We’re halfway through September and Marvel’s year long running event: Avengers vs X-Men is just one issue away from its conclusion. Overall the series has been met with its fair share of criticism from fans, among which was the fact a few of the heroes acted a little out of character, and the series overall suffered from a few pacing problems. In my most humble opinion, I really enjoyed seeing these two titans battle it out, and with a title like Avengers vs X-Men, it was always going to be a huge seller for the company, with or without the huge marketing campaign. However I’d be lying if I didn’t say I too had a few nitpicks concerning the event as a whole.
To start with, I could easily see this event being better suited for a six part miniseries rather than the extended twelve. It’s crystal clear to me why they chose to do it (out of the goodne$$ of their heart ofcour$e), but I do feel the storyline – what little there was of it – suffered from this decision. Consequently, two or three of the issues have felt pretty filler, with not much going on in terms of moving the plot forward, and let’s be honest here, these comics aren’t that cheap! One advantage I did find with this set up was the rotating roster on art and writing duties, it offered a fresh take on the story every few weeks and gave hope for better things ahead. In particular, I really like Olivier Coipel’s art in this seres, and always have done since his run on Thor. The year long run also gave each hero more chance to shine, and collecting the tie-ins was never a necessity.
Then, come issue #11, the inevitable thing happened. Somebody died! But who? Was it Cyclops, or Emma Frost? Captain America; Iron Man; Wolverine; Spidey? No, just Professor Xavier, that X-cripple who used to train mutants but has now become irrelevant in the modern comic universe. I hope it wasn’t Marvel’s intention to shock readers with this turn of events, as I for one saw it coming from a country mile. As we all know, characters never, ever stay dead unless you go by the name Ben Parker or Gwen Stacy. With that in mind, have a nice holiday Doc, see you when you get back!
As we move on to the Marvel NOW! initiative, I hope that if they do choose to keep up with these events, they improve in their pacing of the story, or at least tell one that warrants a twelve issue series, because despite my negative views on it, I still found it to be really fun to follow. But hey, I’m just one fan right? What did you think of the event?