Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Avengers Vs X-Men #10Avengers Vs X-Men #10 of 12
Marvel Comics
Brubaker, Kubert, Dell & Martin

This installment of Avengers vs X-Men is essentially showing us how the Phoenix power has corrupted Cyclops and Emma, the two X-Men that still hold the power. The book isn't terrible but it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense either. I am told that if I were reading Avengers or New Avengers that this issue would be a smoother read. However, with no footnotes pointing me towards those issues I assumed I could get the complete story right here. Ten issues in and I finding this to be one of the worst mini-series I have ever read and I suspect it will read worse when I sit down and read the thirteen issues in one sitting. Thankfully there are only two issues left.

Let's begin with the main negative, which is the story itself. Hope, a mutant helping the Avengers, is being trained to either defeat or consume the Phoenix power. She has already attempted this and failed, so the Avengers are using Iron Fist and Lei Kung to prepare her. What they are doing to her isn't clear. Why they feel this will work isn't clear. Why there is a dragon in this issue isn't clear. What kind of power Hope or the dragon have isn't clear. What is clear is that fight over Hope is contradictory.

When Cyclops show up to take Hope away from the Avengers, the Avengers accuse him of putting a child (Hope) in harm's way. But the Avengers are doing the exact same thing to Hope by putting her up against the X-Men and the Phoenix Force. There are details that this entire event are missing and when you sit down and read an issue, page to page, the story just doesn't make any sense.

What I actually liked about the comic was the burning corruption within Emma and Cyclops as they interact with various characters. There is a building up towards a confrontation between the two of them and that should really be the pinnacle of this series. Some of these scenes are very subtle and very effective. On the other hand, some make no sense, such as Magneto taking off his protective helmet while confronting Emma, knowing she can invade his mind when he isn't wearing the helmet. Additionally, at the end of the book when Magneto makes a mind phone call to Xavier, he knows full well that Emma can detect this, which is an odd move.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsKubert's art is very uneven. There are panels that simply don't look good at all. The one where Hope breaths fire onto Cyclops appears to have the blast coming from the side of Hope's face and not her mouth. The other panel that made me cringe was Cyclops getting hit from behind by the dragon. I'm not sure what that is supposed to be but it appears to be a blob of clay with a visor on it. However, his scenes with Magneto, Emma, Captain America and Iron Man are all amazing. I simply didn't find the art to be even enough throughout.

This book is a strange one. Iron Man gets crushed in one panel and then a couple of pages later he is standing up looking fine inside their hideout. Hawkeye, who I believe has no powers, gets a full-on eye blast from Cyclops. Shouldn't he be dead? Still, there are things to like in this comic book if you are a fan of some of the X-Men characters. Iron Man also has some good dialogue. I am really struggling to find good things to say about this event as a whole and I actually wish I could turn off my brain while reading some of these issues. I might find them more enjoyable.

2 out of 5 Geek Goggles