OK, I'm glad to say that this issue is better than the last one. First, Remender cuts the cute and focuses mainly on Tony, avoiding the cacophony of phony voices that weighed down last issue. Second, he actually tells a story here, rather than just showing us a random string of moments. Even better, the story is a decent one.
The use of Tony as narrator gives this issue a focus that helps us sort through the chaos portrayed in it. The Red Skull and his Sentinel minions make short work of the heroes, in a believable way. One problem that I often have with these events is that the villain suddenly becomes more imposing than he was in previous appearances. It would've been difficult to believe that the Avengers and the X-Men suddenly found themselves outmatched by the Red Skull and...the S-Men. But, Remender does a good job of showing how formidable Tony made the Sentinels, so the strain that the heroes feel in facing them feels real. The heroes start falling one by one, but we're encouraged to keep our focus on Tony rather than trying to follow each hero as s/he faces the Sentinels. It brings us step-by-step to the end, when only Tony is left standing. By that point in time, you feel as exhausted as he does, a testament to the energy that Remender infused into this issue.
This issue isn't flawless, however. Marvel is still pushing the Inhumans in a way that makes absolutely no sense. In Alex's narration, he talks about the Avengers, Inhumans, and X-Men coming together to realize Charles' dream of unity, even though I'm pretty sure Xavier spent probably no more than ten minutes in his whole life worrying about the Inhumans. Also, certain parts of the story still feel random. We have no idea why the Invisible Woman (on her own) and Medusa have pitched in their support, and certain characters that we had assemble at the end of last issue -- to wit, Beast, Cannonball, Hawkeye, Hyperion, Iceman, Iron Fist, Jean Grey, Kitty, Luke Cage, Psylocke, and Sunspot -- are nowhere to be seen. Given the sheer number of characters suddenly missing, someone has to explain their absence at some point, since it probably would've been a different battle had they been there. Along those lines, someone has to explain why the super-villains that we see on the last page have thrown their support behind Magneto. I get Deadpool, Mystique, and Sabretooth caring, since their mutants, but why the rest?
But, we've at least righted the ship a little. I can't say that it's the most enthralling event that I've read, but at least it's not terrible. (Man, my bar for these things has fallen.) Given Alex's narration about seeing some of the good left in Scott, I'm hoping it also means that we're building to his redemption and a unified X-Men. Fingers crossed.
*** (three of five stars)
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