New Comics!: The "Avengers vs. X-Men" Edition #12 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Avengers vs X-Men #10:  Until now, Cyclops has seemed to be managing the Phoenix Force pretty well compared to his fellow members of the Phoenix Five.  Whereas everyone else has had the darkest parts of their soul amplified by Phoenix, Scott has held a pretty firm line on the fact that the Phoenix Five were trying to help the world.  He refused the entreaties of other members of the Phoenix Five to take a more aggressive approach with the Avengers, insisting that getting aggressive would only serve to help the Avengers paint them as the bad guys.  That plan goes out the window in this issue when he decides to stop being Mr. Nice Guy to get his hands on Hope.

At this stage, I have two major questions that I would like to see answered before this series ends.  First, why does Cyclops care about Hope?  In the beginning, before he even conceived of himself as playing host to Phoenix, he needed Hope since she was the obvious avatar of the Phoenix Force and, therefore, the person who could use Phoenix's power to bring about the rebirth of the mutant race.  But, he now possesses 1/2 of the Phoenix Force's power and, based on the cover image of issue #11, might soon possess all of it.  As such, why does he still need Hope?  Does he plan on surrendering his power to her?  It doesn't seem like it, particularly given comments that he previously made to her (I think in issue #6) about Phoenix not wanting her anymore after Hope rejected it.  Does he want her simply so that the Avengers can't use her against him?  I think that's the real reason, but he doesn't seem to think about it that way.  I think that it would be helpful to see him explain why he wants Hope.

Second, what's Cyclops' plan, exactly?  In the beginning, he wanted Hope to use the Phoenix Force to restart the mutant race.  But, we haven't seen any indication, since coming into possession of Phoenix's power himself, that he or any other member of the Phoenix Five have done anything to make that happen.  Is his plan simply to rule?  Is that, again, why he wants Hope?  Does he want her not so that she can become the avatar of Phoenix, but so that she doesn't become a rival to him?  Again, I think that the last two issues probably need to address his plan at some point, particularly if he does defeat Emma and becomes the sole Phoenix.

Looking beyond the larger plot, this issue is tense.  It didn't surprise me when I looked, after I read it, and saw that Brubaker wrote it.  Brubaker has excelled in telling these sort of tightly scripted thrillers in "Captain America" and "Winter Soldier," and this issue is no different.  He initially portrays Scott as a benevolent dictator whose patience with his wayward subjects finally comes to an end.   Slowly but surely, however, as Scott makes his way through K'un Lun, Brubaker makes it clear that Scott is just as despotic as Emma, who we see here subjugating the rest of the X-Men on Utopia.  Brubaker scripts this issue like a horror movie, giving us a disturbing Cyclops roaming around an empty K'un Lun calling out Hope's name.  "Come out, Hope.  I'm not here to hurt you."  Sure, you're not, Summers.  Sure, you're not.  Brubaker uses small moments to show how far gone Scott is, like the petulant comment that he makes after taking down Hawkeye, Thing, and Thor:  "How's that for clobbering time?"  But, Brubaker also excels when focusing on the other side, showing us a terrified Hope fleeing from Cyclops.  Brubaker implies no shame in her fear, since, after all, it's pretty understandable that anyone, let alone a teenaged girl, would be pretty damned frightened if a demi-god was coming after her.  Hope runs into the arms of the Thunderer and the Scarlet Witch and Brubaker uses the moment to show the adults doing their best to do right by her.

In the end, though, it's Hope's show.  Brubaker's contribution to this series is to draw back the story, which has wandered over the course of Act Two, to the core conceit, namely Hope's relationship with Phoenix.  As I hoped last issue, we see her kick Scott's ass here.  It's a satisfying moment, but the decision (seemingly) to activate Hope's Iron Fist powers raised some questions in my mind.  One of the authors' odder decisions has been tying the powers of the Phoenix Force to those of the Iron Fist and Scarlet Witch.  Tony Stark has spent almost the entire mini-series trying to find the connection between the three entities, and I've been trying to be patient (even though it's pretty hard to imagine the Iron Fist connection being in play had Bendis not resurrected him from obscurity in his run on Avengers).  After ten issues, though, I'm still not entirely sure why we needed to involve the Iron Fist AND Scarlet Witch in this endeavor, particularly when, as we see here, Hope's connection to the Phoenix Force continues to be the most interesting.

With the return to focus on Hope's relationship with Phoenix, I'm hoping we make some quick progress in the next issue.  We seem to be missing quite a few potential players on the board (Cable, Jean Grey, Professor X, Scarlet Witch beyond her random whack-a-mole-esque appearances over the last few issues).  Although the authors have done a great job of adding plot twists without making them seem just like diversions and misdirections, it's time to address the issues that I raised above, namely, what's Hope's future and how does it impact the mutant race.  I'm worried, though, we're going to focus next issue on the manufactured connection to the Iron Fist energy and the Scarlet Witch's powers and the last issue is going to be a mad rush to the finish.  We shall see, I guess.

Avengers #29:  OK, if you're read my last few posts, you'll know that "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12 has been the biggest thorn in my side when it comes to this event, given that it didn't seem to fit in continuity.  After all, I wasn't sure how Hope could be in K'un Lun in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #7 and "New Avengers" #27 while also being in Indonesia in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12, essentially at the same time.  Here, we learn that it's because she wasn't.  "Hope" in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12 was Professor X.

First, can I just say, because I rarely get to say it, OMG, thank you, Marvel, for resolving a continuity question!  OK, sure, we still have the problem that Giant Man was allegedly captured in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12, but never actually appeared in captivity after that.  Fine, whatever.  I can live with that.  Sure, Quicksilver forgot that he was captured in that issue for two issues of "Avengers vs. X-Men," but he eventually remembered, so, you know, no harm, no foul.  But, it made no sense that Hope was in Indonesia.  I mean, none.  Why would the Avengers risk her being in Indonesia, where the X-Men could find her, and not in K'un Lun, where she was safe?  They wouldn't, which is why it didn't make sense.

But, this issue doesn't just resolve that continuity point.  It also essentially brings Professor X into the game, or, put another way, explains why he hadn't been in the game yet.  Even now, we're only seeing him start to get involved.  He helps the Avengers break out their people in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #9 and I'm guessing that he's going to respond to Magneto's plea for help big time in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #11.  But, here, we see why he hasn't been involved, namely, because he couldn't handle taking up arms against his "children."  Ever since Cyclops expelled Xavier from the X-Men after the "Vulcan incident," if you will, he has vacillated between accepting Scott's leadership and feeling unnecessarily dismissed.  Here, I get the sense that we're seeing his last moment of disengagement, because he seems bound to play a key role in stopping Scott.  Moreover, given Scott's behavior over the course of "Avengers vs. X-Men," it's pretty clear that he no longer will have the moral superiority over Xavier that he thought that he had.  All that points to a renewed presence by Xavier after the event ends.  But, here, Bendis gives us one last look at the Xavier we've seen over the last few years and prepares us for his next iteration.  Although it's an Avengers book, it's definitely worth a read for an X-Men fan.