Spotlight: X-Men #1

(w) Brian Wood
(p/i) Olivier Coipel
(i) Mark Morales

I don't know what I was expecting.

Honestly.

I had absolutely no idea how to feel about Brian Wood's all-female relaunch of X-Men. Well, I had one. I felt (and still feel) that it should be titled X-Women. But that's beside the point.

X-Men #1 is a surprisingly awesome book. It starts out slow, and unless your generally familiar with the X-Men lore as of late...and into the 1990s, you might have a harder time jumping on. But that's to be expected in this modern age of continuity and time travel travesties. Wood has assembled all the most bad-ass female X-Men for a squad whose mission is to stop the destruction of all life in the universe.

While it doesn't sound like a terribly original plot, the threat itself that really drives this title. John Sublime was created by Grant Morrison during his run on New X-Men. He's the embodiment of a sentient bacteria that's been infecting living things since the beginning of life on Earth. Though he became somewhat buried amongst Morrison's numerous high-concept ideas for the X-Men at the time, Sublime represented a deep-seeded fear of someone or something having control over us as humans. He was a powerful character, not only literally, but also literarily.


**SPOILERS, HOOOOO!!!!!!!!!**


And now we learn Sublime has a sister.

Unfortunately, she's not like her terrestrial brother who chose to nurture life on Earth. Sublime reveals that their ancient, bacteria-level, primordial war resulted in his choosing Earth and casting his sister out into space to fend for herself and hope for evolution. And now she's all grown up and angry as hell.

Wood's focus on family comes through with this brother/sister relationship, as well as through Jubilation Lee's return to Westchester County to seek help from the X-Men. Though I detest narration boxes, Wood employs them well here with Jubilee, keeping it light and fast-moving to avoid lingering on something too long and sounding corny.

Jubilee has been out of the picture long enough for Wood to bring her back without having to do much by the way of quick character development. It's not like she's Wolverine and Wood's got to establish that this is, in fact, Wolverine by making him say "Bub" and look menacing while discussing an ethically impossible scenario. This is Jubilee, a character whose been out of rotation for a long time and needs to be treated accordingly. Fortunately, Wood does this by keeping her panel time relatively small. Though the infant she carries is the focal point of the issue, we don't get an intimate look at Jubilee. She's been away for a reason and now, she's wary of returning.

I LOVE Olivier Coipel's artwork. There's not much more to say there.

These days, I find myself enjoying stuff I often scoff at when reading solicitations. It's a bad habit I'm trying to drop, but it's also a testament to how early previews sometimes skew opinions before the book has a chance to really make it's own case. I made a choice to invest myself in #1's when I got back into comics with the 'New 52' and Avengers vs. X-Men. I did this so the comic could prove itself without my preconceived notions getting in the way. X-Men #1 makes my case.

GRADE

9/10

AVENGERS vs. X-MEN #12 of 12

(W) Jason Aaron

(P) Adam Kubert

(I) John Dell, Mark Morales, and Adam Kubert

So that's it. Avengers vs. X-Men finally comes to a close after six months of nearly non-stop melodrama, crazy battles, cosmic death gods, and general mayhem. And while the event - as a whole - had its missteps along the way, it managed to right the boat and finish strong with Scott Summers' ascension as the new Dark Phoenix, the death of Charles Xavier, and the incredible new developments contained in the pages of Avengers vs. X-Men #12.

It's do or die time at the opening of the issue: Cyclops has totally flown the coop and has become the Dark Phoenix, corrupted by absolute power. Flash back 72 hours, and Tony Stark is giving one of the most candid (yet still somehow snarky) speeches of his life because he finally doesn't know what to do. Science, in all it's know forms and manipulations, has failed, and now the Iron Man cites 'faith' as the next step for the Avengers. I'm usually critical of religious overtones bleeding into mainstream comics, mostly because it's often done clumsily and awkwardly, but Jason Aaron's decision to give THE man of science a sense of belief in a higher power is spot on. The Avengers have been waging a literal war against a cosmic god (in whichever of it's forms) with no real plan, no way of actually knowing what they're doing, of if it will work at all. In a world where a mortal man (however evolved) can make decisions that could literally change the face of the planet, faith doesn't seem like such a nonsensical idea. But is it Tony's faith in his plan? Or his faith in Hope Summers and Wanda Maximoff? Perhaps it's faith in faith itself.

The first big moment of the issue is when Hope and Wanda attack Dark Phoenix directly. Wanda's chaos magic is the only thing that can harm the Phoenix, and Hope can mimic that power, meaning that for the first time since the Phoenix came back to Earth, the Avengers have a fighting chance. Soon, Scott breaks through the Phoenix power, begging the Avengers to kill him before he's consumed once again. It doesn't happen, and the Scarlet Witch and Mutant Messiah go H.A.M. on Dark Phoenix until it leaves Scott. Of course, it immediately sets its sights on Hope. For the short amount of time Hope wields the Phoenix force, she undoes all that Cyclops has done to ravage the world, setting out fires, calming volcanoes, extinguishing the ocean, and generally making sure the entirety of humanity wasn't swallowed by it's own planet. It's remarkable, even in it's inevitability. This is when the second big moment hits.

Hope is in full control: she's seen what the Phoenix is capable of in the wrong hands, and with the life she's had, Hope understands the need to keep the power of a death god on a tight leash. "No. That wasn't why you were chosen," explains Wanda. "It's because you're the only one with the strength to let it go." Hope's destiny, ironically, is completely shaped by the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, as opposed to being the cause or the result of. Without seeing what the Phoenix could actually do when it's host is corrupted, Hope would never have had the strength or the wisdom to withstand the power. In the end, she let's the Phoenix force go. Then, as the fire bird dissipates into space, Hope and Wanda take things one step further. They send the bits and pieces of the Phoenix down to Earth and use it to create new mutants all over the globe.

While I usually see these things coming, I'll admit I was taken aback by "No More Phoenix". It shocked me before it made complete sense: Avengers vs. X-Men is the bookend to an era at Marvel that began with House of M when Wanda declared "No More Mutants", decimating the homo-superior population down to less than 200. And while I seriously enjoyed this issue from beginning to end, I felt a bit unsatisfied by the event as a whole.

My main issue with Avengers vs. X-Men - one I've had since it started - is that the Avengers are the real bad guys here, and no one wants to admit it. What if the Phoenix Five were right? What if Captain America had just laid off a little bit, watched what happened with unbiased eyes, and seen the beauty that came from the power of the Phoenix? Instead, Marvel was content with making Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Namor, and Magik all out to be mastermind criminals who simply decided that they would become dictators. Nowhere is there underlying subtext that hints at the Avengers being the symbolic destructive force that unleashed the literal destructive force.

If Marvel had made more of an effort to include layered meanings throughout Avengers vs. X-Men, the entire event would have been damn near perfect. In reality, it's still one of the best crossovers of the past decade, but without more than surface-layer meanings and forced misunderstandings, everything just seems silly in the end. But I try not to think like this. I try to see this story for what it was; a narrative intended to bring years of resentment and anger to a close with a conflict that tore them apart, both literally and symbolically.

GRADE

A

AVENGERS vs. X-MEN #11 of 12

STORY: Brian Michael Bendis
ART: Olivier Coipel and Mark Morales

It's emotional gut-punch time! Over the past eight years, Marvel has made it pretty standard to kill off a major character at the end of major events. For Avengers: Disassembled, it was Hawkeye and Ant-Man. During Civil War, it was Captain America, and for Avengers vs. X-Men...you didn't think I'd spoil it this early in the review, did you? No, I'll give that little gem a bit more time.

Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel helm Avengers vs. X-Men #11, bringing the event ever closer to it's conclusion and segue into 'Marvel NOW!' starting in October. Ever since Cyclops and the other four X-Men took control of the Phoenix Force, it's been an obvious downward spiral for the Children of the Atom, and in this issue, that fact becomes all the more apparent once Rogue seeks asylum amongst the Avengers along with the rest of the disenfranchised mutants once loyal to Cyclops. Oh, and Charles Xavier is now in the mix for good. This just got real.

This is an issue filled with emotional and physical confrontations. With a huge new contingent of mutants at their side, as well as Xavier - who explains that he knows "what must be done" - the Avengers lay siege to Utopia, all while Professor X keeps Cyclops occupied in his own head. It's harrowing to see Cyclops, a cosmic god, bending to the will of a mere mutant. Of course, it's not just any mutant, and we get to see Charles Xavier unleash the full extent of his power against Cyclops as a legion of X-Men and Avengers descend upon Emma Frost to keep her occupied. Hell, they even manage to get the Hulk to help out. A lot of these pages are dedicated to the big fight. But Bendis is such an adept writer, he organically balances the fighting with the intervention-style confessionals by the likes of Iceman, (somewhat) Storm, Magneto, and - obviously - Xavier himself. Each one of them has a special connection to Scott Summers, and each has some words for the leader of the X-Men who's become a megalomaniac.

The opening pages of Avengers vs. X-Men #11 show Cyclops and Emma arguing over the fate of the universe, something that doesn't carry a lot of weight at first, but soon becomes the catalyst for Scott's eventual betrayal of Emma and his subsequent power play. It's telling how these two characters can chat about rewriting the universe without questioning why they should. Sure, both want the best for mutantkind, but the strain of the Phoenix obviously has taken away perspective (as seen more eloquently in Avengers vs. X-Men #6 Infinite). By the time Cyclops attacks Emma so he can acquire her power, it's pretty much expected. Bendis foreshadows this inevitability, but then acts like it's a big surprise once it happens. We all knew it would come down to Scott, it just became a question of when.

Scott feels violated. He's moved mountains, saved countless lives, and changed the world for the better, and now all his friends and family stand against him. He is a leader without a nation, a shepherd with no flock. It's a tough position to be in, but with interstellar powers at your fingertips, that grief can turn into suffering pretty quickly. And so it goes, Scott and Charles duke it out. In the end, it's Xavier on the ground and Scott floating above the corpse in a perfectly haunting fashion.

A lot of this issue's merits come from the emotional ramifications of the one of Marvel's Golden Children falling into darkness. Cyclops has been a mainstay in the Marvel universe since he was introduced. He's been in a leadership position throughout most of it, and he's been at odds with Charles Xavier only a handful of times that didn't have nearly the same ramifications as this disagreement. The fact that Charles feels he must force Scott to stop means there could never have been a positive outcome for either party. Scott loses the strongest father in his life, and Charles loses the son he always wished he had. It's beginning to look like no one will win this war. Usually, these mega-events don't have meaningful boundaries (i.e. - death is meaningless, changing alliances, etc.), so I hope Marvel sticks to it's guns for a while and keeps Xavier down. It was a truly shocking moment (though it was expected), and I'd hate for that emotional nuance to be squandered by resurrecting the good Professor.

GRADE

B

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #7 of 12

STORY: Matt Fraction
ART: Olivier Coipel and Mark Morales

Getting convoluted, you say? Wrapped up in it's own hyperbole, you say? Avengers vs. X-Men continues this week - after a stellar sixth issue and opening to Act II - with a huge slam on the brakes. Granted, it would take a lot to one-up Jonathan Hickman's masterful take on the Phoenix Five's betterment of Earth, but Matt Fraction not only doesn't keep the momentum going, he seems to be satisfied with a lot of talking.

Avengers vs. X-Men #7 is very much a filler issue. Wanda Maximoff has been revealed as the Phoenix Five's one true equal and the Avengers are now basically fugitives on the run. Both of these elements are dragged out over the course of the issue as Fraction decides to tell us how benevolent and awe-inspiring the Phoenix Five have been, and how far the Avengers have fallen out of grace instead of showing us what's happening. It's a lot less interesting to hear Cyclops tell his peers that the world loves them than seeing parades being thrown in honor of the Phoenix, or newspaper clippings about their good deeds. Hickman kind of knocked that ball out of the park last issue, but Matt Fraction is supposed to be one of Marvel's heavy-hitters, but his story falls pretty flat.

Which is all the more frustrating because Wanda Maximoff entering this conflict and siding with the Avengers is a big power play for the series and one that obviously has dire consequences. Since Scarlet Witch really is the only person who can stand up to the Phoenix Five, Fraction takes the extra time to convey this power. When Wanda faces off against Magik, it's the X-Man that goes down, not the Witch. Fraction glosses over this HUGE plot point just to get to Emma Frost unleashing some rage and burning Clint Barton nearly to death. While I understand the idea of making Clint's live roast an emotional hinge...MARVEL DID THIS EIGHT YEARS AGO! During the Avengers: Disassembled mini-event, Hawkeye was murdered by the Scarlett Witch when she had a nervous breakdown. Now, with barely any dialogue to give him a personality anyway, Hawkeye is hurt in nearly the exact same fashion: by a magic-wielding maniac with no boundaries.

Is it just me, or does Hawkeye really get the short end of the stick a whole helluva lot? First he's killed by Wanda, then resurrected - but as the hero Ronin, then he gets his name stolen during Norman Osborne's control over global defenses before abruptly having his costume changed to more closely resemble his movie counterpart.

Avengers vs. X-Men #7 does a fine job as a bridge issue between more important narrative aspects. Last issue, it was the reintroduction to the world under the leadership of the Phoenix Five and in two weeks, it will be the invasion of Wakanda by Namor and the Atlanteans. For an issue with little substance to spread out over 22 pages, Matt Fraction does the best job be can with the content he's given. It's unfortunate that Olivier Coipel's fantastic penciling couldn't be more readily employed, but even his 'neutral' faces for characters have so much more life in them than some artists' most emotionally charged heroes.

GRADE

B-

(COMIC) AVENGERS vs. X-MEN #6 of 12

STORY: Jonathan Hickman
ART: Olivier Coipel and Mark Morales

In the last issue of Avengers vs. X-Men, the Phoenix was fractured into five pieces which bonded with Cyclops, Colossus, Magik, Emma Frost, and Namor. I was a bit skeptical as to Marvel's intentions with the 'Phoenix Five' - their appearance seemed to precipitate an even bigger fight between the Avengers and the X-Men. The kind of battle that levels cities.

Instead, Jonathan Hickman brings us into Act II of Avengers vs. X-Men with a somber overview of the new world order. This issue picks up ten days after the confrontation with the Phoenix on the moon. In those days, Cyclops has led the other Phoenix Forcers in reshaping the world into a better place. With the power of gods split between five benevolent beings (the possible exception being Colossus and his Juggernaut power, which hasn't been brought up yet), the X-Men personify the 'rebirth' part of the Phoenix omens, the part where this force can be one for major positive strange.

I'm actually pretty impressed with Marvel's decision to make this turning point one of growth instead of conflict. There's an obligatory stand-off at the issue's end, but it's only real purpose is to start the slow burn to the next big fight.

Avengers vs. X-Men #6 is all about the change being created by the Phoenix Five. Magik and Colossus are fertilizing once barren land, Namor has tamed the Aleutian Trench to provide fresh, clean, free water for the world's people, and Emma Frost has created a machine in the Gobi Desert that provides sustainable, renewable, clean, free energy for all. Oh, and Utopia is now a freaking paradise of technology and peace. Even the Avengers are a bit awe-struck by the X-Men's sheer force of good.

In this issue, Jonathan Hickman had to usher in a second act to the biggest Marvel event of the year, introduce a new status quo for the Marvel Universe, dedicate quality pages to both sides of the conflict, all while pushing the narrative forward. It's a big task and one that Hickman masterfully handles.

The mini-story dealing with the Electric Legion is a gem that sits right in the middle of this issue. The Avengers set out to stop the Legion from a rampage when Colossus shows up and talks it out. With the Phoenix powers, Pyotr just learns to speak Electric and brokers a deal for the Legion to power half of Europe. Iron Fist's disbelief starts a domino effect of disapproval with the Avenger's strategy to stand against the X-Men. Beast and Black Panther both see the Phoenix as a source of good that has only helped and improved the world since arriving. Wolverine, of course, stand by his convictions and Captain America, but many Avengers have begun to doubt.

Again, I want to emphasize the scope of Hickman's job here. Wanda Maximoff arrives at the end as the Avengers execute their covert operation to acquire Hope from Utopia. Cyclops is on the verge of taking out every single Avenger when Wanda's chaotic powers interfere with the Phoenix Force. Obviously, it's a sign that the Phoenix isn't omnipotent - it has a weakness.

And of course, Cyclops declares, "No more Avengers" on the last page, which is what we've been waiting for since Act II's announcement. Here goes nothin'!

GRADE

A