One by one, Cable has taken down various members of The Avengers, Captain America and The Falcon, Iron Man and The Red Hulk.  In this issue, he is confronted by Wolverine and Spider-Man who demand answers.  Wolverine slashes into his former ally, who is by now, almost completely taken over by his techno virus.  Hope attempts to intervene by firing Cable’s huge, honking rifle, but Spider-Man knocks it out of her hands, unwittingly injuring Cyclops in the process.  Hope then attempts to defuse an explosive Cable had installed on the boat as a last-ditch precaution.  Upon her success, The Falcon is freed and he proceeds to leap into the fray between Cable and Wolverine, while Cyclops frees Captain America and Iron Man.  Last issue, Cable infected Hulk with the techno virus, but The Hulk’s physiology can fight off any infection and he burns the virus out.  All of the Avengers gang up on Cable and beat him down.  (Really neat page lay out on this double spread!)  Cap agrees to let Cyclops take Cable, so long as The Avengers get to keep all his equipment (which they apparently use against the X-Men in ‘A Vs. X’).

(SPOILERS!)

Later, on Utopia, Hope visits Cable and absorbs all of the techno virus in his body into her own, only to destroy it with The Phoenix Force!  Yup!  I said it!  The Phoenix Force!  Hope is the new Phoenix!

In the Astral Plane, Cyclops and Cable discuss this development and Cable asks Cyclops to protect Hope at all cost.

Mmmmm’kay.  That happened.  This was hyped as the big lead-in book for ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men” and sure there are a few nuggets here that will probably play out in the big event, but was it worth slogging through four issues to get to?  No.  I’ve had issues with this miniseries since the first issue and by the end, nothing happened to change my opinion. The art was great!  I liked the artwork, but this book seems to exist simply for fisticuffs and I suppose to bring back Cable and establish that Hope possesses the Phoenix Force.  Couldn’t that all have happened in one issue?  Oh right, where’s the money in that?  I only bought and reviewed this issue since I’d already reviewed the first three, so I didn’t want to leave it open-ended.  Seriously, skip this, unless you’re just a fan of Ed McGuinness’ art.

Verdict: Burn

AVENGERS: X-SANCTION #4
Written by Jeph Loeb
Art and Cover by Ed McGuinness