Avengers vs. X-Men #10 – Review

Position: Designated Hitter. Not the most well-received rule change in baseball, the designated hitter gives the pitcher a respite from the offensive side of the game, at least in the American League. With all the heavy hitters in the Marvel Universe, it just makes sense to try to fit another big bat into the lineup. The Avengers use the most fantastic member of their squad, the Thing. With his bat in the lineup, there’s sure to be a lot of clobbering going on. The X-Men counter with more of a utility player in the DH role. Rogue could fill the need of a power hitter, a contact hitter, or someone with speed. She’d be the perfect five-tool player. (A warning for Spider-Man fans; the webhead does not appear in this issue.)

Avengers vs. X-Men #10

The Front Office
Story: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction and Jonathan Hickman
Script: Ed Brukbaker
Pencils: Adam Kubert
Inks: John Dell
Colors: Laura Martin with Larry Molinar
Letters: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover Art: Jim Cheung & Justin Ponsor
Variant Cover Art: Adam Kubert & Justin Ponsor, Nick Bradshaw & Marte Gracia

Inning Summary: Cyclops has invaded the Mystical City of K’un Lun and he won’t leave without Hope, even if that means taking down all of the Avengers. Iron Fist is the first Avenger to put himself between the mutant messiah and the leader of the Phoenix Five – now the Phoenix Two. Cyclops easily dispatches Iron Fist, and Hope flees to find Lei Kung the Thunderer for assistance. Iron Man is the next Avenger to challenge Cyclops. Iron Man tackles Cyclops and the two fly across the sky in a blur of red, blue, and gold.

At the Verkhovansk Mountains, the site of Spider-Man’s victory over Colossus and Magik, Professor Xavier refuses Captain America’s offer to return to K’un Lun, taking fault for turning his back on the mutant race once. Several of those mutants remain on Utopia under the watchful eye of the Phoenix-powered Emma Frost. Emma demands adoration and obedience from the mutants kneeling before her. Magneto chastises Emma for her treatment of her fellow mutants, and she replies by imposing her will over him and reminding him of the mutants he let die when he ruled Genosha.

Back in K’un Lun, Cyclops has defeated Iron Man, and leaves him battered in the rubble of a building. Thor, Hawkeye, and the Thing confront Cyclops in the streets. Before Thing can finish his catchphrase, Cyclops unleashes a Phoenix-infused, optic-blast which levels the trio of Avengers. Cyclops sarcastically asks the downed heroes how that was for “clobbering time?” Hope takes advantage of the distraction, and arrives with the Thunderer on the back of the dragon Shao Lao.

Shao Lao, the source of the Iron Fist energy, harms Cyclops by breathing its mystical green energy. Cyclops recovers and knocks the dragon out of the sky. The mutant goes in for the kill, but the young Shao Lao is saved by the Thunderer who accuses Cyclops of having no honor. Hope calls Cyclops a monster, and he advances on the girl once more. Hope warns him to stay away, but is surprised to find that she has absorbed the dragon’s abilities and breaths a stream of green flames at Cyclops. She runs, but an angrier Cyclops is quick to follow.

Hope runs into Beast, Scarlet Witch, and Iron Man but Cyclops is right behind her. The Scarlet Witch tries to use her hex powers, but Cyclops withstands everything she throws at him. The Avengers try to protect Hope, but the young mutant has had enough. Now glowing with the green energy of the Iron Fist, the flames of the Phoenix, and the hex waves of chaos magic, Hope points at Cyclops and orders him to stop! Cyclops is momentarily stunned and depowered. He falls from the sky. Hope is quick to continue the attack and delivers the first ever Chaos Fist. Cyclops is banished to the surface of the moon. Uatu the Watcher is present when Cyclops recovers. Down but not defeated, Cyclops rushes back to Earth to find Emma, the source of more power.

Captain America returns to K’un Lun with his team of Avengers. Tony informs Cap that Hope’s victory over Cyclops signals a turning point in the battle because Tony believes he knows how she did it.

Back on Utopia, Magneto telepathically reaches out to his old friend Professor X. The mutants need help – Scott and Emma are losing control.

*

Color Commentary: I don’t understand what Hope’s destiny is anymore. Wasn’t it Cyclops’ whole point to train her to control the Phoenix, and isn’t that what she wanted? But then she didn’t want the Phoenix after getting a taste of it, and Cyclops didn’t think she was a good fit for the power anymore. Now Cyclops is telling her it’s time to claim her destiny again. Is he actually trying to turn the Phoenix over to Hope or is Cyclops only after her to prevent her from helping the Avengers? In the end, Hope is manifesting all sorts of powers, including the ability to negate Cyclops’ connection to the Phoenix, and Tony Stark seems to know why. I hope he explains it to the writers because it seems as though even they don’t know what she’s supposed to be doing.

Hope riding a dragon in the middle of the comic just seems ludicrous. The dragon wasn’t even useful; Cyclops managed to take it down in a matter of seconds. This just seemed like another set up to make Cyclops look more like a villain by trying to kill a young, wounded animal. If the Thunderer was worried about Shao Lao’s safety, then maybe he shouldn’t have ridden the dragon into a battle with Cyclops’ primary target on its back. But the real point of the dragon was to give Hope a big moment when she was able to channel the Iron Fist energy.

The dragon was an example of poor use of narration boxes. Instead of adding more to the story, the narration boxes for this scene seemed more like editorial notes. The fact that Shao Lao was the source of the Iron Fist’s power, and that this version of the dragon is still young in its cycle of rebirth, just serve to highlight the impression that the dragon came out of nowhere. The Iron Fist’s connection to the Phoenix is interesting, but it seems crammed into this story and not fully explored. On the other hand, the brief narration boxes in Emma’s scene were effective and helped narrate what was happening in the artwork. The boxes could easily have been left out, but in this instance they helped confirm what the omnipresent Emma was feeling.

The art is a vast improvement over the work at the start of this event. This isn’t Kubert’s most defined work – there are some sloppy facial features and some parts that could have a bit more detail – but there is still a lot to like about the art. Despite my disinterest in the dragon, the scene of Hope and the Thunderer riding Shao Lao was nice. My favorite panel was of Cyclops’ optic blast merged with a flame in the shape of the Phoenix behind it. I also enjoyed the little details in the art when they were present, such as the rickety bridge in K’un Lun, or the M.C. Escher-like stairs in Utopia. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with Cyclops’ contorting body after he gets hit by dragon flames.

*

The Box Score

Avengers: The Avengers manage to fend for themselves on defense thanks to more X-Men defections, but they can’t put together any sort of offense. Cyclops’ fierce assault on K’un Lun mows down the Avengers. Even Scarlet Witch, their wild card, is no longer able to harm Cyclops, which makes her as useless as the young dragon. She’s only part of this story now so Hope can absorb her powers and aid the Avengers.

Batting: Strikeout – Red Hulk (2) is still probably reeling from injuries during his encounter with Namor in Wakanda, as well as with Cyclops on Utopia. The Thing (3) also gets put in his place by Cyclops. One of Cyclops’ best moments so far in this series is when the mutant usurped Thing’s “Clobbering Time” catchphrase after Cyclops gave him and his teammates the proverbial brush back from the plate.

*

X-Men: The X-Men’s bench is thinning, and the mutants that do remain aren’t capable of doing much for the team thanks to Emma’s superiority complex. In the end, even Magneto, one of Cyclops’ last loyal lieutenants, is calling out for help.

Batting: Strikeout – Cannonball (1) makes his debut in the game taking the place of Storm, one of several X-Men to have defected recently to the Avengers’ side. It’s been shown that Cannonball will be joining the new team of Avengers during the Marvel NOW! relaunch after Avengers vs. X-Men, so maybe this appearance by the most popular Guthrie sibling serves as a preview to Cannonball’s big league debut.

Pitching: This event is getting closer and closer to becoming Cyclops versus the Marvel Universe. There’s a part of me that wants to side with Scott since he still believes he can save the mutant race, and I still believe in his ability to lead. I don’t recall him ever saying he was going to hurt Hope, but all the Avengers are convinced he’s trying to murder her. Nobody is willing to negotiate with anyone else, but when you’re ripping dimensional holes in space, the time for talk is over.

Even though I don’t agree with the direction the character is taking, I think it’s great that Cyclops is becoming such a big focal point in a Marvel event. It’s a shame that it’s because of a corruptible, cosmic being, and also at the expense of the Avengers. Cyclops has been one of the least respected characters in Marvel, so it’s great to see him go toe-to-toe with some of Marvel’s biggest characters, such as Thor, and win. Sure he couldn’t do this without the Phoenix Force, but it’s still nice to see Cyclops mixing it up with the superstars.

Unfortunately, Uatu the Watcher is also observing these events. Uatu’s presence always portends life-changing events, so things are about to get a lot worse for the X-Men’s wayward hero. Cyclops’ downfall also seems to spell bad news for Emma, whose portion of the Phoenix Force Cyclops now covets.

*

Rating: Meh, action, art, and writing. Poor characterization and story. 2.5/5.

There is still a lot to wrap up in the final two issues of this event and this issue didn’t do much to help bring the series to a close. Instead there are more questions and head-scratching moments. Hope, like this overall plot, is a jumbled mess with no clear indication of her final role. The role of the Iron Fist and the Scarlet Witch’s hexed-based powers prove to be important once again, but there’s still no clear explanation as to their extent. The highlight of the issue was seeing Cyclops in action as he tossed aside the Avengers. But naturally that victory is diminished with the continued assault on Cyclops’ character.

Twitter: @HookrsAndSpdrMn
Blog: sicklygazelle.wordpress.com
“Remember that one time during the fight when it looked like you might actually win? No? Me neither.” – Marvel vs. Capcom 3
“Did I mention I beat up Firelord once? No, seriously. Firelord.” – Ultimate Alliance 2