Talk about a game-changing cliffhanger! I’ve said it before about Avengers vs. X-Men, and I’ll say it again: I have no idea where this story is going, and that’s awesome! While most of these big Event Comics end with a giant fight (and somebody shouting “Avengers Assemble!”) we’ve already had half a dozen giant fights in this series. And while those fights haven’t been all that great, the story continues to move along at a fantastic and exciting pace. Which is why I’m going to give Avengers vs. X-Men #5 my highest rating for the series for far.

Avengers vs. X-Men #5

After that cliffhanger, Avengers vs. X-Men is definitely keeping us on our toes! I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Comic rating: 5/5: Great.

Now that’s not to say this is a perfect issue. That’s not how my rating system works. And granted, my rating system really only works in my head. The previous issues of Avengers vs. X-Men have only been “good” because they were solid stories that were told well with decent art, so worth a read, but not all that amazing. This issue continues that trend, but then delivers a fantastic, action-packed climax, and then that cliffhanger I can’t stop gushing over. I’ll spoil it in the synopsis after the jump. Just trust me that it definitely changes the series from here on out.

Though arguably not in a good way. I can’t help but feel that Marvel has definitely picked a side by the end of this issue, and it’s the side I’m against. I’ve definitely been on the side of Cyclops and the X-Men throughout the series, but Marvel may have tipped their hand.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!

We open on the moon with, conveniently enough, the Avengers fighting the X-Men!

I did not see this coming

I am absolutely loving the running gag of the Thing facing off against Namor. This is the third time the two classic foes have come to blows in all three major skirmishes of the series. It’s great!

So anyway, Hope is in the process of being possessed by the Phoenix Force now that it’s so close. She has a little mental monologue about Colonel Thomas Ferebee, the bombardier from the Enola Gay that dropped the A-Bomb on Hiroshima. Never heard that name before? Well that’s entirely Hope’s point. Nobody blames Ferebee for killing so many people. And Hope is wondering if she’s the bomb or if she’s the bombardier. She uses a Phoenix Flash to stop everyone from fighting, but it’s become clear to her that she can’t contain the Phoenix Force. She thought she could, that’s why she came to the moon, but I guess she’s decided that she can’t handle it. So she begs for Wolverine to come over and kill her.

Despite being flash-fried by that Phoenix burst, Wolverine crawls over to kill Hope – but he is denied!

Get away from her, you child-murdering psychopath!

I am totally with Cyclops on this. Killing Hope should never have been an option. These are superheroes, dammit! They can find another way! I realize Wolverine killing Jean Grey when she was the Dark Phoenix is now a classic tragedy, but Wolverine killing Hope as some gamble to stop the Phoenix is just wrong.

So Cyclops definitely made the right move.

Meanwhile, Iron Man and Giant Man are some distance away working on Iron Man’s big weapon. I suppose it looks fancy, and of course he found time to paint it red and gold.

It’s bark is worse than its bite

Back at the battlefield, the fights start up again. Red Hulk vs. Colossusnaut, Magik vs. Black Widow, Hawkeye vs. Emma Frost, Thing vs. Namor, and Cyclops vs. Wolverine and Captain America. You’ll notice that despite everyone being caught in the earlier Phoenix Flash, only Wolverine shows any sign of being burned or even singed. And once again, each fight only gets a panel or two.

This is where I start to notice that Marvel is picking sides. Cap tells Cyclops to “Stop this madness!” and Wolverine tells him he’s “Gone too far!” Cyclops stopped you from murdering a teenage girl! That’s exactly as far as he should go!

Hope has another flash as the Phoenix starts really possessing her. It’s so bad, that we take a sudden trip around planet Earth to check in on a few people who are feeling this energy. The Space Avengers are watching from lunar orbit, Professor Xavier and his son Legion are in Spain, Lei Kung from the Iron Fist franchise is watching from the Mystical City of Kun Lun, and the Scarlet Witch is freaking out a little. What any of these people have to do with the story is beyond me. Maybe they’ll all be important in upcoming issues? Or maybe there are tie-ins that we need to go read? Your guess is as good as mine.

So Stark launches his Phoenix Gun and the injured Cyclops takes a stand with Hope, defying the Avengers in a pretty cool speech.

You tell him, Cyclops!

I can’t be the only one who is still siding with Cyclops, no matter how this whole situation is being written.

Magneto had a good line in Wolverine and the X-Men #11 last week about the Avengers treating the X-Men like children, and I thought that summed things up nicely. The Avengers see themselves as the one and only world-savers, but the X-Men have just as much clout. Each team has their own way of handling this problem, but the Avengers are the bullies who expect the X-Men to just step aside while they handle it. I liked that idea. Until this issue came along, and it’s beginning to sound more and more like Cyclops is some kind of lunatic cult leader worshipping the Phoenix God, and Hope is his virgin sacrifice.

Anyway, Tony Stark shoots the Phoenix with his gun and there’s a big flash of light and an explosion. When the dust settles, the Avengers are picking themselves up off the ground and Tony Stark is wondering if he killed the Phoenix.

Nope, you surely did not, Iron Man. Epic cliffhanger time!

As well as epic costume change!

Hells yeah! The X-Men are the Phoenix! I did not see that coming! And they look just awesome.

Apparently Stark’s weapon hurt both the Phoenix and Hope, so it jumped into the X-Men for the time being. Unfortunately, this is when the PhoeniX-Men start spouting their weird, crazy plan.

With crazy costumes comes crazy ranting

The “young lady’s decision” was to have herself murdered by Wolverine! So to hell with letting her stay with you, Cap! Also, you didn’t exactly care about her decision in previous issues when she wanted to stay with the X-Men and try out her Phoenix strategy.

But yeah, I can’t help but get the feeling that Marvel is saying that Captain America is right. The PhoeniX-Men seem like crazy, religious lunatics who now want to cleanse the Earth. And so the Avengers get to be the heroes and save the day. This isn’t what the X-Men wanted, but it’s happened, and they’re going to get blamed.

But why can’t we believe that the Phoenix truly plans to make the world a better place? Maybe they’ll fly to Earth and cure AIDS and stop war and end droughts. I dunno. I can hope, at least. I don’t want Cyclops to end up as some kind of religious fanatic who was super wrong about everything.

The issue ends with Phoenixclops dismissing Captain America and proclaiming his group to be more than humans, more than mutants, with a task that the Avengers cannot possibly conceive. The PhoeniX-Men fly off to Earth, with Hope’s inner monologue lamenting that she was never the bomb or the bombardier. She’s only ever been a victim, like us, of what the Phoenix has in store.

So again with the dialogue that points to the Phoenix being evil, and therefore Cyclops being wrong. What can I say? I liked how Marvel hadn’t come out and made one team evil and one team good in this series. There was a nice balance. But this issue suddenly has Cyclops acting like a crazy cult leader, and those guys are always bad. Granted, we don’t know what the Phoenix has in store for Earth, but it doesn’t sound good.

Still, I thought this was a great issue. The art was fantastic, and didn’t have that sloppy, rushed look from the earlier issues. Hope’s monologue was fine, and the dialogue was good. Then everything just exploded with the climax. I loved Cyclops blasting Wolverine to stop him from killing Hope. I liked Cyclops’ speech about believing in the Phoenix. And I absolutely loved the Phoenix possessing the X-Men. That’s the kind of game-changing twist that really kicks a story into high gear. And we’re still not even at the halfway point!

Avengers vs. X-Men continues to be a good, solid, well-paced read. It may not delve into any of the characters on a personal level, but there are tie-ins for that. And with awesome ideas and wild events like this issue, it promises to only get better.