Riding the Gravy Train 17 (Avengers #28, Wolverine and the X-Men #14, and X-Men: Legacy #270)

The Phoenix Four are officially villains. The turn hasn't been long or subtle, but I think we can safely say this week that, yeah, they're the bad guys. Isn't it nice to be right?

What's sad isn't how terribly obvious this direction -- where the hosts of the Phoenix are corrupted by power, assuming thay just because they can do something that it's just -- is, since it has been obvious from the moment we saw the five of them in action. What's sad is just how poorly executed all of this has been with few cases worse than Wolverine and the X-Men #14 and X-Men: Legacy #270, the former more than the latter. We are shown the Rasputin siblings as they make it very, very clear that, yes, what everyone said would happen has. And it's happened in, like, a week. These are heroes, supposedly, and they are driven this far over the edge in a week?

It's actually another example in the argument I've been making since this event began: the heroes are fallen by this point. The corruption has set in for all of them, not just those given these incredible powers. They no longer fight for what's right -- they fight to fight. They don't know anything else. Look at how the Red Hulk looks at this entire thing in Avengers #28: "They do not get it. This is war." And he's not the only one. Everyone speaks of this conflict in militaristic terms and, actually, have since the beginning. This was never a disagreement between allies that could be solved through reason and discussion. It was war. War without killing, but war.

The lack of killing given the mindset of these characters is laughable. They've moved so far beyond righteousness in non-killing to simply being naive and delusional. They don't kill because they don't kill because they don't kill. They fight and fight and fight and do nothing but fight, but they don't kill. This is the war without end. The never-ending battle. Fallen heroes slugging it out in new ideological conflicts forever, constantly rearranging the sides, switching things up, picking new teams... They are fallen and the world is their plaything. 'War' is some game that they play like children at recess. These events are their recess where, this time, Captain America and Cyclops were the captains and chose all their buddies. None of this matters because there are no true consequences, much like a game. It seems important at the time, they play their hearts out, but soon the bell will ring, they'll go back inside for a while and return later to do it all over again.

Even the Red Hulk and others willing to 'kill' fit into that mindset. He's the big thug that is too overeager and is willing to do anything to win that game of touch football, even breaking some poor kid's arm in an ill-advised tackle. There's a few of those in every school yard.

I am at a loss at how awful Wolverine and the X-Men #14 and X-Men: Legacy #270 are. In Wolverine and the X-Men, Colossus forces Kitty Pryde to have dinner with him, gets increasingly pissed off when she doesn't seem interested, and damn near destroys the school, killing everyone in the process, because he's god now and she will love him if he says to love him. It's one of the worst thing that Jason Aaron has ever written, lacking in anything close to subtlety or nuance, choosing to go for cheap in-your-face storytelling that's very forced and unnatural simply to shoehorn characters that were mindless drones a few months ago into going "Hey... maybe we shouldn't have just shouted 'Viva mutants!' and tried to kill those Avengers guys..." It's awful writing used to fix bad writing.

X-Men: Legacy is almost as bad, but at least uses a character that's a little closer to the corrupt, evil person she's shown as. Magik using Limbo as a prison for the Avengers isn't even close to as big a leap as Colossus deciding to destroy a school for mutants run by his friends. In fact, given the way the character has been written (aside from a few recent bits, I've been told), if she were doing this before acting as a host for the Phoenix, I don't think anyone would have blinked. That doesn't make it any less obvious a comic in the way that Rogue goes from "Mutants forevah, sug!" to "Avengers forevah, sug!" in fairly short order. It's cheap in the way that it tries to make the Phoenix Four look evil, particularly when Rogue tells Magik that they'd be more likely to side with her and Magik basically tells her that, no, they'd kill her to live the mutant dream. The unsaid obvious thing is: the Avengers were previously being held in the X-Brig and, then, were moved to Limbo, so I think they already knew about the Limbo prison, Rogue.

After the first half of this event focused on the X-Men perspective, building up the Avengers as the giant bad guys trying to oppress a race (somehow), we've now had those same X-Men turn on their leaders, because, no, they're wannabe killers of kids, destroyers of schools, and use Hellish landscapes as prison as they torture the inmates.

Except, we're to believe that these characters have only recently fallen and I don't see any change (aside from the over-the-top Colossus bullshit). They were always like this. This is their true selves coming out, the true selves we've seen for years now. This truly is the columination of everything we've seen going back to Avengers Disassembled. The mutants/humans tensions, the superheroes fighting superheroes, the questions of when killing is necessary... the inability to do anything but hit things and then condemn people who do nothing but hit things. This is the low point, the moment where they stand around in pools of blood wondering why they used to smile in old pictures.

Next week: Avengers vs. X-Men #9.

Riding the Gravy Train 16 (Avengers vs. X-Men #8, Uncanny X-Men #16, and Avengers Academy #33)

Last week, I praised Kaare Andrws for his depiction of the Thor/Emma Frost fight in AVX: VS #4, because it actually built up Frost as threat. She didn't just beat Thor, she got her ass kicked by Thor as hard as we'd ever seen someone get their ass kicked by Thor and it didn't even slow her down. He shattered her -- literally -- and she rained down death from above with the shards of his diamond body before reassembling herself. If you read something like that, you walk away thinking that anyone who gets in Emma Frost's way right now is going to get crushed.

Although Frost looked equally tough in Avengers Academy #33 this week, the Phoenix Five didn't fare as well in the other two Avengers vs. X-Men comics released this week. Or any of them released prior to this. In the rush to turn the Phoenix Five into figures of 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,' everyone forgot the most basic fucking lesson in telling a story:

SHOW. DON'T TELL.

Up until now, we've been told how powerful the Phoenix Five are. We saw Colossus talk some bad guys out of being bad guys. We've seen them float around and talk in fiery word balloons. We've seen them come up with the brilliant idea to use giant hunks of ice to slowly irrigate dehydrated areas of the planet. But, we've also seen the Scarlet Witch make them cry like babies and the Avengers constantly one step ahead of them. We've been told a lot about how powerful they are and how much better the world is with them in charge. We've seen very little.

This week, we saw Namor ride into a country on a tidal wave, stir up some trouble, and get his ass beat so badly that the Phoenix Force left his shattered, broken body. This week, we saw Sinister take out the entire Phoenix Five with a bunch ideas that seemed like leftover Nextwave jokes.

These guys are meant to be taken seriously why again?

The Namor stuff in Avengers vs. X-Men #8 didn't actually seem much different from a dozen other comics I've read where Namor rides into town on a tidal wave, insults the 'land dwellers,' yells "Imperius Rex!" 49 times, and gets his ass beaten by a bunch of people who were once his friends until his mentally unbalanced mind shifted and he decided that they must die. I swear, every time that Captain America sees Namor and doesn't execute that motherfucker is a time where I have to question how smart he really is. But, the point is, this is supposedly one of the five most powerful beings on the planet and he got beat just like he always does. It may have taken a few more people, but it all happens so fast that none of it sinks in.

Part of the problem is that, up until this point in this story, Namor hasn't looked much different. He fights the Thing and the Thing technically wins, but not in a way where Namor looks weak. Every single time we've seen him so far, he's been a powerhouse that hasn't been taken down. We haven't been shown that the Phoenix Force has made him stronger and more powerful. In Avengers vs. X-Men #8, how much of what he does comes off as genuinely different from what he would do with the Phoenix Force? Maybe that little burst of energy he gives off. Otherwise, it looks like the same Namor as always. So, why should I care?

Over in Uncanny X-Men #16, the Phoenix Five are shown in action together for the first time really and... they get taken down with smug ease by Sinister. Which would be fine if this was simply five members of Cyclops's Extinction Team, but it's not. These are not regular superheroes and it doesn't seem like anyone at Marvel save Kaare Andrews understands that idea.

It's not enough to say that these characters are powerful, to rely upon the idea that the Phoenix Force is powerful -- we need to see it. They need to be built up as big threats before they can be taken down and that simply hasn't happened. Part of it, as I said, is that the X-Men were kept too 'equal' to the Avengers prior to the Phoenix Force arriving. Since the first act was building towards this point, the Avengers should have been more dominant. They should have kicked the shit out of Cyclops, Frost, Namor, Magik, and Colossus in particular. They should have been overwhelmed and made to look pathethic by comparison. And, then, once they had this power, they should have turned the tables in a big visible way -- and, until they're taken down, they should have looked like invincible gods. The Scarlet Witch shouldn't have shown up until issue eight where she arrives and takes down one of the Phoenix Five. That should have been a big, impactful moment.

Instead, it was crazy Namor invading dry land and getting a beatdown. Just like always. Ho hum. Too sad. I don't give a fuck.

Next week: Avengers #28, Wolverine and the X-Men #14, and X-Men: Legacy #270.

Riding the Gravy Train 13 (Wolverine and the X-Men #12 and X-Men: Legacy #269)

First, go read Tim O'Neil's post on Avengers vs. X-Men and notice that his take isn't too far away from mine. His perspective, though, is a little different and it's interesting that, despite that, we both come to very similar conclusions about the event. The only big difference is his praise of AVX: VS, but, honestly, my approach to that title is purposefully different from the one most people would take. His post is a good read.

One of the things he spends a lot of time focusing on is the idea that the X-Men are the villains of Avengers vs. X-Men. For the first act, Marvel did its best to undercut this by trying to turn the Avengers into facists and racists. It went a little further than the X-Men simply saying they were -- the debate within the Avengers of those ideas, every mutant siding with Cyclops and turning on Wolverine, the lack of tie-ins showing the Avengers' perspectives, and a few other things all happened to make the X-Men more of 'perspective' characters and underdogs. From an objective standpoint, they were clearly the misguided bad guys (some might say batshit insane cult), but, through the way that the story was told, that objectivity was clouded enough so that it wasn't a simple case of right (Avengers) vs. wrong (X-Men).

But, that stage of the story has passed and, now, we can clearly see that the X-Men are the bad guys once again. The power balance has shifted with the Phoenix Force inhabiting Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus, and Magick, and Cyclops asserting that there will be "No more Avengers." The X-Men are the dominant force and the Avengers are the underdog group on the run. This is meant to be a shift in the dynamics of the story, but it's a false shift, because the Avengers were always the good guys. The X-Men were never the persecuted minority in this story, because them being mutants were never a motivating factor for the Avengers -- hell, it didn't factor into it at all. It was the X-Men that made it about mutants vs. the world. And it's still about that. They haven't made the world better for mutantkind (and wasn't that what they thought the Phoenix would do?) by 'resurrecting' the race. They've tried to make the world better and, when questioned, decided that it could be because the Avengers (Wolverine included) hate mutants, not because every time someone with incredible powers try to remake the world, they always prove themselves corrupt and unworthy of those powers (aka something that the X-Men have encountered many times).

Last week, I bemoaned this obvious storytelling path as lazy and obvious and this week's Avengers vs. X-Men tie-ins only proved me right. X-Men: Legacy #269 is nothing but a big "THE PHOENIX FIVE ARE CORRUPT!" sign with a 'Yeah, Rogue is an awful person' lead-in. Rogue's mutant powers are hard to portray in a heroic fashion, because they're not powers that do something 'good.' They can be used in very specific situations to accomplish positive things, but, most of the time, they're used to violate people in a horrible, cruel, unforgivable way. One of Rogue's earliest victims was Ms. Marvel and, here, she tries to use her powers on Ms. Marvel again. This happens only a couple of issues after she did the same to She-Hulk, Falcon, and Moon Knight. Basically, her powers are to mindrape people and we're supposed to pretend that it's okay, because... um, she is a good person?

Rogue's use of her powers in these conflicts illustrates how far gone the X-Men are and also just how far gone superhumans in this world are. Most people probably don't even blink an eye at her trying to steal someone's entire being anymore, even when she's fighting other heroes. Why? Because, ever since Civil War, the entire direction of the Marvel Universe has been to undercut the idea that any of these characters are moral beings (aside from Captain America, perhaps, who has become the patron saint of Always Right). It's just perspective, just point of views, no right, no wrong -- just beat the shit out of anyone who disagrees. Civil War began that when a disagreement over how superhumans function in the United States had people go from best friends to trying to kill one another. No discussion, no attempt at reasoning, just zero to scorched Earth. And it's never stopped. Every big event from that point on has been designed to break down the heroes more and more, put them in positions where their actions and image don't clearly differentiate them from the so-called bad guys.

After all, there's a segment of people who probably still think that the X-Men are good guys here. That they have a point. It's not helped by Marvel crafting a story that lends some credibility to their perspective when none should be there. This is a story where a giant cosmic fire bird somehow cares about mutants on Earth because they're oh so special to 'cosmic balance,' but thinks nothing of destroying every planet in its path, thereby fucking with any notion of 'cosmic balance.' How does that make sense? It's part the usual 'Earth-centric' storytelling you find in anything that takes place in a universe that goes beyond this shitty little mudball we're on (because humans are sooooooooooooooooooo special compared to every other lifeform) and part giving credence to the idea a crazy cult has about a cosmic fire bird coming out of the sky to save them.

That is the Marvel universe as it stands now. So, of course, Rogue trying to steal the very essence of Carol Danvers again doesn't stand out. Why would it? But, make no mistake, this character is a villain and a bad person. The last time she touched Carol Danvers, she stole her powers and her memories -- she killed her, leaving a blank human shell alive that, eventually, became a person again. She tries to do the same again and, yet, we're supposed to be put off by Magick bringing a portion of Limbo to Earth to act as a prison for superhumans? That is the sign that the 'Phoenix Five' are corrupt and it's Rogue, paradigm of morality, that's shocked by it. Really.

***

Nice to see Bleeding Cool finally join the party of pointing out the inconsistencies in Avengers vs. X-Men.

Next week: Avengers vs. X-Men #7 and Uncanny X-Men #15.

Riding the Gravy Train 12 (Avengers vs. X-Men #6, New Avengers #27, Secret Avengers #28, Uncanny X-Men #14, and Avengers Academy #32)

That's what I want to see. Avengers vs. X-Men #6 wasn't perfect and it will only lead to disappointment on my part, of that I'm sure, but... damn, that's what I want to see in my superhero comics. Characters with extraordinary powers using those powers in extraordinary ways beyond just hitting one another. And, let's face it, this has been a story that just wallows in how stunted these characters are, how incapable they are of responding to any sort of disagreement or challenge without punching someone in the face. It's been five issues (and many, many tie-ins) reminding us that these are horrible people that we should pity, because they're trapped in their ugly little world where the solution to every problem is violence. I mean, the logical solution to the argument at the end of issue one would have been the X-Men and Avengers taking Hope off planet, well away from Earth, and waiting to see what happens when the Phoenix arrives, prepared to kill her if things went wrong, but also prepared for the possibility that it would work out fine. It's kind of like that What If? comic Marvel published about Civil War where Captain America and Iron Man stopped for a moment and talked about the problem at hand, and came up with a solution that made everyone happy without all of the fighting and bloodshed. It may have been the most subversive comic Marvel published that year -- and surprisingly so, because it showed just how stupid and pointless that story was and how stupid and awful their 'heroes' are. For much of Avengers vs. X-Men, I've had that on my mind as people who have worked together to save the world suddenly decided they hate each other ("They're racists and facists!" "They're a crazy cult!") And, here, we have some characters actually doing things to make the world better and that's always nice to see.

Except...

Except.

Except, there's the problem that always crops up in stories where heroes are given extraordinary powers and decide to use them to make the world better: everyone else has a shitfit and decides that they must be stopped. How dare those uppity mutants try to end war?!? How dare they talk to the bad guys instead of crushing their skulls!?! How dare they do anything except fight and fight and fight and fight and fight...

So, of course, they fight. And they just showed up a little. And they'll overreact and prove that, yeah, maybe power corrupts and they need to be stopped. And the lesson at the end of the day is that a real hero shuts up, colours inside of the lines, and doesn't try to actually do anything except punch problems away.

Maybe I'll be wrong. God, I hope I'm wrong. I would love it if I were wrong. Normally, I'm a guy who will fight tooth and nail to prove I'm right, but, this time, let me be wrong. Because, for a big part of this comic, I saw something I love to read about: the actual effect superhumans would have on a world (the flipside of that is the effect a superhuman lifestyle would have on a person leading it). It wasn't revolutionary or new, but it was nice to see, because of the tease that there may be more. I usually only get to see this part of that story before what I predicted above happens. That's why this is the same as other comics where this sort of thing has happened: they all begin the same way and there's a moment where they could do something great... I don't know, man, any comic where the hero talks some bad guys into stopping their destructive behaviour and helping make things better is a comic I want to read and see played out without the usual 'power corrupts so let's keep the status quo' bullshit.

Because there are other conflicts than physical ones. There are other ways to be interesting and exciting than by spilling blood.

***

In my ongoing thought process of how to order the entire Avengers vs. X-Men event, I guess we now put New Avengers #25-27 after Avengers vs. X-Men #6. Somehow, I didn't see that coming.

***

Secret Avengers #26-28 is an odd little story within this larger story, isn't it? Beginning as a group of Space Avengers try to stop the Phoenix from progressing, it becomes a story about the Kree bringing back Captain Mar-Vell and brainwashing anyone related to the Kree into thinking that the Phoenix Force coming to their planet is the Best Thing Ever, including Ms. Marvel and Protector, two of the Space Avengers. Bringing back Mar-Vell was another move in this event that seemed like a mix of Civil War and Secret Invasion. In Civil War, Mar-Vell returned, not from the dead, but from the Negative Zone, presumably taken from sometime in the past before he died. Later, it was revealed that he was actually a Skrull posing as Mar-Vell, but the deception was so real that the Skrull couldn't help but act like he was Mar-Vell, going so far as to sacrifice his life in Secret Invasion... seemingly for the sole purpose of showing Noh-Varr that, while carving giant flaming swear words into cities is cool, being a protector of humanity is what's really tops.

Here, he's back again, this time really from the dead. It never really makes sense considering the way that Mar-Vell was viewed by the Kree (a traitor who deserved worse than the painful death he had) until the final issue where we get a lovely speech by the villain (Mar-Vell's nephew) explaining how Mar-Vell brought down his family's name and, now, this guy is getting it back, implying that the idea of using the resurrected Mar-Vell as a pawn just makes it more poetic and fitting. In the end, Mar-Vell sacrifices his life to save the planet from the Phoenix, inspiring Noh-Varr in Avengers #26 to betray the Space Avengers and steal a piece of the Phoenix Force so the Kree can... uh, do what the crazy guy in Secret Avengers #26-28 wanted to do?

Yeah, this story makes no sense when you put it before what Brian Michael Bendis is doing in Avengers, which I've discussed before. Since then, I've wondered which story should take precedence. Which one is 'right' and which one is 'wrong?' My first instinct was to choose Secret Avengers as the 'true' Space Avengers story because it takes place first and it has Mar-Vell. And, well, Bendis has a history of writing comics that contradict other comics, seemingly with little care of what's going on elsewhere in the Marvel Universe, because, fuck you, he's an Architect. But, now, I'm leaning the other way. After all, one of these writers is part of the five-headed beast leading this whole big crossover story event. Surely, those comics should be the ones we pay attention to first and foremost, right? Isn't that the rule of events? The order of importance goes: event series, comics written by event series writer(s), everything else. Seems pretty clearcut to me...

And, I guess, part of me is disappointed with this three-issue story. I read somewhere that Rick Remender reread Jim Starlin's work on Captain Marvel to get the character right and it seems somehow wasted and futile. This is a nothing of a story that seems to set up a premise only to knock it down right away before a big 'heroic' finish that feels hollow given that the hero just came back from the dead and spent most of that time brainwashed. It feels unearned somehow -- more joke than sincere.

***

I'm not sure if I can put up with Avengers Academy anymore as this event progresses. Look, I get that the kid loves his pet robot, but it can't change. It will always want to destroy all mutants and, now, an extremely powerful mutant has shown up, demanding to destroy it -- or, erase its memory so the part of its programming that demands it destroy all mutants can be eliminated. The kid somehow believes that the robot will overcome that bit of programming and I can understand why. In the Marvel Universe, every robot seems to rise above whatever they were programmed to do, gaining free will, and a desire to have sex with redheads. But, there's something so frustrating in seeing a comic devoted to the idea that leading kids into a fight with a superemely powerful being who's really annoyed when all that's at stake is a formerly genocidal robot is a good idea. Part of me wants to see Emma Frost slaughter everyone except for Hank Pym next issue just so we can have another moment of "Hank Pym is the dumbest genius in comics." But, yeah yeah yeah, little boy loves pet robot, let's all get mushy inside and pretend like that gives him the right to allow a possibly genoicidal robot that, knowing the world he lives in, would kill at least one mutant at some point in the future and have to be destroyed to exist until that time comes. Who the fuck left Hank Pym in charge?

Next week: Wolverine and the X-Men #12 and X-Men: Legacy #269.

Riding the Gravy Train 11 (AVX: Vs #3, Avengers #27, and X-Men: Legacy #268)

Let's get the fights out of the way...

Match #5: The Thing vs. Colossus

Wait... is this a tournament of some kind? Both the Thing and Colossus have been involved in matches already -- and both won (or, they won according to the comic -- I still call that Colossus/Spider-Man match a time limit draw). I know this card isn't structured like a tournament, but wouldn't it be cool if it was? An unannounced tournament to determine who is the best out of all of the Avengers and X-Men... Then again, if you count fights outside of AVX: VS, we've already seen Colossus lose to the Red Hulk and the Thing have a rematch with Namor that ended with the Thing winning via Namor being embarrassed that wrestling involves two half-naked dudes rolling around and grabbing one another, and decided that walking away and losing again on a technicality is a lot better than someone thinking you're gay (that was the point of that fight, right?). So... here we are with the Thing's record of 2-0-0 and Colossus standing at 0-1-1, sort of. This match only confirms my idea that the Avengers are being portrayed as the villains in this story and the X-Men as the underdogs based on the pre-match attack by the Red Hulk as Colossus makes his way down to the ring. Clear heel faction tactic. He beats on Colossus and, then, throws him into the ring so the Thing can begin hammering on him in a weakened state. As does the Thing's response to Colossus's first attempt at offence: throwing what looks to be a piece of his rocky hide down the Russian's throat in a clearly illegal attempt at a choke. So, when Colossus takes the fight outside of the ring and uses that environment to his advantage, it's not cheating, it's giving the heel his proper comeuppance. While Colossus doesn't technically win as he never gets back in the ring, his beatdown of the Thing makes the double countout finish seem like a win. It's a moral win for the good guy underdog. Some solid storytelling on the card finally with a finish that wouldn't seem quite so bad if every other match wasn't booked with a similar sort of cheap non-finish finish. Still, a clear standout so far -- kudos to Loeb and McGuinness.

Result: Double countout [**3/4]

Match #6: No Disqualification/Falls Count Anywhere Match - Black Widow vs. Magick

In the ongoing 'card' that is the match line-up of AVX: VS, we finally had our first 'Divas' match. Okay, calling it that is somewhat dismissive. Three issues in and we see our first fight involving women (with two more next issue; though, those will be intergender matches). Nice to see that Marvel isn't afraid to show that women can fight just as well, if not better than, the men. And, surprisingly, it's the second fight of this issue to feature one of the Rasputin siblings. This match ranges all over the place, which isn't surprising given the obvious stipulation. They fight on the moon, in Limbo, and, surprisingly, finish back on the moon. Personally, I'm not a fan of Falls Count Anywhere matches that finish back in the ring after fighting all over -- nor ones that end with the Roll-Up victory. Both women gave it their all, but Black Widow had this thing won until BOOM! Roll-Up pin by Magick for the surprise win. It felt like a cheap win and undercut everything that came before. We all know that Limbo is where Magick is at home and no one has beaten her there before, but the Black Widow bested her there before putting her back in the ring to end things and booking things so she loses then... Well, why waste Magick not dominating in Limbo? For a swerve finish? That's bullshit, man. May as well had Colossus run in after leaving the Thing beaten...

Winner: Magick [*1/2]

Next up on the card looks to be Daredevil vs. Psylocke and Thor vs. Emma Frost in her first match since joining the Phoenix Force.

***

I'm not entirely sure what I think of Avengers #27 where Noh-Varr has betrayed the Avengers, then discovers that the Kree are fine with the Phoenix destroying Earth, decides that he kind of likes Earth and betrays the Kree (just like Mar-Vell did!) only for the Avengers to threaten him with death and give him the biggest backhand I've seen in a while before the Kree take away his Nega-Bands and we get one panel of him in his old costume.

I mean, no one is more excited to see that Protector bullshit dropped even though I had made my peace with it. To follow up on that narrative, Noh-Varr was basically put in a situation where his family's business made him steal company secrets from his job and, when he did it, he discovered that they were going to use those secrets to, like, kill baby seals or something, so he panicked. Instead of that making things better, he was fired from his job and his familar disowned him. We see him in the end wearing the shitty clothes he wore as a teenager, because... well, what else is there? He tried to be an adult and was put in a situation where he was going to either lose his job or his family and wound up losing both. Clearly, he will save the Earth from the Phoenix.

I don't know...

I did like seeing the old costume drawn by Walt Simonson. Even if it was for only one panel and kind of tiny.

***

X-Men: Legacy #268 is only superficially connected to Avengers vs. X-Men. It's basically a Frenzy solo story that happens because of the actions of the Phoenix Five. I found it heavyhanded and obvious. Fans of Frenzy might have liked it. Dunno.

Next week: Avengers vs. X-Men #6, New Avengers #27, Uncanny X-Men #14, Secret Avengers #28, and Avengers Academy #32.

Riding the Gravy Train 10 (Avengers vs. X-Men #5, Uncanny X-Men #13, and Avengers Academy #31)

I'll give Marvel one thing: no one saw that coming.

Of course, that doesn't make the ending of Avengers vs. X-Men #5 good or anything. I'm not sure what it is. It's one of those swerves where you're both "I want to see what happens as a result of this" and "That's really fucking stupid. They pay you guys, right?" The Phoenix Force arrives and, because Iron Man is a total cockblock, winds up possessing...

Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus, and Magik. None of whom are redheads.

My disappointment was almost guaranteed, I must admit. Marvel had only a limited number options with the direction of this story, none of them particularly great on the surface:

1. The Phoenix Force arrives, possesses Hope, and she resurrects the mutant race, proving Cyclops's crazy cult fanaticism right and Captain America's logic wrong.

2. The Phoenix Force arrives, possesses Hope, and she goes batshit crazy and must be killed, proving Cyclops's crazy cult fanaticism wrong and Captain America's logic right.

3/4. The Phoenix Force arrives, possesses someone not Hope, and either resurrects the mutant race or goes batshit crazy.

5. The Phoenix Force is stopped from reaching Earth, negating the reason for the central conflict of this story and leaving seven issues of characters fighting because the title says they should.

6. The Phoenix Force passes by Earth the way that it's passed by many worlds.

7. The Phoenix Force destroys Earth the way that it's destroyed many worlds.

I think that covers all of the variations. We were given option 3/4. We don't know if it's a 'resurrect the mutant race' or 'go batshit crazy' variation on that particularl idea yet, but that's where we are. Looking at the above options, do any inspire much excitement? It's almost like, upon reaching this point in the story, we're coming face-to-face with the fact that the Phoenix is a pretty limiting/stupid plot device. It coming to Earth leaves seven options, three of which won't be used no matter what. So, there are four options that we can expect to see and there isn't much variance in them.

***

Something I really liked about Avengers vs. X-Men #5 is that Matt Fraction made it feel like a 'big' issue. Good use of narration, good pacing, good reliance on John Romita, Jr. to sell some of the moments. In many ways, it felt like the first issue of this series that was successful, which is shocking given that this is the man who, last year, wrote Fear Itself.

The question then: has Fraction improved (learned from Fear Itself), or have the other issues been so poor that he just stands out by default?

After all, we've now seen all five of these writes take the lead, all working with the same artist. I haven't gone back to reread the first five issues to see how they work, but I can't imagine a smooth reading experience. Going off memory, I'd probably rank them: Matt Fraction (#5), Jason Aaron (#2), Brian Michael Bendis (#1), Ed Brubaker (#3), and Jonathan Hickman (#4). Part of that comes from what they had to work with in their particular issues, granted.

Next issue, Olivier Coipel takes over on art and we experience another shift in how this comic presents itself. I've touched on John Romita, Jr.'s art a little so far, but it has been the one constant of Avengers vs. X-Men as we've cycled through five writers.

His work on this series has been inconsistent and not his best. There have been a lot of panels where characters look slapped down with little care or thought. Barely formed blobs that are only recognisable because of the colouring. There have been far too many panels like that.

Thankfully, I can't spot any in issue five. Romita may have had some rough patches in the first four issues, but he brought it in his finale on this series. Flipping through, he's so damn good at clarity and focus. Panels that pop because what you're looking at is almost thrown in your face. His art makes this fight on the moon look epic, look big. When Cyclops makes his final speech about Hope and the Phoenix before Iron Man fucks it all up, he looks crazed in his restrained way. We can't see his eyes, but Romita still communicates the desperate faith on display.

Romita's strengths on display here: big action. The characters are more limited than they have been in past issues, avoiding a cluttered look, and the setting is wide open. They play to his ability to focus on one bit of action and showcase it for a panel. In previous issues, he couldn't do that as much. His thicker line work doesn't always look as good when used to draw background characters and there's very little of that here. This is the first issue that seems designed to let Romita look as good as he possibly can.

***

And, yes, Tigra, I'm sure Captain America will be fine with two longtime Avengers and teachers at the Academy being beaten up by a bunch of teenagers. That's so much better than simply letting them go. In one instance, you made a personal moral choice that Cap may not agree with, but would probably respect. In the other, you proved yourself bad at what you do for a living.

...this is the part where I throw in "#comicbooklogic" right?

Next week: AVX: VS #3, Avengers #27, and X-Men: Legacy #268.

Riding the Gravy Train 09 (Wolverine and the X-Men #11 and X-Men: Legacy #267)

Avengers vs. X-Men has finished its second month, producing 23 comics to date. While reading this week's additional to the event, I noticed something: we haven't seen much of the Avengers' perspective on what's been happening. It seems like all we see of the Avengers comes from the main series, while the Avengers-centric tie-ins tell stories about everything surrounding the main story but never touch on it. Conversely, the X-Men tie-ins all seem to comment directly in some way on the idea of the Avengers and X-Men fighting -- and from the X-Men's perspective. I've previously discussed how Marvel seems to be skewing things to make the Avengers seem less like the good guys and the X-Men seem less like a crazy cult, first by showing the Avengers as facists and, then, as racists. This week, it occurred to me that there's a third way: by simply not presenting them as perspective characters. If much of what we read is from the X-Men's perspective in some way, they seem more sympathetic by default -- the Avengers are made into the Others.

If you break down the 23 Avengers vs. X-Men comics that have come out, seven have been 'neutral' comics (Avengers vs. X-Men and AVX: VS), nine have been 'Avengers' comics (Avengers, New Avengers, Secret Avengers, and Avengers Academy), and seven have been 'X-Men' comics (Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and the X-Men, and X-Men: Legacy). The Avengers have more individual series and more tie-ins than the X-Men, yet their presence seems muted. If you actually look at the issues, only two of the Avengers tie-ins have actually seemed to show what's happening in the main narrative (New Avengers #24 and Avengers #25) and those only show brief glimpses, acting more as bridges between their crossover story involving Norman Osborn and Avengers vs. X-Men. The following issues of New Avengers have focused on K'un L'un in the past, while Avengers has begun telling the same story (sort of) as Secret Avengers -- about the team the Avengers sent into space to try to stop the Phoenix Force from ever reaching Earth. Both stories are related to the event, but separated from the core idea of the Avengers fighting the X-Men. Avengers Academy is more closely related, examining the consequences of the Avengers dumping the students from Utopia at the Academy, but, in that story, Christos Gage is more interested in exploring whether or not the X-students should be shunted off like that, imprisoned, and tends to sympathise more with the X-characters. Out of the nine 'Avengers' tie-ins, only two seem to show anything from the conflict between the Avengers and X-Men directly.

The 'X-Men' tie-ins, on the other hand, all address that conflict directly, either by showing characters at Wolverine's school struggle with the decision of fighting or staying at the school, or by showing the fighting directly, making it a gap of seven complete issues to two issues with a scene or two that ties in (and that's being generous to Avengers #25). The two 'neutral' titles tend to divide somewhat evenly in perspective (though AVX: VS currently has the Avengers winning 3-1), so that leaves an event with a strong X-Men perspective and little to no Avengers perspective.

Sorry, 'perspective' may not be the right word -- protagonists? The X-Men are protagonists in more comics where they fight the Avengers than the Avengers are. Hell, since the very outset of the fight at Utopia, we've seen no Avengers tie-in with those characters as protagonists that expands on the fights hinted at in Avengers vs. X-Men. In that respect, the X-Men have slowly been put in the position of being the event's protagonists. While we see the Avengers' perspective in Avengers vs. X-Men, that's always balanced with the X-Men; the tie-ins of events is where characters are given room to breathe and provide an entry point into the plot-heavy main series. And we haven't gotten any of that for the Avengers.

It could simply be that the writers of the Avengers tie-ins have certain stories they want to tell, which don't happen to expand on Avengers vs. X-Men in as direct a fashion as the writers of the X-tie-ins. Brian Michael Bendis writes both Avengers and New Avengers, and is one of the five writers of Avengers vs. X-Men, so he seems to be attempting to tell as broad a story as possible. In some respects, he seems to be attempting to write tie-ins that are less dependent on the main series for this event than the X-writers. But, it is odd that one set of writers is working around Avengers vs. X-Men, while another set is working in it. Is it a coincidence, of different writers having different approaches, or is it an attempt to make the X-Men seem more sympathetic, more like protagonists?

That seems to have been the goal so far and, with upcoming issues seemingly about the X-Men dominating the Avengers ("No more Avengers" being the tagline of choice), it could make for some interesting dramatic tension. Going into this event, the Avengers seemed more in the right and the X-Men like some crazy cult convinced their space god was coming to save them -- but, over the past two months, the X-Men have been our point of view characters in a much larger way, the characters we sympathise with and relate to, turning the Avengers into antagonists. But, if the X-Men suddenly 'won' and became the persecutors, that shift back to the Avengers as protagonists, fighting as underdogs against the X-Men could be a very energetic shift in the story.

And who says tie-ins don't matter?

***

X-Men: Legacy #267 may be an 'X-Men' tie-in issue and present a fight between X-Men and Avengers from a decidedly X-Man perspective (Rogue is the narrator of the issue), but I'm not sure it actually presents the X-Men as protagonists, particularly Rogue. In fighting the small group of Avengers sent to watch the Jean Grey School and ensure that it stays out of the fight, she decides to use her powers to absorb the powers and minds of She-Hulk, Falcon, and Moon Knight (though, Moon Knight causes it to happen, hoping his multiple personalities will overwhelm her and leave her unable to function). That's a fairly deplorable way for a 'hero' to behave, no? I read that issue, horrified that not only was Rogue doing that, but that her fellow X-Men seemed to have no problem with her doing something so invasion and cruel to people that, at their core, are having a disagreement over whether or not a giant cosmic bird will be a good or bad thing for the planet. It's such an extreme moment, a moment that reminds us that, yes, these characters are, in many ways, deplorable and to be looked down upon. They resort to violence at the drop of a hat, attack one another with the goal of putting each other down despite both groups knowing that the other is filled with (supposedly) good and well-meaning people. It's rather shocking.

So... maybe the X-Men aren't protagonists? Maybe none of these characters are...

Next week: Avengers vs. X-Men #5, Avengers Academy #31, and Uncanny X-Men #13.

Riding the Gravy Train 07 (Avengers vs. X-Men #4, AVX: VS #2, Uncanny X-Men #12, and Avengers Academy #30)

I normally buy my comics on Wednesdays after work, briefly stopping on the way to the gym where my girlfriend teaches a class and where I sit and read my comics. This week, I got them on Thursday and had the chance to chat with Retailer Tim. He's not usually there on Wednesdays (nor do I have the time to chat on Wednesdays). We were discussing Avengers vs. X-Men briefly and he asked if I was enjoying it. So far, I haven't placed much emphasis on typical 'enjoyment' in my discussion of this big crossover event, preferring to find some other angle to work with. This hasn't been a series of 'reviews' so much as me just talking about things that occur to me. So: am I enjoying Avengers vs. X-Men?

Sure am.

By that, I mean the larger event, not the actual series bearing that name. I'm actually not too fond of the series Avengers vs. X-Men. The shift in authorial voice has made for inconsistent reading, and it suffers from the same problem every Marvel event since Civil War has: the tie-ins are more interesting, because they're concerned with something other than plot. They can spotlight characters and their motives where the main series is like reading a plot summary with the odd big of characterisation highlighted for a third of the page at most. Just enough so characters doing things doesn't seem random and determined solely by the ever-popular reason 'because that's what the script says.'

The fourth issue of the series, with Jonathan Hickman playing the part of 'The Writer' this time, focuses in on the core of the series more than previous issues, glossing over everything on the edges even more. The 'Avengers versus X-Men' stuff gets a few token panels, but who really cares about the fights? The main show is Hope and her quest to prove that she can host the Phoenix Force and save mutantkind -- and her thinking the man to help her is the one mutant still trying to stop her under the excuse that he'll kill her if she's wrong.

Logically, this is the point where Cyclops stops, mumbles an apology, and everyone moves the fuck on, because the 'mutant messiah' is really fucking stupid. She's actually surprised when Wolverine calls the Avengers and tells them what's going on. At least Jesus knew what Judas was doing...

Aside from that, I couldn't tell you much about this issue. It lays out where characters are in the world, contrary to where some are in other titles related to this event, and... uh... the Phoenix is here? Things are not helped by John Romita, Jr. turning in some of his most lacklustre work in years on these issues. The odd panel has that old magic, but at lot of it is characters in poses that would make Rob Liefeld roll his eyes and a complete lack of energy. I say we blame Mark Millar, because he apparently opened Romita's eyes to the wonderful world of creator-owned comics and that has ruined him for work-for-hire. Which wouldn't be so bad, but he's still doing work-for-hire and everyone working with him is pretending that it's up to his usual standards.

Avengers vs. X-Men isn't a good series. It's not actually a good event when you look at how all of the books fit together -- mostly because they don't. But, beyond the main series, there are good comics that offer something of worth besides plot advancement.

***

Okay, so AVX: VS isn't one of them. It doesn't offer plot, but it doesn't actually offer anything else. The sad thing? The second issue is better than the first and it's still rubbish. I couldn't help but laugh and roll my eyes when I saw people praising the first issue (or failing to trash it) because it 'did what it said it would do' by delivering two fights without a bit of plot or logic. Never mind that the fights were awful, of course. Like last time, there's only one way to read the fights in comics: like they were wrestling matches.

Match #3: Captain America vs. Gambit

Steve McNiven writes and draws this fight and, apparently, artists don't necessarily do these things better without someone telling them what to draw. Unlike the first two matches on this card, there's a simple logic to this one and an actual winner. Unfortunately, the simple logic is about as simple as you can get, producing what looks to be a rookie match. The moves are basic and laid out in such obvious precision that you can predict everything that happens. In a sense, it is a rookie match with McNiven writing the whole thing. The closest thing to innovation or a 'cool high spot' is Gambit using his powers on Cap's costume and Cap totally no selling it. Honestly, I almost have to give McNiven credit, because he seems to have learned from the Hulk Hogans and John Cenas of the world: keep things 'competitive' until the hero needs to end it, at which point he no sells his opponent's big move and puts him down easily with his finisher. In a baffling move, Captain America's finisher is a punch. Weak sauce.

Winner: Captain America [*1/2]

Match #4: Spider-Man vs. Colossus

This is a semi-rematch after Spider-Man's classic battles with the Juggernaut, whose powers Colossus now has. Honestly, this match should have been Survivor Series 2009 Batista vs. Rey Mysterio. Spider-Man uses his speed and agility to stay one step ahead of Colossus until Colossus hits some power moves and Spider-Man is killed, losing because the ref has to call the match. We actually almost get that, amazingly. Kieron Gillen lays out the match in a very similar manner (although Spider-Man's moveset is considerably less impressive than Rey Rey's), but, because of the demands of this series where, apparently, only jobbers like Gambit can actually lose clearly and definitively, things end in a time limit draw, provoking the crowd into booing everyone involved unmercifully. The comic may say that Colossus won, but that's bullshit. No one one with this match. No one.

Result: Time limit draw [*1/4]

***

Uncanny X-Men #12 is more coherent than issue 11, building on the series's second multi-issue storyarc and delivering the Namor/Thing rematch that no one demanded with a couple of X-jobbers brought along for the ride. Namor does get to redeem himself for his previous loss to the Thing (which happened in Namor's pet stipulation of the Underwater Cage Match) by burying Luke Cage. See, it's not just that this event is the Avengers versus the X-Men, it's also the Avengers Office versus the X-Office. Take that, Bendis.

What's surprising is that Gillen doesn't even try to play things straight in this issue. It's a comic that spends 90% of its space discussing Namor's sexual prowess, building to the punchline where the Apex guy assumes that Namor and the Thing fighting is foreplay, causing Namor to retreat in disgust and giving the Thing another cheap victory. I can only assume that, somewhere down the line, the 'big death' of this series will be the Thing having his heart ripped from his chest by Namor who then makes a snide remark about snorting it so he can totally be tripping while having sex with six or seven females from a variety of species.

In other news, I have no idea who the completely white woman with Namor and Sunspot is. Nor do I care.

***

I'm not entirely sure what Avengers Academy #30 is meant to convey. That's part of the point, I think. The central struggle is over the idea that the Avengers dropped off the students from Utopia at the Academy with orders that they not be allowed to leave, arguing that it's for their own good, because Captain America doesn't want to have to beat the shit out of teenagers. And because he's a facist in this story.

Christos Gage largely shunts the idea of which side in the Avengers/X-Men conflict is right to one side, preferring to approach it from the perspective of 'Is it right to lock these kids up?' What makes it a far less interesting comic than I'd hope is that the fix is in pretty early: it's wrong to deny the kids the choice. Gage doesn't put much effort into giving the other side any credibility or support. It's a fairly smooth blending of 'the Avengers are facists who hate freedom' and 'the Avengers are anti-mutant racists,' which is a little surprising from a book that you would assume from the title is more representative of the Avengers' side of the conflict.

In a funny way, this is a comic about giving kids the right to vote. We, as a society, have picked a rather arbitrary way to determine whose opinions we will value and whose we won't: the age 18. That line doesn't really have anything to do with intelligence or knowledge, but the idea that people under that age aren't fully people and can't be trusted to participate in society at the same level of those older. It's a fun idea to play with and one that I, personally, have strong feelings about (and have since I was a bright, politically-minded 15-year old).

Yet, this isn't actually about giving kids the right to vote. That's the subtext. The actual text of this comic is a bunch of teenagers complaining that an adult decided that he would rather not have to fight them and involve them in a conflict that, because of their inexperience, could result in their deaths. This is an adult deciding not to send the kids off to war and the kids bitching because they aren't learning why the Avengers are 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes.' That disconnect is hard to ignore and hangs like a black cloud over the issue. I understand and agree with the ideals of the comic, but the actual reality it depicts shows why ideals don't always work. It's wrong, in theory, to keep those kids there and deny them the choice of entering the conflict; but, it would be wrong to allow them to fight and die because they are young and not nearly as adept at the adults standing across from them.

Essentially, this is the Cyclops/Wolverine fight all over again and it's a little less interesting this time. Of course, Sebastian Shaw is just going to kill them all, so the point is moot.

***

Next week: Secret Avengers #27 and Avengers #26. (Avengers #26 came out this week, but, since it covers much of the same ground as the plot in Secret Avengers and only one Avengers vs. X-Men comic is coming out next week, I've decided to save it.)

Riding the Gravy Train 06 (New Avengers #26, Wolverine and the X-Men #10, and X-Men: Legacy #266)

Last week, Captain America and the Avengers seemed forced into the role of facists to make them less heroic and to make the X-Men easier to get behind. This week, the Avengers are again forced into a role that doesn't suit them: racists. With this week's Avengers vs. X-Men comics being two X-books and New Avengers, a title that has taken the idea of telling a 'tie-in story' to such an extreme that it's barely worth thinking about until we can see the entire story and judge if it actually does anything worthwhile, it's easy to see how this week is the week that it becomes about Mutant rights and race war. (I am legitimately surprised that no one shouted "Helter skelter!" in X-Men: Legacy #266. I admire Christos Gage's restraint.)

It's an easy direction to take things, but is far lazier than last week's Civil War-inspired facist take on Captain America and the rest of the Avengers. That, at least, showed some semblance of learning from a past event where Marvel failed to keep two warring sides on equal grounds and applied it to a story where things obviously leaned in one direction over another. Here, though, we have all of the X-Men falling in line with the idea that this is a mutant versus human conflict involving a group whose second (third depending on how you look at it, I guess) line-up included two mutants who were only known as terrorist followers of Magneto. Say what you will about Captain America and the Avengers, but it's hard to paint them as anti-mutant given the group's long history of accepting mutants (and androids and aliens and Inhumans and beings from alternate realities and past versions of teammates stolen from time before they became the hero they already know). The Avengers is basically a group that lives Xavier's dream and leads by example.

In story, Cyclops trying to turn it into a mutant/human conflict makes sense -- as much sense as turning into a facism/freedom conflict -- but he's also clearly a kind of crazy cult leader. There's a whole group of mutants that moved to the other side of the continent to get away from his craziness. And, this week, it seems all of them except Wolverine is ready to fall back in line behind him with few doubts? What's weird is that X-Men: Legacy #266 and Wolverine and the X-Men #10 show the faculty at Wolverine's school discussing what they should do in two very different ways (again: GREAT FUCKING EDITING, IDIOTS) and the end-result is the same: mutant solidarity in the face of crazy odds and a general consensus that the Avengers are trying to stop the Phoenix from returning because they hate mutants and not because it keeps destroying entire planets on its way to Earth? It is possible that all X-Men have been so opposed and beaten down that they've lost their senses and have caught Cyclops's crazy stupidity, I guess. Maybe?

Both issues take two different approaches, only one of which actually comes off as plausible. In X-Men: Legacy, a team of three Avengers show up at the Jean Grey School to make sure that everyone there stays nice and calm and doesn't go anywhere. That's an obvious confrontational move, particularly when it's easy to observe the school without necessarily alerting the X-Men to their presence. Instead, things devolve because we're dealing with a bunch of people who don't know how to deal with feelings of anger and frustration without hitting people. That makes sense. We're dealing with stunted growth and psychological damage that's hard to understand completely. In many ways, the mutant/human overtones are superficial, because it's really about us vs. them with the reasons not mattering. All that matters is that they came here and it's pissing us off. The Avengers made a bad play and turned many of the X-Men who were content to keep teaching and ignore Cyclops's crazy cult conflict into an oppressed minority group that is suddenly feeling very threatened and oppressed in their own home. Now, the Avengers don't do this because they hate mutants, merely because the school is home to possible allies of Cyclops and his X-Men, and they aren't sure if they will join the fight or not. That's a logical move and it becomes a big fight because everyone involved is fairly stupid and immature.

Wolverine and the X-Men, on the other hand, offers less of a reason for Cyclops's recruitment tactics to work. He shows up uninvited at Wolverine's school and everyone basically tells Wolverine to go fuck himself despite all that's changed since Schism is a powerful cosmic entity coming this way that destroys planets with ease, all under the guise of mutant solidarity. I guess my problem is that, out of all of these mutants, only two (Wolverine and Beast) seem willing to question the idea that the Phoenix Force will somehow be a good thing for mutants and Earth. In expanding the concept of this being a mutant/human conflict with a group that's been established as fairly pro-mutant for almost its entire existence, intelligent characters have to shut off their brains. It's too simplistic -- and, yet, maybe realistic?

I have a hard time understanding that type of thinking, because of who I am, I suppose. That sort of irrational allegiance is foreign to me. There is no reason why all but two mutants would suddenly turn "Fuck the Avengers, all hail the giant fire bird in the sky!" aside from the sort of irrational loyalty built by comradery, oppression, and basically only encountering people who want to kill them. I still think this direction for the story is too forced and one-sided, too much of an overcompensation, but it doesn't seem as implausible as I thought when I began this post. What I also question is if this will actually make the Avengers seem less like the clear-cut 'good guys' in this conflict given that my first reaction was that the X-Men all come off as simple-minded fools who conveniently forget that the people they're fighting have had their backs pretty consistently. It seems too easy and too simple of a way to expand upon the conflict.

It's also writing the characters in an odd corner: either the Phoenix is a force of good and the X-Men are right, or it's a force of bad and the Avengers are right (and dead). That's not a very good place to have the story right now, particularly when you have so many of your characters turning their backs on logic to join up with Cyclops. There's a third possibility that the Phoenix is neither of those things -- and that seems like the safe bet. But, will it somehow avoid the trap of making one group seem entirely crazy in the brief seconds before total destruction or one group seem entirely racist through the fault of being wrong?

Next week: Avengers vs. X-Men #4, AVX: VS #2, Avengers #26, Avengers Academy #30, and Uncanny X-Men #12. Big week.

Riding the Gravy Train 05 (Avengers vs. X-Men #3 and Avengers Academy #29)

Chapter Three, In which the thematic replay of Civil War is made even more obvious...

There's a leaning in recent weeks to shift from the idea of this conflict being Sensible Heroes Trying to Save the World vs. Crazy Cult Who Thinks God Will Make Them Great Again towards Government Group vs. Innocent Family. Not to the extent where anyone who's reading this story thinks about it as such; no, it's one of those things where characters in the comics try to redefine an obvious conflict to their advantages. Of course Cyclops would want to change the story since one doesn't make him the Mutant David Koresh. Beyond that, there seems to be an attempt by the writers to move the narrative into that realm, because it's a less one-sided conflict. If you look at the conflict between the Avengers and X-Men objectively, there is obviously a good guy/bad guy dynamic at play (staunch X-Men fans will deny this, but they have drunk deeply of the Kool-Aid). On one side, you have a group that see a giant cosmic being that's destroying every planet it encounters on its way here; on the other, you have a group that hope that they're somehow special and will not only not be destroyed, but the cosmic being will look upon them with love and grant them miracles and shit. If it weren't the X-Men making up that second group, there wouldn't even be a question of whose side anyone is on. So, the narrative can't actually be about that. The X-Men can't be the clearcut crazy villains of this story since the appeal is watching two groups of heroes fight, dividing the audience in two.

Just like Civil War was supposed to. Except it didn't either.

Civil War was based around a fairly similar one-sided premise: a criminal whose superpower was to blow himself up, surprise surprise, blew himself up and everyone blamed the good guys, because... I guess Captain America's superpower is to magically stop Nitro from using his powers. From there, it became a conflict between two groups with Iron Man and Captain America as the figureheads of each side: those in favour of registering superheroes and having them work for the government (security) and those who think that superheroes should have the ability to choose how they use their powers and only police those that use them in antisocial ways (freedom). The attempt to divide fans between these two sides failed, because everyone on Iron Man's side (especially Iron Man) was depicted as an asshole. Very unlikable. Part of the problem seemed to be that no one writing the comics seemed to agree with Iron Man's side. Maybe they did, but they sure didn't write their comics like they did. And that is key to what appears to be happening Avengers vs. X-Men.

The basic problem of the Avengers being the good guys and the X-Men being the bad guys has addressed by trying to remake Civil War to an extent by having the Avengers under Captain America play the role of the pro-registration side, while the X-Men under Cyclops are the plucky rebels espousing freedom from government tyranny. (Sidebar: Since Utopia is an independent nation, it's not really government tyranny. It's more like a declaration of war. And since Cyclops surrendered, I think Captain America just conquered a country.) Last week's issue of Uncanny X-Men ended with Cyclops's letter to the media where he basically calls them the Gestapo there to take a sweet, innocent teenage girl from her bed in the middle of the night (while leaving out the cosmic destruction bird) and Avengers Academy this week has Captain America rounding up the mutant youth and dropping them off in a 'detainment centre' basically. It may be a school where they're provided with a lot of amenities, but all that really sounds like is minimum security prison. And prison is prison no matter how nice. Then again, as the State, the Avengers could be seen as putting minors in protective services, so it's not all bad. Nor does it seem as such in the comic.

The strange part is the scene where Iron Man almost berates Captain America and says "...but it wasn't too long ago I was saying things just like that. And you were on the other side." The X-Men had surrendered and Iron Man is upset because he has no idea what to do next with them. It's a moment of petty bickering that stands out as forced. That's also the case with Captain America jumping from zero to 'throwing someone out of a plane' with Wolverine later in the issue. There's an obvious effort to make Avengers vs. X-Men Captain America into Civil War Iron Man, and it doesn't fit. Part of the problem is the the context where there's an immediate threat in the Phoenix that wasn't there in Civil War -- there's far more objective evidence that, yes, the Phoenix is a threat to the world and it must be stopped than, uh, superheroes blow up schools at of the fucking time.

This is the part where I make the 'it's not in his character to overreact like this' argument, but the last time someone made the 'not his character' argument, Matt Fraction retorted with "Well, he did it in the comic, so suck it, True Believer!" That said, this doesn't feel right. This is the way a man who's unsure of himself acts -- someone who doesn't know what he's doing and has never encountered problems like this. His going from arguing with Wolverine to hitting him is too rash to ring true. Granted, it was in the service of taking him off the board, but it still did not seem like the character (which I say about a comic written by a man who's been writing that character for well over half a decade).

There's also something too cutesy about Iron Man being the one arguing with Captain America. It's not subtle and that makes it less effective. It's an obvious ploy to make the Avengers seem less like the good guys and the conflict to be on more of an even playing field. But, it does show that Marvel has learned some lessons since Civil War and how to present a conflict like this. They're not any more effective this time, but the effort is there. The execution is what lets them down.

Next week: New Avengers #26, Wolverine and the X-Men #10, and X-Men: Legacy #266 (unless my shop has no rack copies of that one since it's not on my pull list).

CBR Review: Avengers Academy #15

I recently reviewed Avengers Academy #15 for CBR and, in the process, wrote the following sentences: "What does one do with a competent yet unremarkable comic? As Avengers Academy joins in on the Fear Itself fun, it delivers a story that is both obvious and unavoidable: the students helping to defend Washington against Sin’s attack, and the consequences of sending children into such a dangerous situation. There isn’t another way to approach the events of Fear Itself and how they would impact the characters in this book and, yet, the execution contains no surprises. Given the premise, the comic plays out exactly how you’d expect. There are no big missteps and no moments of wonder or amazement."

You can read the rest HERE!

CBR Review: Siege: Captain America #1

I recently reviewed Siege: Captain America #1 for CBR and, in the process, wrote the following sentences: "For anyone reading Captain America, this Siege tie-in doesn’t shed any new light on the relationship between Steve Rogers and James Barnes regarding the Captain America mantle. But, for anyone who hasn’t been reading that book, this issue acts as a good primer. Following up on the destruction of Asgard in Siege #3, the two Captains America have to rescue a family from Razor-Fist, a villain that has, well, blades for hands if the name wasn’t a big tip-off."

You can read the rest HERE!

CBR Review: Avengers: The Initiative #34

I recently reviewed Avengers: The Initiative #34 for CBR and, in the process, wrote the following sentences: "One of the most interesting things about Avengers: The Initiative #34 is seeing how Jorge Molina depicts scenes already drawn by Olivier Coipel in Siege #3, including the stunning fall of Asgard. Now, obviously, matching the detailed, gorgeous art of Coipel is a tall order for any artist and Molina struggles a little bit, but does an able job, especially at keeping a coherent look to what Coipel established, an underrated quality that tends to get noticed only when an artist fails to do it."

You can read the rest HERE!

CBR Review: Absolution #6

I recently reviewed Absolution #6 for CBR and, in the process, wrote the following sentences: "The debate over superheroes killing is often reduced to simplicities in comics, relying simply on clichés like ‘killing is not heroic’ or ‘killing would lower the hero to the same level as the villain’ instead of offering intelligent, thoughtful debate. The root in acting as morality plays for children is no doubt to blame, but given the recent trend for content that skews a little older, the lack of maturity in the debate over killing stands out as one of the relic of the ‘comics are for kids’ mindset. Absolution, though, addresses the morality of heroes killing head on in its final issue with John Dusk arrested for the murders he has committed and his fellow superpowered officers and his girlfriend all wanting explanations."

You can read the rest HERE!

Rated R Reviews: Absolution #3

Absolution #3: Think of this as the other side of New Avengers #58 where a hero kills and, yet, it's just as simplistic and vaguely insulting to the intelligence. That's not to say that I don't enjoy Absolution, but it does very little to actually explore that dark grey area where the hero kills. He does it, he stresses over people finding out, he continues doing it, a villain gets involved, he's got a patsy. Not exactly insightful. What it does get right is John Dusk not just killing murderers. My biggest issue with capital punishment is, honestly, not the sanctity of life -- since that's something I've never really believed in as an absolute, preferring to defend the quality of life not life itself -- but that it's only applied to murder, a crime that doesn't top my list of the worst thing someone can do. It's theft on a grand stage, but it's a crime that, ultimately, harms those around the victim more as they feel the loss and pain where the victim doesn't anymore. So, it's built up as bigger, as justice for the family and friends. Now, I can only imagine, but rape has always struck me as far more damaging to the victim who lives on with the memories of that experience... that's always seemed worse, more damaging. And, yet, that crime is barely discussed on the same level as murder (though the disparity has gotten better over the past decade or so)... I can understand why, but it's never seemed right to me that something so damaging to the victim that it acts as continuing attack, a continuing level of pain and suffering should be downplayed... I do like that Dusk goes after rapists, seeing them as just as evil and worthless as murderers. I do wish that this book was more nuanced, as well. It's the example that going the other way isn't always better, it's just the same thing.

I Bought Comics: October 7, 2009

[Not reviews, just whatever I feel like saying about this week's batch of books that I didn't review for CBR.]

Absolution #2: This series isn't as engaging as I hoped it would be. Not as far out there or pushing things as I figured it would either. Two-and-a-half issues into the story and it hasn't really progressed beyond the one idea. Because I trust Avatar, I'll stick with this, but this was a weak issue.

Batman and Robin #5: Man, Grant Morrison cannot get over Alan Moore being... around? I don't know what the deal there is, but it seems unnecessary. Thankfully, it also doesn't really impact the story. Oddly, the reveal of Jason as Kovacs is the only panel in the issue that I actually like. One panel out of 95 or so. The writing is good, better than last issue, but the art continues to kill kill kill this book.

The Boys #35: It's good to have Darick Robertson back as we get the first half of a two-part story detailing Mother's Milk's origin. An odd story that's actually rather touching in that way Garth Ennis-penned origin stories usually are. He can take any stupid/absurd concept and make it work it seems. I love the last page where Hughie asks that question we all had on our minds.

Criminal: The Sinners #1: A good issue, but not great. It's a lot of status quo setting bits that will become more important later in the story. Probably one of the weaker issues of Criminal yet, but it's still better than 95% of everything else (maybe not this week, which was big -- for me). Just a little disappointing after such a long wait for more Criminal.

Dark Reign: The List -- Secret Warriors #1: As much as I like Ed McGuinness, I'm not sure he was the right artist for this issue. He doesn't do dark shadows nearly as well as he does bright kicksplode, and this is an espionage story. An artist more suited to that sort of material may have been more in line. Not that he doesn't do a good job, I just wonder if this issue would have been better with a different artist. That this issue takes place after the next issue of Secret Warriors is a little annoying (then again, the Avengers List issue took place after the current story...), but not a big problem. I love the bit with Nick Fury's list and the information at the end is another possibly huge revelation.

Greek Street #4: Still not sure about this title. It seems too busy and full of material for us to get a handle on any of the plots or characters. However, it does read a little better with each issue. My problem (and it's not a big problem): there really isn't any character to latch onto. Eddie is supposed to be that character, but he just doesn't do it for me. He's not so much "loveable loser" as he's just a fucking loser. I don't feel like rooting for him, honestly. But, I do trust Milligan and plan to stick with this for now.

That's that.

CBR Review: Avengers: The Initiative #27

I recently reviewed Avengers: The Initiative #27 for CBR and, in the process, wrote the following sentences: "You say you hate decompressed storytelling and long for the days of done-in-one stories? Well, Christos Gage has written the comic for you as not only is it self-contained, it takes what could have been two separate issues, and makes them two chapters in this single issue. It’s quite the feat as Gage demonstrates just how much you can pack into 22 pages of a superhero comic book."

You can read the rest HERE!

Blogathon 33: Secret Invasion (Part 2)

[Discussed in this post: Secret Invasion #2, Mighty Avengers #14, New Avengers #41, #43, Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust?, and Secret Invasion #3.]

I'm using the reading order for Secret Invasion that I came up with earlier this year in these posts.

Secret Invasion #2 follows up on one of the first issue's teasers: the '70s heroes in the crashed spaceship. They totally throw down with the New and Mighty Avengers and you're damn right it's awesome. Luke 'Sweet Christmas!' Cage versus Luke 'Responsible Father!' Cage! Spider-Man versus Spider-Man! Ms. Marvel versus Ms. Marvel! It is everything you could hope for and more. Except, seriously, the '70s heroes couldn't be the real ones? That would have been sweet. Or, I don't know, a mixture of the two? Some Skrulls, some humans? The issue ends with the Skrulls invading Times Square. And they are some awesome-looking Skrulls. The Young Avengers are totally impressed.

Mighty Avengers #14 is a fairly solid Sentry story. It earns marks as a Secret Invasion tie-in that doesn't explain how someone became a Skrull. Really, it explains that the Skrulls don't see the Sentry as a threat because he's crazy -- if he hasn't already killed himself (or everyone) by the time the invasion happens, just shapeshift into the Void and he'll freak out. Easy as pie. And it works. Wow! But, then, a Skrull tries to kill Lindy, the Sentry's wife, so the Void gets involved and saves her. She's a little freaked out as a result. An issue that advances a totally different Bendis subplot but it works.

New Avengers #41 is a Savage Land issue where Ka-Zar and his wife (Shanna? Sheena?) explain how they came across Skrulls before with those rogue SHIELD agents in the Savage Land. Borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring!

New Avengers #43 is more Savage Land goodness as we learn that '70s Captain America is a Skrull after he's killed by Mutates or something. Even more borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring!

Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? is a one-shot with five stories. They're all pretty bad. The Captain Marvel one is melodramatic and painful to read. The Agent Brand one has a moment or two -- and some interesting art, but whatever. The Wonder Man & Beast team-up is decent, but definitely geared at people who remember those two doing things together. Meaning not me. Because I don't. The Marvel Boy NOH-VARR! story shows that ripping off Grant Morrison's writing isn't the same as writing a faithful version of his character. The Agents of Atlas one made me not want to read Agents of Atlas.

In Secret Invasion #3, the SHIELD Helicarrier magically appears in the Bermuda Triangle after losing power over Manhattan. Wicked mean gliding skills that Helicarrier. In New York, the Skrulls kick some fucking ass and destroy lots of property and not even the Avengers Initiative kids can save the day. Meanwhile, in the Savage Land, the Skrull Queen/Spider-Woman tries to convince Tony Stark that he's a Skrull as a mean tease to all of us who kind of wish he were a Skrull, because that would mean that he's not a horrible bastard. (Spoiler: he's not a Skrull. He is a horrible bastard.) Back in New York, the Skrulls take Times Square and celebrate by killing young superheroes until one of them is blown up by...

NICK FURY AND HIS MOTHERFUCKING HOWLIN' COMMANDOS, MOTHERFUCKERS!

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

You'll find your answers in 30 minutes.

Also, we're up to $160 raised! More! I demand more!

[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]

Blogathon 20: Civil War Wrap-Up, Initiative Kick-Off

[Discussed in this post: Civil War: The Return #1, Civil Wardrobe #1, What If? Civil War #1, Civil War: The Confession #1, and Civil War: The Initiative #1.]

A bunch of quickies, honestly:

* Civil War: The Return #1: Two stories, one about Captain Marvel returning that simply recaps his history with a lot of melodramatic captions and doesn't really go anywhere. The other about the Sentry as he fights the Absorbing Man before registering (how does that fit with New Avengers #24?). The Sentry story isn't that bad, but the Captain Marvel one is a stinker.

* Civil Wardrobe #1: I include this because I own it and it relates to the subject matter. A fun little comic that has Tony Stark reinvent Marvel's superheroes for the 21st century through a series of splash pages. Some jokes land, others don't. Some great art for the splashes -- some awful Rich Johnston art for the framing sequences. The jokes I like best: Spider-Mart; Captain Beckham (Captain Britain); the Mighty Thor of the Church of Scientology; Nick Fury, Bad Transvestite of SHIELD; and the Jailbait Avengers.

* What If? Civil War #1: There are two stories here with some framing stuff written by Ed Brubaker that's... alright. It's framing sequences -- what do you want from the man? The first story, by Kevin Grevioux is pretty weak. Somehow, a senator uses the authority of the president to single-handedly pass the SHRA (a way to move a scene forward, I know, but still...). That story basically has Iron Man die from the Extremis and Captain America be the man they have debate the SHRA in congress instead of Stark. It all goes wrong and people die and it's not that great. The second story, by Christos Gage, is the story that shows how Civil War would have gone if written by a sane person: instead of fighting, Captain America and Iron Man talk, compromise, and work it all out so that the SHRA goes into effect, but under the Avengers' control with Captain America being the only one to know the true identities of everyone. It ends with everyone happy and a brand new status quo of unity. Brilliant.

* Civil War: The Confession #1: The third Bendis/Maleev collaboration we'll be looking at. There are two speeches/discussions here. The first, has Iron Man discuss the war and his regrets to Captain America's dead body, admitting that it wasn't worth it. The second has Cap, under arrest, just screaming at Iron Man, laying into him, demanding to know if it was worth it -- and Iron Man responding, "Well... you're a sore loser, Captain America." What a fucking douchebag. This is actually a strong comic, Bendis working in monologues, which is different from his usual rhythm of speech. Maleev continues to just be impressive as hell.

* Civil War: The Initiative #1: Three teasers for future books! Omega Flight! Thunderbolts! Mighty Avengers! With art by Marc Silvestri! Goddamn, I wasted my money!

In 30 minutes, New Avengers: Revolution.

[Don't forget to donate what you can to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! After you do, let me know via comment or e-mail (found at the righthand side) so I can keep track of donations -- and who to thank.]

CBR Review: Absolution #1

I recently reviewed Absolution #1 for CBR and, in the process, wrote the following sentences: "To Christos Gage’s credit, Dusk’s transition is an understandable and believable one that begins with a superpowered skinhead that nearly kills Dusk until Dusk uses his powers -- a dark aura, sort of like smoke/energy he controls -- to cut off the perp’s arms and free himself. While he initially uses his aura to prevent the criminal from dying from blood loss, he stops when he sees the two women, only one still alive, that the skinhead has tied up and has been raping. He just allows the skinhead to die and claims that it was a result of the beating and being out of proximity —- and everyone believes him, because he’s a good cop and the dead body is a murdering, raping skinhead."

You can read the rest HERE!