Avengers vs. X-Men #12 The Conclusion(ish) Review

Comic: Avengers vs X-Men #12Written By: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael bendis, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Kickman and Matt FractionPencils By: Adam KubertPublisher: Marvel ComicsRelease Date: OUT NOW IN STORES & DIGITAL DOWNLOAD (VIA COMIXOLOGY)

rating: 2

This is it. After months of bickering, Phoenix powered mutants, the slow yet fairly predictable collapse of Scott Summers, a globe spanning set of scraps between heroes, "No More Avengers", the death of Charles Xavier, the is she/isn't she the Mutant Messiah Hope and the largely pointless musing of Tony Stark, Captain America, Wolverine and pretty much the entire cast of characters at one stage or another, Avengers vs. X-Men wraps up in this twelfth issue (of a bazillion issue coverage through the Marvel line all summer long) and even though it's over, we still have some miniseries epilogues left to go. Phew, Marvel went all out on this one for page count, shame they didn't go all out on storytelling. As you may know from my reviews of the entire central miniseries, my feelings on AvX have been consistently low. Yeah, there's been some high points and issue eleven was actually very strong but really for a big summer event that seemed like an attempt to pull in more readers to a Marvel universe facing an ever dwindling readership, this epic battle of heroes was just too much of a mess for the house of ideas to showcase what they can do with their universe. I don't know whether it was the army of writers but the lack of focus across this series was the real killer. First it was about Hope Summers, then Cyclops, then The Phoenix, then it wasn't really about much for a while, then the Phoenix Mutants, then it just seemed to coast for like four or five issues, then it was heavily hinting at that Scarlet Witch might be doing something all while Iron Man sat on his own thinking of a plan. Then there was more crazy Scott Summers stuff and just when the pointless fighting stopped and the drama found it's way in, this twelfth issue hit the reset switch and proved without a doubt Marvel have been playing us for time (and money) because frankly the conclusion here could have been sorted out about eight issues ago. Without going into too much detail (because there really isn't any) this all comes down to Hope and more annoyingly how mutants and Avengers working in balance can save the day. Before we get there, more pointless fights explode across the globe again, taking the tight focus of the last issue and spreading it too thinly again and rather than making us feel the importance of what has happened to Scott Summers and indeed the heroes (who are getting along fine now by the way). All the while we're spoken down to with lines about "No More Mutants" as we hark back to previous events as well as 'No More' other things, like it's a new Marvel buzz phrase. Before you know it the AvX bubble bursts and we're in fallout. We wrap up with hints at the Uncanny Avengers team coming up (surprise, surprise Wolverine is in the line up) and a very odd way of depicting Scott Summer, like he's almost become the dangerous insane guy in the Marvel Universe now (which he is but even that doesn't feel right somehow, despite the current events). Without beating around the bush AvX has been a shambles. The stories around the edge in the monthly runs have had some highlights but in recent months even they have turned into stories unrelated to AvX beyond an opening panel explaining a fight elsewhere so that the writers can get on to business as usual with some of the character who aren't directly involved. The main twelve issues have just been a series undramatic fights (because you know for the most part no one is going to get hurt), repetitive threads (Scott Summers is going bad but of course not bad enough to kill anyone - okay Charley but late in the game) and really this whole thing has been a mish mash of having to know about previous arcs and thinly written characters that a new audience must have been fighting an uphill battle against to penetrate (a problem the majority of X-titles has had for a few too many years in my opinion). Look, I'm down on this series as a whole but I do appreciate elements. As an X-Men fan, I'm happy to see Hope finally do something of consequence and yeah seeing The Phoenix having elements of dramatic weight feels X-Mentastic but seriously if the best Marvel can serve up from its huge line up of characters is Captain America running all over the world with masked faces standing behind him ready to get slapped in the chops by some fire dudes who won't even try to kill them, it's very hard to really care. It's time for the X-Men to be the X-Men and the Avengers to be the Avengers. Marvel need to focus on reduced mutants, not expand them even more. The X-Men don't feel like a family any more (and Wolverine is less and less effective with each passing year it seems) and The Avengers feel like their greatest power is perseverance until the bad guy gives up. Marvel has been coasting for a while in my mind and Avengers vs X-Men has been a twelve issue miniseries showcasing style over substance and not even all the style has been that impressive. Nothing has highlighted just how good these character are. Marvel NOW! is just around the corner and I'm hoping it's a reshuffle that uses the Marvel strengths (it's characters) to full effect rather than just giving a fresh lick of paint to the same old issues I have with modern post movie success Marvel Comics. Time will tell but I don't think I have enough patience to last it out if it's not a instant change for the better. Avenger vs. X-men - Event Overall Score

rating: 2