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Avengers vs. X-Men
Avengers vs X-Men
Alors que le Phénix se dirige vers la Terre, les héros se déchirent. Les Avengers le considèrent dangereux et capable de destruction. Les X-Men de Cyclope, au contraire, estiment que les formidables capacités du Phénix pourraient permettre la naissance de nouveaux mutants et par conséquent, garantir la survie de l'espèce. Ce désaccord va entraîner une lutte acharnée entre les deux groupes.
392 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2012
85 people are currently reading
724 people want to read
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,411 books2,574 followersA comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 266 reviews
March 16, 2024
Really enjoyed this book. It started out a bit slow, and I was worried about all the different characters getting enough time and chance to contribute. I had a couple of issues with the art work, mailing around Hope, just her age, in some issues, she looked in her late teens, and in other her early to preteen. However all this could be put aside for me as my favorite characters, had their moments to shine, and there were parts of the book were exceptionally good and others a bit slow, but all in all and great epic story worthy of these two teams facing off against each other.
"No more mutants"
With these 3 words The Scarlet Witch changed the Marvel universe and decimated the Mutant population, placing them on the endangered species list and leaving the remaining mutant leaders clutching at "Hope". now when you play with cosmic powers, the "BIG Birds" will notice. I like the ambiguity in the comics, as in I could see both points of view before choosing a side. Families, friends, teams, and even the world will be torn apart. Also when ultimate power does come could ultimate corruption be far behind? The only issue that did bother me in this comic series it every character seemed to heal from issue to issue at Wolverine's rate. This is a couple of bit deaths (well as long as the character really stays dead) in the series.
Great themes of corruption, redemption, destiny and faith all rolled into one. The TPB contains issues 0 - 12 of the mini series. Show the A4 format of the regular cover at the beginning of every issue as well as thumbnails of the different covers. All in an epic series worthy of a face off between these 2 teams.
"No more mutants"
With these 3 words The Scarlet Witch changed the Marvel universe and decimated the Mutant population, placing them on the endangered species list and leaving the remaining mutant leaders clutching at "Hope". now when you play with cosmic powers, the "BIG Birds" will notice. I like the ambiguity in the comics, as in I could see both points of view before choosing a side. Families, friends, teams, and even the world will be torn apart. Also when ultimate power does come could ultimate corruption be far behind? The only issue that did bother me in this comic series it every character seemed to heal from issue to issue at Wolverine's rate. This is a couple of bit deaths (well as long as the character really stays dead) in the series.
Great themes of corruption, redemption, destiny and faith all rolled into one. The TPB contains issues 0 - 12 of the mini series. Show the A4 format of the regular cover at the beginning of every issue as well as thumbnails of the different covers. All in an epic series worthy of a face off between these 2 teams.
December 24, 2023
With Avengers vs. X-Men, you get what you pay for. It's the Godzilla vs. Kong of comics, all you need to know is right in the title, with a bunch of Avengers fighting a bunch of X-Men!
The plot isn't that ambitious, something about the Phoenix and how hard mutants have had it lately. It's really just a pretext for the battles which begins quickly in the first issue.
Lots of different writers and artists, definitely an editorial decree kind of event, but somehow it flows pretty naturally. I was never a fan of Bendis's edgy Avengers by the way, but this comic did come out back in 2012 when the movie thing started taking off and the Avengers do feel like the flagship core of Marvel. Within the X-Men, there's the classic Wolverine and Cyclops rivalry that takes center stage. Captain America and Iron Man get plenty of focus on the other side, and it's genuinely surprising as well as fun to see how various combinations of characters from across the universe interact with each other.
Comparisons might be made to the Civil War from a few years prior, but that storyline was trying to be relevant and have something real to say about the political-societal implications of superheroes. Avengers vs. X-Men just isn't that.
There's the main miniseries tells the story from a big picture perspective, with all the fun strategies and emotional drama. For more of the fights, there were a lot of spinoffs to read because y'know it's a comic book crossover event. Personally, AVX where Thing punches Gambit or whatever isn't as interesting to me.
The resolution was a big deal and impactful, for a while, until it faded into a new status quo as all these things do. Yet I am still re-reading it nearly a decade later and it's very enjoyable for what it is.
And lastly, no I don't think it would be a good idea for a movie. This only works in one medium, IMHO...
The plot isn't that ambitious, something about the Phoenix and how hard mutants have had it lately. It's really just a pretext for the battles which begins quickly in the first issue.
Lots of different writers and artists, definitely an editorial decree kind of event, but somehow it flows pretty naturally. I was never a fan of Bendis's edgy Avengers by the way, but this comic did come out back in 2012 when the movie thing started taking off and the Avengers do feel like the flagship core of Marvel. Within the X-Men, there's the classic Wolverine and Cyclops rivalry that takes center stage. Captain America and Iron Man get plenty of focus on the other side, and it's genuinely surprising as well as fun to see how various combinations of characters from across the universe interact with each other.
Comparisons might be made to the Civil War from a few years prior, but that storyline was trying to be relevant and have something real to say about the political-societal implications of superheroes. Avengers vs. X-Men just isn't that.
There's the main miniseries tells the story from a big picture perspective, with all the fun strategies and emotional drama. For more of the fights, there were a lot of spinoffs to read because y'know it's a comic book crossover event. Personally, AVX where Thing punches Gambit or whatever isn't as interesting to me.
The resolution was a big deal and impactful, for a while, until it faded into a new status quo as all these things do. Yet I am still re-reading it nearly a decade later and it's very enjoyable for what it is.
And lastly, no I don't think it would be a good idea for a movie. This only works in one medium, IMHO...
November 28, 2014
Underwhelming.
I am glad I didn't hold off reading all the stuff that comes after this (pretty much all of AvsX leads into the Marvel NOW! Relaunch-y-ish-type thing. Makes a bit more sense now, but I had already pieced it together based on HOW GODDAMN OFTEN THEY TELL US THAT THE PHOENIX FORCE WENT INTO THE X-MEN IT DID!
UGH.
You know what? The story served it's purpose. I can see how some think it's a bit lazy to bring Scarlet Witch out of nowhere to be part of this, but I enjoyed it. Even the characters are like WTF is SHE doing here? I'm willing to see this as a cyclical karmic balancing of House of M. However, I like that the answer has to do with Hope AND Scarlet Witch, not just one of them. It's the cooperation fostered that I think should be the telling moment of the series.
Instead, it's how quickly can shit escalate to 11.
Cap and Cyclops are pretty much the same character. "I will take the burden of leadership. I am a great leader of people, everyone counts on me"
Except then they both shit the bed in terms of actually sitting down and TALKING about this.
Of course the fighting is very cool.
The FIRST time...
The other problem is that NONE of the characters outside of about a dozen actually factor in at all.
(Cap, Tony, Logan, Cyke, Emma, Namor, the Rasputins, and a few others).
I was pleased to see Iron Fist get an actual speaking role! With some importance! It's a first for Danny Rand in a real event book.
However, other than the 5 X-Men who get the Phoenix force, the rest of them are just shunned to the fringes of irrelevancy.
Maybe they're more present in other AVX books? But, other than a little bit of Storm, and a touch of Rogue, all we get is the 5 of them going all supernova.
This is a spot where I feel like they lost the chance to give Magneto a much more crucial part (even though they did in a way).
There should have been a LOT more focus on Logan and his pull between the 2, especially since both Scott AND Steve treat him like a loose cannon asshole, when in fact, he's probably the most realistic about the whole issue.
The thing is, this book misses a LOT of opportunities to actually go into character relationships. Other than Black Panther/Storm and a little bit of Scarlet Witch/Vision, we don't get much on the relationships here, much is just thrown out the window so the artists can do punchy mcpunchersons again.
I think with the writers here (Bendis, Aaron, Brubaker, Hickman and Fraction), they have the Top of Marvel's heap, yet it seems like they were forced to do this one, and the different voices actually take away from the cohesion of the whole story. I would like to blame some of this on editorial staff, because otherwise it means some of my favourites actually wrote some horridly turgid shit here.
There's just such a rich history to delve into here, and it just turns into: how many ways can Cap throw Avengers at Cyke and the Phoenix 5 until Tony Stark figures some shit out?
Oh ya, and where the F was the FF? (Other than Benny) You think Reed is going to let this all happen without involving himself or his brain? The FF is the perfect go between here, because they've served as Avengers, but they're separate and they understand what changes like mutations do (ESPECIALLY BENNY!).
Oh and, I'm hoping someone will explain why Hulk doesn't show up until the end? They make a huge deal of Cap asking him for help, and then he's barely used at all...was this a point at which Banner was unavailable? Because otherwise, he, Pym, McCoy and Stark should have been working on some answer.
In the end, what might have been will never be known, because this milquetoast shit happened instead. Other than making Scotty into the biggest badguy since Magneto (irony of ironies, Erik was the one trying to talk him down). I am glad to see that they took the events here and used them to the best they could (Scott/Logans X-Men, Uncanny Avengers, etc.)
I just really wish they'd DONE something instead of throw every character at the books and hope things would stick. We really didn't need Luke Cage, Daredevil, Red Hulk, and a lot of others if they weren't doing anything. It should really have been called "The entire roster of Avengers and reserves from the last decade+ versus the Mutant Power Couple, Namor and the Ruskie Sibs.
(speaking of that, who decided that Peter would have ABSOLUTELY NO PERSONALITY WHATSOEVER???? Based on who he is/was, he should have been the first one to reject the Phoenix power. There's some few lines about not liking Ilyana's angry rage, but that's about it).
OK I'm going to stop, because I realize I could go on and on raging about what went wrong here forever. That's not the best result for a major event book like this.
Do yourself a favour and focus on the aftermath instead:
Prof X is dead at Cyclops' hand, which opens the door to him being the badguy mutant outlaw, which actually suits him better and makes him more interesting. So in that regard, SUCCESS! Now to wait for the return.
Miss this and save the headaches.
Get this review and more at:
I am glad I didn't hold off reading all the stuff that comes after this (pretty much all of AvsX leads into the Marvel NOW! Relaunch-y-ish-type thing. Makes a bit more sense now, but I had already pieced it together based on HOW GODDAMN OFTEN THEY TELL US THAT THE PHOENIX FORCE WENT INTO THE X-MEN IT DID!
UGH.
You know what? The story served it's purpose. I can see how some think it's a bit lazy to bring Scarlet Witch out of nowhere to be part of this, but I enjoyed it. Even the characters are like WTF is SHE doing here? I'm willing to see this as a cyclical karmic balancing of House of M. However, I like that the answer has to do with Hope AND Scarlet Witch, not just one of them. It's the cooperation fostered that I think should be the telling moment of the series.
Instead, it's how quickly can shit escalate to 11.
Cap and Cyclops are pretty much the same character. "I will take the burden of leadership. I am a great leader of people, everyone counts on me"
Except then they both shit the bed in terms of actually sitting down and TALKING about this.
Of course the fighting is very cool.
The FIRST time...
The other problem is that NONE of the characters outside of about a dozen actually factor in at all.
(Cap, Tony, Logan, Cyke, Emma, Namor, the Rasputins, and a few others).
I was pleased to see Iron Fist get an actual speaking role! With some importance! It's a first for Danny Rand in a real event book.
However, other than the 5 X-Men who get the Phoenix force, the rest of them are just shunned to the fringes of irrelevancy.
Maybe they're more present in other AVX books? But, other than a little bit of Storm, and a touch of Rogue, all we get is the 5 of them going all supernova.
This is a spot where I feel like they lost the chance to give Magneto a much more crucial part (even though they did in a way).
There should have been a LOT more focus on Logan and his pull between the 2, especially since both Scott AND Steve treat him like a loose cannon asshole, when in fact, he's probably the most realistic about the whole issue.
The thing is, this book misses a LOT of opportunities to actually go into character relationships. Other than Black Panther/Storm and a little bit of Scarlet Witch/Vision, we don't get much on the relationships here, much is just thrown out the window so the artists can do punchy mcpunchersons again.
I think with the writers here (Bendis, Aaron, Brubaker, Hickman and Fraction), they have the Top of Marvel's heap, yet it seems like they were forced to do this one, and the different voices actually take away from the cohesion of the whole story. I would like to blame some of this on editorial staff, because otherwise it means some of my favourites actually wrote some horridly turgid shit here.
There's just such a rich history to delve into here, and it just turns into: how many ways can Cap throw Avengers at Cyke and the Phoenix 5 until Tony Stark figures some shit out?
Oh ya, and where the F was the FF? (Other than Benny) You think Reed is going to let this all happen without involving himself or his brain? The FF is the perfect go between here, because they've served as Avengers, but they're separate and they understand what changes like mutations do (ESPECIALLY BENNY!).
Oh and, I'm hoping someone will explain why Hulk doesn't show up until the end? They make a huge deal of Cap asking him for help, and then he's barely used at all...was this a point at which Banner was unavailable? Because otherwise, he, Pym, McCoy and Stark should have been working on some answer.
In the end, what might have been will never be known, because this milquetoast shit happened instead. Other than making Scotty into the biggest badguy since Magneto (irony of ironies, Erik was the one trying to talk him down). I am glad to see that they took the events here and used them to the best they could (Scott/Logans X-Men, Uncanny Avengers, etc.)
I just really wish they'd DONE something instead of throw every character at the books and hope things would stick. We really didn't need Luke Cage, Daredevil, Red Hulk, and a lot of others if they weren't doing anything. It should really have been called "The entire roster of Avengers and reserves from the last decade+ versus the Mutant Power Couple, Namor and the Ruskie Sibs.
(speaking of that, who decided that Peter would have ABSOLUTELY NO PERSONALITY WHATSOEVER???? Based on who he is/was, he should have been the first one to reject the Phoenix power. There's some few lines about not liking Ilyana's angry rage, but that's about it).
OK I'm going to stop, because I realize I could go on and on raging about what went wrong here forever. That's not the best result for a major event book like this.
Do yourself a favour and focus on the aftermath instead:
Prof X is dead at Cyclops' hand, which opens the door to him being the badguy mutant outlaw, which actually suits him better and makes him more interesting. So in that regard, SUCCESS! Now to wait for the return.
Miss this and save the headaches.
Get this review and more at:
August 21, 2015
The Phoenix Force is coming back to Earth to inhabit the mutant Hope, born just prior to Messiah Complex (but now a teenager due to time travel). Cyclops wants Hope to have the power of the Phoenix so that she might usher in a new era of peace for Earth. Captain America and the Avengers, fearing a reign of destruction as in The Dark Phoenix Saga, arrive in order to take Hope into protective custody. A battle between the two teams ensues, and then things get worse once Iron Man attacks the Phoenix Force directly. Five X-Men take on the power of the Phoenix and quickly begin to overwhelm the Avengers.
I was dreading this one based on other reviews, but I really liked the central limited series. (I didn't read the VS issues and they don't seem necessary to understand the main story.) I appreciated that the two hero teams had a somewhat valid reason to fight, as opposed to something like Secret Wars, though the sheer certainty of Cyclops that the Phoenix Force could be used safely seemed incredibly reckless. The storyline served to wrap up (or at least transition) stories that have been told since House of M, which it did well. Each issue actually had some development that was relevant to the plot, making all 12 issues feel like they mostly justified their existence. Yes, there are big team smackdowns, but there are several notable character moments as well . The result was entertaining and made more sense than I was expecting, so maybe the bar was just set sufficiently low before I picked this up.
I was dreading this one based on other reviews, but I really liked the central limited series. (I didn't read the VS issues and they don't seem necessary to understand the main story.) I appreciated that the two hero teams had a somewhat valid reason to fight, as opposed to something like Secret Wars, though the sheer certainty of Cyclops that the Phoenix Force could be used safely seemed incredibly reckless. The storyline served to wrap up (or at least transition) stories that have been told since House of M, which it did well. Each issue actually had some development that was relevant to the plot, making all 12 issues feel like they mostly justified their existence. Yes, there are big team smackdowns, but there are several notable character moments as well . The result was entertaining and made more sense than I was expecting, so maybe the bar was just set sufficiently low before I picked this up.
September 25, 2023
I collected this as individuals and read it before I was on good reads. Forgot to come back and review it. I love the X-men and I had always heard rumblings of this series. Man was I disappointed. My main concern is what fuels theme of this book, Captain America and Cyclops. They had Cap acting like a piece of ish and Summers being ridiculous as well. They were both so far out of character it just took me out of the book. Made it not very believable. They even had Wolverine fighting against the X-men. Really????!!! I mean I liked the stuff with Hope and thought it was cool where the Avengers used to hide but overall I just couldn’t get past how they made Cyclops and Cap behave which was of course where the whole story started and carried on from. I found myself at times forcing myself to trudge thru the next issue.
November 21, 2018
the end was so anticlimactic. all it did was make me miss jean. it started off good. i was genuinely intrigued but by issue seven i was basically just looking at the pictures...
September 24, 2021
WHAT AN EPIC EVENT!
It starts with the Phoenix force coming to earth, Cyclops vs Cap because of hope, the splintering of the force, birth of the Phoenix five and then Avengers vs X-Men on all sides, the devastation of Wakanda, training in K'un-L'un and Hope at the center of it, friend against friend and so much pain and loss and betrayal and breakups and everything with the final war between Dark phoenix and everyone and the death and rebirth of hope.
Its an epic event which had so much buildup after House of M and like ends here and I love how all the writers involved here gave it all focusing on seminal moments like the moment when Spidey is ready to sacrifice himself for his friends to gain some time to escape, or the training Hope has or the final confrontation between Charles and Scott and then the ending with how this massive "extinction" saga for mutants ends and what Cap does next!
Its truly epic as the consequences would be felt for years to come and its the end of one era and the start of another and I love the story for that but its also a personal story which has deep heart and is epic in every sense of the word and evert moment earned for good. I loved it and the constant writer changes never hampered the story at all! And the art was beautiful throughout! A must read for sure!
It starts with the Phoenix force coming to earth, Cyclops vs Cap because of hope, the splintering of the force, birth of the Phoenix five and then Avengers vs X-Men on all sides, the devastation of Wakanda, training in K'un-L'un and Hope at the center of it, friend against friend and so much pain and loss and betrayal and breakups and everything with the final war between Dark phoenix and everyone and the death and rebirth of hope.
Its an epic event which had so much buildup after House of M and like ends here and I love how all the writers involved here gave it all focusing on seminal moments like the moment when Spidey is ready to sacrifice himself for his friends to gain some time to escape, or the training Hope has or the final confrontation between Charles and Scott and then the ending with how this massive "extinction" saga for mutants ends and what Cap does next!
Its truly epic as the consequences would be felt for years to come and its the end of one era and the start of another and I love the story for that but its also a personal story which has deep heart and is epic in every sense of the word and evert moment earned for good. I loved it and the constant writer changes never hampered the story at all! And the art was beautiful throughout! A must read for sure!
December 23, 2015
This volume was at best inconsistent and at worst generic. Having multiple writers all working different chapters, and somehow getting the style of them to seem seamless...left a lot to be desired. Factor in also the X-Men are, for me, a lot less sympathetic this time around. Cyclops sounds more like Magneto from the beginning, and the talk of mutants being a separate species...didn't ring true. Different species can't procreate with each other, but Marvel's mutants still can with other humans. Besides, it's Marvel and they can never decide if mutants are plentiful or not. When this one ends, they are, but currently, they are not.
Mostly, this seemed to be the Avengers trying to save the world while the X-Men were trying to use a cosmic force they, of all people, should know better about. And then Thor gets smacked around a lot.
Mostly, this seemed to be the Avengers trying to save the world while the X-Men were trying to use a cosmic force they, of all people, should know better about. And then Thor gets smacked around a lot.
May 12, 2013
You can read the Review Here: http://thefoundingfields.com/2013/05/...
Note: I reviewed the TPB edition collecting Avengers vs. X-Men #0-12.
“Given the great potential of the creative team on board this book, not to mention the idea, the actual execution is somewhat flawed.” ~The Founding Fields
Writers: Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman | Art: John Romita Jr., Oliver Coipel, Adam Kubert | Publisher: Marvel Comics | Collects: Avengers vs. X-Men #0-12
"The Avengers and the X-Men – the two most popular super-hero teams in history – go to war! This landmark pop-culture event brings together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Magneto and more in the story that changes them forever!"
Avengers vs. X-Men, should, by all accounts, be a success. The writing team behind it is Marvel’s best, Brian Michael Bendis, (All New X-Men), Jason Aaron (Thor: God of Thunder), Matt Fraction (Hawkeye) and Jonathan Hickman (Avengers) are currently penning some of the best Marvel comics for Marvel Now! and Ed Brubaker has a pretty strong track record as well, although I am unsure if he is currently writing any Marvel Now! titles. But where did this event go wrong? In a situation that pitted the Avengers and the X-Men, Marvel’s two biggest and most popular superhero teams against each other, this should have been awesome. Yet it was let down by several flaws, including its disappointing artwork, and really obvious plot holes.
You’re probably asking what event could conspire to turn the Avengers and the X-Men against each other. Whilst the seeds have been sown through the disappointing mini-series by Jeph Loeb entitled X-Sanction, and various other series that I haven’t quite got around to reading yet, the main instigator for Avengers vs. X-Men comes with the return of the Phoenix, the all-powerful being that is responsible for the possession and subsequent death of Jean Grey in the Dark Phoenix Saga, which again, is another title that I haven’t read yet but knew what takes place. Whilst I haven’t read a lot of X-Men comics, I’ve read enough about the various stories and histories featuring the Children of the Atom online to know that the Phoenix returning storyline has been done before, and judging by the reception for those books, in a better way. This time round however, the target is seemingly Hope, the first mutant born after the devastation caused by the Scarlet Witch’s “No More Mutants“ claim in House of M.
Of course, the Avengers, specifically Captain America and Iron Man, remember the last time that the Phoenix returned to Earth, and have targeted Hope. But Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men on Utopia, has a belief that the return of Phoenix will help the mutants recover from the destruction, thus sending the two forces on a collision course where there can only be one outcome. WAR!
Avengers vs. X-Men certainly promised to be an interesting matchup. On the Avengers side, you have the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, and more. The X-Men boast Cyclops, Storm, a reformed Magneto and more. With such a vast cast of characters, it’s evident that some are going to get more screen-time than others. It’s also interesting to see where Beast and Wolverine’s allegiances lie, as both have served as members of both teams in the past, and Wolverine’s story in particular is interesting to follow.
The artwork, for the most part, is inconsistent. Some of it is brilliant, but other parts not so much, two major characters that I felt weren’t really drawn as well as they could have been were Captain America and Professor X, which was a shame, as given the wealth of talent here, this book had the potential to be superb. It’s billed as a landmark pop-culture event in the blurb, however at times, I was struggling to believe that this was more than just your comic book equivalent of a Summer blockbuster film. Entertaining, fun – but flawed.
Characters do die in Avengers vs. X-Men, and if you’ve been reading comics-related websites and titles like Uncanny Avengers for Marvel Now, then you’ll know who met their fate in this one already. I won’t mention who died, but as they were such a fundamental character to the Marvel Universe, I feel that I should have been made to care about their death more. But I didn’t. It lacked any emotional impact on the reader whatsoever. In fact, the characters themselves were one of the book’s biggest problems, because despite the personalities that they’ve had for several years now, they were virtually non-existent here, and most of the cast are forgettable, and non of the iconic quirks that characters have, such as Spiderman’s sense of humour, are present. Also, in order to kickstart the event, it relies on both Captain America and Cyclops getting centre stage, and being both involved in stupid decisions. You can’t connect to any of the two leaders, and the rest of the cast that had the potential to be much more interesting are overshadowed in favour of Steve Rogers and Scott Summers.
The whole superhero vs. superhero fight has been done before, and better, in the case of Civil War. You’re not getting anything really original in this book, the Phoenix plot has been used before, Scarlet Witch seems like a clichéd plot device, and the Avengers have come to blows with the X-Men in the past, as this link shows us. Whilst it at times feels like a big, fun superhero brawl, the action quickly becomes tiring as you go on. I’ve been reading a lot of comics in the past year or so and I’ve rarely been let down, but It’s safe to say that this is a one of those occasions, and therefore I can only recommend this book if you’re a collector, a die-hard Marvel fan or wanting to see the lead-up to Marvel Now!
VERDICT: 2/5
Note: I reviewed the TPB edition collecting Avengers vs. X-Men #0-12.
“Given the great potential of the creative team on board this book, not to mention the idea, the actual execution is somewhat flawed.” ~The Founding Fields
Writers: Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman | Art: John Romita Jr., Oliver Coipel, Adam Kubert | Publisher: Marvel Comics | Collects: Avengers vs. X-Men #0-12
"The Avengers and the X-Men – the two most popular super-hero teams in history – go to war! This landmark pop-culture event brings together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Magneto and more in the story that changes them forever!"
Avengers vs. X-Men, should, by all accounts, be a success. The writing team behind it is Marvel’s best, Brian Michael Bendis, (All New X-Men), Jason Aaron (Thor: God of Thunder), Matt Fraction (Hawkeye) and Jonathan Hickman (Avengers) are currently penning some of the best Marvel comics for Marvel Now! and Ed Brubaker has a pretty strong track record as well, although I am unsure if he is currently writing any Marvel Now! titles. But where did this event go wrong? In a situation that pitted the Avengers and the X-Men, Marvel’s two biggest and most popular superhero teams against each other, this should have been awesome. Yet it was let down by several flaws, including its disappointing artwork, and really obvious plot holes.
You’re probably asking what event could conspire to turn the Avengers and the X-Men against each other. Whilst the seeds have been sown through the disappointing mini-series by Jeph Loeb entitled X-Sanction, and various other series that I haven’t quite got around to reading yet, the main instigator for Avengers vs. X-Men comes with the return of the Phoenix, the all-powerful being that is responsible for the possession and subsequent death of Jean Grey in the Dark Phoenix Saga, which again, is another title that I haven’t read yet but knew what takes place. Whilst I haven’t read a lot of X-Men comics, I’ve read enough about the various stories and histories featuring the Children of the Atom online to know that the Phoenix returning storyline has been done before, and judging by the reception for those books, in a better way. This time round however, the target is seemingly Hope, the first mutant born after the devastation caused by the Scarlet Witch’s “No More Mutants“ claim in House of M.
Of course, the Avengers, specifically Captain America and Iron Man, remember the last time that the Phoenix returned to Earth, and have targeted Hope. But Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men on Utopia, has a belief that the return of Phoenix will help the mutants recover from the destruction, thus sending the two forces on a collision course where there can only be one outcome. WAR!
Avengers vs. X-Men certainly promised to be an interesting matchup. On the Avengers side, you have the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, and more. The X-Men boast Cyclops, Storm, a reformed Magneto and more. With such a vast cast of characters, it’s evident that some are going to get more screen-time than others. It’s also interesting to see where Beast and Wolverine’s allegiances lie, as both have served as members of both teams in the past, and Wolverine’s story in particular is interesting to follow.
The artwork, for the most part, is inconsistent. Some of it is brilliant, but other parts not so much, two major characters that I felt weren’t really drawn as well as they could have been were Captain America and Professor X, which was a shame, as given the wealth of talent here, this book had the potential to be superb. It’s billed as a landmark pop-culture event in the blurb, however at times, I was struggling to believe that this was more than just your comic book equivalent of a Summer blockbuster film. Entertaining, fun – but flawed.
Characters do die in Avengers vs. X-Men, and if you’ve been reading comics-related websites and titles like Uncanny Avengers for Marvel Now, then you’ll know who met their fate in this one already. I won’t mention who died, but as they were such a fundamental character to the Marvel Universe, I feel that I should have been made to care about their death more. But I didn’t. It lacked any emotional impact on the reader whatsoever. In fact, the characters themselves were one of the book’s biggest problems, because despite the personalities that they’ve had for several years now, they were virtually non-existent here, and most of the cast are forgettable, and non of the iconic quirks that characters have, such as Spiderman’s sense of humour, are present. Also, in order to kickstart the event, it relies on both Captain America and Cyclops getting centre stage, and being both involved in stupid decisions. You can’t connect to any of the two leaders, and the rest of the cast that had the potential to be much more interesting are overshadowed in favour of Steve Rogers and Scott Summers.
The whole superhero vs. superhero fight has been done before, and better, in the case of Civil War. You’re not getting anything really original in this book, the Phoenix plot has been used before, Scarlet Witch seems like a clichéd plot device, and the Avengers have come to blows with the X-Men in the past, as this link shows us. Whilst it at times feels like a big, fun superhero brawl, the action quickly becomes tiring as you go on. I’ve been reading a lot of comics in the past year or so and I’ve rarely been let down, but It’s safe to say that this is a one of those occasions, and therefore I can only recommend this book if you’re a collector, a die-hard Marvel fan or wanting to see the lead-up to Marvel Now!
VERDICT: 2/5
October 6, 2021
this was so good I’m shaking in my boots !
December 15, 2019
**second read**
Still great. I love this event. So many powerful moments.
It was even better now that I was fresh from reading all the leadup stuff. This concludes the long era that began with House of M. Really solid. I loved it.
****first read****
This one is a page turner! Wow. I was so engaged the whole time. The stakes were so high. Such an exciting comic book.
This is at least 3 times better than “Civil War.” The concept is similar (Hero team vs Hero team), but Cyclops vs Captain America is a much more interesting clash of personalities than Cap vs Tony. Also, this is the best Phoenix Force story since The Dark Phoenix Saga... which is crazy, because Jean Grey isn’t even in it!
The violence was epic. The lettering served the story and mood. The action was AWESOME!!
The art was on point. There were pages and panels that took my breath away. I felt real suspense at times.
This rocks. Do yourself a favor and don’t miss this one,
Still great. I love this event. So many powerful moments.
It was even better now that I was fresh from reading all the leadup stuff. This concludes the long era that began with House of M. Really solid. I loved it.
****first read****
This one is a page turner! Wow. I was so engaged the whole time. The stakes were so high. Such an exciting comic book.
This is at least 3 times better than “Civil War.” The concept is similar (Hero team vs Hero team), but Cyclops vs Captain America is a much more interesting clash of personalities than Cap vs Tony. Also, this is the best Phoenix Force story since The Dark Phoenix Saga... which is crazy, because Jean Grey isn’t even in it!
The violence was epic. The lettering served the story and mood. The action was AWESOME!!
The art was on point. There were pages and panels that took my breath away. I felt real suspense at times.
This rocks. Do yourself a favor and don’t miss this one,
October 12, 2021
when wanda said no more phoenix im sliding down the wall screaming and crying ❤️
March 5, 2024
plz reboot the universe marvel please this is all too much. can they just do another x-men evolution and put them in high school again. now that was a story worth telling.
November 30, 2023
I love both the Avengers and the X-Men- but who will come out on top in this epic battle?!
I have been meaning to read this collected edition since last year when I read Uncanny X-Men: Revolution that followed this event book. I kept picking up this series but putting it back down when other graphic novels caught my eye. But when I recently read Mr. and Mrs. X, and I had forgotten that a certain character was dead because of this storyline, I knew I needed to finally make the commitment to finish it.
This story follows House of M, when Scarlet Witch utters “No more mutants!”, thus no mutants have been born in years. When the first mutant child, Hope, is born who has the ability to psychically manipulate and mimic the powers of other mutants, current mutants divide as to what to do. When it is discovered that Phoenix, the powerful being that killed Jean Grey, is headed to Earth to possibly consume Hope, the heroes are torn as to what to do. What it comes down to is Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men, feels that Hope is strong enough to control the Pheonix and will use its power to reignite mutantdom vs Captain America, the Avengers leader, feels that Hope will become a threat and destroy humanity, thus she needs to be taken down.
So begins the battles- many many of them, as this graphic novel collects twelve chapters to tell the story. When you have such a large cast, not everyone can properly get featured and this book follows suit. Some heroes receive small cameos, with one bit of dialogue and then they are just part of the large fighting scenes. But I was pleasantly surprised that Iron Fist had such a large role, plus Nova got a nice part too.
As I don’t wish to spoil the narrative too much, I will limit my summary. When Pheonix arrives, five mutants- Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus, and Magik- take Hope’s place and all get considerable new powers that they use to improve the world. But we all know that’s not the end of the story. The Pheonix wants Hope and it is she and Scarlet Witch that finally subdue the Pheonix’s dark powers, but not before there is a lot of death and destruction.
There are powerful moments found within the story and some insightful and sometimes snappy dialogue, but it can be a slog to find them. Just as I found Captain Marvel unsufferable in Civil War II, so I found Cyclops. He has some extremely valid points, as mutants really have been persecuted, but I was really hating on him, plus…he’s the one who ends up getting briefly consumed by the Phoenix and doing something terrible.
Overall, the art was strong despite many different artists. While there are some style shifts in the different chapters, there is enough visual consistency when the various stories are pulled together in this collected edition. Although Hope sometimes varies between looking like a teen (which she was) and an older typical female hero hottie. I always enjoyed the crowd or battle scenes as it's fun to see how the artists chose to portray everyone in mid-action.
In the large collected edition, there are also some tie-ins:
A vs X: This volume showcases personal battles amidst the war and has a whole slew of authors and artists detailing how two connected heroes (or villains) duke it out. There is – Iron Man vs Magneto, Things vs Namor, Captain America vs Gambit, Spider-Man vs Colossus, Black Widow vs Magik, Daredevil vs Psylocke, Thor vs Emma Frost, Hawkeye vs Angel, Black Panther vs Storm, Hope vs Scarlet Witch, Cyclops vs Captain America, AvX: Science Battle, Captain America vs Havok, Red Hulk vs Domino, Toad vs Jarvis, Spider-Woman vs (several) X-Women, Iron Fist vs and Iceman and Squirrel Girl vs Pixie.
This is a motley grouping of short stories (some are only a page long), as some of the fights tie in with the preceding narrative, while others are just for laughs. The only one that I found truly memorable was the poignant Storm vs Black Panther battle because there is no winner as their marriage sadly crumbles because of their differences.
A-Babies vs X-Babies: Skottie Young is well known for his variant covers of Marvel heroes, so this one-off is funny and good for a single read. On the corner of Fury Dr and Xavier Way is the peaceful neighborhood of Marvelous Meadows. Being tucked into bed is little Steve (Captain America) who is surrounded by his army-themed stuffed bears. Wait- Bucky Bear is missing! Peering out the window he sees his neighbor Scott (Cyclops) taunting him with his beloved bear. Steve calls out “Avengers Assemble!” and quickly his team of baby friends has joined him. Scott calls for backup but laments he has no catchy phrase to get them there. Instead, he yells that there is an ice cream truck nearby, and the X-Men babies show up. A battle ensues for the bear between the two teams. There is a cuteness overload as baby representations of all famous Avengers & X-Men duke it out.
Putting this entire book down several times should have been my clue that it wasn’t for me. While I am typically a sucker for these crossover event books, I have reached a fatigue level with the fighting among team members trope. While I found Civil War fresh, this and Civil War II were anything but.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2019/12/1...
I have been meaning to read this collected edition since last year when I read Uncanny X-Men: Revolution that followed this event book. I kept picking up this series but putting it back down when other graphic novels caught my eye. But when I recently read Mr. and Mrs. X, and I had forgotten that a certain character was dead because of this storyline, I knew I needed to finally make the commitment to finish it.
This story follows House of M, when Scarlet Witch utters “No more mutants!”, thus no mutants have been born in years. When the first mutant child, Hope, is born who has the ability to psychically manipulate and mimic the powers of other mutants, current mutants divide as to what to do. When it is discovered that Phoenix, the powerful being that killed Jean Grey, is headed to Earth to possibly consume Hope, the heroes are torn as to what to do. What it comes down to is Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men, feels that Hope is strong enough to control the Pheonix and will use its power to reignite mutantdom vs Captain America, the Avengers leader, feels that Hope will become a threat and destroy humanity, thus she needs to be taken down.
So begins the battles- many many of them, as this graphic novel collects twelve chapters to tell the story. When you have such a large cast, not everyone can properly get featured and this book follows suit. Some heroes receive small cameos, with one bit of dialogue and then they are just part of the large fighting scenes. But I was pleasantly surprised that Iron Fist had such a large role, plus Nova got a nice part too.
As I don’t wish to spoil the narrative too much, I will limit my summary. When Pheonix arrives, five mutants- Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus, and Magik- take Hope’s place and all get considerable new powers that they use to improve the world. But we all know that’s not the end of the story. The Pheonix wants Hope and it is she and Scarlet Witch that finally subdue the Pheonix’s dark powers, but not before there is a lot of death and destruction.
There are powerful moments found within the story and some insightful and sometimes snappy dialogue, but it can be a slog to find them. Just as I found Captain Marvel unsufferable in Civil War II, so I found Cyclops. He has some extremely valid points, as mutants really have been persecuted, but I was really hating on him, plus…he’s the one who ends up getting briefly consumed by the Phoenix and doing something terrible.
Overall, the art was strong despite many different artists. While there are some style shifts in the different chapters, there is enough visual consistency when the various stories are pulled together in this collected edition. Although Hope sometimes varies between looking like a teen (which she was) and an older typical female hero hottie. I always enjoyed the crowd or battle scenes as it's fun to see how the artists chose to portray everyone in mid-action.
In the large collected edition, there are also some tie-ins:
A vs X: This volume showcases personal battles amidst the war and has a whole slew of authors and artists detailing how two connected heroes (or villains) duke it out. There is – Iron Man vs Magneto, Things vs Namor, Captain America vs Gambit, Spider-Man vs Colossus, Black Widow vs Magik, Daredevil vs Psylocke, Thor vs Emma Frost, Hawkeye vs Angel, Black Panther vs Storm, Hope vs Scarlet Witch, Cyclops vs Captain America, AvX: Science Battle, Captain America vs Havok, Red Hulk vs Domino, Toad vs Jarvis, Spider-Woman vs (several) X-Women, Iron Fist vs and Iceman and Squirrel Girl vs Pixie.
This is a motley grouping of short stories (some are only a page long), as some of the fights tie in with the preceding narrative, while others are just for laughs. The only one that I found truly memorable was the poignant Storm vs Black Panther battle because there is no winner as their marriage sadly crumbles because of their differences.
A-Babies vs X-Babies: Skottie Young is well known for his variant covers of Marvel heroes, so this one-off is funny and good for a single read. On the corner of Fury Dr and Xavier Way is the peaceful neighborhood of Marvelous Meadows. Being tucked into bed is little Steve (Captain America) who is surrounded by his army-themed stuffed bears. Wait- Bucky Bear is missing! Peering out the window he sees his neighbor Scott (Cyclops) taunting him with his beloved bear. Steve calls out “Avengers Assemble!” and quickly his team of baby friends has joined him. Scott calls for backup but laments he has no catchy phrase to get them there. Instead, he yells that there is an ice cream truck nearby, and the X-Men babies show up. A battle ensues for the bear between the two teams. There is a cuteness overload as baby representations of all famous Avengers & X-Men duke it out.
Putting this entire book down several times should have been my clue that it wasn’t for me. While I am typically a sucker for these crossover event books, I have reached a fatigue level with the fighting among team members trope. While I found Civil War fresh, this and Civil War II were anything but.
This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2019/12/1...
March 22, 2021
AvX is one of the big Marvel events I missed, one of several I’m reading through to fill in some gaps. I’m glad I read it purely as a Marvel fan, and that’s about it.
The story is easy enough to pick up – bonus points if you’ve already read Dark Phoenix Saga, House of M, and Messiah Complex (I haven’t read the last one). In a nutshell, the Phoenix is returning to Earth. Wanda in House of M made mutants an endangered species, and Scott Summers (Cyclops) believes that if Phoenix inhabits Hope, the first mutant born since Wanda’s declaration and a kind of messiah, the Phoenix will restore homo superior. But Cap and the Avengers see the Phoenix as a threat – and the confrontation begins.
AvX features a powerhouse of Marvel’s top writers in 2012, but because they divided writing duties by issue, it was disjointed and the changes in tone didn’t make a cohesive story. And while it might not surprise us that they’re all men, this is absolutely a story about men (Steve and the descent of Scott, especially), masquerading as a story about Hope and Wanda.
Hope might be at the center of the story, but it isn’t her story – not even close. It’s clear just from the fact that she’s often called “the girl” (even though her age fluctuates about 10 years or so), and the story is barely concerned with her growth as a character. Neither Hope, Wanda nor Emma Frost have any meaningful story arc that shows any kind of growth or change at the end. Emma remains an evil seductress, Hope is the rebellious teen with untapped power, and Wanda’s role in mutants’ disappearance gives her the biggest case for a redemption arc. But they drift in and out of the issues – Wanda really only appears halfway through after issue #0 – and are never given the importance in the story they deserve, especially considering both the beginning that centers Wanda’s regret and grief, and her and Hope’s role in the ending. Instead, pages are dedicated to Scott’s slow corruption and those who try to save him. And it’s telling that Steve, Scott and Namor can spend whole issues punching out their problems, but as soon as Wanda and Hope go at it, Steve (and the writers) shut them down.
Let me be clear: having male writers doesn’t automatically mean their stories will only center male characters. Chris Claremont is a perfect counterexample with his stories about Kitty and the first Dark Phoenix, Jean. It’s just far more likely that it will happen, along with the inevitable argument that certain characters are more popular with (and are the same as) certain demographics who will buy comics.
And for twelve issues, the other character work was pretty dismal. Is Scott actually evil or did he just fall victim to the Dark Phoenix? When Steve says he realizes he should have done more for mutants (shocker), showing us when and how he realized that might give us some sense of growth. Why is barely any attention paid to Wolverine and Beast, as they navigate being both Avengers and X-Men? And while it’s great to see Iron Fist featured in this story, his role is quickly diminished and never develops any kind of mentoring relationship with Hope. Most of the superheroes pop up for an issue or two and then completely disappear. There’s a MAJOR character death that I won’t spoil but it felt entirely thrown in.
I understand that these massive events are tied into the rest of Marvel’s ongoing titles, which provide additional stories and background. But a main event should also be a standalone story, especially if you’re recruiting the top-dollar writers for it. A tighter focus on Hope and Wanda, and emotional anchors in characters like Wolverine and Iron Fist, would have made AvX far more compelling and would have encouraged me to read the surrounding material, whereas I couldn’t wait to be done with these twelve issues.
The art was also a mixed bag. I’m not a fan of Romita Jr’s art and so the book really got off on the wrong foot for me. Not to be cruel, but his art was simplistic, lacked drama, had lots of unfinished panels, and Magneto had a squished face and who does that to Magneto? Later issues do become progressively better, first (Coipel and Morales) and then Adam Kubert who was the best. As far as I could tell, the only woman with a consistent presence on the creative team was Laura Miller on colors.
Basically, I would recommend only for fans of Scott Summers (in which case, you have other things to sort out), and maybe Namor (his extremely low rise pants were probably the best part of the whole thing), or, if you’re like me and want to cover the bigger Marvel events as a fan. Otherwise, read the cliffnotes and happily skip it.
The story is easy enough to pick up – bonus points if you’ve already read Dark Phoenix Saga, House of M, and Messiah Complex (I haven’t read the last one). In a nutshell, the Phoenix is returning to Earth. Wanda in House of M made mutants an endangered species, and Scott Summers (Cyclops) believes that if Phoenix inhabits Hope, the first mutant born since Wanda’s declaration and a kind of messiah, the Phoenix will restore homo superior. But Cap and the Avengers see the Phoenix as a threat – and the confrontation begins.
AvX features a powerhouse of Marvel’s top writers in 2012, but because they divided writing duties by issue, it was disjointed and the changes in tone didn’t make a cohesive story. And while it might not surprise us that they’re all men, this is absolutely a story about men (Steve and the descent of Scott, especially), masquerading as a story about Hope and Wanda.
Hope might be at the center of the story, but it isn’t her story – not even close. It’s clear just from the fact that she’s often called “the girl” (even though her age fluctuates about 10 years or so), and the story is barely concerned with her growth as a character. Neither Hope, Wanda nor Emma Frost have any meaningful story arc that shows any kind of growth or change at the end. Emma remains an evil seductress, Hope is the rebellious teen with untapped power, and Wanda’s role in mutants’ disappearance gives her the biggest case for a redemption arc. But they drift in and out of the issues – Wanda really only appears halfway through after issue #0 – and are never given the importance in the story they deserve, especially considering both the beginning that centers Wanda’s regret and grief, and her and Hope’s role in the ending. Instead, pages are dedicated to Scott’s slow corruption and those who try to save him. And it’s telling that Steve, Scott and Namor can spend whole issues punching out their problems, but as soon as Wanda and Hope go at it, Steve (and the writers) shut them down.
Let me be clear: having male writers doesn’t automatically mean their stories will only center male characters. Chris Claremont is a perfect counterexample with his stories about Kitty and the first Dark Phoenix, Jean. It’s just far more likely that it will happen, along with the inevitable argument that certain characters are more popular with (and are the same as) certain demographics who will buy comics.
And for twelve issues, the other character work was pretty dismal. Is Scott actually evil or did he just fall victim to the Dark Phoenix? When Steve says he realizes he should have done more for mutants (shocker), showing us when and how he realized that might give us some sense of growth. Why is barely any attention paid to Wolverine and Beast, as they navigate being both Avengers and X-Men? And while it’s great to see Iron Fist featured in this story, his role is quickly diminished and never develops any kind of mentoring relationship with Hope. Most of the superheroes pop up for an issue or two and then completely disappear. There’s a MAJOR character death that I won’t spoil but it felt entirely thrown in.
I understand that these massive events are tied into the rest of Marvel’s ongoing titles, which provide additional stories and background. But a main event should also be a standalone story, especially if you’re recruiting the top-dollar writers for it. A tighter focus on Hope and Wanda, and emotional anchors in characters like Wolverine and Iron Fist, would have made AvX far more compelling and would have encouraged me to read the surrounding material, whereas I couldn’t wait to be done with these twelve issues.
The art was also a mixed bag. I’m not a fan of Romita Jr’s art and so the book really got off on the wrong foot for me. Not to be cruel, but his art was simplistic, lacked drama, had lots of unfinished panels, and Magneto had a squished face and who does that to Magneto? Later issues do become progressively better, first (Coipel and Morales) and then Adam Kubert who was the best. As far as I could tell, the only woman with a consistent presence on the creative team was Laura Miller on colors.
Basically, I would recommend only for fans of Scott Summers (in which case, you have other things to sort out), and maybe Namor (his extremely low rise pants were probably the best part of the whole thing), or, if you’re like me and want to cover the bigger Marvel events as a fan. Otherwise, read the cliffnotes and happily skip it.
January 30, 2021
A rolicking fun ride, I really enjoyed this series as the culmination of a lot of major Marvel plotlines from over the last ten years or so. Were there some weak parts? Sure. But with a story of this size and scope, that can be forgiven since the action is literally combustable and the story is filled with characters we all know and love doing the things we know and love them to do. Without giving any spoilers, I will say that - remembering Jean Grey's encounter with the Phoenix Force - some (most... all...) of the battles didn't go the way the sheer power of that entity would have you believe, but this is a comic book - the good guys have to win, so I guess I can forgive that. I also think the entire story would have been better served if it was just a little shorter - there were a few too many repetitive passages that had already been set up in previous 'rounds' of the battle, but other than that, this is a great collection for any fanboy (or girl) who just wants to have a good time.
April 17, 2017
This had good team ups, and some silly pointless teams up. Almost to the point where I felt like they wasted ink and paper to produce the issue of comic it was in. Perhaps, they should've thought to be a bit more clever. Then again, a few of these helped give me some ideas.
August 4, 2024
The Avengers and the Xmen didn’t work together but you know what did ? Inaccuracy and nonsense.
July 29, 2019
2.5 stars
Was kind of terrible but I ended up getting into the story.
And it just reinforces my dislike of Scott Summers.
On the fence about continuing.
Was kind of terrible but I ended up getting into the story.
And it just reinforces my dislike of Scott Summers.
On the fence about continuing.
April 15, 2023
Leerlo de una sentada es más complicado de lo que pensaba, la historia se puede hacer algo repetitiva y tediosa si la intentas leer de un senton, a comparación si la lees de issue en issue; además de qué hay cosas dibujadas muy… raras 🧍♀️
August 3, 2018
This is one of the better events that I've seen from Marvel. Great story, great art, and some really fun character interactions makes for a solid adventure.
I've always been an X-Men fan in the past, and only getting into Avengers stuff in recent years, my allegiance was very much for the X-Men in the beginning. The writers do a great job of making both sides have relate able positions. It does tap into the tried and true story of the best intentions can lead to the worst of actions, but it really landed for me.
There were a few moments that hit me right in the feel box, especially some of the interactions between Scott Summers and others as he slowly descends into madness. Spider-Man barely had a presence in this story, but they did give him an amazing moment that really did his character justice while also fitting into the story well. Oh man, did I say the art was great? Some of these scenes were just breathtaking and did an amazing job at conveying the emotion and excitement that was unfolding in the panels. All that gives it a 7/10 goosies for me.
Really glad I finally made it around to this one and it gives me more emotional attachment to what's going in in the X-Men books following.
I've always been an X-Men fan in the past, and only getting into Avengers stuff in recent years, my allegiance was very much for the X-Men in the beginning. The writers do a great job of making both sides have relate able positions. It does tap into the tried and true story of the best intentions can lead to the worst of actions, but it really landed for me.
There were a few moments that hit me right in the feel box, especially some of the interactions between Scott Summers and others as he slowly descends into madness. Spider-Man barely had a presence in this story, but they did give him an amazing moment that really did his character justice while also fitting into the story well. Oh man, did I say the art was great? Some of these scenes were just breathtaking and did an amazing job at conveying the emotion and excitement that was unfolding in the panels. All that gives it a 7/10 goosies for me.
Really glad I finally made it around to this one and it gives me more emotional attachment to what's going in in the X-Men books following.
December 11, 2014
The X-Men and the Avengers are two of Marvel’s most recognisable superhero teams. This time, they are brought to blows by the Phoenix Force (I’m reminded by a quote or similar by another Marvel character in a previous storyline ‘does everything have to be about that bloody bird?’). Both believe that the Phoenix Force is coming for Hope, the Avengers wanting to take her for safekeeping given the destructive power of the Phoenix Force, the X-Men (or more precisely Cyclops) want to use her to kickstart mutants again as the mutant messiah. Cue massive fights.
Tightly plotted and filled with genuine emotional moments this volume is not. It’s bombastic, filled with fight after fight, and deserves to be read at the level of letting the colours wash over you, the action filling your eyes only for as long as it takes to turn the page. It’s not a terrible storyline, but one that assaults your senses with action rather than having any lasting impact like The Phoenix Saga and The Dark Phoenix Sage was Enjoy the volume for what it is.
Tightly plotted and filled with genuine emotional moments this volume is not. It’s bombastic, filled with fight after fight, and deserves to be read at the level of letting the colours wash over you, the action filling your eyes only for as long as it takes to turn the page. It’s not a terrible storyline, but one that assaults your senses with action rather than having any lasting impact like The Phoenix Saga and The Dark Phoenix Sage was Enjoy the volume for what it is.
May 29, 2013
Y'know I didn't hate this. That's unfair. I actually enjoyed it. If I sound surprised its because I haven't enjoyed an event since Inferno in '90. Reading the reviews as this came out I didn't hold much hope. It's nice being surprised for the better sometimes. The difference between this and the disaster that was Fear Itself was that this wasn't soulless. at its heart was a genuine difference in perspective and even at the end it isn't clear that anyone was completely right or wrong. I found the gradual corruption of the Phoenix 5 believable, even if the contrivance to create them in first place didn't ring true. Some found the way things descended into conflict unbelievable, but it worked for me. It's probably more a three star book but what the hell .
March 11, 2015
Phoenix is coming back and the young mutant Hope is destined to be the next host. Cyclops and the X-Men see this as a possible new hope for mutants, Captain America and the Avengers think this is just going to be Jean Grey all over again. As advertised, it is the ultimate superhero showdown.
It's a long arc though and some issues are little more disjointed from the others but having read a bit more ahead it's nice to have a few blanks filled in.
The mass amount of characters involved is a bit challenging at points but all in all it's a great spectacle of a crossover event with far reaching consequences.
It's a long arc though and some issues are little more disjointed from the others but having read a bit more ahead it's nice to have a few blanks filled in.
The mass amount of characters involved is a bit challenging at points but all in all it's a great spectacle of a crossover event with far reaching consequences.
November 23, 2021
Okay, the very first Phoenix story was great. Every other Phoenix story is bad. Sorry.
Also, quite frankly, Wolverine judging Scarlet Witch is just off. Dude, the X-Men allowed a woman who emotionally abused students to run a school, you lost the high ground. And no, I have not forgiven Marvel for how they retro framed Emma’s abuse as cool and edgy.
Also, quite frankly, Wolverine judging Scarlet Witch is just off. Dude, the X-Men allowed a woman who emotionally abused students to run a school, you lost the high ground. And no, I have not forgiven Marvel for how they retro framed Emma’s abuse as cool and edgy.
June 23, 2019
I really loved this story and the connection that is has with previous House of M comic.
The characters were the same for me as usual, the characters that I loved I still love and the characters I hate I still hate so yay for consistency!
The characters were the same for me as usual, the characters that I loved I still love and the characters I hate I still hate so yay for consistency!
March 27, 2016
Próximamente reseña
Me re gustó y eso que los primeros números ya los había leído antes :)
Me re gustó y eso que los primeros números ya los había leído antes :)
June 22, 2025
Les problèmes !!! Les drama !! C’est ça qu’on veut !!!
Honnêtement, cette histoire fait le taf. Je trouve que le conflit entre les deux équipes est crédible et j’ai vraiment été dedans. Tellement dedans, que j’avais envie d’insulter les avengers à chaque page.
Bref, ce que j’ai aimé : Cyclope. Il est en train de rentrer dans mon panthéon de personnage que j’estime n’avoir jamais rien fait de mal dans leur vie et que je défendrai jusqu’au bout. Depuis quelque temps maintenant il est devenu un leader complexe qui a fait évoluer ses ambitions et qui n’a pas peur de se mouiller, quitte à devenir un méchant aux yeux de tous pour la cause qu’il croit juste.
Du côté des x-men, j’aime toujours Emma Frost bien qu’elle soit un peu en retrait au vu du nombre de personnages qu’il y a dans l’histoire. J’aime aussi beaucoup Hope que je trouve courageuse et son histoire est touchante.
Wolverine m’a un peu saoulé à être du « mauvais côté » mais je suppose qu’il reste fidèle à lui-même…
Maintenant, je peux pas me blairer Namor qui veut jamais la fermer. Autant je ne suis pas fan de Colossus non plus mais au moins lui a le mérite de se TAIRE.
Côté Avengers, j’adore Black Panther. Je suis surprise d’avoir vraiment apprécié Tony Stark alors que c’est un personnage qui n’a m’a jamais parlé avant (du moins dans le mcu). Les autres, je peux pas. Même mes chouchous Daredevil, Black Widow ou même Hawkeye, je me demandais ce qu’ils foutaient la. Vous allez tirer sur le Phœnix peut être ? Globalement tous les avengers m’ont irrité, en fait peut importe ce qu’ils faisaient : je soufflais. Spiderman qui fait des blagues de merde en plein champs de bataille m’a rendue folle. Sans parler de Captain America qui m’a tellement énervée avec sa politique interventionniste. Qu’il reste à sa place!!!
Surtout que la fin de l’histoire donne raison à Cyclope et que tout le malheur aurait été évité si les humains avaient laissé les MUTANTS gérer des menaces de MUTANTS. Au lieu d’essayer de rivaliser avec une force intergalactique immortelle quand ton pouvoir c’est de lancer des putains de toiles d’araignée…
Honnêtement, cette histoire fait le taf. Je trouve que le conflit entre les deux équipes est crédible et j’ai vraiment été dedans. Tellement dedans, que j’avais envie d’insulter les avengers à chaque page.
Bref, ce que j’ai aimé : Cyclope. Il est en train de rentrer dans mon panthéon de personnage que j’estime n’avoir jamais rien fait de mal dans leur vie et que je défendrai jusqu’au bout. Depuis quelque temps maintenant il est devenu un leader complexe qui a fait évoluer ses ambitions et qui n’a pas peur de se mouiller, quitte à devenir un méchant aux yeux de tous pour la cause qu’il croit juste.
Du côté des x-men, j’aime toujours Emma Frost bien qu’elle soit un peu en retrait au vu du nombre de personnages qu’il y a dans l’histoire. J’aime aussi beaucoup Hope que je trouve courageuse et son histoire est touchante.
Wolverine m’a un peu saoulé à être du « mauvais côté » mais je suppose qu’il reste fidèle à lui-même…
Maintenant, je peux pas me blairer Namor qui veut jamais la fermer. Autant je ne suis pas fan de Colossus non plus mais au moins lui a le mérite de se TAIRE.
Côté Avengers, j’adore Black Panther. Je suis surprise d’avoir vraiment apprécié Tony Stark alors que c’est un personnage qui n’a m’a jamais parlé avant (du moins dans le mcu). Les autres, je peux pas. Même mes chouchous Daredevil, Black Widow ou même Hawkeye, je me demandais ce qu’ils foutaient la. Vous allez tirer sur le Phœnix peut être ? Globalement tous les avengers m’ont irrité, en fait peut importe ce qu’ils faisaient : je soufflais. Spiderman qui fait des blagues de merde en plein champs de bataille m’a rendue folle. Sans parler de Captain America qui m’a tellement énervée avec sa politique interventionniste. Qu’il reste à sa place!!!
Surtout que la fin de l’histoire donne raison à Cyclope et que tout le malheur aurait été évité si les humains avaient laissé les MUTANTS gérer des menaces de MUTANTS. Au lieu d’essayer de rivaliser avec une force intergalactique immortelle quand ton pouvoir c’est de lancer des putains de toiles d’araignée…
January 22, 2020
What a great big pile of crap.
Congratulations. You wrote a giant reset button without technically starting over. This comic served its purpose I GUESS, but having the final outcome you wanted doesn’t make something good.
I’m marking it as DNF because at some point I was just skim reading it I was so fed up with how much I didn’t like it.
From page one it just screams “we have an agenda, and we’re getting to the end no matter what”. The various authors don’t feel like a cohesive unit. Most characters don’t really sound like themselves. And there’s a lot of plot that just feels force fed.
Not an enjoyable experience.
Also, sidebar, I hate Scott Summers. And not just in the way I’m supposed to hate Scott Summers. I hate reading about Scott Summers, and lately I just don’t like X Men anymore. In some part because of his character, but in a larger part because of the direction the whole X Men’s gone down.
Congratulations. You wrote a giant reset button without technically starting over. This comic served its purpose I GUESS, but having the final outcome you wanted doesn’t make something good.
I’m marking it as DNF because at some point I was just skim reading it I was so fed up with how much I didn’t like it.
From page one it just screams “we have an agenda, and we’re getting to the end no matter what”. The various authors don’t feel like a cohesive unit. Most characters don’t really sound like themselves. And there’s a lot of plot that just feels force fed.
Not an enjoyable experience.
Also, sidebar, I hate Scott Summers. And not just in the way I’m supposed to hate Scott Summers. I hate reading about Scott Summers, and lately I just don’t like X Men anymore. In some part because of his character, but in a larger part because of the direction the whole X Men’s gone down.
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October 9, 2024The culmination of the X-Men's story since House of M. I've been doing a chronological read of Uncanny and other X-books during this era, and the long game storytelling is pretty bold and really pays off. Scarlet Witch's "no more mutants" declaration, Hope, the whole Utopia era, and the effects of Schism come to head. Yeah, there's a lot of fighting here, and I can see how readers are frustrated with Cyclops' turn (as well as the other four who get transformed). And there's such an obvious "power corrupts" theme throughout. But it mostly works for me. Cyclops' actions make a certain amount of sense, seeing as how this seven-year stretch of storytelling is in part about his transformation to a more Magneto-like leader.
I read the regular edition containing issues 0-12, with no tie-ins. I did however read Gillen's Uncanny tie-ins (11-20) alongside the event, and it enhanced the story because it fleshes out the main cast, Cyclops especially.
I read the regular edition containing issues 0-12, with no tie-ins. I did however read Gillen's Uncanny tie-ins (11-20) alongside the event, and it enhanced the story because it fleshes out the main cast, Cyclops especially.
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