Posted October 5, 2012 by Earl Maghirang in Comics

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: AVX # 12

Comic book review for AvX # 12 from Marvel Comics written by Jason Aaron with art by Adam Kubert

So we’ve finally come to end of it all. The Avengers together with the X-Men stand together against the fury that is Dark Phoenix and its new host Scott Summers.

This issue is an all out brawler. From the first page until the heroes finally win its all out action. The art isn’t as catchy or eye popping as Olivier Coipel but it still looks nice. The standard flaws we’ve seen with Adam Kubert’s art is still very noticeable but if you’re buying the book in preparation for Marvel NOW then this is definitely a good starting point.

So how exactly can I describe AVX? Well I take it as pooping. Not i’m not saying the book is sh!**y. It partly feels bad and also feels good. Bad in a way because you’ll know that its already the end and you can’t do anything about. You’ve already felt AVX grumble in your tummy for a bit but’s stuck and you’ve got nowhere to go (thanks to multiple tie-ins). It probably also feels like something bad in your stomach because of the way the story has turned out with Cyclops suddenly becoming the real big bad or that they actually decided to kill off Charles Xavier last issue.And because it felt bad you had to get away from it which AVX # 12 gladly did for fans with a more negative look at the book.

AVX # 12 felt good much like how you would feel after pooping for several reasons. It’s going to end the whole ‘annual events’ thing at Marvel to give way to a fresher take on their universe through the NOW initiative. This is a good way to draw in readers for what’s lined up next for the publisher…

There are a couple of great moments in this book that will provide the basic needs of comic book geeks. X-fans will also be happy to note that there are massive ramifications that will result from the book’s final moments. There’s also a bit of tragedy here which isn’t really a tragedy but more a new status quo for a character.

The book’s art could’ve done better but I’m going to understand that at the time of product Kubert’s heart was elsewhere since his dad, the legendary Joe Kubert, passed away. So it’s forgiveable on his end. The coloring on this one though was utterly horrendous. I actually enjoyed the fight between Hope Summers and Scarlet Witch on AVX Vs # 6 compared to this just solely on the coloring.

I’d like to commit as well that Jason Aaron did some pretty cool stuff in this book. There’s a particular scene her that could’ve been downplayed because of the panel placement. In those scenes we see Dark Phoenix Cyclops punch Thor on Earth and as our eyes move from one panel to the next we see Thor somewhere in orbit after that punch. The same goes for Green Hulk who gets the snot out of him punched in the Sydney Australia only to land somewhere in Sacramento. Neat lil trick there Aaron.

Overall, I’m just really glad AVX is over. Its not a book I’m really going to miss due to the number of questionable things they’ve done to characters but it’s not a book that I’ll hate with so much gusto. in hindsight this series is much like how Flashpoint played out. It was all about getting hero A to kick Hero B’s ass rather than provide development for the main hero of the book. It also begged me to ask, so who the f*ck won? The Avengers? The X-Men? The fans?

More importantly I’m happy that it ended to pave way for newer things.

As for Cyclops, I think this week’s issue of Uncanny X-Men placed a lot of sentiments that fans have towards the character as well as towards the writers…