Swipe File: Bleeding Cool and Riding the Gravy Train

Because it's fun being snarky...

Bleeding Cool on Avengers vs. X-Men (10/02/12)

Riding the Gravy Train 25 on Avengers vs. X-Men (10/01/12)

(Or... Riding the Gravy Train 23 on Avengers vs. X-Men (09/16/12) if you prefer... Maybe one or two others.)

[In Swipe File Bleeding Cool presents two or more images that resemble each other to some degree. They may be homages, parodies, ironic appropriations, coincidences or works of the lightbox. Bleeding Cool trusts you, the reader, to make that judgment yourself? If you are unable to do so, please return your eyes to their maker before any further damage is done. The Swipe File doesn’t judge, it’s interested more in the process of creation, how work influences other work, how new work comes from old, and sometimes how the same ideas emerge simultaneously, as if their time has just come. The Swipe File was named after the advertising industry habit where writers and artist collect images and lines they admire to inspire them in their work. It was swiped from the Comic Journal who originally ran what eventually became the current Bleeding Cool column, as well as the now defunct Swipe Of The Week website.]

Riding the Gravy Train 25 (NOT A GODDAMN THING)

Let's see if I can spitball some stuff here with no Avengers vs. X-Men comics out this past week. Excellent scheduling once again, Marvel. I don't want to jump to the negative right away, but, after an event that began with such momentum and energy, you kind of expect it to try to recreate the same energy at the end. Sure, there can be a little dip in the middle, but that's only because you can't keep it up the entire time. You begin strong and you end strong. It goes back to what I was talking about last week: it's like Marvel has just given up and moved onto what's next. Anyone who thought it was me simply bitching about the fact that the event isn't remaking the Marvel Universe clearly missed the point (I'm looking at the Blog@Newsarama comments section specifically...). (Yes, I wish there were more substantive changes or consequences, but that's partly because I actually want something (just once!) to live up to the pre-release hype. If this is the big culmination of years of stories, then things should look different as a result. They won't and everyone knows that... it would just be nice.) Avengers vs. X-Men still has a final issue to be released, along with at least four tie-in books and an aftermath mini-series, yet it feels like it ended weeks ago. Does anyone really care about how it ends or do we all assume something like the following will happen?

* Dark Phoenix Cyclops will do some crazy bad stuff while everyone tries to stop him.
* The Scarlet Witch will use her powers to temporarily subdue Cyclops, possibly with the help of Hope.
* Cyclops will be defeated and the Phoenix will leave him, going to Hope, who will 'embrace her destiny' and accept a union with it. Everyone will accept this, trusting that she is ready for the responsibility of the Phoenix.
* She totally is. But, she must leave Earth until she fully understands her role as the new Phoenix Host. At which point, she may or may not restore the mutant population... you know, if anyone remembers that that's what this was all about.
* The series ends with an apologetic Cyclops accepting his fate as History's Greatest Monster, realising that he has let his people down and killed his mentor, ready to accept any punishment that may befall him.

Hands up if that's what you're expecting...

***

Something that hit me recently is how irrelevant the Avengers are in this story. It's not really an Avengers story, is it? Oh, they may dominate some scenes and be one half of the story on the surface, but they don't really 'matter,' do they? They're simply the reactive force, a bunch of generic good guys trying to save the world without much about them that specifically drives the story. This could have been a story with any other group standing in for the Avengers. That the Avengers titles rarely did anything substantive with those characters in this story is one indication of how much this was an X-Men story that happened to use the Avengers as a way to make people actually care. The Avengers is Marvel's top franchise right now (pretty much because of Brian Michael Bendis), but the X-Men is a much stronger concept to drive stories. The Avengers is such a generic concept that it's hard to have stories driven by that team that would pack such strong emotion. Avengers stories are usually dictated by external forces; the group is reactive (hence the name) and, aside from one of their own going crazy or half of the team deciding that the government they're always resentful of when it exerts its authority over the team should actually have more authority over all superheroes, there isn't a lot of big stories you can tell where the Avengers are active in making things happen. Things happen, the Avengers react. That's how it goes.

The X-Men is a concept that is broad, but has conflict at its core that's there no matter what external actors are doing or not doing -- especially since the events of House of M where the mutant population was so depleted that you could get lost in stories of inner struggle over how to cope with a near-extinct series. Schism featured external actors, but was still driven by internal problems and ideas. Avengers vs. X-Men is driven entirely by the X-Men's personal causes. The Avengers do what the Avengers do with the X-Men playing the 'bad guys' seemingly at first until they take over the story... because the bad guys are always more interesting; the Avengers are simply a reactive force and the story has been driven by the actions of the X-Men. Take out the X-Men as the villains and how would this differ from a typical Avengers story really? Except, it would be a generic cosmic force that happens to arrive on Earth and fuck shit up... much like the new Zodiac in Avengers Assemble to a degree. Take out the Avengers and the interesting parts of Avengers vs. X-Men remain: the religious subtext, the questions of what the 'right thing' is to do, putting the good of 'your people' above the rest of the world, the 'fall' of a superhero team... This is Marvel using its currently most popular franchise to get everyone to pay attention to its most interesting franchise again.

***

The biggest flaw in Avengers vs. X-Men is also my favourite thing about the series: Cyclops is the hero. This was obviously not the intention of anyone involved, but he is clearly the hero of this story, even after the events of issue 11. The spot where it changed was when the Phoenix actually arrived. Before that moment, he was a cult leader. He believed for no logical reason that the giant cosmic fire bird was coming to inhabit the body of the teenager he thinks is the mutant messiah and that, as a result, the mutant people will be reborn and will inherit the Earth from the humans. Even if you accept that the Phoenix had been on Earth with no bad consequences, there was still no basis for him thinking that any of that would happen. He simply put 'red hair' together with 'first mutant birth since M Day' and made up a bunch of shit that he then convinced his followers was The Truth. He was clearly crazy and had to be stopped.

Then, the Phoenix arrived and possessed the bodies of himself and four of his friends and he was proven right. It wasn't coming to destroy Earth, it was a tool to be used to make the world into Utopia, and he and the others would simply act as placeholders until Hope was ready to embrace her destiny as the mutant Phoenix messiah. That's the moment where the entire premise of the series was thrown out of the window and you couldn't dismiss Cyclops as a crazy cult leader. He was right. The Avengers 'lost' when that happened and continued to 'lose' as Cyclops was the only one of the Phoenix hosts not corrupted by the power. He was the believer whose faith was rewarded. He was the crazy guy who holds up a "The end is nigh!" sign who has Jesus's spirit possess him to bring about the Rapture and everyone else just has to kind of shrug and mutter their apologies. (Except the Avengers didn't do that, because of Modern Marvel Universe Rule #1: CAPTAIN AMERICA IS NEVER WRONG NO MATTER HOW WRONG HE CLEARLY IS.)

From that point on, it was hard not to see the tired 'power corrupts' story as worse than it would have otherwise been. It went against the natural flow of the story they were telling: Cyclops is the mutant messiah. Hope was the false messiah, as were the other Phoenix hosts. Cyclops is the only one to maintain his beliefs and morals with the power of the Phoenix, constantly sure that the Avengers and Hope, if given enough time, will come around to see the good that's happening. He even believed that Hope would take her place as the true Phoenix host and messiah -- that his role was simply that of John the Baptist and he was happy to play that role. If anything, from that moment on, it became a story about the Avengers actively trying to make the world a worse place, because they can't accept that 'Jesus' has returned and will bring about Utopia for the sole reason that they think all power corrupts and every other proclaimed saviour was actually evil. (Seriously, you could probably do a decent parody of this story using Jesus, because the Avengers would clearly try to stop him from bringing about the Rapture, thinking him some evil cosmic being that's no different from Thanos or Galactus...) As I said when discussing issue 11, it's only when Cyclops is pushed to such extremes that he can't not respond that he really 'crosses the line' that separated him from the other Phoenix hosts. But, holding that against him is kind of like thinking Superman is the bad guy when every superhuman in the DCU teams up to try and kill him and all attempts to reason with them fails and they just keep coming.

All of this makes the prospect of issue 12 somewhat depressing to me. Cyclops will be the villain, the Avengers will be the heroes, and it will all be so... typical. The story changed partway through and no one involved seemed to realise it.

Next week: Avengers vs. X-Men #12, AVX: VS #6, and Uncanny X-Men #19.

EXCLUSIVE! Chad Nevett's Comic Book Mini-Reviews and Star Ratings for the Week of September 26, 2012

Can I fit all of this in during a break at work? Let's see...

Batman, Incorporated #0: That makes two very good zero issues, one decent zero issue, and one pretty bad zero issue for me this month. Pity poor Tim who read them all. No wonder he wants little to do with weekly comics. He gets sent those, I got sent the new Prison Pit. Somehow, I'm happy one and he's the miserable bastard. Though, now that I've said that, he'll tell me he also got sent Prison Pit and I'm not so special. [****1/4]

Fury MAX #6: Having read American Tabloid in August, I enjoyed this recent arc and now can't help but wonder: Fury vs. Pete, who wins? Discuss. [The essay portion is worth 25% of the test]

Happy! #1: From Fury to Happy... I love that. I rather enjoyed this comic. Not all what I expected -- but what were we to expect from this comic? No one really knew. So, thanks, Grant Morrison, for keeping your mouth shut during interviews. [****]

Journey into Mystery #644: The lesson of this story: everyone betrays everyone and then the world burns. FUCK. [****]

Prophet #29: Excellent use of colour (or lack of colour most of the time). Interesting visual choice and I loved the punchline at the end. I swear that this series could go on forever and tell any sort of story. [****1/4]

Secret Avengers #31: Decent, but there's only so much dread and fear that mind control stories can raise in me. I did like the Venom stuff... fuck, maybe I should go back and check that book out? No? Okay. [***]

The Ultimates #16: There's a certain thrill in seeing Captain America fly around and fix the country with hitting, while telling corrupt politicians to fuck off before threatening them into doing the 'right thing.' It's what we all want to see happen in government at some point. And it's fine given the state of Ultimate USA: fractured, corrupt, at war with itself in a dozen places... At this rate, though, he'll have the whole thing back to normal in two weeks and then what? And then what? Also, the final 'twist' wasn't really one. Apparently Thor sired David Bowie. [***1/4]

Winter Soldier #11: Weird visuals and a hell of a final page. Now that is an interesting endgame for that other Winter Soldier to be working towards. [***3/4]

Wolverine and the X-Men #17: Judging from the 'next issue' tease, the scheduled Avengers vs. X-Men tie-in issue has been pushed back to issue 18. Instead, we get a rather funny issue spotlighting Doop and his role at the Jean Grey School. Jason Aaron brings the odd and the funny, while the Allreds supply the perfect visuals. A really great issue -- one that I thoroughly enjoyed. [****1/4]

X-Men #36: As a piece, Brian Wood's brief time on X-Men has been interesting. The same idea tackled in a few different ways along with some unexpected inner team dynamics -- and the Storm/Cyclops stuff has been fantastic. I think it ends next issue, right? I'll miss it. Not every issue lands, but every issue contribute to the whole and that's where this run shined. [***1/2]

Later

Riding the Gravy Train 24 (Avengers #30)

I have only a limited amout of control over what these posts will be like. That's a counterintuitive thing to write, but it's also fairly obvious. After all, I'm not 'choosing' what to write about each week (beyond choosing to continue this series of posts). That's determined by Marvel's release schedule -- and, then, by the people involved in actually making the comics. Last week, there was a wealth of material to explore and an approach that I could latch onto with ease. "Scott Summers is the hero of Avengers vs. X-Men!" Just say the opposite of what is generally believed and, boom, instant material. Helped by the four comics released last week, specifically Avengers vs. X-Men #11. This week, the Avengers vs. X-Men comic released is Avengers #30 and it takes place after the event is over. How am I to write about the event then? This is an issue where Spider-Woman spends much of it acting as a means for Brian Michael Bendis to convince you that he's an awful writer before she turns around and acts as his in-story critique of that sort of portrayal of women... for no real reason. You could lose the first half and probably have a stronger comic. In the end, it's a comic that's not terribly good or memorable or worthwhile, even when taken out of the context of Avengers vs. X-Men and placed back in the context of Bendis's Avengers work. Were I reviewing it for a site like Comic Book Resources, I would probably spend 500 words saying those things in, possibly, nicer ways, but not too many people would read those words, because the one-and-a-half- or two-star rating would be enough.

But, here we are and I guess I should try to get something out of this comic...

I'm a little fascinated by the fact that both New Avengers #30 and Avengers #30 seem to take place after the end of Avengers vs. X-Men and... things are fine. We all expect that to be the case, but it's more than that. Things aren't just fine, they're almost 'normal.' You could put either issue in a different place in Marvel's history and not much would change. You'd need to rework some of the specifics in New Avengers #30, sure, but the basic idea of that issue was, after a big superhero to-do, Luke Cage struggles with what it means to be a husband and father while also being a superhero, and joins some other Avengers in fighting some bad guys before quitting the team. Take out Emma Frost and the fact that the bad guys hate mutants and... nothing that matters would change. The same thing applies in this issue, except in an even bigger way. You literally just need to take out the opening double-page spread and I'm not sure there's a specific Avengers vs. X-Men reference in the comic.

This is the event that Matters (capital M, of course) and Will Change Everything Forever (for now) and, before it's over, we're being treated to comics that demonstrate just how much it doesn't matter. At all. It's just another crisis -- another big event. Another giant threat to the planet that the heroes have to stop. The specifics don't matter. Phoenix? Might as well be Thanos or the Beyonder or Norman Osborn or an act of congress or the Scarlet Witch or Apocalypse or Kang or Ultron or Dr. Doom or the Skrulls or the Kree or the Kree and the Skrulls or Galactus or anything else. Because it doesn't matter.

Do you know the sort of balls it takes to put out comics that send that message before the event is even over? Avengers vs. X-Men #12 comes out in 12 days and Brian Michael Bendis has already moved on. Marvel clearly has with its promotion of Marvel NOW!

That's the reality that we all know when it comes to event comics. No one really thinks that this is the end-all, be-all of the shared superhero universe we are dropping in on. Next month, Avengers and X-Men comics will come out. And the month after that and after that and after that and after that... We know that. Marvel knows that. The creators know that. And we all know that everyone else knows it, too. But, I guess what I'm struggling with is this:

Do they have to be so obvious about it? Can we not at least pretend that this matters until it's done? Do they really not have the stamina to keep up the bullshit through to the end?

Tony Stark has the answer to all of those questions and more: "I'm zonked. [...] Can't SHIELD take care of it? [...] Ugh... Avengers Assemble."

Next week: Wolverine and the X-Men #17. (In the solicitations and house ads, this is listed as an Avengers vs. X-Men comic, but it doesn't have the 'AVX' code on the Diamond list like every other Avengers vs. X-Men book so far. So, we'll see if it's actually an applicable comic or not when it ships on Wednesday. If it is, great. If not... well, I guess I'll have to do something quick thinking, eh?)

EXCLUSIVE! Chad Nevett's Comic Book Mini-Reviews and Star Ratings for the Week of September 19, 2012

Daredevil #18: It won't end this way, but there's part of me that wants to see the conclusion to this story be that Matt has gone insane finally. Just fucking lost touch with reality. There are many reasons why that won't happen, but it would be fitting. What are the odds that the cause of Matt's problems also caused the death of the gangster guy? [***1/2]

Godzilla: The Half-Century War #2: This issue had a little more meat on it than the first. The backdrop of Vietnam, for what little the comic did to address that conflict, allowed for the American presence to bring something to this issue. It's also helped by the main characters knowing what they're doing to an extent. Stokoe's art continues to wow. Great settings and his Godzilla is fierce. [***3/4]

The Mighty Thor #20: The way Loki brings down Volstagg is masterful and we see him already pushing towards his turn back to the good side. A more low key issue than last week's installment. An adjusting issue as we prepare for the big push to the end. But, Alan Davis, motherfuckers! [***3/4]

Spider-Men #5: There are two types of people in the world (for the purpose of this post): people who find the whole "And, most of all, I have to tell you that--" tease cute and those that don't. I do not. But, hey, it beats actually having to say something then, eh? I did like the final page and am curious what that will lead to. [***1/4]

The Ultimates #15: Americans would vote Ultimate Captain America President, too. [**1/4]

Untold Tales of the Punisher MAX #4: That twist was easy to spot (immediately) and this issue didn't offer much else. An empty exercise. That's all this was. [**]

The Unwritten #41: At what point does a supporting character get to be pissed off that they're a supporting character? After all, Savoy's actions put him in this place -- he chose it. He chose to be Tom Taylor's sidekick, so is it fair for him to turn on Tom here? Fair to blame Tom for what he is and what Tom is? Tom has a strong influence, yes, but it's unintentional. His reaction is so hateful in many ways... and futile. We know that he won't become the protagonist of this story now. The sooner he accepts that... [****]

Wonder Woman #0: Excellent issue. Nice to see War take a central role here after he's mostly stayed off the sides in the present (perhaps in part because of what we see here). Interesting that Azzarello only refers to the character as 'War,' too. I haven't checked thoroughly, but his proper Greek pantheon name isn't used, I don't think. Cliff Chiang's art is simple and clear, but conveys a stunning amount of emotion. A light tone on the surface from both the writing and art that makes the darker, deeper stuff below the surface hit harder. [****1/4]

Later

Riding the Gravy Train 23 (Avengers vs. X-Men #11, New Avengers #30, Uncanny X-Men #18, and Wolverine and the X-Men #16)

Scott Summers is the last sane man. The last true believer. It's all a matter of perspective. He's touched the hand of god and had his faith rewarded with more power than he ever imagined. He can remake the world, he can save his race... and all he sees are the weak, the tempted, the jealous, wrongheaded, so-called heroes that see it as their mission to preserve the status quo, to maintain the rule of humanity, to wallow in endless conflict, death, and misery. He sees his 'father' proclaim his love for everything and everyone before deciding that the ability to make that love manifest is 'too big' and 'shames' him. And it's understandable why they would suspect those with the power of the Phoenix, because the others were corrupt and brought low by the power. It was too much for them. Not for Scott Summers, though. He was never corrupted. He stayed the course, maintained the path... no matter what. The rest embraced the destructive side of the Phoenix in the most cliched and obvious ways. They sought to destroy things literally. Scott simply seeks to destroy the ideas and practices that drove his people so close to extinction. He's greeted by betrayal and scorn. So were all true saviours and prophets. So were all who could truly change the world for the better. The test of Scott's faith is remarkable and he never strays. His focus is always on a specific endpoint and it's only when everyone abandons him that he truly looks like the bad guy, the villain. But, of course, he's not. He's the saviour of mutantkind, of the entire planet. The man driven to do so much good, surrounded by such weak and fallen individuals, that he can't help but appear evil. His actions are defensive until he cannot simply react anymore. Beaten down and persecuted, he did what any true hero does: he musters his strength, redoubles his effort, and overcomes the odds. You see Dark Phoenix, I see Scott Summers, the mutant son of god refusing to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

***

That perspective on Avengers vs. X-Men #11 is part exercise in amusing myself and part a reading of the comic that makes far more sense to me than it probably should. Honestly, I've yet to see Scott doing anything villainous or corrupt. He's insane, no doubt -- a true zealot. But, that zealotry has also kept him from succumbing to the same flaws as the others. In Avengers vs. X-Men #11, he doesn't do anything 'bad' until he's pushed so far that it seems justified to take the remaining Phoenix power from someone who has admitted to corruption (Uncanny X-Men #18 lays it out quite a bit) and lash out at someone trying to literally shut down his brain. I don't know... he seems like the hero of the story at this point to me somehow.

***

The death of Professor Xavier is done in a pisspoor fashion. It's not clear that he's dead. Emma looks worse off than Xavier. Had there not been a newspaper story about Xavier's death, I don't think many would have assumed he's dead. It's like someone at Marvel read this issue and went "Oh shit... we better spoil this so people actually understand that it happened!"

***

New Avengers #30 isn't a great issue, but the Luke Cage stuff is fantastic work by Brian Michael Bendis. Another step in this large story he's told with this character where he's grown so much. His internal conflict during Avengers vs. X-Men has mostly sat under the surface -- introduced at the beginning and resolved here. It's basically the endpoint that most superheroes would face: giving it up for his family. It's the place where Spider-Man ends. Where you realise that "With great power comes great responsibility" applies to more than superpowers. It applies to the choices you make, the relationships you foster, and the power you have to create life and the responsibility that comes with it. I won't be surprised if Bendis has Luke Cage 'rejoin' the Avengers in his final stories in those books, but I hope he doesn't.

***

We're almost at the end of this story and I'm not exactly expecting a lot from the final issue of Avengers vs. X-Men based on issue 11. The fall of Scott Summers no doubt. The continued depiction of heroes as thugs. Tonight, I saw Captured Ghosts, the Sequart documentary on Warren Ellis (and enjoyed it quite a bit) and, when they got to talking about The Authority, I realised just how much damage Ellis's tenure on that comic has done to superhero comics (through no fault of his own). He spoke of how the Authority was a team made up of bad people who just happened to be fighting against worse people. They seemed like the heroes because they were the lesser of two evils. They still killed large numbers of people, destroyed cities, and did awful things.

And they became the new standard for superheroes.

My biggest problem with Avengers vs. X-Men is how awful these characters all come off. How quick they are to use violence, how quick they are to sink to the lowest forms of paranoia and hatred and idiocy when confronted by a friend who has a different opinion. I mean, come on, there shouldn't even be a story here! Captain America should have arrived at Utopia, explained his reservations about Hope and the Phoenix, and Cyclops should have listened and said, "Well, how about we take Hope into space to meet the Phoenix before it reaches Earth in case something goes wrong? And, if something does, then the combined Avengers and X-Men will be there to stop it before the planet is placed in danger." And then the heroes go do the logical thing that any child over the age of six could have thought of. And that's a story with potential for drama and adventure and excitement that doesn't make the 'heroes' look like fucking assholes. Because they have to simply hit things until they don't move.

Fuck...

Scott Summers is an evil motherfucker. But he still seems like the most sane one of the bunch right now to me. And that's fucked.

Next week: Avengers #30.

Venture Elsewhere

This week's EXCLUSIVE! mini-reviews and star ratings are over at Comics Should be Good. Why? Because I felt like it. So look there.

Riding the Gravy Train 1964 (The X-Men #9)

This is the original "Avengers vs. X-Men." The one that sets the tone for every meeting the two teams would have from that point on. It's basically the first rosters of each team pitted against one another in a battle to the death as the fate of Earth hangs in the balance! It's the original five X-Men (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, and Iceman) against the second (third?) iteration of the Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, and the Wasp), all because Professor X demands it!

The fight is actually a quaint affair, like most superhero vs. superhero fights of the era. Both teams are trying to stop Lucifer from his evil schemes, but, when Professor X learns that Lucifer has connected a bomb to his heart, he has the X-Men pick a fight with the Avengers to delay their interference. The two teams weren't even going to fight at first (aside from Iron Man -- he wanted to beat up some punk teenagers). It's a far cry from the subsequent relationships we've seen -- and the two teams hadn't even met before! That's a little backwards, don't you think? Here, they meet for the first time, and their first impulses aren't to attack one another, but, later, after they've worked together dozens of times, any sort of disagreement immediately causes violence? Have superheroes somehow devolved over the years? We like to think of them as unchanging, yet there's clearly a more civilised tone to the behaviour of both groups here. When they cease fighting at Xavier's command, the Avengers sort of shrug, concede jurisdiction to the X-Men, and walk away back to their own comic, concerned more about who is the chairman this week than the danger facing the world.

The two teams don't fight for a sustained period of time; just long enough to compliment one another on their fighting ability and get in a few other quips. The best part is when Iceman encases himself in a giant block of ice as a defence against Thor. That, and Beast catching Captain America's shield with his feet before using his body as a projectile against Iron Man. It's like his performance here (the only stand-out of the team) sets ups his eventual Avengers membership. You can just see the Avengers walking away laughing about Iceman hiding in a block of ice or Cyclops's lack of certainty, and adding at the end, "Yeah, but that fella with big feet was pretty good..."

Besides the larger sense of civility, the lack of a larger philosophical motive for the fight stands out as a difference from the other Avengers/X-Men fights we've seen. There's a difference of perspective with the X-Men knowing more about the situation than the Avengers, but the basic goal is the same for both teams: stop Lucifer. There's no issue of mutant rights, no weight of the world on the shoulders of the X-Men, or anything there except being a superhero team. That's not meant to position this as 'better' than what we've seen in the decades following. It reminds me of the line X-Men: Schism where Idie looks at a picture of the original X-Men and wonders why they're smiling. It's very much a case of things being simpler 'back in the day,' and this will not doubt come up again post-Avengers vs. X-Men in All-New X-Men when the original X-Men are brought to the present. Putting this comic next to Avengers vs. X-Men is like a sneak preview of the culture shock.  After all, this is the team that stands behind Professor X as he says "Because we X-Men are pledged never to cause injury to a human being -- no matter what the provocation!"

How will those X-Men cope with the future we've seen? Hell, how would the Avengers shown in The X-Men #9? (All of which leads to how would Stan Lee and Jack Kirby of 1964 view the Marvel output of 2012, I guess...) 'Quaint' is the word I used to describe the encounter between the two teams in this issue, but it was also refreshing to see both teams focused on a singular goal. Is that also what post-Avengers vs. X-Men will be? Is The X-Men #9 a vision of our future in a sense?

Next week: Avengers vs. X-Men #11, New Avengers #30, Uncanny X-Men #18, and Wolverine and the X-Men #16.

Riding the Gravy Train 1987 (The X-Men vs. the Avengers #1-4)

This Gravy Train has been chuggin' along for 25 years, folks...

The plot of The X-Men vs. the Avengers: Asteroid M, thought destroyed, is actually still in existence, is breaking up, and bombarding the Earth. The Avengers destroy most of the big chunks, but a couple land and they are charged with arresting Magneto to face charges in the World Court. At the same time, the Soviet Super-Soldiers go after Magneto so he can be arrested for sinking a Soviet sub previously. The X-Men don't like any of this and defend Magneto. Magneto, meanwhile, has tracked down a core of Asteroid M, reclaimed his old helmet and seems to have some sort of secret plan. It turns out that his plan is to use his mind-control circuitry to remove all prejudice from humanity. He abandons that plan after wiping all prejudice from Captain America's mind and it not affecting Cap's desire to arrest him, and turns himself in. At his trial, it seems stacked against him to start a mutant/humanity war after he's found guilty, so he uses his prejudice-removing helmet on one of the judges, is found innocent by reasons of being a sovereign power engaged in a state of war at the time of his crimes, and is shocked when that pisses off humans. The lesson: Magneto constantly assumes things and that makes an ass out of him and everyone.

It's actually not a bad read. I was expecting the final issue to be a trainwreck, because original writer Roger Stern's plot was thrown out, and the book was co-plotted by Tom DeFalco and Jim Shooter with DeFalco handling the scripting duties. Usually, in cases like that, the final product is a massive swing away from the story to date. Instead, that final issue offers something approximately some interesting writing on the mutant/human dynamic. Magneto shocked that Captain America is not motivated by racism is a pretty good scene, while the final image of Magneto realising that he continues to make things worse for mutant/human relations is a strong conclusion.

Funny thing about The X-Men vs. the Avengers and its relationship to Avengers vs. X-Men: the X-Men were wrong then, too. In the fight between the two teams, the X-Men were on the wrong side, both morally and legally, under the argument that mutant rights trump every other concern. Instead of the religious-driven Cyclops leading the charge against the Avengers as the X-Men put all of their faith in a cosmic fire bird that will save their race once it possesses a teenage girl, the X-Men are simply standing up for their teammate Magneto and his right to never face any sort of punishment for his criminal past.

The lack of change in 25 years is remarkable, because we all like to think that the characters are different now, don't we? I know Marvel wants us to believe that the characters and their world have changed over the past decade, especially. Yet, 25 years ago, we had the X-Men and the Avengers fighting with the same central argument: the Avengers, acting as representatives of the world, go to the X-Men and want to take one of their members away for objectively legitimate reasons, the X-Men get pissed because mutants stick together no matter what, the two teams fight, and, eventually, the X-Men realise that they were wrong and human/mutant relations are worse for it (okay, I'm assuming that last point as the end result of Avengers vs. X-Men). The details are different and so is the scale, but it's the same essential conflict. Does that mean that Avengers vs. X-Men is actually an homage series to honour the 25th anniversary of The X-Men vs. the Avengers?

If the X-Men have been the same for so long and, in both cases, they're in the wrong, I guess what I'm wondering is if the X-Men are actually heroes. Are they good guys? Or are they simply activists? An organisation dedicated to a single cause, all morality and legality suspended until said cause is reached? After all, here, they jump to defend Magneto from facing legitimate charges of mass murder -- and he used to try to kill them every other week. In Avengers vs. X-Men, they all join forces because they think the Phoenix will rescue the mutant race from extinction based on no evidence, fighting their friends in the process, and ignoring massive ideological differences that exist within the mutant community. These are heroes?

I expected The X-Men vs. the Avengers to be something I could hold up as a contrast to Avengers vs. X-Men. Something where I could show how far the X-Men have fallen over the past 25 years and, yet, they haven't really changed much. No discussion, no morality above genetics, and no option other than violence. That leap to violence is what sticks with me the most, both here and in Avengers vs. X-Men. As I've said before, this isn't some faceless group of humans whose motives are suspect -- this is the Avengers! The X-Men have stood beside the Avengers how many times? The Avengers have shown themselves to be honourable and not prejudiced against mutants how many times? It's not that the X-Men can't disagree, can't point out that their concerns are different -- it's that their response is always a punch in the face. The Avengers aren't much better in that respect, granted, but, in both cases, it's an X-Man who uses violence first.

Whether a regular 'superhero team' that's part of a thriving race or a near-extinct race living on an island it rules, they act the same.  Is there anything more to the X-Men? Can there ever be? The central concept is that they are a minority in a world that fears and hates them. They will always respond like this and that's troublesome. In some respects, I like that. I like that the X-Men aren't cookie-cutter good guys, that they will act against the law and conventional superhero morality when they think that it's the right thing. But, when their version of 'the right thing' is always the exact same thing and flies in the face of logic and reason, it's substituting one set of rigid morality for another. It's not something you notice as much until they're put up against another set of heroes and the X-Men look like the racists, because they can't see past the human/mutant divide. Any other time, it's against obvious anti-mutant racists or other human strawmen that serve to showcase the righteousness of the X-Men's cause. Against the Avengers, they're just a bunch of extremists with their heads up their asses.

Maybe that's all the X-Men are... Maybe that's all they ever will be...

Next week: Avengers vs. X-Men #11, New Avengers #30, Uncanny X-Men #18, and Wolverine and the X-Men #16.

EXCLUSIVE! Chad Nevett's Comic Book Mini-Reviews and Star Ratings for the Week of September 5, 2012

It's been many weeks since I've last read comics outside of a context involving Avengers vs. X-Men. Usually, the comics for that event are what I read first (the first Wednesday of the month is an exception as nothing gets between me and the newest issue of The Boys). It didn't change much, really. Why would it?

Action Comics #0: The most frustrating thing about Grant Morrison's Action Comics is that this early Superman/Clark Kent is leagues more interesting than the Superman/Clark Kent we're used to seeing and Morrison is continually moving away from the former, running towards the latter. It's hard to come to grips with sometimes. I appreciated a chance to see the character at an earlier point than before. A chance to be reminded that, yeah, a young, driven Superman who spends his off time geeking out with Jimmy Olsen and trying to prove he's worth a damn is far superior to the Superman we usually get. [****]

Age of Apocalypse #7: I still don't know anyone's name in relation to their image. Nor their personality. Except for maybe Graydon Creed as he descends into drunken failure. Yet, I don't mind. I enjoy Arlem's art. It suits the tone set by del Torre. Lapham continues to wander through this world with characters that mean nothing and display motives that I'm not sure we're supposed to be rooting for. They fight against the future. They will (and should) lose. [***1/4]

Black Kiss 2 #2: You can't fight customs. I know that from my dayjob. They are all-powerful and answerable to no one. Whenever I forget that, they make a decision that flies in the face of all logic and prior experience simply because they can. I'm not angry or upset, because that's like being upset at the rain. Customs is and that's all there is to it. Bitching and whining is lying about the world. [Dude, pick me up the rest of the series. Yes, you. You may be wondering if I'm addressing you and I am. Really. BUY THEM ALL FOR ME AND THEN MAIL THEM TO ME.]

The Boys #70: The difference between Garth Ennis and everyone else: when he explains a mystery that requires no explanation, he still makes it damn entertaining. "Ain't there s'posed to be?" is the punchline of the year. [****]

The Defenders #10: Matt Fraction Week Part One: The Silver Surfer pages... my god, McKelvie! [***3/4]

Hawkeye #2: Matt Fraction Week Part Two: David Aja and Matt Hollingsworth win. They had stiff competition from the likes of Amanda Conner and Paul Mounts, Russ Braun and Tony Avina, and Alan Davis, Mark Farmer, and either Javier Rodriguez or Chris Sotomayor. But, they won the week. Easily. I dug this issue more than the first. Fraction's dialogue lends a little too flip in places, though. I loved the white explanation panels. [****]

Hell Yeah #5: I guess the problem here is that this book isn't really about anything yet. It hints at being about things, but it isn't actually about anything. It dances around the point, getting in close before pulling away and running across the room. And that's fine. I just keep wanting more. Something to latch onto. It's not even "Answers that raise more questions," it's "Vague statements provided in response to questions that just sort of get on your nerves after a while." Maybe it's my fault for thinking there's more. Maybe this is all there is. What to do what to do what to do what to do what to do blah blah blah. [***]

The Mighty Thor #19: Matt Fraction Week Part Three: That final page is meant to mean something, but, without context (and damn good context), it's just a weak cliffhanger in my house. The stuff with the Vanir isn't quite working for me, because it came out of nowhere. At no time in either of these titles' currents runs have those people been mentioned. So, to suddenly have a big part of this revolve around the tension between the Aesir and the Vanir feels false and convenient. But... Alan Davis draws a pretty book and the stuff with Thor and Loki continues to win me over.

Later

Riding the Gravy Train 22 (AVX: VS #5 and Wolverine and the X-Men #15)

We begin with the latest additions to the AVX: VS card...

Match #9: Hawkeye vs. Angel

A ground-and-pound shooter taking on a high-flier should make for an interesting match. But, it doesn't. With no build and a general pointlessness in the air, this seems like something that belongs on TV, not on a PPV card like this. Leave this shit to the three-panel matches we see in Avengers vs. X-Men! It is a little surprising to see them pull out the old WWE staple of capable women's fighters suddenly becoming plot devices and unable to actually do anything when two men are fighting. Psylocke is normally a threat, but, here, she's just someone for Hawkeye to threaten as he, surprisingly, winds up playing the heel to Angel's face. Normally, Hawkeye is the scrappy underdog that people love to see get his ass beat until he manages to come back at the end, but not here. There are supposed to be elements of that, especially when he rips off Wolverine's claw attack using arrows and Angel no-sells completely -- but threatening women and then shooting a dude with an arrow to make your escape? Dick move; heel turn.

Winner: Hawkeye [*3/4]

Match #10: Loser Leaves Wakanda Match - Black Panther vs. Storm

This is the funniest fight of the card to date. Meant to be a big emotional battle between husband and wife, it descends into unintentional comedy pretty quickly. The best part: Storm yelling "Not the cape!" as Black Panther uses it to throw her to the ground. Or, there's the moment where she gets pissed off that he planned counterattacks against her in case she ever attacked him... after she just hit him with a lightning bolt. If anything, this match is an angle killing one that comes at long last after many false starts and poorly told stories throughout. It's a mercy-killing affair that's just as drawn-out and pointless as the original angle was to begin with -- as random and thrown-together. Jason Aaron tries some of the tricks he used to great effect with Dash and Carol in Scalped and they fall flat here, because, in Scalped, he actually made us care about those two and their relationship. Black Panther and Storm's relationship has been dead for a while now -- almost stillborn -- and Marvel is only finally getting around to acknowledging that fact. The big blowoff comes too late and no one cares. "There are no winners here" indeed.

Winner: NO ONE [DUD]

Next month, the card concludes with a bunch of mini-fights (way to waste precious PPV time!) and the main event: HOPE VS. THE SCARLET WITCH IN A PHOENIX HOST CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH!

***

Wolverine and the X-Men #15 dances around Avengers vs. X-Men as they explore the fallout of Hope's fight with Cyclops in Avengers vs. X-Men #10 and prepare for the Death of Everything That is to Come. It also feels like the 'season finale' of that title in many ways. Jason Aaron jumps around a lot, checking in on as many characters as possible, providing closure of some kind for all of them before what comes next. It's like the school has gone as far it can in its current state. Death and resurrection. Get it?

***

Actually, this issue is one of my favourite Avengers vs. X-Men tie-ins. It's good in a different manner than New Avengers #29 was. That comic was the best comic of the event in the ways that it directly addressed the event and tried to raise the discourse occurring in it; this one is probably the best example of taking the event and using it to its own purposes. This was more an issue of Wolverine and the X-Men than Avengers vs. X-Men tie-in. The event is a backdrop for change and closure -- but it could be any big threat that acts as the backdrop for this issue. Change a few details and the issue stays essentially the same. New Avengers #29 was the book comic of the event, because it was exclusively about the event; Wolverine and the X-Men #15 is the best example of a comic in this event using it to tell a story that it probably would have told anyway. I admire that.

***

Next week: There are no Avengers vs. X-Men comics. There will be a post.

EXCLUSIVE! Chad Nevett's Comic Book Mini-Reviews and Star Ratings for the Week of August 29, 2012

I'm listening to Everybody's Rockin' by Neil Young & the Shocking Pinks. It's pleasant enough. I still have a few big gaps in my Neil Young collection, so I'm trying to fill them. His 'bad' stuff from the '80s is the biggest gap as, up until buying this album last night, I jumped from Live Rust to the Eldorado EP in my collection. Also: Everybody's Rockin' was the first album Young released after I was born, so I've gotta love it a little.

Journey into Mystery #642: More a story that's come out of Journey into Mystery that The Mighty Thor seems to have latched onto, I'm not complaining about that. The first bit of this comic is sluggish, but gets moving when it comes down to just Loki and Thor. Loki laying out how he'd fucked everyone over his last few adventures, all while trying to do the right thing, was excellent and made this feel like a story that's been built up to. The end of the issue was a bit dumb with that old mob mentality bullshit from characters that are supposed to be better than that. [***1/2]

Prophet #28: For some reason, I really liked the scene with the drugged drink. Kind of funny. Or the roots. I like the small stuff like that. [****]

Spaceman #9: The emotion of this issue is overwhelming at times... goddamn, Risso brings it. This is his show. [****1/4]

Ultimate X-Men #15: Wood's approach here is quite good. The way he's built this new world over the past few issues and forced the characters to confront some harsh realities has been some of his more skillful work. It's a bit nasty and more than a little depressing. I'm glad I stuck with this after the first issue. [****]

Winter Soldier #9: Of course Natasha 'waking up' was part of the plan! It was obvious, but still a great trick, playing with the idiotic convention of 'love' overcoming brainwashing, like somewhere deep inside the 'real' person is screaming to get out. Brubaker doesn't seem to buy that bullshit any more than I ever have... and good on him. [***3/4]

Later

Riding the Gravy Train 21 (Uncanny X-Men #17)

"Did I just read a comic where the X-Men commit genocide?"

It's not too often that you think that upon finishing the latest issue of Uncanny X-Men -- in fact, I don't think anyone has ever thought that before -- but here we are. The comic ends with Cyclops saying "The war is over. Sinister's species is done. The world is safe. And entirely ours." The X-Men apparently murdered an entire species to make it possible for their kind to take over the world and promote their own race-based agenda. That's pretty fucked up. That's incredibly fucked up.

I've been trying to think this through for the past couple of days. Obviously, we're meant to see their actions as extreme. They murdered an entire species. Let us never lose sight of that as we walk our way through the various justifications that can be offered. After all, this was basically a species of one -- and Sinister had intentions that seemed directed towards genocide of his own, possibly. He seeked to perfect himself genetically and create a world based around that. He threatened the X-Men and the world many times in the past and even schemed to harness the power of the Phoenix towards that end. But, the X-Men hunted him and his people down and killed them all. It's a little difficult to rationalise that away.

After all, what kind of species this was doesn't matter. That it was a hivemind society created through science doesn't mean a thing. That just means that the Sinisters were different than what we're accustomed to, not that they're better or worse -- more or less worthy of life or not being wiped out entirely.

Yet, it's easy to say that, because, in our world, we've never encountered a race like this. A hivemind devoted to a single purpose that acts directly against our interests with no hope of negotiation or reasoning. In many ways, the Sinisters are a variation on the Borg before they were overused and neutered. Sinister and his people would just keep coming, endlessly. Wiping them out was the only viable option in that line of thinking. It's a large scale version of the debate about heroes killing, except with one murderous villain turned into an entire species -- a race unto himself. If Sinister was one man, would we necessarily balk at the X-Men killing him? How does that change if that one man duplicates himself on a large scale? Is that really a different race or simply a bunch of photocopies? Is there a difference? Hell, whether a single being or a million, isn't something unique and differently genetically, like Sinister, a race? But... I don't think if Sinister were just a single man, we'd consider his murder genocide despite the reality (an entire race wiped out) being the same.

I guess there's also the problem in comics that we're not certain that the entire race is dead, or that Sinister won't return at some point. However, I'm not sure that actually matters. Cyclops's perception that he's killed the entire species is the same whether or not he's actually accomplished that goal. In his mind, he's murdered them all. Is that, for our purposes, any different from his committing genocide? (Assuming that genocide only counts when you kill an entire race, which isn't accurate at all.) What we're really interested in is the idea that Cyclops and the X-Men could do such an act, making their perception the only reality that matters. But, that idea that their perception is false, that Sinister will survive and return somehow, lessens the impact of what these characters have done. It would have almost been more effective for there to be some remote island filled with the sole survivors of a doomed planet and the X-Men wipe them out to show us how far they've fallen, that they'd kill the remaining members of that race. Because Sinister matters, he can't be dead for good -- so did genocide happen or not?

I know, I'm asking a lot of questions. That's partly my style and partly never reading a comic where the protagonists take it upon themselves to do something like this. Kill a small group of bad guys? Sure. Kill an entire race? No.

Except for maybe the Skrulls. I'd forgotten all about them.

And the Asgardians over in The Ultimates #2, slaughtered by the Children of Tomorrow, who, while villains, were also presented in a somewhat sympathetic/relatable light.

Wow.

That's really fucked up.

Genocide as storytelling device. Good job there, Marvel.

Next: AVX: VS #5 and Wolverine and the X-Men #15.

EXCLUSIVE! Chad Nevett's Comic Book Mini-Reviews and Star Ratings for the Week of August 22, 2012

I am tired after sitting in the sun all day at the Tigers/Jays game. Well, not so much tired from that as the getting to and from the game via tunnel bus (none of the delays were Transit Windsor's fault). Just a hot and tiring day. But, it was also a lot of fun and a really great day nonetheless.

glamourpuss #26: I stopped reading this somewhere in the area of issue 12, I think. I still bought it every two months, but found that the release schedule made the Alex Raymond portion of this comic a little hard to follow properly. 11 (or so) pages every two months didn't exactly drill details into my head. So, I decided to simply save up the issues for a big reread and, now, the book has ended. I guess I get my chance. I did read Dave Sim's closing text piece and damn if that wasn't the most depressing thing I've read for some time. And it isn't him saying "Oh woe is me!" or expecting sympathy or pity -- it's just a man laying out how fucked he is and how fucked up the industry he works in can be. And he isn't blaming anyone either. It's just... sad. Sad that this is the reality of things. [TBD]

Scalped #60: The other big ending and it didn't blow me away. Too big of expectations? Too let down by the downer ending? I don't know... It just seemed like it didn't cohere entirely. Too much effort put in to making things ambiguous or left wide open for too many characters? In a sense, it felt like another issue of an ongoing, serialised story. Which is fine... but it doesn't necessarily make for the 'best' conclusion. I liked this issue and will no doubt grow to see it as the most appropriate ending for this series, but, right now... I'm not feeling it as much as I'd like to. [Not yet, no]

Secret Avengers #30: Ha ha ha... fuck you, Max Fury! You ain't no person! YOU AIN'T NO PERSON! [***1/4]

The Ultimates #14: "Hey, Sam, welcome on board The Ultimates. We know that you're following Jonathan Hickman and his run, with Esad Ribic and Dean White on art, has been highly regarded by some. We want to give you the best start possible by pairing you with artists that are vastly inferior and will make this book look like everything else on the shelf. That will help you win 'em over! Good luck, son!"

...okay, it doesn't help that Humphries's dialogue runs a bit too far towards the 'typical' superhero shit either. Hickman had a lighter touch, a way of making his different ideas seem different. If you look at what happens in this comic, it's not that different from what Hickman was doing it. How it happens, how it's presented, though, is very different and it's not as good. It's not as engaging, it doesn't have the same verve or energy. I hope it gets better, because, on a plot- and idea-level, it's still a good comic. On every other one, though... [**1/2]

Untold Tales of the Punisher MAX #3: A new exhibit for how, sometimes, self-contained single issue comics are just fucking boring. [**]

The Unwritten #40: Man, Tom's takedown of the crazy man was great. I'm glad that they held off on him showing up for a few issues. The best issue of the latest arc... But there still isn't a sense of what this book is about anymore and where it's going. I guess we'll have to wait and see on that end. [***3/4]

Wolverine annual #1: A great conclusion to this trio of annuals. Davis did a good job at making each self-contained but telling a larger story. Though, really, it seems like it should have just been a Dr. Strange/ClanDestine crossover mini-series or something. But, hey, if sticking these stories in annuals of other books helped make them happen, I'm not going to complain too much. Another big story to add to the ClanDestine group of titles. Lovely. [***3/4]

Later

Riding the Gravy Train 20 (Avengers vs. X-Men #10 and Avengers #29)

What does Scott Summers want?

I've been pondering that question and I'm not sure I know the answer. I don't think there is one, because he doesn't know what he wants. I've argued that he was the only 'pure' one of the Phoenix hosts; that his belief in his cause and in Hope kept him above the pettiness of the others. He was never corrupted by the Phoenix and still hasn't been. It's not power that has driven Cyclops to his actions in Avengers vs. X-Men #10, despite all appearances. It's all Hope's 'fault.'

She didn't ask for Summers's belief in her. She almost always bristled against, not considering herself the saviour of anything, but that didn't stop Scott from believing more and more, becoming an extremist and zealot for the mutant cause with her at the centre of his belief. Avengers vs. X-Men, in a sense, has been a story about Scott's faith being proven right. The Phoenix arrived and, theoretically, has been an instrument for good as the 'Phoenix Five' worked to make the world a better place, let down only by their own weaknesses. They succumbed to corruption because they weren't strong enough to stick to the path. Scott never had that problem. When his fellow hosts wanted to simply kill the Avengers, he stood firm in the knowledge that their cause was just and, eventually, that would win out. There's only so long that you can stare utopia in the face and decry it.

What's driven Scott into similar territory as the rest is the rejection of the saviour he put so much faith in. Hope chose to turn her back on the mutants, on the X-Men, on the cause -- on him. He never thought that he was going to be a permanent host for the Phoenix. He, and the others, were placeholders until the true host, the saviour, would take her rightful place, assume the mantle of the Phoenix, and save mutantkind from extinction. Except, of course, Hope didn't want that. She never saw herself as the saviour and wasn't comfortable with that role. More than that, she shared the Avengers' view on the Phoenix hosts and their descent in corruption and weakness. So, she ran away with the non-believers -- the heretics -- and turned her back on Scott, denying his faith.

Reading Avengers vs. X-Men #10, it's obvious that Scott isn't like the others. He's angry and grows angrier as the issue progresses, not at the Avengers, but at Hope and her refusal to accept his set of beliefs. It's a little surprising how much of this story is based around religion. When Hope chooses the Scarlet Witch and the beliefs of K'un L'un, it's basically Jesus succumbing to temptation in the desert in Scott's mind. After all, the Scarlet Witch (red witch -- definite satanic imagery) is the person responsible for the destruction of mutantkind, while K'un L'un's beliefs are based around a dragon (a lizard -- a FLYING SNAKE!). She is the fallen saviour is his eyes... maybe the false saviour? Is Hope the Anti-Christ of the mutants? The false prophet that everyone is fooled by and brings ruination...

It's easy to write off Scott's actions as further proof of power corrupting, but that feels wrong to me. Especially when you look at the cover to issue 11 where he is fighting Emma Frost on the cover. It could be a similar situation to the Colussus/Magik 'fight' from issue nine; or, it could be Scott embracing the idea that is sure to be growing in his mind: if he's the only 'true believer,' if he's the one that's kept the mutant race alive for so long, if he's the one who has resisted the corruption of the Phoenix... maybe he is the true saviour. Maybe he was the answer all along and all false prophets and those who stray from the cause, who use it for selfish reasons and wallow in corruption, must be eliminated.

And, yet, oddly, I laugh at the idea that Scott is anything but the picture of sanity.

***

In all of the contradictions in Avengers vs. X-Men, Avengers #29 is not one of them. It shows an alternate version of the events from Wolverine and the X-Men #12 -- drastically different, even. But, it also ends with Charles Xavier wiping everyone's memories and letting them believe it played out how it would if he weren't involved. What we saw in Wolverine and the X-Men #12 was the version of events as the participants remembered it. I like that idea.

Next week: Uncanny X-Men #17.

EXCLUSIVE! Chad Nevett's Comic Book Mini-Reviews and Star Ratings for the Week of August 15, 2012

Butcher Baker, the Righteous Maker #8: I can only imagine how frustrating the wait must have been for Casey given that this is the last issue. That was a surprise, wasn't it? I can't recall being surprised like that before. The comic just comes out and, boom, done. It snuck up on us. And I think it was the right call. Not just ending the book -- who am I to tell these guys how long to keep making this book -- but not announcing it. The shape of the story wasn't apparent until now. It wasn't a 'waiting out the clock' game. No looking at your watch and going "Oh, there's only five minutes left in the episode, I guess it's time for them to catch the killer" bullshit. Instead, it's a wonderful surprise kick to the gut with strong writing, amazing art, and a desire for more. Always leave 'em wanting and all that... But, also, everything is ending now it seems and, now, this, too. Just when I thought I had it back, it's over. That kinda sucks. [****1/2]

Daredevil #17: I don't know why, but I have the impression that this comic is, like, 40% stories about the past. I get it, Matt and Foggy are best buds and the current situation is unnatural. Good art. [***1/2]

Fatale #7: Something was lost in the wait... What? It's true. [***1/2]

Wonder Woman #12: The fight scene! Apollo on the throne! THE FINAL PAGE! And, now, we have to wait an extra month for what happens next thanks to fucking zero month. [Fuck you, DC]

X-Men #34: Five pages just to show some guy on a boat getting a package... Only one page of Cyclops chewing out Storm... Cyclops definitely has that 'asshole police chief' vibe in that scene. I'd read more comics about that. I really would. Hell, I would have read a comic about a small police squad in Utopia, busting up crime, busting heads... did such a comic exist and I missed it? Probably not. I do like this comic, though. They're trying to take down mutant-gene-drinking L. Ron Hubbard after all. That's pretty neat. I wish Roland Boschi would let loose a little more, though. [***1/2]

Later

Riding the Gravy Train 19 (New Avengers #29)

This right here is the high point of Avengers vs. X-Men. Throughout his time on the Avengers titles, Brian Michael Bendis has used the Illuminati to varying degrees of success. The group, through its various incarnations, have led to some of the Bendis's smartest writing and some of his worst. The mini-series devoted to the group's actions at different points in the past was pretty terrible on almost all levels. The original one-shot was interesting in the way it showed the beginnings of the group, but fell apart near the end. Bendis tried to recreate the concept with Norman Osborn's Cabal at the beginning of "Dark Reign." Most recently, the Illuminati was revealed to the Avengers in Avengers after the Hood stole the Infinity Gems that they each kept hidden. There, Captain American first condemned the concept of a group like that before agreeing that it was necessary and joining.

If you're unaware, the Illuminati is a group of heroes that meet from time to time to consider problems that affect the world as a whole and decide how best to solve them. It's a smart idea, one that takes the idea of superheroes to a logical place, one that, on the surface, seems like it's too far, but, upon reflection, isn't actually any different than anything the superheroes do. And every time someone like Captain America tries to act like it is, he stands revealed as small.

The emergence of the Phoenix Five actually makes for an interesting counterpart to the Illuminati. They are, basically, the same leap that the Illuminati was from the Avengers/X-Men/Fantastic Four, but from the Illuminati. They seek to reshape the world, affect large change, except they do it overtly rather than covertly as the Illuminati preferred. None of this is stated directly in New Avengers #29, but the underlying sentiment that there isn't necessarily anything different or wrong about what the Phoenix Five are doing is seen throughout. Is it that the Phoenix Five are, somehow, evil, or is it that Captain America sees himself small and weak next to them, jealous that they can affect more positive change on the world in a week than he has, perhaps, ever done?

This issue is a series of conversations as people arrive and depart. Captain America has called a meeting of the Illuminati, particularly for Namor, hoping that they can all talk to Namor and convince him to turn on the X-Men and see the error of his ways. Given that Namor still has the Phoenix here, I think we all know that that doesn't happen. But, even if he were still a host of the Phoenix, no one would really think that that would happen. In the comic, only Captain America thinks he'll actually show up at all.

What impresses me most about this comic is that it's the first that I've read to step back and really try to examine the various implications of what's going on in Avengers vs. X-Men, what that means to these characters, and how it fits into the larger context of the Marvel Universe since Bendis took over the Avengers books. If Avengers vs. X-Men is meant to be the culmination of culminations, this is the first comic that seemed like it was trying to make that explicit instead of simply confusing repetition for allusion.

The inclusion of Reed Richards and Charles Xavier is what sets this comic apart. Xavier has made some small appearances in Avengers vs. X-Men so far, but this is where you see what he truly thinks of what's happening. The anguish he suffers over his dream perverted, of his first student and the man that's basically his son (despite their estangement in recent years) setting himself up as dictator of the Earth. Xavier's reactions in the main series to what's happening have never quite felt clear/explained because of the demands there. Here, he's bitter and angry, pissed off that the other all blame him for what's happening and even more pissed off because he agrees with them. His angry rant is great and a brief moment where that character actually felt like he mattered for the first time since... when was the last time Charles Xavier actually meant anything to anyone? In a sense, his appearance in this issue addresses that: this is all his personal failure. His falling out with Scott Summers, his basic excommunication of sorts from the X-Men and the mutant community... it has allowed for this situation to happen and this is the payoff of those earlier stories. Even if the payoff is a man looking at what he's created and realising that he fucked up. He fucked it all up and, now, he has to decide what to do. Bendis offers no solution or answers, and that's rare.

Richards's contribution is that of logic and reason: just because you assume that the X-Men will become corrupt with power, doesn't mean that they will. At that moment in time, there was no reason to think that Cyclops and the others had anything but good intentions. After all, the only actions they'd undertaken that seemed 'off message' were their skirmishes with the Avengers and the Avengers had as much to do with causing those as the X-Men (probably more). Instead of continually poking at Cyclops and trying to undermine his work, what would happen if Captain America and the Avengers joined them, tried to help and, in the process, work to keep them from losing sight of their goals with corruption? Richards lays out a compelling argument for stopping the fighting and working with the X-Men, even raising the events of Civil War as evidence of the a previous time when Captain America and Iron Man decided that violence was the solution to an argument with friends and allies over different ways of seeing the world. It's an implied shaming, a moment where Richards reminds them (and us) that Civil War and the ensuing fallout taught them nothing.

The final scene between Captain America and Namor, along with the opening sequence, is Bendis trying to reconcile Namor's behaviour with the fact that people like Cap continue to consider him a friend/ally. In a sense, Cap's problem is also his strength. He is a man of the past, so things like loyalty are hard for him to shake, but that also means that he struggles with change. He doesn't trust new. And that's understandable. He's had more new than most people could ever hope to see and, to a certain extent, he probably thinks all of it is worse than what he used to know. That means he stands by the man he fought side-by-side with in World War 2, but it also means that Namor has a point when he says that Cap's problem could be that he fears what the world will look like soon, because he doesn't know if there will be a place in it for him.

On the surface, New Avengers #29 is an issue that should present the Avengers's perspective (something that's been lacking in the tie-ins), but, instead, critiques it while contextualising Avengers vs. X-Men into both the Avengers and X-Men's recent histories. This is a story that's the result of both Charles Xavier's failed dream, and the inability for Captain America and Iron Man to allow change to happen except on their terms. It's the best issue of the entire Avengers vs. X-Men event so far.

Next week: Avengers vs. X-Men #10 and Avengers #29.

EXCLUSIVE! Chad Nevett's Comic Book Mini-Reviews and Star Ratings for the Week of August 8, 2012

Avengers Assemble #6: You fuck with Thanos, you get to die in space. He's already killed ya before, Avengers... why you wanna fuck with him again? [**3/4]

Captain America #16: This storyarc really isn't clicking with me. I understand mind control is involved, but it seems so lazy -- a way to justify a plot where, uh, a TV pundit turns Americans against Captain America by pointing out that he's not able to defeat everyone everywhere at all times? It's just dumb. Never mind that the art totally kills a central scene of this issue because Eaton can't make it clear what's going on. [**1/2]

Daredevil annual #1: The second of the three Alan David ClanDestine-centric annuals being done this year and I like how this one follows up on the first one, centring things around Vincent's death and showing the next step in that. Though it's not Davis's fault, how many more comics will we have to read where someone gets inside Daredevil's mind and freaks out at his enhanced senses this year? My favourite moment: "But I didn't win." [***1/2]

Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #12: An unexpected approach to the storytelling in this issue. It's not quite as effective as you'd hope, mostly giving the whole thing a sped up, rushed through feel, like Kindt needed to cram it all in so the story wouldn't be broken up too much by next month's zero issue. Is that what happened? I don't know. I also don't care, because that's what it reads like. Which, of course, makes the decision to tell this story a poorer one if that's not the reason why he made it. [***]

Godzilla: The Half-Centry War #1: I don't really know much about Godzilla specifically beyond the most superficial of things. James Stokoe's visual depiction of the giant thunder lizard surprised me a little, but I rather like it. I love the fiery word balloon he does for Godzilla. The story is pretty basic, but the art is gorgeous. I'm glad I'm picking this one up. [***1/2]

The Massive #3: Man, I'd just rather read about Unalaska. Not really a negative thing about this comic since I enjoy it -- more that I think I'd rather read about Unalaska. Especially during the Cold War. Beyond that, I really like the idea of trying to be a pacifist group in this world and the struggles that would create. Clever stuff. [***3/4]

The Mighty Thor #18: More Alan Davis! How lucky are we this week? VERY. That's how lucky we are this week. A solid mood-setting issue for "Everything Burns." [***1/2]

Punk Rock Jesus #2: Oh shit, I didn't have time to read this yesterday. It was the only comic that I didn't read. Er... Be right back.

...

...

...

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...back. Another great issue. I wasn't sure what to expect from Murphy as a writer, but he's quite good. Engaging, a little melodramatic at times, but also unexpected. He's taking his time getting to the 'punk rock' teenage 'Jesus' from the promo images, isn't he? And I don't mind one bit. The "I painted it pink" part was both hilarious and a clear window into how fucked up Thomas is. Damn good. [****]

Spider-Men #4: That cover is a total lie. But, most of this issue simply consisting of Peter, Miles, May, and Gwen talking was great. Bendis really knows how to write those scenes well. I could read a monthly comic called "Conversations" where it's like Marvel Team-Up except it's just two heroes in a room having a conversation if Bendis was writing it. [***3/4]

Later

Riding the Gravy Train 18 (Avengers vs. X-Men #9)

In many ways, this issue feels like an issue that, somehow, sums up the various external problems that have plagued this event from the beginning. Contradictions, an uneven flow from issue to issue, and a generally predictable path as the Phoenix Five Four Two become more and more corrupt in the most obvious, unsubtle manner possible. Yet, it's a surprisingly engaging read if you ignore all of that stuff and try to take the issue on a single-serving basis. Ignore that anything came before and anything will come after and it's good. It's too bad that that's now how this comic exists, nor how it was meant to exist.

Though, even taken by itself, there are some big problems with this issue. The unsubtle (which should be the official 'buzz word' of this event) way in which Spider-Man tells Hope in a rather repetitive manner that every Avengers gets his or her moment and you just need to wait and take advantage of opportunity when it presents itself... right before opportunity presents itself for Spider-Man. Or, there's the puzzling way that Spider-Man's narration on the first page is somehow taking place at the same time as his narration when the issue catches up to that moment in the future. Somehow, he's thinking two different things at the same time while barely maintaining consciousness and facing a likely death. (Also, he was unconscious at some point?) It's a convenient cheat that's beneath Jason Aaron (who hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire during this event); it's also something that sets this issue apart stylistically from the rest of the Avengers vs. X-Men mini-series, much like Aaron's narraton captions in issue two. He is clearly not even trying write towards a cohesive style, which is either good or bad depending on what you want out of this book and its quintet of writers.

But, also within this issue is Spider-Man doing what he does best: refusing to quit. He stands up and takes a hell of a beating for the sole purpose of making sure his friends get away safely. If you ignore the heavyhanded foreshadowing and the flashforward, it's a strong moment for the character. It may be an obvious attempt to create such a moment, but it's true to the character and is the sort of thing that was required to hammer home just how corrupt and pathethic the X-Men have become. Two of the Phoenix co-hosts can't help but kick the shit out of a guy that one of them beat up before getting Phoenix powers.

I also loved the panel where the Avengers help their Limbo-imprisoned teammates back to K'un L'un and everyone needs help of some kind... except for Luke Cage. The Thing can barely walk, Thor needs to be carried, the rest all lean on a teammate and Luke Cage is leading the way, clearly wondering why they even bothered to escape to K'un L'un, ready to rush back and kick some ass. I don't know if that was in the script or if Adam Kubert just knows that Luke Cage is the fucking man.

If you try to put Avengers vs. X-Men #9 in context, it seems weaker. The Spider-Man/Colussus and Magik fight is a simple retread of the Spider-Man/Colussus fight in AVX: VS #2, but more heavyhanded and forced in its attempt to make Spider-Man look like he doesn't give up, while showing that Colussus and Magik have lost it. It's making the same point we've already seen with the same characters and doesn't add anything new. If Spider-Man was in a hopeless, unwinnable battle against pre-Phoenix Colussus, are things actually worse when he's fighting Phoenix-possessed Colussus and Magik? No. Once you hit 'hopeless and unwinnable,' degree doesn't matter. If we already saw Colussus pound Spider-Man to a pulp and Spider-Man continue to stand up, why should we care now?

The method of Thor's capture by the X-Men also seems somewhat contradictory to what we saw in AVX: VS as the fourth issue had Emma Frost no sell Thor's attempts to beat her up and completely destroyed him. Yet, here, we see that Thor was captured fighting Colussus and Magik. Was this because Emma somehow just walked away, leaving Thor to wake up and go about his business? Or was it because we just needed a scene showing how formidable Colussus and Magik are before Spider-Man stood up and got pounded into the ground? Either way, it adds little (though I almost appreciate the effort to show us the power of the Rasputins) and is another case of scenes in two comics not lining up in this event.

***

Tony Stark sitting in a dark room, muttering, "The Phoenix. Wanda's hex magic. Hope. The Iron Fist. Somehow it all fits together... Somehow..." In that scene, is he the readers or the writers?

***

Next week: New Avengers #29.

EXCLUSIVE! Chad Nevett's Comic Book Mini-Reviews and Star Ratings for the Week of August 1, 2012

Action Comics #12: How can one empty their brain of all thought and still explain how they're emptying their brain of all thought? Also: RIP Johnny Clark. [***]

Age of Apocalypse #6: I love how, on the cover of this issue, Cyclops takes a punch from Colossus and his head stays attached to his body. This series remains a little strange, a mixture of awful people and even worse people... a lack of anything approaching a plot... characters that fail to leave any impression... Yet, I'm drawn to it somehow. [***]

Black Kiss 2 #1: This is some fucked up shit. A dude survived the sinking of the Titanic because a Succubus anally raped him. A move screen comes alive and shoots out tentacle penii to rape the audience. There... there's something wrong with Howard Chaykin, I think. [So... I have to wait a month for issue two?]

The Boys #69: We march towards the conclusion and it's not quite the same lively march that other Ennis series have had at the end, but the sense of dread is somehow bigger. It's a proper superhero story in many ways. A pretty easy to grasp attempt to kill a large chunk of the world's population, allies betrayed and killed, and one lone man standing alone to stop his former mentor. It was inevitable almost that, after last issue, two more would fall here. What I can't figure out is how the V-A folks will factor in. And what of Annie? [****]

Daredevil #16: The Pym/Murdock stuff left me cold, but Waid and Samnee nailed the Foggy/Matt scene. [***1/2]

The Defenders #9: Heh... I liked that. It never quite cohered how you can picture it meaning to, but it was still pretty fun. Somehow, though, two issues in and McKelvie's art hasn't quite lived up to expectations/past work. It feels almost at odds with Fraction's writing. He needs something a little wilder. [***1/4]

Fury MAX #5: Reading this, if this weren't based on what happened, you'd think that Ennis was writing a pretty bad comic in how the whole Bay of Pigs thing goes down. And, yet, that's how it happened. Fucked up. I love their surprise when they learn that Castro wasn't hiding in some bunker, letting other people do all of the fighting for him. [****]

Gødland #36: From the beginning of this issue, the endpoint seemed obvious, but no less satisfying when it was reached. It's amazing how big this got while still maintaining a small, human perspective. Scioli fucking brought it and Casey is at his verbose, hyperbolic best. This is the comic that I'll be thinking about for a while, picking up, flipping through, and just lingering on cøsmic cømic gøødness. [øøøøø]

Hawkeye #1: Not at all what I was expecting. This is a pretty different take than what we've seen before and it has potential. A little cheesy in places, but definitely an attempt to carve out a unique spot for this character. And, y'know... David Aja... yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah. [***3/4]

RASL #15: And, so it ends where it began and it's a great final issue. Smith lingers a bit here and there and his visual storytelling is incredible. So clear and engaging. I'll miss this book. It was always something new and surprising right down to the final page. [****1/2]

X-Men #33: Somewhat disappointing. I'm not really a fan of the whole 'bad guy is confronted, brags about the hero is too late, and kills himself' thing. It seems like a cheap way to provide 'closure' on the story while leaving the door open for more later. Like, the cheapest way to do so. But, the focus here is more on the characters and what this mission meant to them and, in that respect, Wood and Lopez succeed. [***1/4]

Later