AVX: Consequences #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I think this series was actually better than "Avengers vs. X-Men."  In fact, upon reflection, it's actually the series that I thought "X-Men:  Schism" was going to be, with Scott embracing militarism (of a sorts) and Logan advocating pacifism (of a sorts).  It definitely seems to bring the process of the schism to a close, given that we now emerge from "Avengers vs. X-Men" with mutantkind falling into two very distinct camps.

Perhaps most notably, Cyclops embraces a more brutal side than we've ever seen him embrace, ordering Magik to send Jake's murderers to Limbo and Danger to scar the warden's face.  In so doing, Gillen makes it clear that we're dealing with the new Scott now.  He embraces his role as a terrorist because he wants people to fear him, to think of him before they engage in acts of mutant discrimination.

Gillen doesn't allow Cyclops to make that transition without comment, however.  In fact, this Scott makes a lot more sense than the Scott that we saw in "X-Men:  Schism."  That Scott really seemed to think that children should be on the front lines of mutantkind's battle with humankind.  But, with the resurrection of the mutant race, this Scott seems to feel freed from that position.  Since mutantkind is no longer fighting for its very survival, he now seems to feel that it has the "luxury" of allowing students to attend the School.  In shifting Scott's position on this issue, Gillen makes Scott a lot more of a sympathetic character.  In fact, his note to Logan is heart-breaking, describing his turn to evil as something that he could do because he knows that Logan has embraced his turn to good.  In this way, Gillen has Scott go in two different directions at once.  He becomes harder against his enemies and softer on his allies.  We despise him, and sympathize with him, more.  All in all, he's a lot more complex but relatable character than he was.

I had wondered in my review of last issue why Marvel wasn't going to release a series on the new Brotherhood, as it seems clear that it has now reconstituted under Scott's leadership.  However, I now see, from an ad at the back of this issue, that "All-New X-Men" is going to follow its story.  Also, as hoped, Emma Frost is going to join the team.  Whereas I was dreading and dismissing this title as a poorly considered time-travel story that couldn't last, I'm now excited about it.  The new Scott's story is going to test the old Scott's beliefs.  Excellent.

I think that we've got a decent likelihood that, in the end, some sort of time-travel device is going to be used to put Scott back on the side of angels, erasing the world's memory of his crimes.  But, at least it seems like we're going to get some pretty damn good stories before that day comes.

AVX: Consequences #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

The best part of this issue, to my mind, is the conversation between Magneto and Storm.  In just the span of a few panels, Gillen manages to show the two distincts camps that have formed in the wake of "Avengers vs. X-Men."  He makes it clear that Magneto now once again sees himself responsible for defending mutantkind from humanity whereas Storm stresses the importance of working with humanity to heal the wounds left from Cyclops' rampage.  Gillen couldn't have chose two better spokespeople, using two of the smarter and more emotionally balanced X-Men and keeping the conversation all very civil and maturity.  For example, when Magneto implies that he's returning to villainy, Storm reminds him that he isn't a villain.  Magneto thanks her for that remark, but makes the excellent point that villainy is in the eye of the beholder.  It's an important framework that Magneto establishes here, particularly later in the issue when Cyclops calls for Magneto to free him.  I have to imagine that Magneto and Scott are going to have different philosophies when it comes to defending mutantkind, particularly since Gillen has gone to great lengths in this series to remind us that the idealistic Scott that we used to know is under there, as Wolverine himself says in this issue.  But, It won't matter, because Magneto is right:  the world is going to see Scott as a villain the minute that he leaves that prison.  As seemed evident for a while now, Scott is going to join the Brotherhood.  I can honestly say that I'm excited to see where we go with that and I'm more than moderately surprised that they're not going to get their own series.

AVX: Consequences #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

The most interesting thing about this issue is that Gillen lets us see a glimpse of an older (or, I guess, technically, younger) version of Scott, a guy who believes that a school could teach his cellmate to learn how to use his gifts and a somewhat implicit belief that he would use those powers for good rather than evil.  It seems unlikely that his cellmate has any intention to be a good guy, but it's a revealing moment of naiveté on Scott's part.  It implies that he hasn't forgotten all the lessons that Xavier taught him, that at least the goal of helping mutants understand their powers is worthwhile, even if he's less enthused about the "co-existing with humanity" part of Xavier's dream.  I wonder if it suggests his next act, forming a school with possibly a less "accommodationist," if you will, approach to educating mutants.  In the meantime, however, he hasn't gotten there yet, since we still see him preferring to die as a martyr than escaping and doing something else with his life.  But, this glimpse into the old Scott definitely makes me anxious to see where we find him at the end of this mini-series.

The rest of this issue shows us a variety of small moments involving several characters.  The most notable one to me was Hope trying to assimilate into a normal life.  I loved how Gillen framed it as a letter that Hope writes to Laurie, since it serves as a touching tribute to the cast of "Generation Hope."  I feel like it's pretty clear that Hope is less annoyingly rage-filled than she was now that she has the Phoenix burden off her shoulders, so it's nice to see her making amends with Laurie.  Gillen seems to be reminding us that this generation of mutants will take over the X-Men one day and is doing his part in keeping their group dynamics alive.  I'm also interested in where he goes with the Cable sub-plot.  I'm actually not sure what happened to Cable after the events of "Second Coming" (and why he's still alive) and I'm still curious why he didn't play any role in "Avengers vs. X-Men."  I guess we'll learn more in the next two issues.

All in all, it's another strong issue that continues to flesh out Cyclops and hints at his future while at the same time wrapping up some Hope-related loose ends.  I really can't ask for more than that.

AVX: Consequences #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is mostly dedicated to the conversation between Logan and Scott that we were promised last issue, with Logan trying to convince Scott that it's in the best interest of mutantkind for him to convince the wayward members of the Extinction Team to surrender to authorities.  As usual, I'm struggling to see Scott's side of the debate.  I certainly get his desire to be a martyr, but more because I think Logan's right that he simply wants to die.  Scott claims he wants to be a martyr, but never really explains why he would be one.  In fact, once again, Scott seems to get the question wrong.  He seems to think that he would be a martyr because he was "right" on the question of whether or not the Phoenix Force would reignite the human race.  But, everyone else knew that the question, the real question, wasn't a "yes" or "no" question.  The real question was whether it was worth risking the world to rekindle the mutant race, particularly since the end of the world would, obviously, result in the end of mutantkind, too.  It's still a question that Scott doesn't even bother acknowledging, even though he himself came close to answering it by becoming Dark Phoenix.  For him, it was all about rekindling mutantkind.  At the end of the day, he saved the mutant race.  Period.

The amazing thing is that Scott still doesn't understand that it's more complicated than that.  When Logan tells him that the mutant race that he's rekindled is hated and feared even more than it used to be, Scott doesn't even blink.  (Heh.)  He doesn't understand the point that Logan is trying to make, that the Avengers and the X-Men have to do everything they can to allay the world's concerns over a rekindled mutant race lest every mutant finds himself hunted by Sentinels.  Gillen raises interesting imagery with that statement, making you wonder whether Hope rekindling the mutant race is going to lead to Bishop's future, but not because of the Six-Minute War that Hope causes in that timeline but because of the devastation that Scott caused in this timeline.  But, again, Scott is so far removed from reality that he sees the actual lives that the new mutants live as a secondary concern.  He's beyond caring about Professor X's dream, of addressing humans and mutants peacefully coexisting.  To his mind, he's saved mutantkind; how mutantkind lives is someone else's problem.

Gillen manages to convey this point of view in a way that you can tell that Scott has to tell himself these things to live with himself and it's the part of him that truly understands the damage that he's inflicted on mutantkind that wants to be killed.  He's left a broken, lonely man hoping someone will end his misery.  It's a stark change from what he was and I wonder where we're going to find him at the end of this mini-series.  For anyone not reading this series, I would actually really recommend it, because I feel like it is addressing a lot of the questions about Scott's perspective that I know a lot of us had at the end of "Avengers vs. X-Men."

AVX: Consequences #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Kieron Gillen does exactly what he's supposed to do with this issue, showing us the aftermath of "Avengers vs. X-Men."  It's been unclear, for example, why Magneto was wanted by the authorities, but, here, Cap explains that the entire Extinction Team is wanted, to varying degrees.  The members of the Phoenix Five top the list of people that the government wants to see behind bars, but Danger and Magneto are wanted at least for questioning given their checkered pasts.  Cap makes it clear that the government needs someone to atone for the devastation that the Phoenix Five wrought, and Danger and Magneto are at least sufficiently guilty by association to require some sort of public reckoning.  Although Gillen doesn't explicitly state it, it seems clear that the other X-Men (including other members of the Extinction Team with less spotty previous records, like Psylocke and Storm) have largely been forgiven for their role in supporting Scott in the interest of focusing on the main culprits.

But, Gillen makes it clear that the threat to mutantkind is larger than just rounding up these folks.  Both Captain America and the prison warden mention the increased fear that people feel with the advent of new mutants, particularly with such a recent testimony to the violent nature of some mutants.  The X-Men are no longer the ones suffering at the hands of humans; humans have now suffered at the hands of the X-Men.  The government might only be hunting seven mutants specifically (if Danger can be considered a mutant), but it doesn't necessarily mean that it and the public believe that the others aren't also threats.  Cap clearly views the new Avengers team as a way to begin combatting those fears and it's been a while since those fears have been as front and center in the X-books as they seem to be now.  It's like the '80s all over again.  I think it makes sense, though, and actually backs up Marvel's assertion that "Avengers vs. X-Men" was going to shake up the status quo.

It's clear that Cap has some sort of plan for addressing this new status quo and Gillen leaves you wanting to know more about it.  Presumably, we're going to see Wolverine ask Cyclops to do something to further that plan next issue and I can't wait to see that conversation.  All in all, Gillen makes this issue a must-read for anyone who really enjoyed "Avengers vs. X-Men."