Wolverine and the X-Men #11: I've previously mentioned how impressed I've been with how well "AVX:VS" and the three X-books have taken ideas and plots first introduced in the main mini-series and expanded on them in a way that blends together the main series and the supporting series perfectly, going so far as using the same battle sequences and dialogue bubbles to show where the tie-in issues fit into the main mini-series. Aaron perfects that approach here, filling in the gaps of Hope and Wolverine's journey from Antarctica to the Moon that we first saw in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #4. Their battle with the Shi'Ar death commandos feels like something that easily could've happened between panels ub "Avengeres vs. X-Men" #4 and shows why Wolverine decided not to kill Hope, a question that I felt that issue didn't really address. Here, we see that it's because he comes to realize that he can't kill a child. He mentions that he used to be able to kill anyone anywhere, but he realizes, given his dedication to the students at the school, that he's just not that guy anymore. It's a totally believable reason, showing his character's growth over the last few years. It explains why he hesitated in killing her in Antarctica and why he felt the need to call in the Avengers after the battle with the Shi'Ar. In fact, I feel like Aaron manages to show Logan's reasoning here better than he did in "X-Men: Schism," and it's always a thrill from me to see comic-book characters acting on sound human responses rather than complicated plot motivations. If you're only intermittently picking up tie-in issues, I'd highly recommend this one, because it really helps develop an important aspect of the ongoing plot of the main series. Aaron gets two thumbs up this time! (Yay, I like an issue of this series!)
X-Men Legacy #267: Gage continues to do the best job, to my mind, of showing the X-Men's side of the story. In fact, Rogue's troubles in assimilating Moon Knight and She-Hulk's personnas are all the proof that you need to see that Cap is off his rocker. You send the rage monster and the crazy guy on a delicate mission, with only the Falcon to supervise them? I mean, sure, as "Iron Man" and Rogue both note, Moon Knight and She-Hulk are more in control of their crazy and their rage, respectively, than Rogue would be, since they've had years to work on it. But, still, it seems pretty obvious that Cap could've maybe chosen two more diplomatic members of the Avengers roster for a job that, almost by definition, required a soft touch. I mean, Sam's a social worker, not a miracle worker. As Rogue says in this issue, the episode at the School shows how the Avengers view the X-Men as criminals, something that Scott has been arguing all along, though I haven't really seen as clear as an example of this position as I do here. (Though, it does now make me more sympathetic to Scott's assertion that bringing a Helicarrier full of Avengers to Utopia in case he refused to turn over Hope was maybe a little more aggressive than Cap needed to be if he actually considered them allies and not enemies. Of course, even if the Avengers are wrong in viewing the X-Men as criminals, it doesn't make the X-Men right in viewing Hope as a "savior," something that, at the end of the day, is actually the relevant issue at play.) Gage continues to do great work with Rogue here, showing her struggling -- and succeeding -- to confront her past as not only a criminal but as a mutant, as someone who couldn't control her powers. Her victory here not only shows how far she's come, but raises interesting questions about the future. Has she absorbed the personnas of the Falcon, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk permanently, as she used to do? Or, now that she's more in control of her powers, will she be able to find a way to divest herself of these personnas? The issue provides some great moments and reminds us that the X-Men are more emotionally invested in this fight than the Avengers are. All in all, an excellent issue.
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