Avengers Vs. X-Men #3 Review
Avengers Vs. X-Men is here. And what better way to handle this than to have our resident Avengers fan (Geoff Arbuckle) and our resident X-Men fan (Victor Kutsenok) come together in a place of neutrality to talk about their favorite teams coming to blows over a cosmic power coming to Earth. Now, Round 3, also known as Avengers Vs X-Men #3.
Avengers Vs X-Men #3
ACB's Geoff Arbuckle and Victor Kutsenok take a look at Avengers Vs. X-Men #3.
Victor: So I just finished AvX #3 and all I have to say is that you must be a mind reader. You pegged it perfectly in our last review. The battle you predicted occurred and I really didn’t think it would happen this early. But we’ll discuss that fight, and the overall implications of it later. First impressions, this issue was a lot more plot driven and sets up a slew of possible fights in future issues. Also, even though the issue was not as emotionally charged as the past two, it was still a fairly good book. What did you think of it, Geoff?
Geoff: I agree, Victor. The book isn’t wham-bam action at a breakneck pace. It’s what Ed Brubaker does very well – it gives us something to build on and lays a foundation for the plot to really grab hold of. Also, leave it to Bru to give us a complex Captain America. It’s clear he’s got some stuff going on. Perhaps it’s the expectation that’s been placed on him to be the top dog. Maybe it’s frustration that the X-Men weren’t willing to “come along quietly”. Or it might just be trying to coordinate such a massive amount of Avengers, but he’s being uncharacteristically forceful with just about everyone. Overall, I’m glad for the shift in the story. We couldn’t expect 12 issues of all out action. We needed to stop, take a breath, and then sort out some actual plot to drive this thing. I’m glad they tapped Brubaker to do that.
Victor: I was hoping for 12 issues of action. That, to me, would be original and completely unexpected. As for Mr. Brubaker, to be honest, I am not a fan of his work. His Cap run was just too much for me to take in. I guess I’m more of a humor and slapsticks fan. Also love the action. The Cap/Wolvie fight, however brief, was action. I did find it funny that Mr. Super Soldier needed some Giant size backup to take down Wolverine. At least he was smart enough to know he couldn’t do it by himself. Also, in my opinion, he was wrong. Wolverine would have followed orders. He didn’t need to lose such a powerful and capable ally. Especially if he’s now a wild card in the search for Hope.
Geoff: That was certainly a misstep in Cap’s overall plan. He was smart enough to have Hank’s help, but not so smart enough to cast Wolverine out. It’s a relatively small scene, but one with definite repercussions to come. I’m betting we might be witnessing the end of Wolverine’s association with the Avengers. I will say, script wise, it was a good frame by frame fight between the two.
On the X-Men side, it looks like Scott’s getting some recruitment help from others. Now, Rachel Summers is one of Logan’s X-Men, right?
Rachel Summers joins the fray in AvX #3.
Victor: Rachel Summers is Scott and Jean Grey’s daughter from a desolate alternate future. Her code name is Phoenix and she has all of her mother’s powers. On top of that, she’s a mutant tracker and has been a host for the Phoenix. She is one of Wolverine’s teachers, but her loyalty has been and always will be with her father.
Cap definitely screwed up. He discarded a resource of utmost importance. Without Wolverine, he has lost the insight to the mind of Scott Summers that Logan could provide. He has also lost Cerebra, which is in Logan’s School, as a way to find Hope. Now he has to depend on Iron Man. Not a bad person to depend on, but not as useful as an actual device that can locate mutants.
On another note, how smart was Hope in rigging that device to mask her location? And how cool was it that Magik beat Dr. Strange?
Geoff: I did like Hope’s move. She’s not one to be underestimated for sure. In fact, that scene also served as the only part of the books art that I liked. I don’t think we need to go any further on JRJR’s art, but I actually had to check to make sure he did the art on the issue when I got to that scene.
I’m not as familiar with Magik as you likely are, so I was a tad bit surprised, but I can’t forget the predicament Doctor Strange is in. He’s no longer Sorcerer Supreme and he’s getting a little long in the tooth, so… Yeah, I wasn’t terribly surprised she got the drop on him.
Doctor Strange bested by the X-Men's Magik.
Victor: Magik, in recent years has become extremely powerful, even reaching levels close to Dormammu. Dr. Strange stood no chance against her, especially in her place of power, Limbo.
Geoff: Getting back to Hope for a moment. What do you believe her endgame is? Do you think she truly wants to take the Phoenix’s power or do you think it is more of her just letting the call and the curiosity get to her?
Victor: Hope is in a no win situation. She is the Mutant Messiah, but no one has really explained to her what that means since no one really knows what it means. Other than being a power mimic, Hope has the ability to subconsciously control any newborn mutants she comes in contact with. She has no clue about the Phoenix, but being the student of Cable, I’m sure she is doing as much research as possible. Also, in the X-Men book, the computer intelligence known as Unit gave her some sort of secret crash course on the Phoenix. Hope has been trained by the best. She has been chased since birth. Now she’s the possible chosen host of the Phoenix. That’s a lot for anyone to handle, let alone a teenager. I feel for her.
My big question now is why the hell are the Avengers still going after Hope? They have no chance to contain her or stop the Phoenix force from using her as a host. Why waste the resources? The only way to stop her is to kill her and Logan is no longer available to do the dirty work. Also, why no Wanda this issue?
Geoff: Wanda will be coming. I just think her involvement is still lying in wait. After all, this is only a few hours later. I still think she’s either going to be the one who stops the Phoenix or will be the new host when it is all said and done. I would prefer her to not be the host because I’m of the opinion that they should just let the girl alone to be whatever she is going to be as Scarlet Witch, but, as we know too well, Marvel does like to play around a bit with their characters.
Victor: Yes they do. And sometimes not for the better. Still, someone will have to die/sacrifice themselves for the “event” and Wanda is as good a choice as any since she’s been gone for a while while Hope is a relatively new character. For me, I still want Jean Grey back. She would add such a dynamic to the X-Books. Especially in the Scott/Emma/Logan/Namor couples situation. Not to mention she’s always been a catalyst for great stories.
On a different topic, I know I didn’t respond to you earlier, so I will now. JRJR. Boooooooo!!!!!!! Too many lines. Not enough uniqueness. Good Spider Man, however. Nuff said.
Hope tinkers with a way to keep herself off the X-Men and Avengers' radars.
Geoff: Ha. Well, I’m going to leave it at that I did like the solo scene with Hope. That was as good as it can get for me. Overall, I think I’ll give this book a solid 85. It had a good start with Scott’s ruse and a good finish with the fight between Cap and Wolverine. It lost a little bit of the big time action stuff, but what it dialed down there was in the interest for plot to move to the next showdown. How are you feeling about the issue in general?
Victor: In general, I enjoyed it. I knew it was a set-up right away since Emma was not in diamond form. I liked the plot movement and the nice set-up for future battles. I liked the Cap/Wolvie fight and his new x-factor status set-up. Art? What art? I will join you in the 85. I hope next issue we get back to the action and fanboy battles. I can’t wait to see the matchups that occur. Also, is next issue the last JRJR one? If so, I’ll be cheering all the way to the comic store.
Geoff: Yes. Olivier Coipel takes over with #5 and carries through #8. I believe Adam Kubert takes over with #9. So, visually, we should get a big bang to wrap up. I’ll be seeing you in two weeks, sir!
Victor: Can’t wait!
A COMIC BOOK BLOG RATING
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Good set up for the next stage of the story. Good battle between Cap and Wolverine, nice opening trick played by Cyclops, and some good Hope interlude. | Art, of course, is lacking. Despite getting good plot stuffs, we trade a little bit of the action away. |
| Rating |
4 Comments
For one great insight from the both of you. Second this issue made Captain America look like an egotistical ass. He could have just talked to Logan and try to act rational but Cap just made a volatile sisturation worse by just attacking him. Logan is not one to make an enemy with and this i hope does come back and bit Cap in the ass.
I hate to be the resident sour-puss at ACB, but it’s who I am. I read issues 2 and 3 in one sitting, so I’m going to get them confused – just fair warning.
From the beginning, red flags have popped up. When this fight started, how come no one tried to break it? Almost everyone here knows each other, has worked together before or has been on both teams at one point or another. Why didn’t anyone try to stop the fight before it started in earnest? And once the fight started, I wonder why Magneto didn’t start using Cap’s shield to sever some heads.
I’m getting frustrated with people doing things that either go entirely against their character. The Captain America I know would have gone to Utopia alone and debated Scott until they were both blue in the face. Also, when did Scott become totally crazy? What evidence does he have that his beliefs will come to pass? None, as far as I can tell – not even a hit. He just made it up off the top of his head.
This series also has one character saying something, than another character saying something else that totally refutes that, and then they move on like nothing happened. This seems to involve Cap a lot; when Cap was telling him that the X-Men were their prisoners, Iron Man wanted to know where they’d put them, how they’d hold them – did he want to empty out The Raft? The idea that Cap actually wanted to handcuff all of the X-Men was ridiculous. I’m pretty sure Iron Man also pointed out that there was nothing much to charge them with.
The whole Cap kicking Logan out of the jet thing… that didn’t work for me. You can’t say that both Scott AND Logan are wrong; that doesn’t make any sense. (and, Logan has an abundance of evidence to back up his claim) Again, Cap’s idea to put Hope in protective custody is ridiculous. She already got passed ALL OF THE X-MEN AND ALL OF THE AVENGERS and they couldn’t do diddly about it. Logan summed it up when he observed that Hope was already too powerful for them and the Phoenix wasn’t even at Earth yet. They need to kill Hope ASAP, and it seems like it’s already too late. Yet there Cap is, sending out really small squads (where did everybody go? Spider-Man and Spider-Woman are a team? That’s it? One of the other squads had 5 people!) to go get hope and put her into some protective custody that won’t do anything – because she can melt walls, run over water, and who the hell knows what else!
and the art! was there seriously no one else available to draw this series? I know whats-his-name is getting replaced, but sheesh – the first three issues are HORRENDOUS! I’m not saying I could do better, but my art isn’t much worse!
i’m going to stick with the series, but I’m going to need some major improvement to see this thing through.
Thank you so much for all of your insights Jamie. Let me respond with one sentence to all of them. You are 1000% correct, but this series is not about the plot making any sense, just about the fanboy fights.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there is no way Marvel can allow Magneto to cut loose or else everyone will be dead. Magneto has fought off the Phoenix when he was at his peak. Magneto+Colossus/Juggernaut as a slingshot = everyone is dead. The point is to have fanboy fights, not an instant win. There needs to be some sort of reason to buy this series. It certainly isn’t the obvious lack of logical plot.
Cap acting the way he is is completely illogical. That’s why this fight started. That’s why I’m on the X-Men’s side. Cap made an ultimatum. One he had no chance of enforcing. Kicking out Logan only further raised his lack of logic. He asked Logan to come. He knows what Logan does. He KNEW Logan would try to kill her. Then he’s pissed at him for it? Whatever. Once again, just another set-up for a fantasy fight.
If anyone can bring someone up on charges its the X-Men against the Avengers for breaking and entering and trespassing.
The whole splitting up the teams into mini-teams is so we can get some more one on one fanboy fights. That’s it. No other reason. Also, any team with Spider Man is a very capable team. He’s definitely an all around threat.
As for Hope, she will not be stopped. By anyone. Or else there is no point to this series. Only the Scarlet Witch has a shot against her. However, when they do finally meet, Hope will then be able to mimic Wanda’s ability to change reality. With the power of the Phoenix fueling her, she can use that reality power to restore the mutants. That is the most likely endgame of this series. That and a bunch of fanboy fights.
Art. What art? JRJR is a freaking joke. Has been for a long time. The thing is, he’s been the regular Avengers artist for a while now so he was given the series. I HATE that decision, but I can understand why.
I understand the frustration, but if you take this series as what they are advertising it at, a bunch of cool fights, then you can ignore the super thin plot. And once Romita is gone to whatever corner he lives in, we can enjoy the art as well. That’s how I see it.
Is Thor going to shown up at all? He seems to be the only one who could honestly deal w/the X-Men heavyweights.
RomitaJr’s art has never been my favorite, but it is almost incompetent for these books. Like the bottom of the jaw/mouth doesn’t align with the rest of the head in some panels. Some panels make me laugh out loud now, at this point.