Avengers Vs X-men #12

It’s the final showdown between the Dark Phoenix (Scott Summers) and the Avengers with the Scarlet Witch & Hope Summers as humanity’s last chance. Featuring everybody!

The Team

Written by Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction & Jonathan Hickman. Illustrated by Adam Kubert (Superman : Last Son Of Krypton, Wolverine : Back In Japan). Published by Marvel Comics.

The Pros

After 6 months of hits & misses, another of Marvel’s massive crossovers has come to a bitter end. I have to say that it’s about time, this series has dragged on for far too long and could’ve been easily cut into 6 or even 5 issues. I remember when I first heard of this project I was tickled pink, as it sounded like a kick ass series. With some of the finest writers working at Marvel today like Aaron, Bendis, Brubaker, Fraction, Hickman and some of the best pencillers this industry had to offer like Romita Jr., Coipel & Kubert. How can it miss? It was a melting pot of writers & illustrators producing heroes vs mutants with world shattering results, but there lies the problem, too many cooks in the kitchen. The first issue exploded with action and all out comic goodness, then the series dropped a bit and then went back up again. Something would happen and then nothing for an issue or two. This pattern would rear its ugly head over and over again.

Now I did enjoy this series on some level, I’ve appreciated the Marvel Universe and its cast of wonderful characters since I was a kid, so my loyalty to Marvel is unquestionable. Having said that, these crossovers are way too long and corners should have been cut. Now from the beginning, it was obvious that the Scarlet Witch & Hope Summers had huge roles in these events and save the world from the burning flames of the Phoenix (the good guys always win). What I like about the finale is that it’s not sugar coated, in the end nobody wins, lives are lost and lives are ruined. Basically, shit happens, get on with your life. Although, except for a few mutants, the future for mutants looks a little brighter.

This final issue was beautifully illustrated by Adam Kubert with breath taking colors by Laura Martin with Justin Ponsor. John Romita Jr. also did his share of fine artwork, but my favourite was Olivier Coipel, his illustrations had me in complete and total awe with every single panel & pages. If you’d like to see more of Coipel’s art, then check out his work on Siege, Thor by J. Michael Straczynski & Thor by Matt Fraction. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. I’d also like to point out that all the covers were illustrated by the very talented Jim Cheung (Avengers : Children’s Crusade, Spider-Men), Jim’s covers made this mini series just a bit more worthwhile.

The Cons

Now here’s something that just cuts me to the bone, I despised all the tie-ins, they were absolute garbage. This is my fault for buying these comics, as I should’ve known better. They were boring, generic, paint by numbers back up stories, that quite frankly, were a waste of time, talent & money. Period. That goes double for the AVX : VS series.

The Outcome

When it’s all said and done, you’re either gonna like this series or you’ll down right loathe it, I’ll let you decide. For me, I’m somewhere between mediocre & good. Wait for the trade or better yet, wait for your LCS to have a sale on back issues and pick them up cheap. This issue gets a 7 and the entire series gets a 6.