After five issues of dull fighting and jumpy narratives, Avengers vs. X-Men #6 was the first chapter to realize the potential of this event. But the constantly rotating cast of writers means readers can never be sure that the quality will remain consistent, a fact that has been both a blessing and a curse for this book. AvX backslides a bit in issue #7. Luckily, Act 2 still remains markedly improved over Act 1.
Cyclops closed out issue #6 by promising "No more Avengers." We've seen that decree play out a bit in certain tie-in books, but here we see the full might of the Phoenix Five unleashed against Captain America's ragtag team. The tables certainly have changed since the Avengers stormed Utopia at the end of issue #1. While Cap keeps fighting a losing battle against the X-Men, Matt Fraction also follows Tony Stark and Black Panther's desperate battle to find a scientific solution and explores the twin mysteries of how Scarlet Witch and the Iron Fist factor into the conflict.
Characterization is one area this series has often faltered. The problems now are ones of consistency and focus. Both within this series and among the various tie-ins, there's very little consistency in how the Phoenix Five are portrayed. Are they retaining their normal personalities for now, or is the Phoenix Force speaking through them? It's really difficult to tell at times, but on the whole Fraction's dialogue for these five X-Men is much more casual than we saw from Jonathan Hickman in issue #6. In some ways this works better, as we see a bit of bickering and dissension among the group, but again, greater consistency would be nice.
This issue is also too narrow in its focus at times. For one thing, the various X-Men not currently empowered by the Phoenix are nothing more than window dressing -- extra bodies to toss into battle scenes. Unlike issue #6 and its Magneto/Xavier exchange, there's absolutely no sense of how the X-Men are reacting to their sudden rise in fortunes. How do characters like Psylocke and Storm feel about hunting down the Avengers in brutal, militaristic fashion? Uncanny X-Men #15 does a great job of mining that material, but that brings us back to one of the recurring complaints about this event -- too much vital story material is being left to the tie-ins. AvX is also beginning to feel a bit like Fear Itself in the sense that there's no wider context for the conflict. This issue is so concerned with specific Avengers and X-Men characters that it ignores how the rest of the world is responding to the conflict between heroes and the actions of the Phoenix Five. It's as if the Marvel Universe is an empty place beyond those few dozen creatures wearing spandex.
Still, this issue does a lot right, as well. Fraction does a fine job of capturing the growing tension on the Avengers side. The interaction between Black Panther and Tony Stark stands out particularly. These two have never had the warmest of relationships to start with, but here Tony's latent death wish becomes a major source of friction for them both. With Wolverine continuing to fade into the background in Act 2, it's really Panther of all characters that is stepping us as the neutral party and moderate voice of reason. Marvel has also been promising a major game-changer with this issue. While I'm not sure I would describe the final pages as "game-changing," Fraction does deliver an impressive escalation in the conflict that promises a very memorable issue #8.
Issue #6 also does a better job than most of providing fully realized, engaging battle scenes rather than the choppy, truncated ones of earlier issues. Fraction's script makes excellent use of Olivier Coipel's talent for epic scale and bold, dramatic figures. Coipel nails the tense emotions as the Avengers struggle to remain free, as well as the surreal action as characters like Magik and Scarlet Witch unleash their full power. There's an impressive amount of detail and energy at work in these pages, and it's a shame that Coipel only has one issue remaining before the next visual shake-up.
As with nearly every chapter of this event, Avengers vs. X-Men #7 is guilty of glossing over certain vital parts of the story in its charge forward. Even so, the series remains in better shape than it was during Act 1. I would be surprised if issue #8 were to kill that momentum given the groundwork Fraction has laid here.
Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.
Source : ign[dot]com
