End of the road. The final showdown between the Dark Phoenix and the army of Avengers and X-Men has finally arrived. After the events of the epic last issue, what state are our heroes in to face a Phoenix-enhanced Cyclops?

Now, let me tell you right off the bat that this was a great issue. The story and the artwork were superb. Jason Aaron was one of the biggest standouts in all of AvX for me, so it was nice seeing him close out the story. Andy Kubert very rarely disappoints me. As far as things that happen in the story goes, watching the systematic dissection and destruction of Scott Summers was brilliant. Hope and Wanda teaming up was awesome. Even the new side of Tony Stark had me intrigued. I have so many good things to say about this book because it kept me engulfed and entertained the whole way through.

However, there is one small thing that I wanted to address: Where the hell did Nova come from? I don’t recall him being involved in any of this until this issue. He came out of nowhere, and he didn’t really accomplish anything other than acting as a distraction. I know that Marvel is looking to get their cosmic characters to a wider audience, and including Nova in a huge event such as this is a fine way to do it, but maybe a little build up would’ve worked in their favor. Or even a bit of foreshadowing like putting him in the background of a battle in an earlier issue. I mean, he could’ve been in a tie-in issue that I didn’t read, but if he was, then it didn’t spill into the main title like the other tie-ins did. Judging by the end of this story, Nova will play a bigger role in the Marvel Universe, which will be an interesting thing to see, but all I’m saying is Nova could’ve used some more set up in AvX before popping up out of thin air for the sake of convenience.

Other than that, I’m very pleased with how this event ended and I’m even more psyched for what’s to come in Marvel NOW, especially when it’s revealed what Cap and S.H.I.E.L.D. decides to do with Cyclops. He did murder one of the greatest men the world has ever known, so I want to see how he’s punished. Or how quickly they let him get back to being a hero. Either way, Scott Summers is still a smug bastard who should get smacked around a bit for his behavior in all of this, in my opinion, so I hope that happens when Marvel NOW rolls around.

Final Score:

 

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #12
Written By JASON AARON
Art By ADAM KUBERT, JOHN DELL, MARK MORALES, JUSTIN PONSOR, & LAURA MARTIN
Cover By JIM CHEUNG, MARK MORALES, & JUSTIN PONSOR