Category Archives: X-Men
6 Potential Marvel Crossovers After the Success of Avengers vs. X-Men
So what the heck is Marvel going to do now that Avengers vs. X-Men is over? It sold incredibly well, and definitely got a lot of mileage out of the hero vs. hero concept. Marvel pretty much struck gold! No doubt they want to capture that same magic again. Because if the entertainment industry has taught us anything, it’s that if one thing is popular, then repeating that thing over and over again will be just as popular! How else do you think we get most movie sequels?
But what can Marvel do next after Avengers vs. X-Men?
The only AvX battle that really mattered
I don’t know about you, but I liked Avengers vs. X-Men. It was action-packed and had a lot of neat, complicated character growth, even if the whole thing was a little bloated. But it was big in scope, and really took the characters on an epic, world-saving adventure. If Marvel is hoping that lightning strikes twice in the same place, I have a few suggestions for them.
Tom Brevoort Calls Cyclops ‘Heroic’
Want some justification in believing that Cyclops was the hero of Avengers vs. X-Men? Look no further than Tom Brevoort, Marvel’s senior vice president of publishing, and editor of the series. In a recent interview with Newsarama.com, Brevoort was asked about Cyclops’ role as the villain in Avengers vs. X-Men.
Nrama: Well, that was a very informative detour — and with Cyclops, there are people who, fair or not, think he’s been cast as a villain, even if the Phoenix force was influencing him. Taking him in this direction, was it motivated out of seeing that kind of potential in where he’s been going the past few years? Is labeling him, even at this point, as a “villain” still sort of missing the point?
Brevoort: Honestly, I think that’s a matter of individual perception. To some people, the things he did, the lengths that he went to, and the choices he made, make him villainous. In every case, he did them for the right reasons, as he saw them. It really depends upon whether you think those reasons were right and justified.
At the end of the day, as he sort of says to Cap, he got as good an outcome as he could possibly have wanted. All he ever wanted to do was safeguard what remained of his people until the point came when this world-changing event happened, and the mutant race was reborn — and he did it. There were casualties along the way, and that’s the tragedy, and that’s the burden that he’s going to carry going forward.
Your viewpoint on Cyclops really depends on where you stand on the choices he made. I think at the very least, if he’s not a heroic figure, he’s a sympathetic figure, and I wouldn’t necessarily even rule out that he’s a heroic figure. I think that’s completely up to the individual readers to decide for themselves. He made what he thought were the right choices, and ultimately, for the most part, everything worked out pretty well, with one glaring exception.
Brevoort went on to say that Cyclops will reappear in AvX: Consequences and All-New X-Men, the latter of which I don’t plan to buy. He said Cyclops’ story is far from over, so that’s pretty awesome.
But how’s that for justification? One of the Marvel big cheeses himself is saying that Cyclops’ actions could easily be viewed as heroic. Yes, heavy prices were paid, but none of it was Cyclops himself turning villainous. Captain America started the whole conflict. The Avengers shot the Phoenix with their big gun, causing it to accidentally possess Cyclops and his friends. The Avengers attacked Utopia and pushed the PhoeniX-Men to retaliate. Namor attacked Wakana. Colossus and Magik set up the evil prison.
The Phoenix killed Professor X. The Dark Phoenix threatened to destroy the world.
The most Cyclops did on his own was maybe threaten to kill a dragon in K’un Lun. He was thrust into several spots he didn’t want to be in, but made the most of it while fighting opposition form his closest friends and his mind being taken over by the Phoenix Force.
Cyclops was right. Pax Utopia.
Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #12
Cyclops was right. About everything. With the final issue of this mega crossover now upon us, I can say with clarity and confidence that Cyclops is the true hero of Avengers vs. X-Men. Oh sure, they want you to believe that Captain America is the real hero. And that Cyclops’ supposed ‘crimes’ are beyond redemption. But I’ve been saying it for a long time now: Marvel was unwilling to just make Cyclops a mustache-twirling bad guy. And this issue finally reveals why. Everything Cyclops set out to do in Avengers vs. X-Men was for good reason, and everything he fought for and people died for, will have been worth it thanks to the surprise ending of this series.
Avengers vs. X-Men #12
Avengers vs. X-Men #12 was a fantastic and exciting finale! It’s a little muddied with an over reliance on flashbacks, but the story is straightforward and the victory well deserved.
Comic rating: 5/5: Great!
In hindsight, I haven’t really liked most of the big crossovers at Marvel. I didn’t particularly care for Fear Itself last year. Secret Invasion was a dud. Civil War was alright, but Seige was quite dull. Avengers vs. X-Men, however, is one damn fine comic. Hero vs. hero, the fate of the world at stake! And even though the writers never really explored the deeper questions of faith and hope prevalent in the series, it’s still an exciting superhero comic. There were times I was annoyed with the series, and very frustrated at what Marvel was seemingly trying to say. But this issue alleviated all of my worries and frustrations with some solid follow through on Cyclops’ story arc.
Forget Hope, forget the Scarlet Witch, forget Captain America or Wolverine. Cyclops is the true star of this comic. He’s the only character who really grew or changed, who learned something from all of this. He’s the only character man enough to accept responsibility, while Captain America sticks with his petty bravado and arrogance.
This was a marvelous comic, settling all of my disputes in a big, bombastic climax. Although I’m not sure why Iron Man is featured so prominently on the cover. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
Review: X-Factor #244
It’s Banshee’s turn at the plate in Breaking Points, and she knocks it out of the park with a touching, personal look at her character. The mysterious ‘guest’ she’s been hiding the past few issues is revealed, and by the end of the issue, her status quo is changed in a very significant way. It’s a sad change, but still cool in its way. Part of me thinks it’s a little too easy, and a little too apropos of nothing, but it definitely works. Throw in some good art and some strong appearances by the rest of the cast and you’ve got yourself a very nice issue of X-Factor.
X-Factor #244
Who could ask for anything more?
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
For the most part, writer Peter David has been doing an acceptable job of cleaning house in X-Factor. I know that X-Factor is going to remain relatively untouched in Marvel NOW!, but that doesn’t mean he might not give it a fresh coat of paint or something. Ditching a few members of the bloated cast is a great idea, in my opinion, and he’s been doing a fine job in figuring out what to do with these guys. PAD takes a strong, hard look at Banshee in this issue, and the emotions that drive her, but he does so with a character he created only a few issues ago, a character that doesn’t have the history or the impact to be such a big deal in Banshee’s life, in my opinion. But it works. PAD shakes things up, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
PAD also manages to work his magic with Havok and Polaris, two characters who have definitely suffered from being suddenly, unceremoniously dropped into this comic. There are some continuity conflicts with Avengers vs. X-Men, but who cares? I’m curious to see if PAD will play any part in preparing Havok for his upcoming leadership position in Uncanny Avengers. He seems to be doing a nice job of preparing Polaris for her stay in X-Factor.
But more on that later. Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review!
Two X-Force Series? Why the Hell?
The other day I told you guys about the new Cable and X-Force title coming up in Marvel NOW! It was a new take on the X-Force franchise, and actually looked and sounded kind of cool. Plus it fit with the idea of Marvel NOW! being a relaunch of titles and trying some new ideas.
Well apparently Marvel isn’t yet ready to let go of the old ideas. They’re still going to publish Uncanny X-Force, giving us competing X-Force titles for some godforsaken reason.
The adjective makes the team
Right now, Uncanny X-Force is a popular series by writer Rick Remender about Wolverine leading a team of black ops X-Men on kill missions. It’s a very good series, starring characters like Deadpool, Fantomex, Psylocke, Dark Nightcrawler and, at one point, Archangel. But Remender is moving on to bigger comics, and with last week’s Cable-related announcement, I thought for sure that Marvel was hanging up this series as a job well done.
Nope! They’re going to hand it off to a relatively untested writer, who is going to get rid of most of those characters and instead write about a black ops team starring Psylocke, Storm, Spiral and Puck!
He’s Puck!
I’m as much of a Puck fan as the next geek, but really, Marvel? This is what you’re doing for Marvel NOW!? This relaunch is your chance to clear out some of the clutter and cut away some of the excess comics that the world doesn’t need. And nobody in the world needs a series about these characters trying to be a black ops team. Did you learn nothing from Regenesis? Over the past year, Marvel has been publishing several dozen different X-Men books, including X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine and the X-Men, X-Men: Legacy, and Astonishing X-Men, among other extra titles like New Mutants and X-Factor. In order to populate these books, Marvel was just throwing mutants at them. Astonishing X-Men starred Wolverine, Iceman, Gambit, Karma, Cecilia Reyes, and Northstar. What kind of team is that?
I don’t have the exact numbers, but I think it’s safe to say all those extra X-books didn’t do nearly as well as the main series.
Yet it looks like Marvel is doing it again. Just throw a random group of characters together, give it an already familiar name, and just hope people buy it. How long until we see the likes of Uncanny X-Factor? Mimic and the X-Men? Superfluous X-Men? X-Men: Regency? Probably a year from now after Marvel goes through it’s next Big Event/Relaunch…
This interview with new writer Sam Humphries doesn’t really explain why Marvel wants competing X-Force titles. But at least he seems happy to be writing comics, lucky bastard.
Henchman-4-Hire 