In the last issue of ‘Avengers’, we got to know Red Hulk a little better. Now, in another issue that somewhat focuses on a certain member of the Marvel Universe, we catch up with The Avengers before the events of ‘Avengers vs. X-Men’ #8 as they are trying to figure out how to gain the upper hand against the X-Men and the Phoenix Force.
Thanks to Spider-Woman, Captain America and the gang realize that they need a telepath to even the odds. (This is where things could be considered spoilery if you haven’t been reading any of the other AvX books. I wouldn’t consider it a spoiler because we’ve already seen this character in the main title, but some people may disagree.) After some great back and forth between Hawkeye and Spider-Woman and their sexual history affecting which telepathic Avenger to call in, Cap and Wolverine know who to call immediately to take out Rachel Summers, the X-Men’s second best telepath behind Emma Frost: Professor Charles Xavier.
Basically, what this issue was to me was clarification as to how Professor X got involved with ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men’. Maybe I missed something, but I don’t recall reading how he got involved in this war and what lead to his behavior with the Illuminati in ‘New Avengers’ #29. ‘Avengers’ #29 better explains the specific thing that brought him into the battle. It was a nice bit of supplemental information to uncover.
After seeing Xavier pop in and out of these pages, I feel like something big is going to happen involving this man some time soon. I mean, it’s got to, right? Considering his feelings on Scott Summers actions and seeing his former students at each other’s throats, he’s probably going to take some sort of action soon. There’s a great panel featuring Beast and Iceman that’s split in half. One side is them now fighting each other and the other is them playing around together as members of Xavier’s first class. Upon seeing this, you can really see how torn up Charles is about all of this and how much he wants to do something about it. A powerful man with a broken dream can be dangerous, and I have a feeling that we’ll see the outcome of this very soon.
Final Score:
THE AVENGERS #29
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Art by WALTER SIMONSON, SCOTT HANNA, & JASON KEITH
