Hey everybody! (Hi, Doctor Nick!) Sorry, Simpsons humor. Anyway, JT here with the first review of the new comic week, as requested by a few of you, including Trobb, Avengers vs. X-Men #8. The last issue left off with Namor about to destroy Wakanda, so let's see the fallout, shall we?
Avengers vs. X-Men #8
Summary: We start off with Namor just wrecking Wakanda as The Thunderer and Ironman escape through the portal to K'un-Lun and join Wolverine and Hope. Back at Wakanda, The Avengers all attack Namor and take it to him, but he manages to snap Red Hulk's arm, causing the bone to pop out (Gory and awesome!) and give the Phonix powered Atlantean mounts a comeback, until Namor comes up against Scarlet Witch. The Two have a powerful battle that ends with Wanda and Namor losing consciousness. The remaining Phoenix Five show up and Namor's Phoenix powers leave him and go to Magik, Colossus, Emma Frost and Cyclops, making them even MORE powerful. How... is Colossus getting stronger? He's Colossus...he's The Juggernaut... and now he has EVEN MORE Phoenix power! Anyway, the Avengers escape through a portal that Cap opens thanks to a device Ironman gave him, as the Phoenix Four discover that they are stronger and will continue to be stronger everytime one of them falls in battle. Cyclops is then telepathically reached by Professor Xavier, as Prof X tells him to stop and that this has gone too far. Cyclops tells Prof X he has no right to order them around but Prof. X tells them this is their last warning, stop or he will stop them. Over with the Avengers, they discuss that it took everything they had to take down Namor, and they've just made the rest stronger. Everyone looks towards Captain America wondering what the plan is, but Cap looks like he's all out of ideas as this issue comes to a close.
Thoughts: I had mixed feelings about this issue. I liked the stuff with Namor fighting everyone, how much it took to take him down and the stuff with Cyclops and Prof X, but the ending seemed weird. It wasn't really a cliffhanger as much as a very abrupt ending... I am wondering how Namor will feel now that he's lost his Phoenix Powers, as well as what the Avengers can hope to do against the even stronger Phoenix Four. And I gotta know what's Prof. X has under his sleeves as well...
Score: 7/10
Spider-Man: We finally got a lucky shot and all we did was make the other ones more powerful?!
The Thing: So even when we win we lose.
Spider-Man: And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is exactly how it feels to be me... every day of the week.
I think we all know where this is going...Cyclops is going to get all of the phoenix before this series is over, it seems fairly inevitable...
ReplyDeleteYep Anon, I figured the same thing, next Magik probably loses it, the Colossus, then Emma, then Cy is left until somehow Jean Grey shows up.
ReplyDeleteHa! "until somehow Jean Grey shows up." Perfect. It's true, though. It's obvious that she will somehow be involved in this storyline. Maybe if whoever ends up having the Phoenix shit at the end is smart, they will bring back all the big-time characters who died (Nightcrawler is the first that comes to my mind)and maybe even pull a potentially good version of "Brightest Day" out of AvX. I could totally see the Phoenix host deciding ____, ____, ___, ___, and ___ need to come back because the Phoenix has bigger plans for them and that'd be the plotline behind "AvX Consequences"
ReplyDeleteI can see where you are coming from JT. I am not particularly a fan of any of the Phoenix Five, or Hope. So anytime something big happens my first thought is "meh".
ReplyDeleteI am kind of excited to see Xavier join the mix. Right now he is hanging out with his reality-manipulating son so that could be interesting. Also, the preview for next week's New Avengers shows the reunion of the Illuminati and they have all the pieces of the Infinity Gauntlet. So, there is some potential for the Avengers' side to do something crazy.
I could actually see that Caz, and making a good version of Brightest Day like you stated would work well here, either that or I think the reality-manipulating son that Jermox just mentioned is gonna just... create Jean again. I'm not sure if he can do that but anyway you slice it, I keep thinking this has to end with Jean returning.
ReplyDeleteWell, let's see. We have as major players hosting the Pheonix are Cyclops, Hope, Charles Xavier, Legion, Cable, Wanda Maximoff, and Jean Grey. One of these will host as the true Pheonix Avatar in the finale.
ReplyDeleteCable was mentioned as definitely having a part in the AvX so he is a backup, Xavier can stop Cyclops and company with his son Legion at his side. Those two powers mixed together spells rival if not conquer. Everyone and there momma is expecting a Jean Grey return out of this whole ordeal whether she is Pheonix host or not...resurrection anyone?!
ReplyDeleteI wish the Pheonix would choose Xman just to uber his powers back to the norm, but that's just me being biased and showing favoratism. But I will add and mention that (somewhere I read) while Emma Frost was searching for Hope previously, she did recognize Nate Grey as a telepath, so... But since Nate's only made cameos I truly honestly can't see it. But Cable back to his full Messianic power is definitely something the PF may look into and since Marvel confirmed that he would be involved in the final arc, I could see Scott giving it to him or either he or Cable resurrecting Jean and giving it to her. Now the infinite guantlet is interesting, because I could see Iron Man using it to trick the PF into using him as host or using it against the final PF host whoever it may be.
DeleteThanks for the quick review JT! Sounds like a filler issue, but the Adam Kubert art looks fantastic. If I find myself with a light reading load anytime soon (doubtful, I'm at least 2 weeks behind), I may pick this up. I haven't read AvX since issue 4 or so, mostly due to disinterest. I have been enjoying some of the tie-ins though, so it hasn't been all bad.
ReplyDeleteNo prob, Trobb, glad I could help. And yeah, this was pretty much filler outside of Namor dropping the Phoenix power, so ya didn't miss out on much. TBH, the best part of this has been AVX VS. in my opinion, when the matches aren't obvious or ending in draws.
DeleteI agree so much! While the main series has suffered due to splitting focus between too many characters, pacing issues, and sub-standard art, VS has been pure fun. I bought all but one of the VS issues, which feature A-list talent on both writing and art duties.
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