Avengers vs. X-Men

May 13, 2013 Nicolo Yu rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: digital-comics

Marvel's big event for 2012 was Avengers Versus X-Men (AvX) and I must say they pretty much accomplished what it set to do. It gave the fans a battle royale of its top two properties, it was able to move a lot of books during the duration of the event, and it gave the new readers who came in AvX a chance to stay and buy more comics after the story with its new Marvel NOW! initiative.

The title says it all, the Avengers lead by Captain America up against the X-Men of Cyclops. Marvel's top two supe...more Marvel's big event for 2012 was Avengers Versus X-Men (AvX) and I must say they pretty much accomplished what it set to do. It gave the fans a battle royale of its top two properties, it was able to move a lot of books during the duration of the event, and it gave the new readers who came in AvX a chance to stay and buy more comics after the story with its new Marvel NOW! initiative.

The title says it all, the Avengers lead by Captain America up against the X-Men of Cyclops. Marvel's top two superteams are divided by what to do with the coming of the Phoenix, an elemental . force of great power that could herald creation or destruction and its host apparent, Hope, the first mutant born after the events of House of M.

I haven’t bought any comics regularly in years, being content in waiting for the trade, but I came back for AvX and preordered all twelve chapters. I wasn’t disappointed, it was all out action and the art was incredible. The writing was serviceable but it did have its character moments.

This was an important story. AvX marked the end of what Brian Bendis began in the 2005 miniseries House of M. This story turned “No more mutants” into “More mutants” and effectively changed the status quo of the Marvel Universe. The end of AvX ushers in Marvel NOW!, a new initiative that turns the fallout from AvX into a new line of books that mixes and matches creators in new properties and perhaps hook in the new and returning readers that AvX brought. Almost all of the new Marvel launches this year reference AvX and is required reading to get into the flow of the story.

I've read the original floppies of the main miniseries and some of the tie-ins so I was not enthusiastic about spending an additional sixty dollars for the hardcover but I was able to find a fellow fan who was willing to share the digital code that came with the purchase of the hardcover. Still,I found the digital version lacking since the print version and the floppies came with Marvel's patented Augmented Reality pages which one could access with an app and a smartphone or tablet. This added content had videos that often served as commentary or background information on the panels with the augmentation. The one aspect where the digital version has it over print are the Infinite Comics which came with the digital codes of the original floppies. These Infinite comics served as Marvel's initial salvo in exploiting the storytelling advantages inherent in the digital format. They worked quite well on digital.

If one wants to get this story, I suggest hunting for the individual issues which remain near or sometimes less than cover price since almost all comic retailers ordered it in high numbers or waiting for a more affordable trade paperback.

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Dec 06, 2012 Sam Quixote rated it 1 of 5 stars

Phoenix - the fiery and all-powerful being that possessed Jean Grey in the “Dark Phoenix Saga” - is returning to Earth because the “creative” directors at Marvel have run out of ideas and are desperately ransacking past, greater storylines for their new books. The vessel Phoenix is going to choose, everyone thinks, will be Hope, the first and only mutant born after Scarlet Witch’s “No More Mutants” curse. Captain America and co. remember the devastation brought about by Phoenix the last time it...more

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Michael Church Honestly shocked by this. Maybe I've just been a sap for only getting poor crossover events since I dove into comics a couple of years ago, but I had...more
Apr 01, 2013 07:37pm

Sam Quixote I don’t think comparing this to the Avengers movie is fair on the movie. The Avengers movie was fantastic because it pulled off something we hadn’t se...more I don’t think comparing this to the Avengers movie is fair on the movie. The Avengers movie was fantastic because it pulled off something we hadn’t seen on screen before – an iconic superhero team portrayed convincingly and superbly. We see the Avengers and the X-Men each week in comics which is why it’s so much less impressive to read a comic with them in, instead of in a movie, but they didn’t do anything different in this event to make it stand out. We just got the stereotypical superheroes punching one another sequence, over and over and over again. Yawn. The movie didn’t just focus on fighting, but character. Yeah it had great action too, but I think it was definitely an above average popcorn summer movie and I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been nominated for Oscars - the movie was that well put-together.

That said, your rating makes sense as you’re a Cyclops fan (the first I’ve met on GR!) and this is a very Cyclops-centric book. I don’t get Cyclops’ appeal, he seems so bland – what do you like about him?

The AR varies in quality. Sometimes it’s just a wordless, soft music visual of how a page of art came together from pencils to inks to colours (sorry, not interested!), and sometimes it’s stuff that’s already been broadcast on MTV or elsewhere (lazy). Sometimes it’s the creators doing a skit or talking off the cuff about whatever and that’s fine, but after experiencing a lot of Marvel AR, I’m more often than not going to avoid loading up the app just to watch a tedious short video, especially for a comic I didn’t enjoy like this. But I like that Marvel are doing interesting new things with their comics and am looking forward to Project Gamma this summer.

I appreciate that Tie-Ins always add depth to the overall narrative, as that is their purpose, but Event books themselves can be self-contained and entertaining without the add-ons which are there really for the hardcore fans. “House of M” worked fine by itself as did “Siege” - I’m currently reading “Age of Ultron” and the main event reads great by itself. “AVX” relied too heavily on the tie-ins to support its bloated frame and that’s one of the big reasons why this book failed to enthral me.(less)
Apr 02, 2013 05:27am

Feb 19, 2013 Sesana rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, superhumans

Another year, another disappointing Marvel crossover event. The premise is right there in the title. Unfortunately, building the crossover meant jettisoning a much better plot. Before I begin, full disclosure: I'm not entirely up to date on what's going on with Marvel. I haven't really read much since House of M (I know, I know). So when (say) Illyana shows up, I don't say, "hey, Magik, cool," I say, "wait, when did she come back?" Also, I came through comics (not just Marvel, all comics) throug...more Another year, another disappointing Marvel crossover event. The premise is right there in the title. Unfortunately, building the crossover meant jettisoning a much better plot. Before I begin, full disclosure: I'm not entirely up to date on what's going on with Marvel. I haven't really read much since House of M (I know, I know). So when (say) Illyana shows up, I don't say, "hey, Magik, cool," I say, "wait, when did she come back?" Also, I came through comics (not just Marvel, all comics) through X-Men, so my sympathies are indeed likely to start there.

So, the story, such as it is. The Phoenix is coming to merge with/take possession of Hope, billed as the mutant messiah. (Nobody really argues that point in the book.) The Avengers, lead by Captain America, decide based only on a conversation with Wolverine (who totally has no reason to be bitter or biased here, no way) that this must be stopped at all costs, or... stuff. The end of the world is bandied about a lot, but it's not clear why they think this world will end. At no point (in the main book, at least) does Cap or anyone else on the Avengers side speak to anybody but Wolverine about the Phoenix. Inexcusable, since Rachel Summers (former Phoenix herself) is in the same building, but nobody speaks to her. Since Cyclops won't hand over a teenage girl under his care (who, remember, he considers the one who will save mutantkind from complete extinction) to the first non-mutant who demands to arrest her, Cap immediately throws the couple dozen Avengers he brought at the X-Men.

You can see already what side of the conflict I'm falling on. And I think it's fair to say that everything that happens from this point onwards comes about solely from the actions of the Avengers. Including the fairly well publicized plot twist of the Phoenix instead possessing Cyclops, Emma Frost, the Rasputin siblings, and Namor. (view spoiler) Worse yet is the way the crisis is finally resolved. (view spoiler) The cherry on top is that nobody seems to care much about Scarlet Witch having decimated the mutant population in House of M, making Scott's argument that the Avengers in general just don't care about mutants sound a lot less crazy. ETA: After writing this review, I found out that Mr. Fantastic, of all people, called out the Avengers on their culpability here. Basically, maybe the Phoenix Five would stop beating them up if they'd stop attacking them. Considering what a massive jerk he'd been during Civil War, it makes for a pretty effective (and deadly accurate) voice of reason moment for him.

But let's be honest here. This is really nothing more than an excuse to have big, overblown battles between big name characters. What could have been an interesting story, about Hope's struggles with her "destiny" as Phoenix, is brushed to the side in favor of things like Iron Man vs. Magneto. In fact, that's all the (included) AVX tie in was, context free battles that, frankly, weren't terribly interesting. The only thing that makes the AVX issues even remotely worth reading is the "fun fact" boxes, likely included by an editor who didn't buy in to the concept, with "facts" like "Tony Stark likes to exaggerate" and "Captain America has 15 levels in guilt tripping." The last issue abandons all pretense at being serious, and ends with a "battle" between Squirrel Girl and Pixie that implies the whole mess can be blamed on them accidentally playing with Puppet Master's mind-controlling action figures.

Is it worth reading? Not really, no. There's virtually no substance here, and any attempts at such are brutally crushed by pointless battles. The entire event could have been avoided entirely if Captain America and Cyclops had actually talked instead of resorting immediately to battle. My read is that the Avengers bear a little more of the blame, since they don't even do a modicum of due dilligence before prepping for all-out war. But honestly, it probably isn't worth much thought.
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Jan 12, 2013 Mike rated it 2 of 5 stars

My review will be spotty as I'm reading this interleaved with the rest of the Avengers vs. X-Men event books.

Nice setup - finally we see Hope's Phoenix power really threaten, and we get some genuine-seeming interactions between the key characters.

However, once the fighting begins, the ridiculous narration as each pair of fighters punch each other is brutal. It's like an amateur boxing announcer, trying to generate gravitas and meaning from what are generally meaningless events. "Wow, looks like...more

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Dec 23, 2012 Markus rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, comics-2012, hardcover, marvel, published-2012, x-men, avengers

A promising start, but after a couple of chapters it's clear where this is heading, it's not really Avengers vs. X-Men, but Avengers vs. Phoenix Force. So all the typical hype that goes with these Marvel events, and we don't even get what is says on the title. Grrrr, HULK SMASH. By the midpoint a story get's confusing, that's some kind of an achievement considering how thin the plot is. There is no a meat to the story beyond the WWE style smash up, and disappointing when you look at the guys who...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Alejandro Casanova-vázquez rated it 3 of 5 stars

Antes de entrar a la reseña de esta saga quiero aclarar 2 cosas: habrán algunos spoilers aquí y la segunda, soy un "muti-fan" (and proud).
Para empezar, algunos datos de contexto: a los mutantes, y en particular a los X-Men, les ha llovido sobre mojado desde el inicio del siglo XXI: Primero con las amenazas de extinción en las sagas de Morrison y esto culminó con el día M, en el 2005, cuando Scarlet Witch destruyó a casi el 95% de la raza mutante en la saga "House of M". Como estrategia editorial...more Antes de entrar a la reseña de esta saga quiero aclarar 2 cosas: habrán algunos spoilers aquí y la segunda, soy un "muti-fan" (and proud).
Para empezar, algunos datos de contexto: a los mutantes, y en particular a los X-Men, les ha llovido sobre mojado desde el inicio del siglo XXI: Primero con las amenazas de extinción en las sagas de Morrison y esto culminó con el día M, en el 2005, cuando Scarlet Witch destruyó a casi el 95% de la raza mutante en la saga "House of M". Como estrategia editorial, me pareció un buen movimiento, pues entiendo que la sobrepoblación mutante comenzaba a crear conflictos en el universo marvel y los editores encontraban un gran problema en ello. Eso, en el plano realista de los cómics.
Ahora hablemos DENTRO del universo Marvel. Los Avengers, el grupo de super héroes más importante de Marvel jamás hizo nada por los mutantes, por el contrario, siempre éstos fueron marginados y en cada saga les iba de mal en peor. Cyclops quedó al frente de los X-Men y él tuvo que lidiar con las consecuencias de una raza en extinción y un mundo que lejos que apoyarlos, parecía esforzarse más en terminar de destruirlos, además de contar con el equipo más grande de héroes que nunca hizo nada por prestarles una mano. Es decir, hablamos de más de 10 años de obscuridad dentro del mundo mutante, años donde siempre perdían más miembros, entre carne de cañón ("nuevos mutantes")y mutantes reconocidos y establecidos (Nightcrawler).
Esta saga está compuesta por 12 cómics (o capítulos, según quieran decirle) y los primeros seis, en verdad, son muy malos, en un sentido tanto narrativo, como gráfico. Los números 7 y 8 "aguantan" y a partir del 9, uno logra involucrarse con la historia, llegando a su clímax en los ejemplares 11 y 12.
Entiendo la furia de los mutantes, que por fin encuentran una esperanza de resurrección a través de Hope y la fuerza Fénix, pero como en reseñas anteriores he mencionado: los putos Avengers, cavernícolas y sin sentido de la estrategia, decidieron atacarlos, en lugar de tener una plática con ellos para llegar a una solución que los beneficie a ambos.
Estoy consciente de lo soberbio que sonaré con esto, pero cualquiera que se considere fan de los Avengers, debe ser o un adolescente que sabe nada de cómics o un adulto, que sabe menos de construcción de personajes e historias.
Cualquiera que se jacte de conocer la mitología de los X-Men debe coincidir conmigo que tenían motivos de sobra para estar enfurecidos contra cualquiera que intentará atacarlos cuando POR FIN tenían una oportunidad de regenerarse y continuar con su especie. Cyclops, supo desde el momento que la fuerza Phoenix (largo de explicar, lean los cómics) era su única esperanza para evitar la extinción. Su furia y posterior rebelión contra el status quo de esos avengers está más que justificada. Desgraciadamente, a los escritores les dio por darle prioridad a los últimos debido a la popularidad de la que actualmente gozan.
Los X-Men (y los mutantes) siempre han sido una metáfora de las minorías y los grupos marginales y en esta saga se enfrentan al grupo del establishment por antonomasia. Al final, los idiotas Avengers quedaron como los héroes, lo cual demuestra la decadencia de la narrativa actual de los héroes de cómics (Sean DC o Marvel). Pero la historia es más compleja de lo que aparenta, la lucha de los mutantes es más un grito desesperado, luchando por su sobrevivencia. Siento mucha pena por el favoritismo que tuvieron los Avengers en esta saga: por poner un ejemplo, en una batalla se enfrentan Magneto contra Iron-Man... La batalla más ESTÚPIDA del universo, un hijo de puta vestido totalmente de acero contra un mutante que controla el magnetismo, un mutante que con un mover de dedos, lo pudo convertir en una lata de sardinas, pero no, los escritores decidieron que ganara Tony Stark. Y ejemplos como estos hay demasiados, donde se demuestra que los verdaderos enemigos de los mutantes no eran los Avengers, sino los editores.
A esta saga le iba a poner originalmente dos estrellas, de verdad me sentí ofendí por el pobre tratamiento en la construcción de personajes, el total desconocimiento de los mismos y otros defectos... Pero los dos últimos números redimen la serie, en los capítulos 11 y 12, uno de verdad logra involucrarse con la historia y los personajes, así como tomar partido. Estos dos últimos números realmente redimen la saga entera y uno se identifica con Cyclops y su ira contra los Avengers e incluso el mundo entero. Personalmente, en su lugar, hubiese efectuado las mismas acciones: nos han puesto contra la pared a mi especie y a mí durante más de diez años, dios mío, sería ingenuo pensar que no llegaría a un punto donde realmente dijera "VÁYANSE A LA VERGA". Su frustración e ira, son totalmente comprensibles y el final es maravilloso, porque si bien, "perdieron" los X-Men la batalla, es evidente en las consecuencias que ellos SIEMPRE tuvieron la razón, lo cual hace que la victoria de los Avengers sea fría y sin honor.
Amé esta saga, no le doy las 5 estrellas por la cantidad de defectos argumentales y gráficos que tuvo, pero le doy 4 estrellas porque si sabes leerla, hay muchos símbolos y momentos realmente memorables (además que los Avengers y el Capitán América terminan con una victoria vergonzosa).
Por otro lado, para mí aquí termina la mitología de los X-Men y como final, me parece perfecta, no pienso leer más Marvel Cómics, una editorial en la cual parece que los editores tienen más control en las historias que los escritores.
Esta es una saga que recomiendo a fans de la mitología mutante y que han seguido a los X-Men desde la "Dark Phoenix Saga" (1980) hasta AvX (2012). Estoy seguro que ellos la amarán, del resto del público, pues, para gustos se hicieron géneros.
Finalmente, quiero terminar con una frase en la cual creo firmemente:
Cyclops was Right.(less)

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Apr 05, 2013 Davy rated it 5 of 5 stars

A lot of readers seem to be dissapointed, but I did really enjoy this book. Maybe 5 stars are too much. Because this isn't the level of Civil War and I didn't really like the graphics that I admired in the first New Avengers (Breakout) or the Civil War-saga(I'm surely not a fan of John Romita jr.). The story stars slow. There are a number of occassions were the Avengers and the X-Men fight each other. So I'm looking forward to the tie-ins. But from chapter 8, when Namor (always a great figure) g...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Rod Hilton rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

Avengers vs X-Men suffers from the same problem that almost any miniseries about the X-Men suffers from: a ridiculously complex continuity. Almost every comic book I've ever read, as soon as the X-Men get involved with it, it becomes just a complete mess of references to previous stories and characters you've never met. I'm sure die-hard X-Men fans have no problem with this, but as a pretty casual reader of comic books, I've found it nearly impossible to understand what the hell is happening in...more Avengers vs X-Men suffers from the same problem that almost any miniseries about the X-Men suffers from: a ridiculously complex continuity. Almost every comic book I've ever read, as soon as the X-Men get involved with it, it becomes just a complete mess of references to previous stories and characters you've never met. I'm sure die-hard X-Men fans have no problem with this, but as a pretty casual reader of comic books, I've found it nearly impossible to understand what the hell is happening in any X-Men comic.

At various points throughout this miniseries, I found myself asking lots of questions such as "why is Colossus wearing Juggernaut's helmet now?" and "what the hell did Scarlet Witch do to destroy mutants that has basically the entire Marvel universe so pissed off at her?" and "who is Hope Summers and why does she think she's been preparing to become The Phoenix all her life?" and "why is there a Red Hulk and a Green Hulk?" and "why is Namor an X-Man now?" and "when did Storm marry Black Panther?" and "why does the moon have an earth-like section of it with an atmosphere" and "why is Wolverine in charge of the school for mutants now?" and "where did Professor X go and why does he show up all of a sudden so late in this?" and "what the heck is Utopia?" and "who is Magik?". This list actually goes on and on, though I worry that many of these questions simply betray how out of touch I am with the Marvel Universe. I don't follow the comics, I just pick up complete mini-series and trade paperbacks every so often, and I generally find the DC paperbacks much most self-contained and easier to follow than the Marvel ones.

Anyway, as a casual comic fan, I really needed to read this with Wikipedia handy. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of picking up to bring on a vacation where I had no internet access, so I found it mostly to be a confusing mess. A hundred billion characters, all thrown together with little explanation of who they are and what their purpose is. Compare this to, say, the Days of Future Past mini-series, where Cyclops explains in one panel that his power is "optic blasts" and you get a sense for how much Marvel has changed its attitude in terms of willingness to alienate casual readers over the years. When the second page of every book in the series has to have a map of who everyone is, what side of the fight they are on, and where they are located in the universe at the moment, it might be an indication that your "mega crossover event" is overly ambitious.

In any case, the book is pretty dumb overall. It's set up like some kind of "no right or wrong" war between the Avengers and the X-Men, with various issues having "I'm with the Avengers!" or "I'm with the X-Men" variants, but it's pretty quickly made clear that the X-Men are completely in the wrong, especially once their leadership are inhabited by the Phoenix Force and basically start acting like power-hungry crazies. Most of the panels are just characters beating the living fuck out of each other or extremely confusing dialogue between characters that reference the almost hilariously convoluted Marvel Universe continuity. Time to push the reset button guys.

I could really only recommend this book for a die-hard Marvel comics wonk who knows the ins and outs of the insane backstory (I'm pretty sure Captain America in this series was actually Bucky, but I don't actually know, which says it all right there). But anyone who is that familiar has probably already read it, so who was this for, really? Mostly lame, lots of pummeling with extremely large text saying things like "KRA-KOOOOOM" and not much else going on.(less)

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Feb 06, 2013 Jared Millet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, superheroes

So, here we go: The Phoenix is back. The Avengers think it will destroy the world, the X-Men (or some of them, at least) think it will reboot the mutant race. Let the fisticuffs begin!

I started seriously collecting comics right as the X-Men where sliding into the now-classic Inferno . There’s one thing I clued into pretty quickly, and my opinion has never wavered:

Cyclops is a dick.

What I’ve enjoyed about the past few years of X-Men comics is the grudging respect I’ve finally developed for the ch...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Christopher rated it 3 of 5 stars

So...typical Marvel event. Big on action and little on character development/plot. Which is a shame. With all the talent involved I really had high expectations. Maybe this was a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. Stand out moments for me were the Spider-Man issue and Namor getting the crap beat out of him (cause who doesn't enjoy watching Namor get beat down?) I was going to give this 2 stars but starting about issue 7 or 8 the quality went up and there started to be a few character moments...more

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Jan 10, 2013 LH Johnson rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, comics-graphic-novels, war

Whilst doing my ritual X-Men and Avengers "Who's Alive? Who's Dead" Game proved somewhat easier in this book (basically everybody's everything!), I remain somewhat disappointed at the final product.

The Phoenix is back. And I properly love the Phoenix and have done ever since the glory of the Claremont days. I even put up with the slightly rubbish moments the Phoenix had in Ultimate X-Men, just so I could get more of this 'character' that fascinated me. This time, she's headed straight for Hope...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Richard Guion rated it 2 of 5 stars

I liked the first third of this story the best. Unlike earlier stories where they fought, in the opening chapters the Avengers and X-Men really have at it. Seeing Cyclops blast Captain America is great fun, as if Michael Bay had wandered into the Marvel Universe. The fact that there are multiple artists doesn't matter, they are working together in a jam and for the most part, producing great work. It falls apart after the Phoenix power comes to Earth--or rather the Earth's moon--and an unexpecte...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Shannon Appelcline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, comics-marvel

I’d been somewhat concerned that this was going to be just a big punch ‘em up. I was pleasantly surprised. The plotline is one of great important to X-Men comics, dealing with the return of Phoenix and what comes afterward, and it’s dealt with quite well. At times there’s a bit too much plot over characters, but in many of the issues characters still manage to shine through. (I think Bendis and Aaron do the best job at various points.) My only major problem with the core store that the way that...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Coaxial Creature rated it 2 of 5 stars

How? How does something this bad become this... addictive? Seriously, Marvel? I'm astounded at how disgusted/satisfied I am right now.

Because, just leave the Phoenix storyline alone. Remember the good Phoenix storyline? The Phoenix/Dark Phoenix saga? That was classic. That was the definitive Phoenix storyline.

This one was just such a let down I don't even want to synopsis it because I'll get sad.

That being said, two of the AvXs were the funniest shit I've read in a long time. Cyclops vs. Capt...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Kayla rated it 4 of 5 stars

A short read, so a short review I will do.

It begins badly - I mean, so badly that I literally groaned aloud when I read terrible set-up for what gathers the heroes on top of Stark tower. The dialogue, before anything actually happens, is a dreadful waste of time and does not seem to add anything to the story. It's quite a shame, given that the rest of the comic is very enjoyable and exciting.

The story is essentially a caustic mixture of what has happened to what is now the X-Men (Scott is one p...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Michael Church rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: marvel-comics

I'm going to go against the grain here, I know. I loved this book. Did it have the deepest plot? No. Was it something that changed the way comics will be written and created for years to come? No. Well, sort of. It's got a lot of impact on a lot of characters.

First off, I approached this like I approached the Avengers movie: as a fanboy. If you have any appreciation for Marvel characters and books whatsoever, this premise alone should have you absolutely salivating. I've heard people complain t...more I'm going to go against the grain here, I know. I loved this book. Did it have the deepest plot? No. Was it something that changed the way comics will be written and created for years to come? No. Well, sort of. It's got a lot of impact on a lot of characters.

First off, I approached this like I approached the Avengers movie: as a fanboy. If you have any appreciation for Marvel characters and books whatsoever, this premise alone should have you absolutely salivating. I've heard people complain that there was too much background to learn before being able to read this, but I disagree. There were plenty of hints and reviews to help casual readers come up to speed. On the exact flip side, the fact that this has been led up to since "Avengers: Disassembled" is incredible! It's not like Brian Michael Bendis and the others looked at each other in December of 2011 and were like "Hey, you know what would be great..." This book was planned. It influenced the Marvel universe for years before it happened, and it will continue to influence it for a long time.

Beyond all of the action and the amazing sprawling artwork that is featured on page after gorgeous page, there really is something to this book. As an avid X-Men fan, I see more of those repercussions than I do for the Avengers side of the book, so that's where my focus will lay. This is a transformative book for Cyclops. He's been on a path to move fully away from Xavier's ideals and moving toward something a bit murkier, something which became apparent in Messiah Complex and Second Coming and which was driven home in Schism. To see this finally come to what was the clear destination is incredibly exciting. This character, and many of those around him, will never be the same again.

My one gripe, and maybe this is just because I'm such a Cyclops/X-Men fan, is that the whole thing seems to be the Avengers' fault. If they'd just stepped back a bit, it's possible none of the destruction would have happened. It's actually very funny because Spider-Man says in the first battle something about "Remember when superheroes used to run into each other and there'd just be some misunderstanding and then they'd go fight the bad guy? I miss the old days." It's cute because it winds up really happening in this book, but not in a traditional sense. Regardless, the conflict is a bit forced, but it's epic and believable all the same.

There are also a lot of supporting factors which contribute to this being a great book. First and foremost are the supporting books. All of the tie-ins give focus to other characters and teams (while the main books have a lot of Cyclops and Captain America). While that isn't technically anything about this book, it certainly adds value to see Wolverine having a great moment with one of his students before leaving to do what he sees as protecting the school, even though the student sees it very differently. Just some really great opportunities for the talent across Marvel to showcase what they can do (though there are some titles which fall flat, the overall effect is positive).

What's more, there are added features available, such as the AR panels which provide additional background on the development of the book. I don't recommend trying to do any of that while you read through for the first time, but if you're able to enjoy it as much as I have, it certainly warrants a second look to see all of the extra content. It's like the special features on a movie. You don't watch something for the first time with the commentary turned on, you wait until it's an old favorite and you want to see more about a beloved story.

Anyway, I had an incredible time with this book. It is the most fun I've had with comics since I started back into them, and I cannot wait to see what it will yield in the new titles to come from Marvel NOW! and I can't wait to revisit the book as more tie-in titles are released and I try to see how everything fits into the overarching story. (less)

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Apr 18, 2013 Dedefox rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel, science-fiction, super-hero

I had split mind on this book. In one side I appraised it, but in other side, I saddened.

AvX is an ultimate event for the long X-Men Messiah saga. In fact, I bought AvX because it’s one of X-Men books, not because of the hype on Avengers movie. I had attracted to X-Men books years before Messiah Complex began, but it was the one which made me back to read them after an absent of a year or two.

Before the Messiah saga, there’s Avengers Disassembled and House of M which led to this moment. The aft...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Ryan Mishap rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel

A decent story justifies the contrivance and the presentation in this heavy tome is ideal--letting the main story arc be told entirely and then backtracking to the individual battles. Those are where the problems are.

The video-game atmosphere captures Marvel versus Capcom fighting arcade game but with none of the even minor interaction a joystick provides. The addition of "Fun Facts" commentary blurbs renders the whole enterprise a joke, undermining the major story arc you had just finished read...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Ivan rated it 2 of 5 stars

The story had a nice concept but how it was delivered felt rushed. I mean, it could have been better if they gave a better thought on how it would have been. Hope was and forever will be an annoying brat to me, she whines a lot and plus she is stupid enough to act without thinking "A LOT". Same goes with the Avengers, I mean of all the times the Phoenix force came to Earth and almost destroy it, why react and care now!? Plus I noticed some inconsistencies with some characters, i.e. in the Versus...more The story had a nice concept but how it was delivered felt rushed. I mean, it could have been better if they gave a better thought on how it would have been. Hope was and forever will be an annoying brat to me, she whines a lot and plus she is stupid enough to act without thinking "A LOT". Same goes with the Avengers, I mean of all the times the Phoenix force came to Earth and almost destroy it, why react and care now!? Plus I noticed some inconsistencies with some characters, i.e. in the Versus part of Angel and Hawkeye. I don't get why Angel acted like he knew Barton and remembered his love life with Psylocke when in fact in the on going series Wolverine and The X-Men we all know he had no memories of his past life and that he thought he was a real angel after that Apocalypse/Genesis arc in X-Force, not until in some part he started doubting himself before he joined the AvsX war. But NO we see Angel here in this story exchanging conversations with Barton like he knew him well and even gave up so that Barton wouldn't hurt Betsy. Yes, we could say that he did that not because he knew his and Betsy's past life but because they were in the same team, but the way he and Betsy worked and teamed up was like watching two lovers with one who doesn't even have a problem with Amnesia! But that's just me, I mean I could have missed out on an issues wherein Angel might have remembered his past, so I could be wrong. Lastly most of the characters felt like an extra, The X-Men felt like extras and so did some Avengers, heck even Magik and Colossus as one of the Phoenix 5 felt like extras. Like I said, it's not that i hate the whole idea of the story, I just don't think the writers thought about this whole big Marvel Universe crossover event very well unlike their better stories which in my opinion were Civil War and House of M. In the brighter side I did enjoy the Phoenix Five idea despite that it felt more of a Phoenix Three (again Cyke, Emma and Namor had the spotlight more than Magik and Colossus), plus I am happy that after almost a decade the mutant population is now back in action. Of course the best part were that some of the artwork were really good, special mention to O. Coipel's and J. Cheung's art! Now that the mutants have their powers back, I'm just curious whatever happened to Vampire Jubilee now that she has her firework powers back again!? (Just some random fanboy/geek thought) ahaha(less)

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Jan 01, 2013 Sean Kennedy rated it 3 of 5 stars

It is perhaps best to look at this as crack fanfic. There were some good moments and the artwork, for the most part, is great - but the characters were off. I found it really hard to believe that after everything he went through with Jean Grey and the Dark Phoenix, that Scott Summers would willingly embrace that power in order to gain some sort of revenge. You have to give the reader enough t o believe, and they didn't work hard enough at it. Too many writers and not enough coherence?

The worst p...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Read Ng rated it 5 of 5 stars

A great story. I always love pitting one hero against the other.

I love handing a physical copy. The gloss and feel of the pages between my fingers is wonderful. The art work is spectacular. I will never outgrow this.

The e-version is such a great enhancement I may have to switch to it. The art is that much more detailed. The zoomed transitions from one panel to the next is seamless and natural. And I don't have to worry about leaving my fingerprints on the pages.

I am old school about books and...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Rajiv rated it 4 of 5 stars

Avengers vs. X-Men, simply put, was one of the better Marvel events I have ever read. The story is told at a quick pace from the get go, and it is told in a quick, concise manner that doesn't waste your time with melodrama.

The art is brilliant, too; in fact, there were moments when I'd simply stop and just admire the great artwork. The fight scenes are cut from the main issues, but they are available in AVX VS, which is a "fight book" that I enjoyed a lot.

I am currently following AVX: Consequenc...more

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May 11, 2013 Maya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Let's just handle this up front- it's not the Civil War. That said, watching the rest of the universe recognize the psycho potential of Scott Summers was legitimate.

I won't spoil for anyone farther behind than me in comics, but this is worth doing. There are things that are not quite fully buffed out, and you may see those more than you did in Civil War. But all in all, solid writing, and you can just see the landmines being placed. Much like House of M, this is one of those mega events that wi...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Greta is Erikasbuddy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Greta is Erikasbuddy by: Nicolo Yu

Shelves: comics, i-love-my-library

Jeepers Creepers!!

(those words alone should tell you that I am not a cool person, a nerd, or have any real business reading this book. I just read it for fun.)

This book was HUGE!!

And HEAVY!!

I think I've built up some great definition in my arms just by lugging this book around. Thanks Marvel!

It's also pretty pricey! I found that out after my cat, Lucky, started licking the cover. Ahhh!! Thank goodness there was a plastic cover over it and he didn't start gnawing on the edge like some kitties do....more

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Nov 07, 2012 Wendy B rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics-manga, x-men

So much wasted potential. I ended up reading this mostly so that I could enjoy Andrew Wheeler's commentary at Comics Alliance. I understand what Marvel was trying to do with this fiasco, but it lacked so much in focus and proper characterization -- and it most certainly didn't need all those books to get there. And at the end of the day, we're right back where we were 20 years ago. Toss in a sentinel or two and we're good to go.

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Oct 04, 2012 Jordan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Pretty ok, How they set up the whole fight was awkard because it was like "The pheonix is coming the pheonix is coming." Plus I didn't understand WHY Scott was so hostile towards the Avengers. It's not like they were already trying to kill everyone, Just wanted to help basicly the entire world. Yes they were trying to take Hope but attacking everyone was not needed.
I thought it was awesome when Spiderman took out 2 of the "Pheonix people" The view kinda switched mainly to him during that perio...more

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May 12, 2013 Bane of Kings rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: notable-2012-releases, marvel, x-men, graphic-novels, superheroes, 2012-releases-read

You can read the Review Here: http://thefoundingfields.com/2013/05/...

Note: I reviewed the TPB edition collecting Avengers vs. X-Men #0-12.

“Given the great potential of the creative team on board this book, not to mention the idea, the actual execution is somewhat flawed.” ~The Founding Fields

Writers: Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman | Art: John Romita Jr., Oliver Coipel, Adam Kubert | Publisher: Marvel Comics | Collects: Avengers vs. X-Men #0-12

"...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Anne rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, graphic-novels, read-in-2013

Blech. I can't believe I read the whole thing.

The underlying plot was a good idea, but it turned into a really goofy slug-fest.
Hope is the first mutant born since Wanda's 'No More Mutants' thing, and the Phoenix is on the way to use her for something. Is that a good thing, or is it an End-Of-The-World thing?
600 pages later...and I don't care.

This could have perhaps been a better read if the VS stuff hadn't been displayed so prominently. It's a comic, so of course I wanna see some fighting, but...more

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Nov 29, 2012 Unai rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

Antes de meterme a leer algunas de las nuevas series del “relanzamiento” (por llamarlo de alguna manera) de Marvel Now, tocaba ponerme al día con este ultimo evento “Avengers Vs X-Men”. Lo reseñé brevemente en su inicio y ahí me quedé porque no me atrajo para nada la idea de gente pegándose porque si y con un dibujo de John Romita Jr., me parecía malo y ramplón. Pero bueno tras alguna reseña en podcast y como me jode lo indecible no enterarme de las cosas, me he puesto mis gafas de leer chorrada...more Antes de meterme a leer algunas de las nuevas series del “relanzamiento” (por llamarlo de alguna manera) de Marvel Now, tocaba ponerme al día con este ultimo evento “Avengers Vs X-Men”. Lo reseñé brevemente en su inicio y ahí me quedé porque no me atrajo para nada la idea de gente pegándose porque si y con un dibujo de John Romita Jr., me parecía malo y ramplón. Pero bueno tras alguna reseña en podcast y como me jode lo indecible no enterarme de las cosas, me he puesto mis gafas de leer chorradas y he atacado el evento, eso si, sin tie-ins ni nada… directamente los 12 números y punto.

Y el caso es que mi impresión inicial, mejora con esta lectura del tirón del asunto mutante. No es que lo vaya a poner bien del todo, pero se deja leer y el giro que tiene el poder Fénix a media trama, me ha parecido original y te da suficiente para querer seguir leyendo. Tampoco es que dé realmente para 12 números. Con 6 hubiera quedado la mar de curiosa la historia sin demasiadas complicaciones, pero ya se sabe como son las cosas y hay que aprovechar el tirón de ventas y paree que el evento a vendido lo suyo.

Procuro no contar spoilers porque no se como va de avanzada su publicación española, pero si alguno tiene especial interés en comentar algo sobre si Cíclope tiene razón o no (que ya os digo yo que no y punto), lo hacemos en los comentarios. Lo que brevemente se puede comentar de la trama es suficiente. La fuerza Fénix se dirige a la tierra y parece que tiene que ver, como todos sabemos hace tiempo, con Hope Summers y lo que ella misma supone para la raza mutante. Como ya tenemos el culo pelao de montar en Fenix, ya sabemos, nosotros y los vengadores, lo que suele pasar cuando alguien es poseído por ella.

La bronca viene porque los vengadores quieren impedir que el Fénix llegue a Hope y en cambio Cíclope y casi todos los mutantes (Lobezno pasa del tema) ven al Fénix y su unión con Hope, como la oportunidad de regenerar la raza mutante. Y con ambas facciones enfrentadas y cada uno mas burro que el otro, llega la hora de las tortas, que decía el otro. Esto no tiene mayor interés hasta que ocurre algo inesperado cuando llega la fuerza Fénix y hasta aquí puedo leer, el resto es spoiler trememdo. Esa parte me ha gustado, me ha convencido, se pone interesante y el resultado final también.

En definitiva, puede merece la pena echarle una lectura y estar un poco al día de que ocurre en el universo Marvel y podría decirse que cierra un ciclo que comenzó con House of M y abre otro que empieza con este Marvel Now, que parece que esta siendo un éxito en ventas. Las cosas han cambiado, pero siguen una continuidad y una lógica, no es un reseteo a los DC New Universe, simplemente que el tablero de juego ha cambiado en determinados aspectos.(less)

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Feb 04, 2013 Rattoni rated it 1 of 5 stars

Really bad, a realy boring writing with a great idea for the marvel fans. It has some shiny moments, but really scarce. Cyclops and Captain America are so one dimensional, that everything great writers such as Brubaker, and Bendis gets thrown out of the window.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

So this isn´t really avengers vs, Xmen, the avengers are scattered all over earth, and it´s just five X men they face off. Those five mutants are these: Cyclops, a great choice, his intentions may even seem interesting at a...more Really bad, a realy boring writing with a great idea for the marvel fans. It has some shiny moments, but really scarce. Cyclops and Captain America are so one dimensional, that everything great writers such as Brubaker, and Bendis gets thrown out of the window.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

So this isn´t really avengers vs, Xmen, the avengers are scattered all over earth, and it´s just five X men they face off. Those five mutants are these: Cyclops, a great choice, his intentions may even seem interesting at a point, but his actions and dialog seem those of a golden age villain. Emma Frost, this ended being an interesting choice but she never does anyting interesting in the way. Colossus, who was already dealing with an power altering cosmic force, so it seemed like an inapropiate moment to give him another "altering powers cosmic force". Namor, who is not even known to be a mutant, yes, he is one, but he is not an X-man, there have been so many other characters that have been X-men over the years, and they pick the one that is more related to so many other franchises of marvel, that is really hard to picture him with the same speech cyclops is fighting for. Magik Colossus, sister, I found her interesting, but i really have problems, with the demonic forces she comands and even more with here bringing parts of hell to earth.

Another big problem with this is "HOW THE HELL DOES MAGIC WORKS IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE?" ok, so wanda is a mutant, but when she said "no more mutants" she kept being a mutant ( and other popular characters), Stephen strange is a great sorcerer who was defeated by Magik, who is also a mutant whose mutant power is to cast magic. Between Dr Strange and Magik, they both seem to have their magic styles defined, one is demonic, the other are spells, but what one can do that the other doesn´t remains a mystery. And the biggest mystery of all is the scarlet witch, who seems to be able to fix everything with a spell, but she doesnt untill the plot requires her to.there´s also Iron Fist´s magic place, where the avengers go to hide in a certain moment, in the end there´s so much magic in all these book even iroman ends up being a man of Faith, a moment that ridiculizes one of the best stablished atheists of the marvel universe.

I had already read bad reviews about this, but what really got me intriged was that Profesor Xavier dies in the hands of Cyclops. that sounds like an Epic moment, but here it´s so anticlimatic that they have to tell you several times that Profesor Xavier is dead. What a terrible way to waste what culdvé been one of comic books greatest moments.

So avoid this, I also read a couple of tie ins, which were mor interesting and better written, i was really reluctant to read Wolverine and the X-men, but that read so much better than this that i´m givin it a chance. (less)

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Avengers vs. X-Men (The Avengers)

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