Avengers vs. X-Men #9: After not much really happening to advance the overall plot in the last two issues, Aaron regroups, giving us a character-driven issue that manages to move us to a new status quo and remind us why Dr. Strange said of Spidey in "Amazing Spider-Man" #641, "The boy is truly the best of us."
Before I get to the plot, Aaron resolves (more or less) one of my main gripes with the last few issues by specifically identifying the Avengers who've been captured by the Phoenix Five (now Four). It appears that Black Widow was captured in Indonesia in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12, despite no one actually mentioning that she was at the time. However, despite Rachel saying Giant Man was captured in that issue, he apparently wasn't, since he appears injured in this issue. I had thought that Emma Frost captured Thor in "AVX:VS" #4, but he appeared free in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #8. Here, we learn that he was captured, but by Colossus and Magik. Quicksilver was allegedly captured in
"Wolverine and the X-Men" #12, but forget that he was for "Avengers vs.
X-Men" #7 and #8. I guess he remembered here. Even though Aaron resolves the issue, I'm still annoyed by such a level of narrative sloppiness since, as I've often said, if I can keep track of who the Phoenix Five have imprisoned, someone who gets money to produce and edit these stories should also be able to do so. But, by drawing a line under the issue and telling us definitively who's been captured, Aaron at least lets us find our own ways to reconcile these annoying discrepancies (reality warp?) and moves past the awkward contradictions.
To begin, I think that it was a great decision to establish Spider-Man as our lens for this issue. After reading this issue, I realized that the problem with the last two issues is that they tried to cover too much ground and juggle too many characters. In doing so, they actually managed not to cover all that much ground and to treat the characters as virtually indistinguishable from one another. In the first instance, the Avengers are still on the run from the X-Men with no real idea on how to change the game; they mostly just bemoan their circumstances. In the second instance, when Ben Grimm noted at the end of last issue that the Avengers expended all their energy against Namor but barely defeated him, his words easily could've been uttered by virtually any other member of the team. Even Captain America has been reduced essentially just to barking orders, with no real effort to give us an insight into his thinking.
By putting Spidey front and center, Aaron is able to move us through the events that happen in the issue much more quickly, since he's not burdened by having to also provide other characters' perspectives at the same time. Moreover, by focusing on just one character, we get that emotional connection to the story that we've been missing. He builds off the work that Bendis did with Spidey in "New Avengers" #27, making us initially think that his role in this issue was going to have something to do with inspiring Hope. It does, in a way, but not in the way you think.
I've read Spider-Man a long time, and I have to say that Aaron writes a pretty great Spider-Man. Some authors treat Peter's sense of humor as a sign that he's not serious, but Aaron gets that his quips are his way of expelling nervous energy. As such, he uses Pete's inner monologue to show his more serious thoughts. Here, Peter realizes that he has a responsibility to show Hope what he meant about waiting for her moment. It's classic Spidey, because he's driven not only by his responsibility as a member of the Avengers, but also his responsibility as a mentor to Hope. As such, beyond just saving the Avengers, I'm hoping that we see it inspire Hope. (Speaking of the quips, though, can I just say how please I
was with the "Karate Kid" reference? I mean, I know that it was
obvious, but, the minute that I saw Hope balancing those buckets, I just
knew Spidey was going to make a "Karate Kid" joke. Thank you, Jason
Aaron, for making that happen.)
In addition to writing a great Spidey, Aaron also manages to do a better job than some of the other authors in setting the mood. You really got the sense of desperation that is driving the Avengers at this point. We see Captain America commething that he estimated that the Avengers only had a week or so before the Phoenix Four would defeat them and Spidey taking his action in Limbo because he thought that they weren't going to survive. It's pretty seriously grim. As I previously said, at this point we had mostly just seen the Avengers bemoaning their circumstances. Here, Aaron makes their worries a lot more real. On the other side, he's also the first author in the main title to show us the Phoenix Four really cracking under the strain. I have to say that using Colossus and Magik against each other was brilliant. "Wolverine and the X-Men" #14 really set up this conflict well, given that we've already seen Peter succumb to his darkest impulses. It's not hard to see where Magik was going to be negatively influenced by Phoenix. It makes sense that the two of them were ready to go after each other to get more power. (I mean, how creepy was Colossus giving whales legs?) The fact that Aaron has Spidey be smart enough to play them against one another was just icing on the cake. Moreover, although we've seen Emma acting particularly...Emma over the last few issues, Aaron makes it clear that it's much worse than we thought and humanizes her by making her realize the same.
Part of what makes the prospect of next issue so exciting is realizing the extent to which the authors have turned our expectations on their head. When we started this series, I assumed that it would be everyone fighting Hope. But, when Cyclops arrives in K'un Lun, you can see Hope replay the words Peter that said to her in her head. As a result, I really, really want her to decide that her "moment" has come and to beat Cyclops to a bloody pulp. It's not where I'd thought we would be at issue #9, and I really tip my hat to the authors for making it feel organic.
In addition to writing a great Spidey, Aaron also manages to do a better job than some of the other authors in setting the mood. You really got the sense of desperation that is driving the Avengers at this point. We see Captain America commething that he estimated that the Avengers only had a week or so before the Phoenix Four would defeat them and Spidey taking his action in Limbo because he thought that they weren't going to survive. It's pretty seriously grim. As I previously said, at this point we had mostly just seen the Avengers bemoaning their circumstances. Here, Aaron makes their worries a lot more real. On the other side, he's also the first author in the main title to show us the Phoenix Four really cracking under the strain. I have to say that using Colossus and Magik against each other was brilliant. "Wolverine and the X-Men" #14 really set up this conflict well, given that we've already seen Peter succumb to his darkest impulses. It's not hard to see where Magik was going to be negatively influenced by Phoenix. It makes sense that the two of them were ready to go after each other to get more power. (I mean, how creepy was Colossus giving whales legs?) The fact that Aaron has Spidey be smart enough to play them against one another was just icing on the cake. Moreover, although we've seen Emma acting particularly...Emma over the last few issues, Aaron makes it clear that it's much worse than we thought and humanizes her by making her realize the same.
Part of what makes the prospect of next issue so exciting is realizing the extent to which the authors have turned our expectations on their head. When we started this series, I assumed that it would be everyone fighting Hope. But, when Cyclops arrives in K'un Lun, you can see Hope replay the words Peter that said to her in her head. As a result, I really, really want her to decide that her "moment" has come and to beat Cyclops to a bloody pulp. It's not where I'd thought we would be at issue #9, and I really tip my hat to the authors for making it feel organic.
Between the doom and gloom, Aaron includes smaller moments of hope, though, like Logan still being sure that Storm wouldn't sell out the Avengers by leading them into a trap and Professor X throwing in his lot with the Avengers. It's the first moment when you realize that the Avengers and the X-Men might survive this experience with their relationship in tact. It's clearly not going to be perfect, but, with the X-Men starting to defect from the Phoenix Four, it'll at least be something.
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