't. We've basically got a 50/50 track record when it comes to red-heads controling the Phoenix Force. But, the X-Men are willing to bet the Earth that a 15-year-old girl can manage it? Bobby and Rachel still frame their departure from the school in terms that ignore this problem, deciding to embrace belief over reality. When you strip away the discussion of the X-Men as the disrepected minority, the complaints about the Avengers as the aggressive majority, you're still left with the X-Men taking an irresponsible position that seems likely to have disasterous repercussions. I'm increasingly worried that Marvel is going to make Hope a savior, and we're going to have to live with the X-Men being insufferable about it for a long, long time. Returning to the issue at hand, Gage infused their issue with the heart that I felt that "Wolverine and the X-Men" #11 was lacking. His characters act in ways that I'd expect them to act, from Frenzy provoking Moon Knight to attack her to Rogue in the end deciding not to be a pushover. After "Avengers vs. X-Men," I can easily see this title being the only core book I actually get.
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