Uncanny X-Men #20 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Kieron Gillen brings "Uncanny X-Men" to a close (again), focusing on the members of the Extinction Team who we haven't seen since the end of "Avengers vs. X-Men," namely Colossus, Danger, and Magik.

Honestly, I've thought the Danger/Unit story has been completely uninteresting since it began, so I normally wouldn't even discuss it in any detail here.  However, it's worth mentioning in connection with the Colossus/Magik storyline, because Gillen is forced to wrap up both ongoing sub-plots this issue as we transition to the the era after "Avengers vs. X-Men."  Impressively, he manages to do so without making either resolution feel rushed.  Unit's decision to leave makes sense, since he previously made it clear that he was just spending time on Earth to see how everything went with the Phoenix Force.  With Phoenix gone, he can now leave.  In terms of Colossus and Magik, we learn that Magik has always had the power to break Cyttorak's hold on Colossus and does so here.  This revelation may feel deus ex manchinay, but it does actually fit with the way that she's been portrayed since "Avengers vs. X-Men" started, essentially as someone who's finally been driven insane by years of demonic possession and age fluctuations.  As we saw hinted elsewhere (I can't remember the issue, maybe the last one), she reiterates that she wanted Colossus to experience his time as Juggernaut so that he could understand the darkness that drives her and convince him that she doesn't deserve his love.  She seems to accomplish her task, as Colossus tells her that he'll kill her the next time that he sees her.

The third story covered in this issue is Mr. Sinister revealing that he used his powers to replace Kate Kildare and posed as her to gain access to Cyclops in prison.  The death of Kate is accepted with a chillingly matter-of-fact approach by Cyclops and it's hard not to notice how similar he is in tone to Sinister here.  Sinister seems to imply that he'll be Scott's inspiration to leave prison since, in his words, no one else could stop him.  It's an interesting moment, if only because it's the first one to focus on the idea that Cyclops is one day going to leave prison.  For now, the various authors have gone to significant lengths to make it seem like we really are going to see Cyclops imprisoned for a significant period of time.  Gillen reminds us here that said period of time is likely to be a lot shorter than we think.

Avengers vs. X-Men #12 and Uncanny X-Men #19 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

At the end of the day, "Avengers vs. X-Men" ends pretty much how I expected it to end in the beginning, namely with the re-birth of the mutant race thanks to Hope and Wanda.  I'm including "Uncanny X-Men" #19 in this review because it presents Scott's side of the battle, making it hard to separate it from the main story.

First, before we get into the "Good" and "Bad," I want to note that I enjoyed this mini-series on the whole.  Although you'll notice that the "Bad" outnumber the "Good," I would still rank this cross-over event well above "Chaos War" or "Fear Itself," the first two events from Marvel that I read since returning to comics.  Although, as I note below, Marvel's sales department clearly had a hand in extending the story beyond where it probably should've stopped, I think the authors did a remarkably good job taking the ball they were handed and running with it.  Having read the main mini-series and almost all the cross-over issues, I still have a pretty clear idea of the story that they told and why events happened when they happened.  So, I just want to make it clear that, though I have some criticism of the way that the story was handled now that it's over, I'm still pleased as a fan for the entertainment and fun that this mini-series brought.  I can't remember the last time I was as excited about reading an issue as I was when I opened up "Avengers vs. X-Men" #12.

The Good
1) The authors finally answer (or, at least, come close to answering) some questions about Hope.  First, they do seem to confirm that the Phoenix Force created Hope.  They don't directly draw that line, but it's pretty clear that it's probably what happened.  Moreover, Hope fulfills her roll as the Mutant Messiah here.  For most of her history, Hope has been little more than a means to an end, the sum of her mysterious birth and future destiny.  With her origins clearer and her destiny fulfilled, I think she can now become more of a real character and less of a literary device.

2) Along those lines, the authors also draw a connection (though, again, not directly) between Wanda eliminating mutants on M-Day and the Phoenix Force deciding to undo that event.  Scott was always so adamant that Phoenix was coming to Earth exactly for that reason, so it was important for the authors to address it, in some form, before the mini-series ended.  Of course, as I mention below, the authors still leave some ambiguity.  After all, the Phoenix Force itself never confirms why it came.  Plus, if Scott had defeated Hope and Wanda, he likely would've destroyed the world, mutants included.  But, the idea that the Avengers now accept that Phoenix could at least theoretically have come to undo Wanda's act and the reality that Hope fulfilled this role (even if it wasn't necessarily the one that Phoenix originally planned) have emboldened Scott to believe that his sacrifice was worth it.  I'll address whether it's believable for Scott to take this position below.

3) Whereas Scott takes responsibilities for his actions but pretty much asserts that the ends justified the means (even if the means didn't necessarily mean that the end that happened was the one intended), Cap actually takes on the criticism for his failure to do more to protect mutants and vows to do something about it.  I'm glad that they gave Cap this redemptive epiphany, since it eliminates some of the earlier criticism that people had of him in the beginning of this mini-series, when he appears to be blind to the plight of the mutant race.  As such, I'm excited to see where we go with "Uncanny Avengers."

The Unknown
1) It's still unclear if mutants who were de-powered as a result of M-Day (like Dani Moonstar) have regained their powers.

2) I want to know more about this new Nova, who I'm depressed to see probably isn't Rich.

3) I wonder where we're going to go from here.  First, it seems that mutants are now hated and feared all the more, something that Beast tries to bring to Cyclops' attention in "Uncanny X-Men" #19.  Cap's organization of the "Uncanny Avengers" team seems to be speaking to this problem.  But, we still obviously have questions left unanswered.  With Cyclops gone, is Logan the de facto leader of the X-Men?  Also, why is Magneto counted among the renegade X-Men?  I get the Phoenix Five, but, if Magneto is a renegade, then so are basically all the other X-Men, since, at one point or another, they all threw in their lot with Cyclops.

The Bad
1) Although I found the ending mostly satisfying, I have to say that my first thought was, "They really could've told this story in six issues."  It's clear that the whole Phoenix Five storyline was just an excuse to stretch out the story to sell more issues.  If they had wanted to use Cyclops as the intermediate point between the arrival of Phoenix and Hope taking on its powers, they could've just done that.  We didn't need to have him slowly but surely amass the powers of the other members Phoenix Five as they fell.  Although it could've been worse (see "Fear Itself"), it's still pretty clear to me, in retrospect, that Marvel went with quantity over quality.  By the time we get to Hope becoming Phoenix, the event that theoretically drove this entire series in the first place, I had practically forgotten why everyone was so concerned about her doing so.

2) I'm not sure what we're supposed to think about Cyclops.  As I mentioned above, he's remarkably unrepentant in both these issues, sticking mostly to the script that we heard him reciting when this event began.  In fact, he tells Hank that he'd do it all again and that he's happy spending what remains of his life paying for his crimes.  However, it seems a little remarkable that he'd be so unmoved by his experience as the Dark Phoenix.  First, he had a moment of brief control over Phoenix where he asked Hope and Wanda to kill him.  Then, he has a vision of Jean telling him that it was time to let go.  I thought that she meant of life, but it seems that she just meant of Phoenix.  He manages to do so, but it's hard to believe that he'd do so willingly without realizing just how destructive it was in the first place.  It seems like the only reason that he'd do so was because he'd admit that the damage he was doing was too great.  (He had just, after all, killed his surrogate father.)  However, after the event, he doesn't seem to make the connection that he himself made it improbable that the mutant race would survive, since he almost destroyed the world.  The fact that it was reborn had nothing to do with him; in fact, it was the opposite of what he wanted at the time.  His decision that he somehow played a role in it lacks any sort of reflection on his role.  In fact, he's now essentially become his generation's Magneto.

3) Along those lines, the authors never explain why Scott didn't re-start humanity in the first place.  I think we're supposed to believe that he was just too overwhelmed by the destructive nature of the Phoenix Force to do so, but it would've been nice if someone had drawn that line more directly.  Without that line drawn, it makes it all the weirder that Scott would lay claim that his action brought about the rebirth, since he could've done it himself.

4) Did we rally need the connection to Iron Fist?  I can't really point to anything here that required it.  I think the argument is that Hope's training under his tutelage helped her to defeat Scott, but I don't think anyone really questioned that she could've defeated him in the first place.  In theory, to justify its inclusion, we should've seen that it helped her control the Phoenix Force.  But, I don't really think that we see that.  It's Wanda who helps her decide to sacrifice the Phoenix Force, not anything that she learned from Iron Fist.

New Comics!: The "Avengers vs. X-Men" Edition #14 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Avengers vs. X-Men #11:  This issue begins oddly, starting with Captain America asking for the Hulk to help fight Cyclops and moving onto Rogue asking for safe harbor from Professor X and the Avengers.  In terms of the Hulk, it's odd because he plays almost no role in the rest of the issue.  In fact, I'm not really all that sure why they thought that he would be useful against a Phoenix-empowered Cyclops, given that he doesn't exactly get a lot of opportunities to "smash." In terms of Rogue, it's weird because it seems to ignore several issues' worth of events.  After all, we've seen Rogue in an alternate dimension for the last three issues of "X-Men Legacy" and Bobby defected to the Avengers' side at least before the events of "Wolverine and the X-Men" #15.  As such, it's a little jarring to see them "defect" here.

However, Bendis quickly moves us past these awkward moments by immersing us almost immediately into an emotion-driven battle of wills between Cyclops and Professor X.  We essentially watch Scott have a nervous breakdown and Bendis doesn't pull any punches in showing it.  Before Professor X arrives, we watch Scott dismiss Emma too quickly, no longer capable of pretending that Phoenix isn't affecting him in the same way that it's affecting her.  But, it's the arrival of Professor X that pushes him over the edge.  Coipel and his team do an amazing job with the moment.  The image of Professor X standing on the beach, watching the sunset, conveys the calm before the storm that comes, mirroring Professor X's hope that he will be able to convince Scott to end the dispute quietly.  But, the storm comes and we see Scott violently reject Professor X's offer of help.  It's a particularly adolescent rant, and Bendis does a great job of showing us a Scott increasingly unhinged as it progresses.  By the time he seemingly kills Magneto, you know that we have passed the point of no return.  Iceman expresses anger at Scott and Storm begs him to stop, but he ignores them both.  His next act is to take the Phoenix Force from Emma; the image of him standing with his hands around her neck with blood pouring from her lips is not one that I'll soon forget and perhaps the one that shows that he will in all likelihood be irredeemable after this event ends.  It all goes quickly from there, with Scott seemingly killing Professor X and Wolverine in short order.  In the end, it's the image of a visor-less Scott as Dark Phoenix that makes you realize that he's lost.  Without the visor, Scott's last shred of humanity has been flayed from him

On one hand, I'm less concerned than I should be about the fact that we still don't know, with only one issue left, what roles Hope and Wanda will ultimately wind up playing in this event.  Despite the pages upon pages dedicated in the early days of this event to building the mystery of their connection to the Phoenix Force, Bendis winds up making this entire mini-series solely about Scott.  It may not have been to start, but it is now.  On the other hand, we really do have a lot of ground left to cover in this last issue.  We still don't know what Phoenix's motivation actually was in coming to Earth, though, thanks to "Uncanny X-Men" #17, we know that it did have one.  We still haven't seen the mutants of the world benefit at all, other than whatever secondary benefit they received from the Phoenix Five curing the world's problem.  It seems unlikely to expect a reversal of M-Day at this stage, despite the fact that it seemed to be the whole point of this event when it started.  It seems difficult to believe that issue #12 will successfully address all these issues.

Finally, I find it hard to believe that Magneto, Professor X, and Wolverine are all going to wind up being dead after the dust settles.  However, Coipel doesn't seem to leave much doubt that Scott kills them, unless I'm seriously misreading his panels.  As such, it is hard to know which "death" or "deaths" to take seriously, and I'm left to wonder if a Phoenixed-up Hope or Wanda isn't just going to undo them.

Ultimately, this issue is redeemed by Bendis' careful handling of Scott's meltdown, but I do think that I'm going to need to see at least SOME of the issues that we expected to see addressed at the outset of this event addressed for me not to feel disappointed with it in the end.

Uncanny X-Men #18:  After the emotional blockbuster that was "Avengers vs. X-Men" #11, this issue feels like a faint echo.

The most interesting sequence is the one between Colossus and Magik.  Over the last 30 years of comics, Illyana is the character who has arguably suffered the most at the hands of revising authors and lax editors, rarely serving as more than a plot device meant to inject some human tragedy into the current arc.  Magneto may die every now and again, but he's still Magneto when he returns.  Even with his recent conversion to a good guy, he's still as arrogant and irascible as he's always been.  Illyana, however, has never really been one character.  She's been several depending on the emotional impact that the revising author is trying to convey, from the canny teenager trying to control her dark powers to the innocent girl denied a new chance at life by the Legacy Virus to the resurrected teenager who seemed to hold even darker secrets than her previous incarnations.  In other words, she's been all over the map.  During the "Fall/Rise of the New Mutants" story, it seemed that she might be returning to her original personality, given that she had gotten back the parts of her soul that she had previously lost.  However, since then, she's still seemed a little...off.  Here, Gillen gives us the most reasonable explanation, namely that the years of trauma that have been inflicted upon her have left her insane.  It doesn't matter if her soul is no longer fractured; her mind certainly is.  Just as she once manipulated the X-Men into facing the Elder Gods so she could seek revenge against them, we learn here that she manipulated Peter into becoming the Juggernaut so that she could make him understand how she felt.  It was a desperate ploy of a destroyed girl, but it was also a selfish one, given that she allowed Peter to lose his own soul in the process.  I'm not sure where Illyana goes from here, but I feel like Gillen has made her character a lot more believable.  We no longer have various mystical explanations to explain her behavior; we have one believable one.

However, the Cyclops/Emma sequence weighs down the issue, given that it covers much of the same ground that we saw covered in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #11 and doesn't really add all that much.  Frankly, I would've preferred Gillen spent more time on Colossus and Magik, whose story isn't being told in the main mini-series.  All in all, you get the sense that they're really spinning their wheels at this point in an attempt to justify stretching out this event for as long as they have.

Wolverine and the X-Men #16:  OMG, will the Kiddie Hellfire Club please, please, please go away?

New Comics!: The "Avengers vs. X-Men" Edition #13 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

AVX:VS #5:  The problem with these "AVX:VX" issues at this point is that I'm having trouble remembering the circumstances surrounding each fight.  When exactly was Hawkeye fighting Angel?  Why was Black Panther fighting Storm?  I know that the intro page wants us to believe that the fights depicted in these issues have no impact on the main storyline, but they clearly do, given that we watch Ororo and T'Challa's marriage collapse in this issue.  At the very least, I feel like someone needed to let us know why Storm, of all people, would be chosen to fight the Black Panther.  I don't think that anything about this overall conflict meant that, after it, Ororo and T'Challa couldn't have worked out their differences.  But, here, we begin with Storm telling us what a terrible husband the Panther was.  The end of the marriage is essentially a fait accompli.  So, something other than the events of "Avengers vs. X-Men" was clearly driving that, but Aaron never actually tells us what that was.  Needless to say, it makes for a fairly disappointing story.  It would've been better if they had just stuck to fights like Angel and Hawkeye's, where you may not remember why they're fighting, but the why doesn't actually really matter.

Uncanny X-Men #17:  My biggest question last issue was why the Phoenix Force would allow Sinister to strip it from the Phoenix Five and house it in the six Madeleine Pryor clones.  It just didn't feel right.  Emma didn't think so either, apparently: she addresses Phoenix directly in this issue, wondering why it would allow it to happen.  I hadn't thought of Phoenix's original response, essentially that it exists merely to exist, making the identity of the host (or hosts) somewhat irrelevant.  But, I had thought of its later comment, namely that we're dealing with a new and improved Phoenix, one who came here for a purpose.  (Of course, we don't learn that that purpose is, but I'm resigned to that omission at this point.)  As such, Gillen addresses the problem that I had with last issue by actually making the resolution of that problem the resolution of the arc:  Phoenix takes back her powers and eliminates Mr. Sinister.  (Although, I think that we all agree it's not the last that we're going to see of Mr. Sinister.)  Although it could get easily lost in the shuffle, I also thought that it was interesting that the other team was merely there as a distraction.  Danger, Magneto, Psylocke, and Storm don't actually accomplish anything.  I thought that their presence might have led to them rescuing the Phoenix Five and, in the process, reminding them of their humanity somehow.  Nope.  Instead, the second team's failure to rescue the Phoenix Five and the Phoenix Five's ability to rescue themselves actually seem to separate the Five all the more from the rest of the X-Men, essentially making everyone else irrelevant.

Wolverine and the X-Men #15:  This issue is truly, truly excellent.  In fact, of all the existing tie-in issues, I think that it's the one that should most be most considered an integral part of the main event.  I've mentioned previously that I though the X-books have done a much better job of showing the effects of the ongoing events on the X-Men than the Avengers' books have on the Avengers (even though I would still like some more insight into how some of the B-List and C-List X-Men were reacting to these events).  This issue is a great example of the success that the X-books have had on this front.  Aaron takes us on a tour of the mindset of the team on the eve of its war with Cyclops and Emma Frost and it's a revealing look at where we are.

The issue is a collection of moments and I'm not going to review all of them.  Some of my favorites are as follows:  Iron Man telling Broo that "Uncle Tony" will get him anything that he wants after Broo improved his calculations, Iceman telling Kitty that they can go to a strip joint for their first date after Kitty asked to go somewhere without teenagers, Professor X endorsing Quentin Quire for student-body president after he realizes that Quentin is just trying to be seen as a rebel, and, of course, Hank looking at the photo of the original X-Men before heading out the door.  I was particularly happy that poor Broo is getting some attention, particularly after I felt like he was abandoned by the faculty after the events of issue #7.  (I'm also hoping that Tony's response to his question that he knows Nova means that Rich is back with us!)

But, Aaron just didn't give us some fun moments.  He also ones that hint at the post-"Avengers vs. X-Men" future.  We see Wolverine forgive Bobby for his desertion and, in fact, thank him for disagreeing with him, because it was people who would disagree with him who he most wanted at the school.  I was worried that "Avengers vs X-Men" would be portrayed as another "X-Men:  Schism."  After all, to be honest, it seems a stretch that Logan would be so quick to forgive Bobby, since Bobby's defection did, after all, increase the likelihood of the team that came closest to ending the world winning.  (Though, maybe just the virtue of being right helped put Logan in a forgiving mood.)  But, you can already see that some of the emotions that the characters were displaying earlier in Act Two have started to fade, so maybe it isn't as unlikely as it seemed like it would be back then.  Logan isn't trying to kill Hope, Cap isn't mistrustful of all the X-Men, etc.  It feels like a fairly natural evolution, given that everyone now agrees that they face a larger threat (something that they didn't when it was just about Hope).

Perhaps most of all, though, the moment that struck me the most is actually the cover.  It's a pretty clear allusion to the original X-Men, with Logan replacing Scott and Rachel replacing Jean.  Between that and Hank looking at the picture of the original team at the end of the issue, Aaron and Molina are sending a pretty clear message that the coming fight is going to go to the heart of who the X-Men are.  I'm not sure how, but I'm excited to see where the authors take it.

New Comics!: The "Avengers vs. X-Men" Edition #10 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Avengers vs. X-Men #8:  So far, I've been pretty impressed with how well the various authors have done in keeping all their details straight, particularly in terms of coordinating the main mini-series with the tie-in issues and other co-authors' issues.  The wheels, unfortunately, come off the bus in this issue, weighing down the entire story for me as I tried to reconcile some fairly major inconsistencies.

First, we have the location problem.  Whereas Hope has been in K'un Lun since "New Avengers" #27 (an issue associated more or less with "Avengers vs. X-Men" #6), she just arrives there in this issue of the main title.  Presumably, Spider-Man's tutelage of her doesn't begin until after this issue (since he also just arrives in K'un Lun in this issue), making it a little odd that the events of two full issues of the main title (#7 and #8) pass before the events of "New Avengers" #27 could even remotely happen.

Then, we have what I'll call the "prisoner problem."  For example, Thor and Emma battle in "AVX:VS" #4.  Emma defeats him and, in "New Avengers" #28, someone mentions that Thor has been captured.  Yet, Thor appears here with no reference to him having been captured.  Moreover, Quicksilver also appears, despite the fact that he was specifically mentioned as captured in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12.  However, I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12 is a total outlier.  Both Giant Man and Quicksilver are identified as captured in that issue, but they both appear in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #7.  Moreover, Hope never appeared to have time to go to Indonesia with the Avengers, as she does in that issue.

I mention these problems not only because they annoy me, but because they compound the problem that you already have under the best of circumstances with these sorts of events, trying to fit the stories happening in the main mini-series into some sort of continuum with the tie-in issues.  Beyond the "prisoner problem," I've got a slew of questions about when the events in some of the tie-in issues happen.  For example, when do the Phoenix Five fit in going after Mr. Sinister, particularly if they're the Phoenix Four by the end of this issue?  When you start getting the authors directly contradicting each other, then it starts becoming really problematic, because it's hard to stay in the story.

Putting aside my anal-retentiveness, the other problem with this issue is that it really just seems like a stalling device.  I mean, sure, Namor loses the power of the Phoenix and the Avengers have a pity party over the fact that it took everything that they had just to knock out a member of the Phoenix Five.  But, nothing really substantially changed from the end of last issue.  I mean, it takes Hope and Wolverine half an issue just to step through a portal!  Instead, we get Professor X appearing suddenly furious at the end.  I don't really understand why he was mad at Scott, since it's not like Scott destroyed Wakanda.  I mean, I'm not really a fan of Scott's at this point, but it's pretty hard to blame Namor's rogue actions on him.  But, Professor X just seems totally enraged, despite the fact that, the last time that we saw him, in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #6, he was just concerned.  I'm getting almost all the tie-in issues (except, I think, "Avengers Academy") so I'm 95 percent certain that we haven't seen the reason why he went from concerned to furious in those issues.  As such, it just feels like an arbitrary plot device to move us to the next mini-plot of the series.

I'm not really sure where it's all leading.  We still don't have a clear sense of Phoenix's motives; at this point, it seems to be allowing the Phoenix Five to do what they want, but it's pretty clear that approach is going to change.  I'm also confused why the X-Men are more focused on changing the world than changing mutantkind.  Shouldn't they be using their power to restart the mutant race?  Offering to return powers to mutants de-powered on M-Day?  Phoenix's (purported) power to restart mutantkind is, after all, the whole reason the two sides are fighting this battle, since Cyclops believes it outweighs all the potential danger.  Why isn't he using it to do that then?  It's unclear to me whether it's part of Phoenix's plan (so it's manipulating Cyclops to feel less urgent in his need to address the issue) or if the authors' have just gotten distracted by other parts of the event.  

Either way, the lack of attention paid to the issue is just one of the reasons why this issue felt like a massive attempt to stall.  I mean, don't get me wrong.  The battle with Namor was epic and the Avengers have a point that they don't have a whole lot of hope if it took all of them just to take down 1/5 of the Phoenix Five.  But, in the end, this issue and issue #7 probably could've been collapsed into one and we wouldn't have been worse for it.

Avengers #28:  I complain throughout this review about the fact that the coordination of tie-in issues with the main mini-series has taken a hit lately, but Bendis is the exception to the rule here.  He does a really great job inserting this story between panels of "Avengers vs. X-Men" #7.  He also wins applause for telling a story that makes sense, because I totally believe that General Ross would take it upon himself to try to assassinate Cyclops.  The story flows smoothly and Ross' narration works well, getting us inside his head and showing us the sacrifices that he's willing to make to advance the cause.  (I thought his most interesting comment was about Wolverine not being able to bring himself to assassinate Cyclops.  I've always appreciated the fact that Bendis has often given Logan credit for a greater level of humanity than other authors have.)  All in all, it's a pretty solid showing that does exactly what a tie-in issue should do, developing a plot that the main story doesn't have time to explore.  It reminded me of Hope and Wolverine's adventure in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #11, another example of a tie-in issue filling in the blanks between panels.  It's also the type of story that I expected to see from "Avengers" during this event, so it's a welcome relief from the recent Space Team plot, which seemed totally unnecessary given the competing story being told in "Secret Avengers."  My only real complaint is the fact that Cyclops decided not to lock up Rulk.  Personally, I'd prefer to have a guy who Emma Frost herself notes went toe-to-toe with the Silver Surfer locked far, far underground.  Why bother locking up Luke Cage, Giant Man, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Spider-Woman if you're going to let Rulk go?  But, I understand that Bendis is working under editorial constraints, so it's not really his fault.  Overall, it's worth a read if you're looking for a story that makes a lot more sense than Thor swinging a hammer at a cosmic entity in space. 

Uncanny X-Men #16:  The main problem with this issue is the fact that it's hard to be too worried about the outcome given that we know that the events depicted in it happen before the events of "Avengers vs. X-Men" #8, since Namor is still a member of the Phoenix Five in this issue.  So, whatever Sinister is planning to do to the Phoenix Five, he clearly doesn't succeed, because they're all intact by the start of "Avengers vs. X-Men" #8.  This issue is a great example of how that increasing lack of coordination negatively impacts the story that Gillen is trying to tell here.  Is it still fun to watch Sinister to score some points against the Phoenix Five?  Sure.  But, in addition to knowing that they all eventually regain their powers in time for Namor to attack Wakanda, Gillen doesn't really explain how the Madelynes manage to siphon off their powers in the first place.  They just sort of...do.  You'd think Phoenix, who chose the Five, after all, would have some sort of say.  All in all, it's not a terrible issue, but the lack of suspense and clarity drags it down a lot, a disappointment in light of how strong issues #14 and #15 were.

Wolverine and the X-Men #14:  OK, Jason Aaron wins the prize for author of a tie-in issue who most successfully uses the main event to advance his series' ongoing storylines.  In the love-triangle department, we've got Kitty firmly rejecting Peter and essentially instructing Bobby to ask her on a date.  We've got the revelation that Toad is (creepily) collecting Husk's discarded skins and using them (creepily) to create life-sized models of her so that he can (creepily) serve them tea.  (I told you it was creepy.)  We've even got hints of Paige's ongoing problems with her powers, since I don't remember her leaving behind full-sized skins in the past.  Seriously, I've enjoyed "Avengers vs. X-Men" so far, but this issue was the first one that made me wish it would come to an end soon so we could resume exploring the interesting storylines that Aaron reminds us are brewing in this title.

In terms of "Avengers vs. X-Men," Aaron furthers the plot significantly.  Colossus is arguably the first member of the Phoenix Five that we see totally crack under the pressure.  I mean, sure, Namor attacked Wakanda, but, frankly, it's pretty much within Namor's personality to go off half-cocked and attack a country.  It is not, however, in Peter's nature to threaten Kitty or destroy schools.  At several points during this issue, Aaron has us fear that Colossus is going to hurt Kitty, an idea so ridiculous that Aaron successfully uses it show you how far gone Peter is.  (You know that it's going to go down hill quickly when he tells her early in the issue, during their dinner between the sea, that he has everything but her.)  Molina and Lee do a great job of showing Peter vacillating between sanity and rage.  One moment, his eyes are laughing at the thought that he might be under the possession of Phoenix; the next, they're burning with the idea that he could destroy existence as we know it.  They really manage to accentuate the message that Aaron is trying to convey, making it all the more powerful for it.  By the end of the issue, when Colossus tells Kitty that he could kill her and resurrect her, you realize just how quickly everything is deteriorating.  But, before Colossus can do anything that he'd later regret, Aaron makes Colossus realize how far gone he is as well, as he's standing in the ruins of the statue of Jean Grey.  It's a poignant moment, all the more so for reminding us of Jean's notable absence throughout this event.  (I also thought that Kitty made a great point telling Colossus that she's treating him differently than Jean because Jean didn't round up people who disagreed with her.  Given that the X-Men essentially viewed Jean, before the Phoenix Five got their powers, as weak for failing to control Phoenix and implied that a teenage girl could do it better, I'm glad that someone is giving her props.)

Also importantly, we see Bobby finally have enough when he's forced to "arrest" Thing.  He and Rachel return, a defection (or refection) that seems to portend the start of Act Three, particularly because I'm assuming Rogue will come to a similar conclusion in the upcoming issue of "X-Men Legacy."  It's also unclear what Colossus is going to do, as we seem him end this issue contemplating his actions as he walks across the Moon.

I've often felt frustrated with this series because Aaron has by and large ignored Kitty.  But, we see a lot of the old Kitty here.  For example, her response to Bobby and Rachel's return is a great moment.  She's been trying to hold the School together for weeks, and it's pretty clear that the less she knew about the events happening outside the School, the better.  As such, she refuses to engage Bobby on the subject, instead instructing him and Rachel to start teaching classes and serving lunches.  ("Rogue's gym class and Beast's advanced biology are still open.  I taught both of them at the same time yesterday.")  Combined with the fact that she easily defended the School against Colossus, it shows the grit and determination that we used to see from Kitty.  I hope that we see more of it in the future.

This issue only had two small downsides for me.  First, in terms of the ongoing coordination problems, it seems odd that Ben was suddenly in New York when, last I checked, he had been spirited to K'un Lun with the rest of the Avengers in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #8.  Moreover, I wish we would've seen more about Rachel's decision to return to the X-Men.  I get why Bobby defected, but I feel like we needed some sort of explanation behind why Rachel did.  She was a lot more committed to the cause than Bobby was, believing that it was her way to help prevent her future from becoming a reality, not to mention her desire to support her father.  Although we saw hints of her disquiet in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12, I didn't really think that she was on the verge of defecting.  It would've been nice to see what got her there.

But, all in all, for the advancement of several "Wolverine and the X-Men" and "Avengers vs. X-Men" storylines as well as the great moments of characterization for Kitty, this issue is one of the best of the bunch.  To mention one last moment, one that really defined the issue for me, I thought Aaron got across his message loud and clear with the "X-Men" who confronted Colossus.  Kitty, Deathlok, Doop, Husk, Toad, and Warbird.  A-Team, it was not.  But, there they were, drawing a line in the sand in front of the School, even when faced with a Phoenix-powered Colossonaut.  It was perhaps one of the few moments when the X-Men felt like the X-Men of my youth, a misfit band of mutants trying to do the right thing, no matter how overpowering the opposition.  Thanks, Jason Aaron, for giving me that.

X-Men Legacy #270:  As expected, Rogue pulls up stakes here, realizing that the Phoenix Five have gone around the bend when she sees Magik's demonic prison.  The rest of the story is a well-written standard prison-break tale, with some nice moments between Carol and Rogue that pretty definitively move them from the "adversary" to "friend" category.  For those scenes alone, it's worth the read.  Like Rulk in "Avengers" #28, the final disposition of Rogue seems a little difficult to believe, since, personally, if I were the Phoenix Five, I'd be a lot happier with Rogue and Rulk in Magik's prison.  But, given that other authors are guilty of the same trick, I'm not going to blame Gage for it here.  Overall, it's a strong issue and a good sequel to the previous one, bringing Carol and Rogue's story full-circle.

New(-ish) Comics!: The "Avengers vs. X-Men" Edition #9 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

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.  

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).

In terms of the Avengers side, we get our first confirmation here that Wanda's powers are connected to the Phoenix Force, something that I think we all pretty much assumed would be the case.  But, despite Wanda's power, the Avengers still have their backs to the wall.  By my count, they're down Giant Man, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and Quicksilver (and possibly Spider-Woman, though I couldn't tell for sure).  You could really sense Cap's desperation as he pleaded with T'Challa and Tony to find a way to get the Avengers some wins.  When he was later evacuating them from Wakanda to K'un Lun, it felt like watching the Rebels fleeing the Hoth base in "Empire Strikes Back."

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. 

New(-ish) Comics: The "Avengers vs. X-Men" Edition #8 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Avengers vs. X-Men #6:  A problem I had in reading this issue was that I had a hard time determining if I was supporting the Avengers' position because I've read enough comic books to know that you don't get to remake the world in your own image without some sort of unintended consequence or if I believe that some sort of consequence would also necessarily happen if this event were transpiring in the real world (as unlikely as it is).  In other words, if someone announced that they had developed a way to provide energy for free for everyone forever, would I think it was a good idea to use the method that s/he had developed or would I caution against using it because of unintended consequences?  I'm guessing that I'd be all for it.  But, I realized that I would be all for it because it would likely come from years of scientific research and not the magic of a cosmic force, particularly a cosmic force who has the habit of eating planets.  Given that the X-Men's ability to solves all the world's problems comes from the latter and not the former, I eventually came to the conclusion that the Avengers are, in fact, right to be cautious and the X-Men have, in fact, lost their minds.

Hickman does a great job of changing the frame of reference for the series without making it seem too abrupt.  I mean, if Act One was driven by seeing which team would manage to get its hands on Hope first, Act Two is clearly driven by waiting for the other shoe to drop when it comes to Phoenix.  Hickman manages not to rush that drama by going to great lengths to portray both sides as realistically as he can.  He manages to use Scott's natural aloofness and arrogance to convey the sense that Scott is acting as you'd expect him to act if he suddenly found himself with the power to make his dreams reality.  He's not a ball of emotion trying to right wrongs; he's a bureaucrat with a list of miracles needing to be performed.  Moreover, Cyclops makes it clear that Phoenix has rejected Hope (as a result of Hope initially rejected it), seemingly opening up a range of possibilities when it comes to the ultimate fate of both Hope and Phoenix.

On the other side, Hickman really excels by showing the Avengers trying to collect themselves and find a way to get Hope.  I loved Cap muttering to himself in a safe house somewhere.  The Cap of the first five issues of this series was a man slightly unhinged by his fear of the future.  The Cap of this issue is a man whose worst fears have been realized and now finds himself almost calmer, setting about addressing the task at hand.  Whereas Hope and Professor X are the voices of dissent in Utopia, both warning Scott about the corrosive nature of absolute power, Hickman uses Hank and T'Challa as pretty believable advocates for the idea that maybe the X-Men making the world a better place isn't necessarily the worst thing that could happen.  Hickman really conveys the sense of exhaustion that Beast feels being caught between the Avengers and X-Men, and you can't really blame any of the people involved in this conflict for wanting to believe that their years of fighting to make the world a better place can finally come to an end and they can, you know, take a nap.  If Hank is the voice of exhaustion, then T'Challa is the voice of reason, essentially accusing Cap of fighting the fight just to fight one.

But, at the end of the day, it's hard to see how any reasonable person wouldn't come to the conclusion that the "Phoenix Five" are being manipulated by Phoenix and any momentary improvements to the human condition will be overshadowed when Phoenix finally decides to claim her ultimate price.  I was wondering where Hickman was going to go from here, given that the Avengers had pretty limited options when it came to confronting the "Phoenix Five."  Hickman happily surprised me by having the Avengers identify Hope as the key to understanding the Phoenix Force and deciding that their only option was to nab her.  Honestly, it made perfect sense and, after the idiotic choices that characters made in events like "Chaos War" and "Fear Itself," it was refreshing to find myself nodding in agreement with their approach.  Although the Scarlet Witch's appearance at the end smacks of a deus ex machina device, Hickman also makes it work, given that it also makes sense that Wanda would be monitoring the situation and that Hope would identify with her as a kindred spirit who's probably the only person on Earth who understands her.

All in all, Hickman put to rest a lot of my concerns that the advent of the "Phoenix Five" was a gimmick just to lengthen the series to 12 issues.  I mean, is it a gimmick?  Of course.  Is the upcoming few issues detailing the X-Men's attempt to wipe out the Avengers a stalling device?  Mais oui.  But, this issue still manages to stoke some fires so I'm willing to give Hickman et al. time to see how big they burn.  I mean, right now, we've got Hope, Iron Fist, the Phoenix Five, and Wanda all connected to Phoenix on a fundamental level.  Who knows where it's going to go?

After years of disappointing cross-over events, I can honestly say that I was happily surprised with this issue.  Not only did I not know where Hickman was going to go from page to page, injecting a suspense that I haven't felt, I don't know, ever when it comes to cross-over events, but I also legitimately don't know where the event itself is going.  Is Hope going to turn out having been a construct of the Phoenix Force all along?  Is Jean Grey going to return?  Will we end this series with the mutant race reborn?  I honestly don't know, and I'm really happy to say that.

New Avengers #27:  Of all the "Avengers vs. X-Men" tie-in issues, this one has been the most intriguing.  It is also, unfortunately, the one that seems most written for a TPB form and, as such, the comic that I've read since returning from my hiatus where I most notice the absence.  When my comics eventually arrive in the U.S., I'm going to need to sit down a spell and read these issues one right after another.  But, in the meantime, I re-read my reviews of issues #25-#26, so I feel more or less refreshed on the story to give the review a shot.

Basically, the faux Hope who we watched develop over the last two issues into Iron First assumes the power of the Phoenix.  Like Destiny predicted of Hope, Yu Ti informs the faux Hope that she will either be a savior or a destroyer, though the path is hers.  She appears to successfully control the Phoenix, but realizes that she needs to depart Earth because "the world isn't ready."  (For what, we don't know.  It's still a Bendis comic, after all.)  Iron First relays this story to Hope, who has apparently been sent here by the powers-that-be.  I immediately wondered where Wanda is, given that Hope only went with the Avengers in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #6 because of the connection that she felt to Wanda.  But, assuming Wanda gave her blessing, Hope is now with Iron First in K'un Lun to "train."

Bendis throws a lot our way in a small period of time, such as the possibility that Hope can also be the Iron Fist (in addition to Danny).  In the end, though, this issue is about putting Hope under the tutelage of Spider-Man.  I want to say that it's a little too pat.  Bendis notoriously uses characters willy-nilly, employing them in ways that fit his plot, even if they don't fit the character.  Previously, I wondered whether we'd be seeing this connection between the Phoenix Force and Iron Fist if Bendis hadn't decided to include Luke and Danny in his Avengers roster, taking them from the C List to the A List.  Moreover, in this issue, Bendis apparently forgot that Peter was a high-school chemistry teacher, so his insistence that Wolverine would be better to train Hope because he's been a teacher for all of five minutes makes no sense.  Both examples show Bendis not letting continuity get in the way of using a character the way that he wants to use him.  But, I have to concede that something about it feels inspired.  Peter telling Hope about how "with great power comes great responsibility" suddenly, retroactively, seems like exactly the thing that Hope has been waiting for someone to tell her.  I mean, let's face it, no one is going to be able to get that message across better than Peter.  Bendis spends most of this issue reminding us that Hope is a scared teenager, and who better to help a scared teenager than the original teen super-hero?

Moreover, it's actually a fun issue to read.  Hope's scene with Yu Ti at the pool was actually funny, rather than Bendis' usual "OMG, look, I'm injecting comedy into a serious situation!" version of funny.  All in all, Bendis continues to encourage me to keep an open mind here.  No matter how bizarre connecting Phoenix to Iron Fist to Spider-Man seems, he's doing it in a way that actually seems to make sense and deepens (rather than cheapens) the story.  We'll see where we go from here.

Secret Avengers #28:  I'm supposed to finish this issue in awe of the amazing sacrifice that Captain Marvel made to save Hala from the Phoenix Force.  The first problem with this issue, though, is that Captain Marvel seems to be resurrected every other year or so, making it difficult to feel the emotional impact that Remender wants me to feel.  After all, he returned during the "Civil War" and we Young Avengers fans were treated to the heart-breaking spectacle of "Young Avengers Presents" #2 when Mar-Vell meets his son, Teddy.  (Of course, Wikipedia tells me that said Captain Marvel was apparently a Skrull imposter, but we didn't know that at the time.)  Then, he returned during "Chaos War," yet another cross-over event that Marvel has conveniently forgotten happened.  But, for those of us who read it, we've already seen Captain Marvel sacrifice his second chance at life to do the right thing.  As such, seeing himself resurrected for the third time in almost as many years really reduces the impact of the story.  Remender does his best by allowing us to feel that loss through Carol's eyes.  But, here, we run into the second problem, namely the fact that anyone already reading "Avengers" knows how this story ends.  Given that Captain Marvel didn't appear in that issue, we already know that he died (or something happened to him).  But, moreover, given that Carol didn't even mention his death in that series, it also makes her grief in this issue seem somewhat disingenuous.  I mean, she's devastated, but then, you know, completely forgets about it a few minutes later when the events at the end of "Avengers" #26 get under way?  Again, I'm trying not to blame Remender too much, because it's not his fault that Marvel commissioned too competing Space Team titles.  But, since the team landed on Hala last issue, this title has had little to do with the main "Avengers vs. X-Men" event, particularly given that we've already seen issues that happened after the events of this issue, such as "Avengers vs. X-Men" #5-#6 and "Avengers" #26-#27.  As such, it was hard to really engage with it the way that Remender wanted, given that we already knew all the outcomes.

Uncanny X-Men #14:  Wow.  Just...wow.  This issue is epic.  I loved what Gillen did with "Uncanny X-Men" when he first took over the title, but, since the reboot, I've been disappointed by his characterizations and plotting.  In fact, his Sinister arc at the start of the rebooted title was almost unreadable to me.  But, this issue is truly spectacular in its grandiosity.  Somehow, Gillen creates an entire world comprised of nothing but Mr. Sinister and makes it one of the most fascinating corners of the Marvel Universe.  His protagonist, a rebellious Sinister clone, is infused with more emotion and humanity than most literary characters, a masterful example of great characterization in just one issue.  The protagonist's fall at the end of the issue is made all the more devastating for it, even if you knew it was coming.  Gillen also uses the plot developments of this issue to make certain aspect of his Sinister arc clearer, such as why he went after the Dreaming Celestial in the first place and why he pushed Hope towards the Phoenix.  He also reveals that Sinister has not only cloned himself but several mutants as well, most notably, Madeleine Pryor.  Beyond just the adroit characterization and master plotting, though, Gillen also injects the humor that we first saw on his initial run on "Uncanny X-Men" into the issue.  You need no better example than Sinister's great quip about his Gambit clones:  "But I left him brain damaged, because Mister Lebeau always did lean that way."

When I first saw Sinister on the cover, my first thought was that Scott would some point realize that he could go after him with his new-found power.  As such, I was in awe when Gillen has Sinister not only realize the same thing but actually have been planning on it.  All these great moments are made all the better by Weaver and Charalampidis's equally spectacular ar.  From the opening sequence of the rebel hiding his secret basement underneath a Sinister-emblazoned rug to the rebel's techni-colored coat, they give detailed form to Sinister London.  I would honestly buy a series dedicated to the rebellious character who we saw here so that we could explore the depths of Sinister's world.  Seriously, if you read no other issue this month, read this one.  It's a candidate for issue of the year.

Wolverine and the X-Men #12:  Now, we're talking!  Although I initially thought of the "Phoenix Five" as a delaying tactic for Marvel to justify a 12-issue mini-series, I now see that it was, in fact, the way to turn the tables.  If the Avengers were hunting the X-Men in Act One, it's the X-Men's turn to hunt the Avengers in Act Two.  However, where the Avengers tried to use some restraint (particularly impressive given that, for them, the risk of failure was Phoenix devouring the world), the X-Men have taken off the kid gloves.  Aaron clearly really thought about the way that he wanted to present this story, and I can't think of a better way than using Rachel Summers as a hound once again.  Aaron spends a good deal of time showing Rachel wondering if she's doing the right thing, noting that she never thought that she would have to become a hound again to help create a "true Utopia" for mutants.  Along those lines, in her conversation with Scott in the middle of the issue, I thought that Aaron wandered, by accident or design, into an interesting neighborhood.  I realized that Rachel might become a hound in the future not because others had failed to create such a mutant Utopia in her past, but because she and the X-Men might actually succeed in doing so in the present.  Aaron makes it clear that Cyclops has lost his mind to the Phoenix as he talks about it as an agent of love, since Scott before his ascension was still reasonable enough to know that the rebirth that he hoped would happen would only come after destruction.  But, here, he makes it seem that Phoenix will simply become a benevolent god, and I think Aaron is starting to set up the X-Men for their eventual crash into reality.  But, to return to my point about Rachel's future, I don't think that it's a stretch to see that one of the unintended consequences of the Phoenix Five's actions could be bringing about the destruction that will turn humanity against the mutants, as predicted by Destiny.  In other words, it will bring about the sequence of events that created Rachel's future in the first place.  I'm not saying Aaron specifically intended to draw that parallel, but it's one that I saw in the careful way that he presented Rachel in this issue.

Aaron doesn't just focus on Rachel, though.  He starts to make it clear that the divide between the heroes after "Avengers vs. X-Men" is going to be just as strong as the one between the X-Men after "X-Men:  Schism."  Aaron really got across that message with the opening scene between Logan and Rachel.  Aaron made it particularly impactful by using a tightly controlled dialogue, with both characters presenting themselves as resolute in the certainty of their cause (even if Rachel has some doubts in private).  It was hard not to think about the fact that just a few issues ago Rachel followed Logan on his greatest adventure, creating the School.  Now, she's cornered him and his allies, prepared to kill who she has to kill to find Hope to please her father, who she both fears and respects.  This scene made me realize how over their heads everyone is and how quickly this fight has gone past the point of no return, even more than the Beast/Iceman fight.  Everyone is playing for keeps, and no one is just going to hug out their differences when the dust settles...if it settles.  It could be why Rachel betrays Scott in the end, allowing Hope to escape.  Aaron doesn't linger over that decision, but Rachel clearly felt some need to leave everyone a possible escape hatch.

Two great "Avengers vs. X-Men" tie-in issues in a row!  We're on a roll!

X-Men Legacy #269:  I liked this one, too!

Gage does a great job at the start of this issue setting up the argument that Ms. Marvel will put forward later in the issue, namely that the X-Men are drinking some seriously strong Kool-Aid.  (We saw the first hint of it in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12, with Cyclops talking about Phoenix loving everyone.)  Iceman and Rogue, two of the more level-headed X-Men, gushing about the Phoenix Five raises the possibility that they are being subtly manipulated by the Five, as I think we're going to learn that Cyclops had been by Phoenix before it arrived.  Gage also makes the valid point that, even if they're not being directly manipulated by the Phoenix Five, the X-Men are willing to quiet their doubts and follow them because they have so long hungered to change the world and be respected for doing it.  (I thought Rogue's musings on the Avengers thinking that the world was fine because they ran it was actually one of the better pro-X-Men arguments that we've seen throughout this event, since it's a pretty valid criticism.)

When we get to Carol and Rogue's conversation, Gage makes it feel really organic.  It's almost the antithesis of the Batman/Owlman fight in "Batman" #11, where you felt like Scott Snyder was doing his best to find ways to get through all that exposition while trying to make the fight interesting.  Here, Gage doesn't make their conversation feel like exposition at all, but a dialogue between two people who respect and understand one another (even if they don't like one another).  After all, it makes sense that, of all the possible Avengers and X-Men combinations, Carol would make an approach to Rogue, particular since we saw in "Wolverine and the X-Men" #12 that Beast and Iceman aren't going to be the ones to bring about reconciliation.  The final scene -- of Magik dropping Carol into Limbo -- is as powerful as Gage and Baldeon intended, shocking Rogue from her reverie.  I'm excited to see where Gage goes from here.  The X-titles haven't really had a running story during the event (whereas the Avengers titles have had the Space Team's endeavors in "Avengers" and "Secret Avengers" and the K'un Lun story in "New Avengers"), so I look forward to seeing the X-Men have their turn at a story-within-in-the-story.  Plus, you can imagine how much ass Carol and Rogue will kick together.

New(-ish) Comics: The "Avengers vs. X-Men" Edition #7 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Avengers vs. X-Men #5: I saw an advertisement that billed this issue as the end of Act One, and it's a pretty apt description.  The storyline so far has revolved around Cap and Cyclops' dueling views of Hope, with Cap maybe taking overly aggressive steps to address the danger that he felt that a Phoenix-empowered Hope posed to the world and Cyclops pretty much proving that he had lost his mind by constantly asserting that a so-empowered Hope would save the mutant race.  A reckoning between these two visions has been coming, and we get one (to an extent) in this issue.

Last issue, we saw that Hope herself didn't really necessarily believe that Cap or Cyke had any idea what they were doing, a pretty reasonable conclusion given that, as I mentioned in my last review, Cap had no real plan to protect her from Phoenix and Cyclops didn't seem to have any idea how she would control it.  She convinced Logan to let her try to control Phoenix, but got him to agree to kill her if it looked like she couldn't.  They then went to the Moon to greet Phoenix.  (It was like Burning Man, but with less acid.)

We start this issue with the Avengers having located Hope, thanks to a tip from Logan, and the X-Men arriving right on their heels, as a result of Emma successfully plucking her location from someone's mind. The Phoenix Force has also arrived and Hope quickly realizes that she can't control it while the Avengers and the X-Men resume pounding on one another.  I thought Fraction did a great job of using Hope's narration to explain that the war between the two sides had gone beyond the rational and, in fact, seemed no longer to have anything to do with her.  Even with this pretty reasonable explanation why years of emotions meant that neither side seemed capable of putting together a workable plan, it was getting hard to believe that the two sides would just continue to wail on each other for the next seven issues given that it really wasn't doing anything to resolve the issue of Hope.

Here, Fraction resolves that issue, in a way.  We finally see the device that Tony Stark has been building over the last few issues, some sort of giant robot that reminded me of Tranzor Z from the '80s.  Stark and Hank Pym fly said robot straight at the Phoenix Force, detonating some sort of energy field that disrupts her.  Fraction isn't entirely clear how the robot manages to do that, but I'm willing to concede that Stark and Pym are capable of finding some way to do it without me needing to understand all the mechanics.  The Phoenix Force, rejected by Hope and attacked by Stark, splits itself five ways, imbuing Colossus, Cyclops, Emma, Magic, and Namor with its power.  They then inform the Avengers that they're taking Hope with them and that they plan on helping Phoenix heal so that it can remake the world.

The good news is that I don't necessarily hate this development.  When I first heard about it, I rolled my eyes and figured that it would be the moment when this whole endeavor jumped the shark.  I mean, it's pretty obviously a stalling tactic to help justify a 12-issue mini-series.  But, it's a stalling tactic that at least works in terms of the story.  It makes sense that Tony and Hank could damage, but not destroy, Phoenix, so I'm willing to concede that the actual effect of their attack was to split her power between the five X-Men.  In fact, Hope herself comments that Phoenix didn't want her any more after she initially rejected it.  I'm waiting to see where Fraction goes with that.  After all, the obvious question is why Phoenix didn't just give Hope its powers.   If it was able to empower the five X-Men mentioned above here, then it seems like that it could also have just gone ahead and empowered Hope.  Fraction seems to be implying that Hope's realization that she couldn't handle the power somehow affected Phoenix's view of her, and I'm wondering if the point of imbuing the five X-men was to give them the ability to convince her to play host.

In other words, Fraction does really bring us to a solid end of Act One.  It's no longer about Cap and Cyke's dueling visions about Hope's potential future.  We're now waiting to see what Cyclops et al. meant about the need for Phoenix to heal itself before it can "evolve tomorrow itself."  I'm glad to say that I'm excited to see what the answer to that question is.

Finally, Fraction does a good job of making Hope a little more likable here.  After all, she realizes that she can't handle the Phoenix Force and asks Wolverine to kill her.  As grim as that sounds, it shows that Hope is trying to do the right thing and allows us to have empathy for her, something that has always been hard to have given how obnoxious she's been.  All in all, despite my doubts, it was a pretty strong issue.

AVX:VS #3:  This title's previous issues have been fun, but I can honestly say this one is totally skipable.  The Colossus/Thing fight is totally formulaic and the Black Widow/Magik fight is rendered almost unintelligible by Marvel's decision to put half of it in Russian, hoping we'll download its AR app.  I'm specifically NOT downloading the AR app as a result.  So there.

Avengers #27:  OK, I've pretty well documented the fact that the "Avengers" and "Secret Avengers" coordination problem has been my least favorite thing about "Avengers vs. X-Men."  The problem is, unfortunately, all the more stark after my six-week hiatus, because I spent most of this issue trying to remember what happened in the last issue versus what happened in the last issue of "Secret Avengers."  If I'm not mistaken, we ended "Secret Avengers" with Ms. Marvel and the Protector supporting a reborn Captain Marvel and I had more or less ascertained that the upcoming fight was contained between panels in "Avengers" #26.  I think that hunch is more or less supported by this issue, given that Marvel isn't even mentioned and Carol is clearly no longer under his sway.  I don't remember the exact details of the Protector's attack on his teammates last issue, but he appears to have stolen something that will help the Supreme Intelligence gain control over the Phoenix Force.

Unfortunately, he assumed that the Supreme Intelligence would then help save Earth.  He is clearly an idiot.  (I mean, really?  I actually liked this plot line better when he was merely traitorous, not naive.)  He was wrong (obviously) and I give credit to Bendis that the sequence where he's deserted by his teammates is heartbreaking to read.  Or, at least, it would be heartbreaking if I believed it.  Bendis makes it seem like the Protector staked Captain America through the heart given the vitriol that the team spews at him.  I mean, Hank gets so angry about singed fur that he threatens to kill the Protector?  I get that they're upset, but, honestly, something about the team members' reaction just seemed totally over the top to me, given that any number of Avengers have done much, much worse but are still welcomed with open arms.  I'm not saying that he didn't do a terrible thing, but I don't know if I believe that they would've reacted the way that they did.  In the end, it wasn't a terrible issue.  In fact, it's pretty damn good for Bendis,  But, I still find myself scratching my head why we're dedicating two titles to the Space Team when one would've definitely sufficed.  But, at least it seems like the dueling Space Team stories are coming to an end, so I'm happy that we'll presumably be seeing something else next issue.

  

Uncanny X-Men #13:  Despite the fact that "Uncanny X-Men" is just a tie-in issue, Gillen makes two fairly major revelations here.  First, he has Unit reveal that the Phoenix Force has, in fact, come to Earth specifically because it felt "pushed" by Wanda's decimation of the mutant race, implying that it's here to correct it.  Second, he reveals the existence of another messiah who previously used the Phoenix Force to save her race.

Needless to say, I'm pretty surprised that we didn't see the reveal about Phoenix's intentions in the main title.  After all, it pretty much proves that Scott is right (to an extent).  Given how insane Scott has seemed lately, I think this revelation makes him seem significantly less crazy.  I mean, he still seems somewhat crazy, since I'm pretty sure that Unit didn't tell Scott about Phoenix's intentions and he's just basing his belief in its redemptive abilities on some sort of instinct.  One theory about his erratic behavior has been that Hope or Phoenix has been manipulating him, so it makes sense that, if Phoenix has been manipulating him, his connection to it would probably given him some insight into its intentions.  Now, Gillen doesn't actually draw that line here, so it's entirely possible that Cyclops is really just on a limb in his belief in Phoenix as the mutants' savior.  Moreover, even if he's right that it's come to Earth to recreate the mutant race, it doesn't mean that a lot of people aren't going to die in the process.  (In other words, Cap isn't necessarily wrong that Hope and Phoenix are threats, even if Cyclops is right that it's here to undo Wanda's spell.)  But, at the very least, it does make me feel like Scott's not as insane as I think, even if he is only basing his opinion on instinct that may or may not come from a connection to the Phoenix Force.

Morever, Gillen address one of my questions from "Avengers vs. X-Men" #5, namely, why Phoenix decided to empower the five X-Men on the Moon.  Here, we learn that it parallels an event that happened a billion years ago, when a messiah was born to a race who found itself evolutionarily halted by a group of demons who had enslaved it.  The messiah built up a group of five acolytes and called to Phoenix for help.  Phoenix answered, and the messiah and her acolytes worked with Phoenix to undo the spell and reform their world.  So, Phoenix not only has come to Earth to save the mutant race, but it's essentially done the same thing previously.  Gillen draws an implicit parallel between Hope and her original Lights from "Generation Hope."  We've never really gotten an explanation of how Hope exerted the influence over the Lights that she did, since it's not her mutant power to do so, but Gillen seems to be implying that it was due to her link to Phoenix, given the previous messiah's experience.  In the present, with Hope discarded and her acolytes scattered, it's clear that Phoenix is willing to use a different set of acolytes to further its goals.  We'll see where that goes.

Again, it seems odd to me that the editors at Marvel would shunt these revelations -- that the Phoenix Force IS here to recreate the mutant race and that Hope isn't the first messiah surrounded by five acolytes to call on the Phoenix Force to save her people -- to a tie-in issue.  But, I'm certainly glad that these stories got told, regardless of where they were told, because it does help address two nagging questions I had, namely Cyclops' insistence that he was right about Hope and Hope being able to control the Lights.  On the down side, the use of Unit as the source of this information remains deus ex machina-y, and I found myself rolling my eyes at his revelation that he's trying to prevent Hope from saving the mutants since he has nothing to learn from such a scenario, given that he's already witnessed a messiah achieving her goal.  Plus, I might be giving Gillen a little too much credit here, given that, as I've noted, I'm connecting some dots that Gillen doesn't specifically connect himself.  But, all in all, I'll take any sort of clarity that I can get.

The other focus of this issue is Magneto, Psylocke, and Storm regrouping at a pre-designated location after the battles that we've seen occur throughout Earth over the last few issues. It's a great series of scenes, because it gives the event the quiet time that it's been missing, allowing the characters to consider the events of the last few days.  Again, we're moving into Act Two here, so I thought it was a nice touch for Gillen to use this issue to spend some time reflecting on the events of Act One. All in all, I probably enjoyed this issue of "Uncanny X-Men" more than any since the re-launch.

X-Men Legacy #268:  OK, first, I was confused by where we start this issue, because I thought that, when we last left Rogue and her team, they were still in the middle of a fight with Falcon and his team.  I guess I'll have to check.  Anyway, this issue is the first one to deal directly with the aftermath of "Avengers vs. X-Men" #5, informing us that the five X-Men empowered by the Phoenix Force are remaking the world in their image.  For starters, they've outlawed war and we start the issue with Cyclops disarming both sides of a conflict somewhere in Africa.  Enter Frenzy, who's tasked with keeping the peace for a few hours until the Stepford Cuckoos can come and re-write everyone's memory.  (They're a little busy at the moment disarming Iran's nuclear program.)  I was also a little confused by this moment, since I was pretty sure that only Bobby, Rachel, and Warren defected to Cyclops' side.  Have Rogue et al. followed?  I guess that they have, but it would've been nice to see that.  Instead, I was left feeling like I missed an issue.

I was worried from the get-go with this story, because I find that authors often fail miserably when they engage in these foreign-intervention tales.  They usually greatly oversimplify the complicated dynamics that tend to create these sorts of internal conflicts and fail to write a story that provides a believable role for the costumed hero who finds herself suddenly thrust in the middle of one.  As someone who works in foreign affairs, these stories generally require too significant of a willful suspension of disbelief for me, particularly when it comes to the reality that the victims will face once the heroes leave.

I will say that Gage mostly (though not totally) avoids all these traps.  By using Frenzy, he gives us a protagonist who completely understands that the X-Men are not going to keep two sides who've been fighting each other for decades from attacking each other, even if they have been disarmed.  Gage somewhat wisely has the conflict itself take a backstage, since the issue is really about Frenzy and the abuse that she suffered at the hands of her father, a history that inspires her to intervene when she comes across a guy abusing his child bride.  My only real criticism of the issue is this moment, since Gage has the guy spout off way too many theories about international relations while telling Frenzy to take a hike.  Gage also falls into the oversimplification trap as Frenzy decides that she's going to solve this girl's problems by just stopping the guy from hitting her.  (Gage actually somewhat sidesteps the question entirely by killing off said husband at the end of the issue, so that we don't have to wonder what's going to happen to the girl once Frenzy leaves.  I'm not entirely sure why the guy was killed, though.  Did another guerrilla group stumble across the rebel camp and kill everyone there?  Gage isn't really clear on that.  If the husband was a member of the group at the camp, why would they kill him?)  But, leaving this scene aside, the rest of the issues flows pretty smoothly (though sadly) as Frenzy tells her story to the man's wife, who's barely a teenager, as she leads Frenzy to the rebel's camp.

The most interesting part of this issue comes at the end, with Frenzy successfully convincing the Stepford Cuckoos not to wipe the traumatic memories from the minds of the villagers, since they need those memories to protect themselves from the next warlord.  If Cyclops and his crew are really having the Cuckoos rewrite the memories of everyone on Earth to conform to their vision of the world, I'm wondering what nightmare Utopia we're going to be seeing in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #6.  Plus, shouldn't they be re-sparking the mutant race?  I mean, why are they bothering with political conflicts when they could be going to every de-powered mutant and reviving their powers?  Overall, I'm a little worried, because these sorts of stories about free will have been done many, many times before (and probably most successfully by the "Squadron Supreme" mini-series in the '80s) and I think that this entire endeavor could get really derivative really quickly.  Fingers crossed that it doesn't.  In the meantime, Gage gives us a decent character study here that managed to miss all the pitfalls that this sort of issue usually carries with it.  Frenzy continues to grow as a character and Gage clearly enjoys writing her.  You don't necessarily need to read this issue in terms of the larger event, but if you like Frenzy and you're looking for a good character study, you should think about getting it.