REVIEW: Avengers vs. X-Men #1

It’s that time of the year, folks!

After the more character focussed issue #0, all the AvX action begins this week with the launch of the much awaited Avengers vs X-Men #1 – and legions of fanboys could not be more excited!

Also, before I get going, you are hereby warned of some Spoilers ahead.

John Romita Jr. handling art might be part of the reason, but the opening of the issue does seem to feel a lot like the opening of your generic Bendis-penned Avengers arc, which makes me wish the build-up on the Avengers camp had been more at par with the that of the X-Men.

While the dialogue is expectedly well done, Nova’s arrival serves the purpose of giving us some action before the main conflict is set to begin in later issues. 

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On the other hand, Bendis’ handling of the X-Men seems pretty fresh, despite Cyclops coming out as something of a tool, but Emma Frost and Namor’s commentary on the Cap-Cyke discussion is what steals the show. The conversation between the two leaders is actually quite well handled as a whole, since readers who have been following both the so-far mostly independent franchises would know where both characters are coming from – with Cap keen to avoid another major disaster after the aftermath of Fear Itself and Cyclops once again seeking to protect his faith in Hope till his dying breath.

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John Romita’s recent art on Avengers has been hit and miss, but some excellent work on colours and inks makes this a very good looking book. While some might not like his ‘boxy’ art, Romita cannot be denied his status as a master storyteller who can find a remarkable balance in the pacing of both action-packed and quieter scenes. That skill is, in many ways, on full display here, with a good mix of well-paneled pages and full page spreads worthy of an event book.

While the issue does a good job of setting all the main players in place, the issue seems to lack the sort of loudness expected from the first issue of a Marvel event, which may not be a bad thing. The good thing having this particular group of writers plotting this event is that we might get more build-up and payoff, rather than one big explosion following another, and AvX #1 certainly does one heck of a job with the build-up. While I’m excited about some of the other writers getting their hands dirty with this event (Hickman, Brubaker, Aaron), and apprehensive about some (Fraction), the series certainly looks to be off to a solid start.

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AND REMEMBER FOLKS!
We'll be covering this entire summer-crossover-event-crisis-war as it unfolds with issue-by-issue reviews as they come out - so stick around!