What If?: AvX

What If? AVX #1-4

by Jimmy Palmiotti (Writer)

The biggest event of 2012 is now the biggest miniseries of 2013! We all know what happened to the Avengers and the X-Men... but what if the story had gone differently? The one and only Jimmy Palmiotti brings his signature style to a mind-blowing reinterpretation of a key event in the history of the Marvel Universe. Featuring Magneto, Hope, and every Avenger and X-Man you can imagine! COLLECTING: What If? AVX 1-4

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, X Men, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

122 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2013

About the author

James "Jimmy" Palmiotti is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film.

Photo by Luigi Novi.

Reviews

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 1 out of 5]

What if AvX was written and illustrated by Jimmy Palmiotti? Doesn't sound like an interesting pitch, does it? What Palmiotti did here was a mild reinterpretation of AvX, certainly not mind-blowing like it says on the description, it's miles away from the original, just stay away from this book, unless you happen to be a massive Palmiotti fan.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this thinking there was no way anything could be worse than the ACTUAL AvX. I was wrong. The only thing I liked about this was that characters like Emma and Scott were a little more consistent to their established selves. Emma pretended to turn so they could have an ally in the enemy camp (as it were), but was not consumed by the force. And Scott was a douche, but it was more along his more normal douche trends.
Otherwise it was pretty awful. Other characters were very unlike themselves, it escalates very quickly, and the ending is just awful.
Sigh.

[Julio Bonilla]

“Nothing living is ever gone.”

One word to describe this story: INTENSE!

What if? That is the question. Wolverine is finally on the Avengers’ side?! How did he get there? I need to backtrack. THANKS TO THE LIBRARY

[Louis Skye · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a disaster! The optics are horrendous. The first three people to die? Storm, Falcon, and Colleen Wing. How does the editorial process sign off on this without considering the optics at all? There are only 3 other characters of colour in this book and we get mere glimpses of them.

I knew this book was going to be bad when Wolverine killed Storm. I can’t remember the last time I picked up a book with the X-Men and felt like it did Storm justice. This book certainly doesn’t. Worse is that Wolvie manages to get away scot-free for this. No consequences, no punishment. He gets to be the hero instead. Just no.

With a storyline about the Phoenix, you’d think Hope would have more to do. But no, she has zero agency. Everyone keeps telling her she has choices, but she never gets to articulate them. When she finally speaks, she’s little more than a mouthpiece for Magneto. It’s the Magneto show basically, even though it’s a Phoenix storyline. Ughh.

The optics are bad all the way through but this story is just plain awful. Who communicates like this? Everybody’s just trying to kill everyone instead of trying to figure out the problem. And Wolverine going claws-first in an unarmed fight makes no sense! And of course the Avengers throw the X-Men under the bus.

Good grief, this is awful, painfully bad writing. How did this nonsense get published?

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

Milk that crossover event cash cow. Throw in the obligatory Wolverine saves the day.

One of the worst comic book stories I can recall. It didn't even have any logical coherence or sense, from start to finish.

[David Sanz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ya le gustaría a Lobezno un final así xD

[Roman Colombo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this What if exists to make you appreciate the real event more.

[Trevor Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a fan of Magneto, then this is your next read. Well, perhaps you should read AvX first, but really, a true Magneto fan can just skip it because this is better. Sometimes “What if’s” are fine, and fun to throw wrenches into comic cannon, but this one is full on monkey wrenches of, “oh man, that would be so slick!” Follow this shorter version of one of the greatest powers in the Marvel universe, and watch how the amazing Magneto handles the situation.

[Eva B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Personally--and this is just me--when I pick up a comic called "What If?: AvX" I'm expecting a no holds barred and thoroughly non-canon fight between all of the Avengers and all of the X-Men, not "the Avengers and the X-Men team up to fight Magneto, Hope, and the Phoenix Force". Also, major side eye to Storm, Falcon, Colleen Wing, and Black Panther being the first of the major deaths.

[Richard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really terrible, although the final twist is kind of hilariously bad. Was this a joke?

[Luci · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one made me appreciate the original story more. I didn’t like the ending.

[Kay ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was I supposed to feel sorry for all the character deaths? Because I wasn't.

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this, I expected four different takes on the AvX event but I got one. It was a reasonably good one with a slightly shorter scope than the original event. There were a few plot holes that I wondered about (like if Magneto was such a clear and present danger, why didn't one of the telepaths fry his brain while his helmet was off). Just the same, it was a fairly good look at another way things could have gone, and personally, I appreciated the weird ending.

[Stephan van Velzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avengers vs. X-Men was, as the name suggested it, about the war between the Avengers and X-Men. The Phoenix Force was merely intended as the catalyst; it was no more than a single element in a much larger story. Honestly, though, that doesn't do the Phoenix much justice.

In AvX, when Captain America went to Utopia to take Hope into custody, Cyclops dealt with him. He was the perfect stubborn character to lead the X-Men into a head-on confrontation with the Avengers. But what if not Cyclops but the much more logical choice of Magneto went out to meet Captain America?

What If? deals with that very question and in doing so portrays a much more realistic version of the events of AvX—and incidentally a way more epic version as well. This is one of the most spectacular, well-written, and gorgeously drawn comics you'll ever read. It's amazing from the exciting beginning to the beautiful ending.

Thanks to this being a one-off alternate dimension story, AvX: What If? doesn't have to preserve life the way regular Marvel stories do. That only adds to the impact of this story and leaves it a little darker because of it.

[MatiBracchitta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorprendentemente, la historia comenzó muy bien. Algunos de los personajes secundarios (y un par de protagonistas) murieron de forma rápida, pero efectiva. La tensión entre los grupos y los personajes era palpable, pero lamentablemente, careció de desarrollo.

Como suele ocurrir en estas miniseries, hay muchas ideas, pero poco tiempo. Todo se comprimió y terminó resultando una historia en extremo ligera donde el villano simplemente quiere destruir todo el mundo. El final puede ser muy bonito y bíblico, pero la verdad es que carece completamente de sentido.

Es un cómic que se deja leer, no creo que sea imposible de disfrutar, pero ciertamente su nivel es bastante bajo tanto narrativa como gráficamente.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

The cool ideas that come from good What If? stories have always been when one element changes the stories we've already read. Here, we don't get that. Here we get to see how Jimmy Palmiotti would kill the Marvel Universe. There is absolutely no insight into the original series and certain events in it. Just a basic murder-fest. For a comics pro like Palmiotti, its an embarrassment. The art screams '90s and not in a good retro way. Overall, a complete disaster. This paragraph will entertain you more than the book.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

What If? books tend to be pretty campy, and this one went the expected route and pushed the AvX story to new heights. This alternate telling of the story pushed the limits of comic book storytelling and had a lot more collateral damage and a bit more violence than what we'd normally see. But hey, those are the stakes when it comes to these one-off narrative explorations.

It's a decent book with some good moments, but I don't know if we needed a full four issues to explore this alternate reality instead of just the usual single-issue What If ? format.

[Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a long time fan of the What If? series. This was a very disappoint arc. The ending is that the heroes lose and all life on Earth dies and is started over again with Jean Grey and Wolverine as an Adam and Eve to a new race of humans.

[B · Rating 2 out of 5]

This whole thing is so blah.

It's a "What If?" that's kind of missing the premise. With an end that's just kind of supercrazy without any real point.

What's weird is that the middle doesn't seem so bad for a middle. I guess this was jut a rejected A vs. X middle? I guess?

[Kris Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The AVENGERS and X-MEN know that the Phoenix approaches with a host in mind for it. The Avengers don't want Hope Summers to be filled with the power of the Phoenix, while the X-Men want it more than anything. Magneto trains hope and war ensues for the power of the Phonenix.

[Steve Willey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story ten times more than the actual A vs X saga. Magneto Hope and Magneto with the Phoenix Force an all out battle between The Avengers, The X-Men and the Phoenix. And the return of Jean Grey! I really wish this story happened in the Marvel Universe.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't right now. This was just. What did I just read?

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Individual issues on marvel unlimited

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time/money here. Move along to anything else.

[Adrian · Rating 1 out of 5]

what a waste. bleh.

[Zapik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun what if? story. Unsatisfying and kinda-not-any-sense-making ending.