Avengers vs X-Men #12 Review

*WARNING:  SPOILERS BELOW*

So Marvel’s massive blockbuster Avengers vs X-Men has finally come to a conclusion.  If you haven’t been keeping up, Avengers vs X-Men pitted the Avengers against the X-Men for the fate of the Phoenix Force.  Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men, believes the Phoenix will usher in a new era for mutants.  Captain America, leader of The Avengers, disagrees and sees the Phoenix as a dangerous force of nature intending to wipe out humanity.

The big shocker coming out of the entire Avengers vs X-Men series is the death of Professor Charles Xavier, the founder of The X-Men, at the hands of Cyclops.  Xavier has not been a focus of the X-titles for some years now.  So Marvel took this as an opportunity to get rid of him, and open up new possibilities for their writers.

All that happened in issue 11.  Let’s focus on what happened in issue 12:

What I Liked

The fact that this series is finally over!  I know Avengers vs X-Men has been released bi-weekly, but it feels like this event has been going on forever.  Companies like Marvel and DC love to stretch their mega-events out.  More money in their pockets right?  There was no need for this to take 12 issues to resolve.

After Hope and Scarlet Witch uttered the words “No More Phoenix”, the Phoenix Force dispersed itself over the globe, igniting new mutants for the Marvel world.  Back when Scarlet Witch removed over half of the mutant population after saying “No More Mutants” back in the M-Day story, the mutant population has been hanging on by a thread.  Now we finally get to see new characters introduced.  I’ve always been more of an X-Men fan than Avengers growing up.  So this is great news indeed.

What I Didn’t Like

Adam Kubert’s artwork.  Adam Kubert is one of the top artists at Marvel and has worked on X-books dating back to the late 90’s/early 2000’s.  But I just was not a fan of the art for this final chapter.  Now that I think about it, I’ve always favored his brother, Andy Kubert’s penciling.  Andy seems more clean and polished compared to Adam.

Nova’s short re-introduction.  Nova appeared in Avengers vs X-Men #1 and hasn’t been heard from until #12.  Nova conveniently pops up just in time for the climax.  And the writers still don’t really do anything with him.  Plus it’s not Richard Rider, but most likely Sam Alexander.  Alexander is one of the co-stars from the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series.  I grew up with Rider in New Warriors.  Give me the original back.

Cyclops not being remorseful over killing Professor X.  You’d think after Cyclops is no longer under the possession of the Phoenix Force that he would feel bad over killing his one-time mentor and father figure.  Alas, Cyclops takes full responsibility for his actions and is proud that he’s done what he set out to do…..usher in a new era for mutants.

Cable, Hope and Scarlet Witch.  My main beef with Cable is that he played NO PART in this event.  He was the catalyst for Avengers: X-Sanction, the prelude to Avengers vs X-Men.  Cable found out what would happen in the future if the Avengers defeated the Phoenix and Hope, so he set out to systematically eliminate the Avengers.  At the end, he was stopped by Hope and even cured of his techno-organic virus.  I don’t care that he was put in a coma.  Cable should have been involved in such a big event.  Finally, I feel Hope and Scarlet Witch were kept out of the limelight until the very end, when it was time to wrap everything up.

So what are your thoughts on Avengers vs X-Men?  Are you excited for Marvel NOW!?  Please leave your comments below.  Your feedback is always appreciated.  Thank you for reading.

Timdogg

#ComicBookChronicles @CBChron founder. Editor-in-Chief of @thekliqnation. Comic book reviewer, podcaster #RABBLERABBLE