Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Avengers vs X-Men #7 of 12
Marvel Comics
Fraction, Coipel, Morales & Martin
Avengers versus X-Men rolls on with another puzzling issue. This one doesn't really advance the plot any further and yet it isn't mindless action either. Generally speaking it feels like a filler issue, which unfortunately seems standard for most arcs that go beyond four to five issues. The artwork is as much of a mixed bag as the story as it just sort of passes through the issue with nothing really abhorrently wrong, but nothing terribly memorable either. This is simply an average comic book with a really large cast.
When you analyze the issue from an entry and exit standpoint you are left wondering why this issue exists. The book opens with the Avengers being hunted by the X-Men. The Avengers, though, are setting up pockets of resistance all over the world while they try to figure out how to conquer the Phoenix Five. The book ends with the X-Men (or X-Man) finding their new hideout and attacking it. Between Point A and Point B all that really occurs is that the Avengers move Hope to a new hideout and one X-Man (instead of many) finds them. It's an odd issue when you look at the book ends.
In between the covers there is a decent enough story. The book reads a lot like a Secret Avengers type book where there are diversions, side battles and a lot of infighting. That aspect of the book actually works to its advantage because it is entertaining. Sure, the cast is so big that some heavy hitters are basically lawn ornaments in the book, like Thor. On the whole the book is pretty good though when viewed through that lens.
However, there is a lot of troubling moments in the book that seem to make no sense to the issue. At one point the Avengers and the X-Men fight and a character is killed off. Why? I'm not sure. That character's team then shows how they can heal the character up. This points out the obvious problem where the super heroes are more interested in helping each other than the good of mankind. Will this serve the story later? I hope so, but I tend to doubt it.
Another odd aspect is that of the Scarlet Witch. The Avengers know that the X-Men are afraid of her. Yet, they don't press their advantage. Instead they mask others to look like her to buy some time against the X-Men, hoping that science will give them the answer. In a story that is based on fighting why do they choose now to stop fighting and use smoke and mirrors instead? Wouldn't it make more sense to have the Scarlet Witch take out one of the Phoenix Five and then use that character to figure out the puzzle?
The artwork has some high points, such as one of the major fights in the book. The pencils really lend themselves towards the action and it works really well. However, the panels that feature Hope are puzzling as she appears to be eleven years old now. That isn't the only oddity as Tony Stark's beard changes from a Wolverine (and where is he this issue?) look to a peach fuzz look. It was quite distracting. During the main battle at the beginning I didn't grasp that Emma Frost had even entered the fray because of the overly bright coloring. It was an important detail to overlook. Overall, it is both, a good and bad, artistic story.
This event is really a dud. The issues so far have all been average, but the sum of the parts are just not adding up to a consistent and satisfying story. Some of the strange things in this book really amplify that feeling, such as Namor and Emma Frost kissing. Why? I don't know and it isn't explained at all. So many comic book pages and so little explanation make for a frustrating read. This story at least has some good fighting moments and some nice bickering. This is a really average book.
2.5 out of 5 Geek Goggles
