Avengers vs. X-Men #4: OMG, I love the fact that Hope, too, decided that Logan was the only person thinking straight! I mentioned in a comment on X-Man75's blog that I thought that Logan is the only person, at this point, with a plan. Cyclops has yet to articulate a way to help Hope handle the Phoenix Force and Cap doesn't seem to have any idea how to protect her from it. I might not agree with Logan that killing Hope is the only option, but he's the only one with a plan that addresses the issue. It seems that Hope herself acknowledges that here.
At first, I was furious with the idea that Logan would just give up his position that Hope was too dangerous to live and agree to help her see if she could control the Phoenix Force. I mean, Logan knows that the minute that the Phoenix touches Hope, she's going to be WAY too powerful for him to do anything if she loses control. So, I was thrilled when Hickman reveals that Logan, in fact, contacted the Avengers. I mean, I still raised an eyebrow that he decided not to kill her immediately, because I'm pretty sure that Logan's position on the threat that she poses hasn't changed. Hickman seems to be arguing that he has just backed off his position that she has to die and instead embraced Cap's view that she might be saved. To be honest, I think it would've been helpful for Hickman to explain why he changed his mind, particularly since we see that he still strongly believes that no one can control the Phoenix Force. But, overall, I concede that it makes it a little easier that we're now only dealing with two teams and not three (even if Logan was in and of himself a team).
My only real problem with this issue is that the events involving the Space Team don't match the events of "Secret Avengers" #26. In that issue, Thor recovers in the Avengers' ship while Phoenix redirects to the Kree's homeworld. So, either we've got a major continuity problem here when we see Thor crash into the moon with Phoenix hot on his heels, or we're seeing events that have yet to transpire in "Secret Avengers." Either way, it's really an unnecessary distraction. If it's the former, it makes you lose some suspension of disbelief, since both events can't happen at once. If it's the latter, it makes you wonder why bother getting the remaining issues of "Secret Avengers" since nothing particularly ground-breaking appears to happen.
On the plus side, Hickman addresses an issue that I mentioned last time, resolving the location of some of the missing Avengers and X-Men. Quake and Venom are now the only unassigned Avengers (as far as I can tell), and we seem to have a full accounting of the X-Men. (However, some members of the New Mutants and "X-Men" roster are missing. We see Nate briefly in this issue, but, as far as I'm aware, we haven't see Cypher, Dani, or Moonstar. In terms of the "X-Men" roster, I don't think we've seen Pixie yet.)
In terms of where we are in the story, I'm surprised that the Phoenix has presented itself so early. When Iron Man mentions that it was an estimated ten hours from Earth, I figured we'd have another five or six issues before it actually arrived. With eight issues left in the main mini-series, I wonder where we're going. Cyclops himself noted that the X-Men's only goal was to keep Hope free until the Phoenix arrived, which they manage to do. So, what happens now? I'm guessing Logan doesn't kill Hope next issue, so either Hope becomes the host for the Phoenix Force or we learn that it always intended to find another host (such as the Scarlet Witch, as numerous people have surmised). Either way, we still have a lot of issues left!
AVX:VS #2: I don't really know how to recap this issue. Cap and Gambit fight. Colossus and Spidey fight. It's awesome. 'Nuff said. Again, it's your call as to whether it's worth $3.99 a month, but I can't say that it isn't fun.
Avengers #26: OK, I have to say, so far, I've been impressed with how well the various books are connecting with the main event. "AVX:VS," "Uncanny X-Men," "Wolverine and the X-Men," and "X-Men Legacy" have all managed to flesh out moments that we briefly saw in the main mini-series in a way that gives you a deeper understanding of the overall story. These stories might not have been essential to understand the main plot, but they definitely give you a better sense of the event as a whole. For example, both "Wolverine and the X-Men" and "X-Men Legacy" fleshed out Bobby and Rachel's motivations for taking Scott's side; if you were just reading the main title, you'd probably be a little surprised by their sudden defection. Moreover, "AVX:VS" and "Uncanny X-Men" have given some more "screen-time" to the fights between iconic characters, given a better sense of just how deep the divide between both sides is. In so doing, no one has tripped on continuity; they've perfectly filled in the events happening between panels, going so far as taking the dialogue verbatim and expanding on it.
Then, we have "Avengers" and "Secret Avengers."
As I mentioned above, I think the scene that we see at the end of "Avengers vs. X-Men" #4 actually happens AFTER the entire "Secret Avengers" arc, a supposition that seems to be supported by the editor's note in this issue to see "Secret Avengers" #26-#28...despite the fact that we're only on #26. However, now, I'm not so sure. For example, the scenes inside the Avengers' ship seem to take place concurrent to, and shortly after, the scenes in "Secret Avengers" #26. We start "Avengers" #26 with Thor and War Machine recovering from the confrontation with the Phoenix in "Secret Avengers" #26, but end "Avengers" #26 with Thor taking on the Phoenix Force again, something that hasn't yet happened in "Secret Avengers" (but may happen in issue #27). Fine. That part could work, since it's not too much of a stretch to assume that Thor eventually heals sufficiently to take on Phoenix again. But, it's the Protector aspects of this story that make no sense. We ended "Secret Avengers" #26 with Ms. Marvel and the Protector encountering a resurrected Captain Marvel. So, unless the events of "Secret Avengers" #27 happen entirely between panels in this issue, it didn't make sense to me that the Protector appears on the ship examining Thor's hammer when, last I knew, he was sitting on a rock conspiring with Ms. Marvel. In fact, it seems like all of "Secret Avengers" #26-#28 happens within this issue, not before it.
As such, it seems bizarre that we're dedicating ANOTHER issue to the Space Team. After all, we only briefly saw the various Avengers teams confronting the various X-Men teams in the five locations where Hope might've been in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #4. "AVX:VS" #2 expands on some of these fights, as I think "Uncanny X-Men" #12 will. But, I feel like we had enough story there to get the "Avengers" title involved as well, particularly since "New Avengers" is in its own little world at this moment. "Secret Avengers" seemed to be adequately dealing with the Space Team; its inclusion in this series seems to muddy the waters unnecessarily, particularly since they were already muddied in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #4.
Uncanny X-Men #12: OK, right away, Gillen address one of my issues with "Avengers vs. X-Men" #3, which is that we weren't really shown how the X-Men not on the Extinction Team escaped. Here, we learn that they escaped one by one, rendezvousing with the Extinction Team at a set location. Cyclops gives a similar set of assignments as Captain America did in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #4, and we fully transition to the second round of fights between the two sides. It's not seamless, however. For example, how is She-Hulk at Tabula Rasa and Wolverine's school at the same time? According to the title page of "Avengers vs. X-Men" #4, only Luke and Thing should be in Tabula Rasa. Also, Boom Boom is sent to Wundagore Mountain with Magneto and Psylocke, but, in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #4, we don't actually see her there, in the intro roster or the issue itself. Instead, she's replaced by Angel and Iceman, and, I have to say, I hope we don't just move right past them joining Scott's side. We had two issues dedicated to their defection ("Wolverine and the X-Men" #11 and "X-Men Legacy" #266), but we so far haven't seen them joining the X-Men side. They, and Rachel, just suddenly appear in this issue. Given the number of tie-in issues, you think someone at some point would've taken the chance to show us that moment, because I think one of Scott's oldest friends and his future daughter re-joining his side has at least some potential to be a decent story. At this point, though, "Uncanny X-Men" continues to serve the same role as "AVX:VS," giving us some more details on the fights that we briefly see in the main mini-series. Unfortunately, It lacks the fun of "AVX:VS" and some of the drama of "Wolverine and the X-Men" and "X-Men Legacy," so I can't really say it's indispensable. But, it's not as random as "New Avengers" or as confusing as "Avengers" and "Secret Avengers," so I guess that's a plus.
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