Avengers World #15 Review

With "AXIS" in full tilt, there comes a day unlike any other, when Earth's Mightiest Heroes were united against a common threat -- except they are that threat. The Avengers as the world knows them are missing and the ones left in public sight aren't exactly performing feats of heroic daring-do. Thus, the writing duo of Nick Spencer and Frank Barbiere use "Avengers World" #15 to recruit a handful of characters to serve as Avengers.

The catch is those newly-minted Avengers are less than famous, despite the fact that at least two of them have been Avengers before. The story itself is front-loaded, with Doctor Doom explaining the Inversion, his new mission and his plan to Valeria Richards through the opening pages of "Avengers World" #15. That digression is compounded when Valeria takes Doom's plan to S.H.I.E.L.D., which affords Spencer and Barbiere the opportunity to infuse some humor at the rest of the issue yet to unfold. Valeria has always been a tough nut to crack, and her words and deeds in this adventure certainly make it easy for readers to lose sight of her youth, especially by the end of this comic book.

"Avengers World" #15 promises to be another comic book that features the charming gathering of the heroes, but a lackluster collection of characters is all that's left. This is definitely a story that needs "AXIS" to exist. Once the Inversion is explained, the writers provide some clues as to what is to come, but "Avengers World" #15 has a completely open ending since no one missed these "Avengers" before now, and they all appear somewhat expendable in this story. Couple that with a significant threat and Spencer and Barbiere give readers a suspense-filled book with high stakes in which anything can happen. After all, Doctor Doom is one of the good guys here.

Get the full review from Comic Book Resources here

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Avengers #38 Review

One of the weirdly cool things about this Avengers title specifically during this Time Runs Out storyline, is that you actually don’t have any idea where Hickman is going to put the spotlight at from issue to issue. Whenever I expect we’ll get the (former) Avengers traveling to the origin point of the Incursion disaster, we get S.H.I.E.L.D. chasing the Illuminati.

When I think we’re going to get more S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff, we get A.I.M. and what they plan to do in rebuilding the Avengers. I’m sure the lateral movements may prove a little fatiguing in time, but for now, I’m enjoying the wide angle on this story. I mean, there are like 2000 active Avengers characters at this point.

Make no mistake, this a chatty ass issue with basically no action and all dialogue, but it is at least, pretty interesting. There are about three different backdoor conversations being had as the incursions are out in the open and now on the table for everyone’s theories. Everybody seems to have a mole of some sort and who knows who will ultimately be betrayed and who might benefit most from the double dealing. The inclusion of Scott Summers was nice and a welcome wildcard into this issue too…as if we didn’t have enough tennis balls to keep our eyes on. But you know what the comic book gospel is, Hickman never gives us more than we can handle.

The art is on point for this one too. The pencils in particular are clean and accommodating for the straight forward structure, yet complex maneuverings of this issue.

Get the full review from Black Nerd Problems here

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Avengers & X-Men: Axis #4 Review

With the uneven Act I out of the way, Avengers & X-Men: Axis begins Act II: Inversion, and it’s actually pretty good. You get the sense that the true Axis event starts here -- this is the concept that writer Rick Remender really wanted to sink his teeth into, and he sure has. The spell used to take down the Red Skull seems to have had the extra effect of inverting everyone’s personalities: Carnage is now saving people while Captain Falcon and the Avengers are suddenly pro death penalty. Issue #4 was tense, fun, and intriguing, which has us happy to report that Axis is back on track.
By keeping the narrative tightly focused on a few different characters making off-color decisions, Remender lets the unsettling nature of the inversion slowly reveal itself -- like a disease beginning to show on the skin. He visits an array of characters, and by the time he comes back around to the Avengers, things have escalated to insane levels. It’s quite a bit of fun to watch the chaos unfold.

This isn’t the first time that heroes have been manipulated into turning evil, but it’s proving to be interesting nonetheless. The Carnage, Iron Man, and X-Men threads are all showing great potential -- especially where Apocalypse is concerned -- but the Avengers part feels a tad overdone. Whether Remender can capitalize on the seeds he has planted will determine if Axis continues the level of quality it’s currently enjoying.

THE VERDICT

Act II starts off strong as Remender sinks his teeth into the concept of heroes and villains having their personalities inverted. There’s a sense of dread that builds over the course of the issue, and despite things getting worse and worse for the heroes, it’s undeniably fun to watch the chaos unfold. With Yu’s artwork doing great service to the story, Axis has all it needs to get itself back on track.

Get the full review from IGN here.

Avengers 37 Review

The Good
There are many kinds of cross-overs. Ones that require one issue after another of unconnected titles to be read in a particular order to maintain narrative, tie-ins with major events, even issues that are barely connected except when they’re all read. What we have with the current run of AVENGERS titles is something that doesn’t require everything to be read to maintain plot coherency, but IF they all are, the experience is much, much richer. 

This issue focuses much more on the S.H.I.E.L.D. side of things than the mostly-disbanded Illuminati and Sue Storm’s role within the new organization. We also get a snapshot of an enraged, impatient Steve Rogers, still in uniform but also depowered. Seeing Cap’s slow motion breakdown is not easy to watch, but considering all that’s gone on, it actually doesn’t feel out of character. We get glimpses of Carol Danvers and Clint Barton as well, but the main event is unequivocally Sue and Steve, both of whom have some very, very interesting developments by issue’s end.

The Bad
Sue Storm’s motivations, though now more understood, still aren’t terribly well-defined. Without giving anything away, I didn’t know why, exactly, she was doing what she was in NEW AVENGERS, and now I actually know even LESS after this revelation. Likewise the reason for making S.H.I.E.L.D. an organization that can only operate in the US, despite it being international, isn’t terribly fleshed out.

The Verdict
Things are still muddy and mysterious, but this issue, at least, feels like it’s doing far more with the characters it has in terms of defining them and giving them a context in the greater narrative. The fact that it does more to define that NARRATIVE is also not hurting anything. I still have faith that Hickman will fill out the backstory of exactly what went down and while we’re losing out on some emotional investment, there are enough small hints and details to make it feel like it’s all building to something substantial.

Read the full review on Comic Vine here

Avengers & X-Men Axis #3 Review

As the first chapter of Marvel’s latest crossover event ends, it continues to show troubling signs of being a rushed affair in terms of both story and art. Luckily, some of Marvel’s liveliest villains steal the issue and, if anything, make Rick Remender’s Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #3 a lot of fun.

Events are always heavy on action but AXIS is testing new limits with three straight issues of the battle against Red Onslaught and his sentinels on Genosha. The good news is that Remender has a blast this issue writing some of Marvel’s zaniest villains such as Carnage and Hobgoblin as well as tossing around witty banter between the likes of Mystique, Enchantress, and Loki. Despite not being a villain, Deadpool also manages to grab the spotlight and Remender embraces the chance to return to the character he wrote so well in Uncanny X-Force. 

The bad news about the issue is that when the dust from the battle settles, the glaring problems about the event as a whole come and hit you upside the head. The last few pages lack so little emotional depth that you easily forget that this whole story started in mutant concentration camps. In fact, it seems the X-Men and Avengers forgot about them too considering the way they hastily take off from Genosha on the final page.

The inspired battle between some classic Marvel villains and giant sentinels serves as a brilliant distraction to the many flaws of Remender’s unambitious story. But this being only the end of chapter one and with the event just getting started, we have a long way to go before this story can be deemed a true failure.

Get full review from Comicosity here