CREDIT: Marvel
Review: 3/5 – Endless Fight Scenes and Seemingly Little Consequence.
by ComicSpectrum senior reviewer Shawn Hoklas.
Avengers & X-Men: Axis had the makings of a truly fun event. The heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe have been inverted due to the effects of the Red Skull stealing and using the powers of Professor X’s brain. Carnage, Hobgoblin, and more are now saving lives, while the heroes are doing anything but. It’s an idea and concept that’s fun, and Remender at times is having fun with the writing incorporating humor into the series especially with characters like Deadpool, but ultimately the series, and this issue has fallen flat with endless fight scenes and seemingly little consequence.
There’s a great opening scene in this issue that lives up to the series’ potential with Carnage truly acting as a hero, but after that, it’s more of what we’ve been seeing for the past few issues, and that’s endless fight scenes. We see some more of Scarlet Witch’s dealing with the revelations from last issue and a pretty exciting battle between Thor and Apocalypse, but those high points weren’t enough to keep me engaged. The story beats moved much too quickly, failing to add feeling and emotion as the story jumped from one conflict to the next. That said, if you’re just looking for heavy action should really enjoy this issue all drawn by Leinil Francis Yu.
Yu’s art for the most part worked, but some of the action was confusing. The sequential storytelling from one panel to the next left me wondering just what’s happening in at least two separate scenes. Although the Thor vs. Apocalypse battle is well laid out and excitingly violent, other scenes lost their impact for me with too many characters on the page and a heavy use of lines that muddied the action. Two different inkers support Yu’s inks and I could definitely see the difference. Yu’s pencils lacked the same clarity as those on Secret Invasion when he was inked by Mark Morales.
There’s still one issue left in this event so there’s time for this to have a really strong conclusion, but it may not be enough to make this story stand alongside recent events like Infinity or Battle of the Atom. This issue, much like the event itself lacks depth which is disappointing considering Remender’s work and lead up to this story in Uncanny Avengers. I’ll be back for the final installment, but I find myself waiting for this series to end, rather than waiting for the next issue.
Reviewed by: Shawn Hoklas
(shawn@comicspectrum.com)
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