OK, to preface this review, I will say that these issues related to "Avengers vs. X-Men" #7 were a little less thrilling than the ones related to "Avengers vs. X-Men" #6. But, overall, it was still a pretty good showing.
Avengers vs. X-Men #7: To be honest, this issue serves mostly as a transition issue, showing us the Avengers as they move from place to place to flee the X-Men.
Avengers vs. X-Men #7: To be honest, this issue serves mostly as a transition issue, showing us the Avengers as they move from place to place to flee the X-Men.
Before we start, I will note that, for the first time, the chronology of the main mini-series and the tie-in issues is getting muddled. Several of the tie-in issues related to "Avengers vs. X-Men" #6 showed the Avengers on the run, and, after reading this issue, I was somewhat confused by the order in which they happened. For example, Hope was with Iron Fist in K'un Lun in "New Avengers" #27, but she was also in Indonesia with Wolverine and the Avengers in "Wolverine and (ironically) the X-Men" #12. Here, it becomes apparent that "New Avengers" #27 happened after this issue, but I'm still not sure where "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12 falls. I initially thought that it happened before this issue, since it makes no sense that Hope appears in K'un Lun while also appearing in Indonesia. But, Giant Man and Quicksilver are in play in this issue, despite getting captured in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12, implying that "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12 also happens after the events of this issue. But, unless Hope leaves K'un Lun to go to Indonesia and then returns to K'un Lun, all off panel, (doubtful), I just don't see where "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12 fits. Overall, though, although I tend to get obsessed with these continuity questions, I have to say that the authors are still doing a pretty good job of keeping the stories straight. This discrepancy is possibly the only one that I've really noticed throughout the cross-over event, which is pretty good, particularly for Marvel.
From the X-Men side, the most notable development in this issue, to me, was the signs that the Phoenix Five are starting to behave exactly how we all thought that they'd behave. In addition to Magik throwing Carol Danvers into Limbo in "X-Men Legacy" #269, in this issue Emma Frost incinerates (literally) Hawkeye and Namor drowns Wakanda. Cyclops might be pretending that he's in charge of a "rescue mission" but it's pretty clear that he's neither in charge nor is it really a "rescue mission." I think that this reality is most evident when you consider the Five's inability to conduct any sort of critical analysis of what they're doing. Rogue convincingly posited in "X-Men Legacy" #269 that the Avengers liked the world the way it was because they ran it. But, look at how quickly Scott branded the Avengers "terrorists" for failing to comply with the X-Men's vision of how the world should work. (Daredevil strikes a similar theme in "AVX:VS" #4, when he tells Psylocke that he figures the X-Men will pretty quickly have the Avengers on their own island.) I don't think you need any better example of a lack of self-awareness than Emma referring disapprovingly to the Avengers' "militarized children." Did she forget that the X-Men split into two camps exactly because she and Cyclops supported the militarization of children? I don't think these moments are mistakes on Hickman's part, but intentional displays of the fact that the Phoenix Five have lost all perspective (and are losing their grip on reality).
Overall, Fraction did a good job of keeping you engaged as he moves us to the next phase. One thing that I would note is that I think we should probably be seeing more in the way of the world reacting to the mutants taking control. We've heard Cyclops say several times that they're beloved, but we really haven't seen that. The only mutant so far who's had any interaction with regular people is Rogue in "X-Men Legacy" #269, and, although it's a friendly exchange, it's not exactly worshipful. I mean, I have to think that someone other the Avengers is concerned about the consequences of the mutants so easily changing the world "for the better." Have the governments of the world merely abdicated? We saw the Stepford Cuckoos using their powers to re-write minds in "X-Men Legacy" #268. Have the X-Men just brainwashed world leaders? I feel like some context would really help here. Also, if I'm continuing to be nitpicky, I keep finding this assertion that Hope was trained her whole life to become Phoenix to be super ret-conny. I mean, I know that she's always been associated with Phoenix, but I don't remember anyone training her to use its power. In fact, had her connection to Phoenix been more fully explored, you probably could've had the Avengers and X-Men talk about it (and how to train her to handle it) before it appeared and cause them to quickly take sides.
But, all in all, seven issues into the mini-series, I'm really not disappointed, and, really, I'm just so surprised by that fact that I feel like any real complaints are pretty minor at this point.
AVX:VS #4: "Our backs against the wall -- time and time again -- no Avengers ever came." Um, really, Psylocke? How about when they all sacrificed their lives to take down Onslaught? I guess that we're just conveniently overlooking that point.
New Avengers #28: Whoa. This issue is intense. Unlike most Bendis stories, I've got absolutely nothing about which to complain. Just when I raised an eyebrow that Luke Cage, Hawkeye, and Spider-Woman could take down Colossus, Cyclops, and Emma Frost, we learn that they didn't, actually, take down 3/5th of the Phoenix Five. Instead, Bendis reveals that it's Danger programming them to think they did, as a way to torture them: they awaken full of hope, realize that they didn't escape, and are then subjected to the loop again. If you need proof that maybe the X-Men aren't exactly upholding the highest standards that Cyclops likes to think they are, you've got it here. However, given that Danger is also under the sway of Unit, it's hard to tell on whose orders she's working. At the very least, it again shows that Cyclops' control over the X-Men isn't complete, something we also saw in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #7 when Emma sent Namor against Wakanda.
On an anal-retentive note, we get confirmation here that Spider-Woman did get taken prisoner as did, apparently, Luke Cage. By my reckoning, we've got Luke Cage, Giant Man, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Spider-Woman, and now Thor in the X-Brig. (I wonder when Luke got caught. I feel like I missed that somewhere.) I'm not liking those odds for the Avengers.
Uncanny X-Men #15: I don't have much to say about this issue other than the fact that it sets up the coming battle with Sinister. As expected, Scott decides that the world would be a better place without Sinister and he and the rest of the Phoenix Five make their way to Sinister London to make that wish a reality. In the meantime, Gillen shows how the Phoenix Five are increasingly separated from the rest of the X-Men. I loved Acuna showing us the distance shot of Danger, Magneto, Psylocke, and Storm just staring after the Phoenix Five as they departed for Sinister London. Gillen also addresses a moment that I thought would come, namely Colossus (unsucessfully) trying to break free from Cytorrak's hold. All in all, though, it's the promise of the coming battle with Sinister that drove this issue. I will say that, although I like Acuna, I'm disappointed that we don't get Weaver and Charalampidis on this issue. Their Sinister London was so completely defined that Acuna's muted lines feel horribly inadequate to really capture the grandeur Weaver conveyed last issue.
Wolverine and the X-Men #13: Aaron goes a little Gillen with this issue, telling the story of a minor character rather than addressing issues related to the main event. Whereas Gillen's use of Sinister in "Uncanny X-Men" as the lens through which we've been seeing "Avengers vs. X-Men" has been nothing short of brilliant, Aaron's use of Warbird in a similar fashion doesn't work so well. Gillen is using Sinister because his scheme deals directly with the arrival of Phoenix on Earth; however, Warbird finds herself involved on a tertiary level -- to collect Kid Gladiator because his father appeared to rescue him from Earth before the Phoenix destroys it. Aaron certainly makes her back story compelling, emphasizing the hardships that she endured in the process of going from an orphaned child who liked to draw to a Deathbird-class Shi'Aar warrior. She's actually exactly the type of student who should be at Logan's school, even if she isn't technically a student. However, given everything happening (and still unclear) in "Avengers vs. X-Men," it seems weird to waste time delving into Warbird's back story, given that nothing we saw here couldn't have been told in any other story where she was forced to fight or follow orders that were hard to follow. It didn't need to be during "Avengers vs. X-Men." You could argue the same for Sinister, but given his connection to Madeleine Pryor, who he has re-cloned, it's pretty clear that his storyline will have some sort of impact on the main event. Again, Aaron tells a decent story, but I think I would've preferred a look into Wolverine's whereabouts (since he's largely absent from "Avengers vs. X-Men" #7) or an exploration of humanity's response to the mutants suddenly running the world.
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