Act II of Marvel’s huge crossover event of the summer continues with this new issue of ‘Avengers vs. X-Men’ where Matt Fraction takes the reins and almost gives me a heart attack! Obviously, I’m not going to tell you why so as to not spoil anything, so you’ll just have to pick up the issue yourself, but I will say that we certainly get a good amount of Avengers vs. X-Men action as the Avengers try to learn more about their newly Phoenix-enhanced foes in an all out war.
While the issue as a whole may not have been the best issue of the series thus far, this one contained some pretty great moments, like science talk with Tony Stark and T’Challa, hints of mischief with Emma Frost and Namor, and that shocker that I mentioned earlier. All those moments were made even better by the excellent artwork from Olivier Coipel. I hope that Marvel sticks him with some impressive projects once Marvel NOW! Is launched in October.
I’m enjoying seeing Wanda Maximoff back in the fray with the Avengers in battle. After her return in Children’s Crusade, I was really looking forward to seeing her new role in the Marvel Universe, and it appears that the role may be the secret weapon against the Phoenix Five. We don’t exactly how yet, but some seeds were planted in this issue that could have a big payoff later on in the upcoming battles between these two teams.
Lastly, something small. The cover of this issue is a little disappointing. While I like Jim Cheung and Justin Ponsor’s cover, the huge AVX title covers up the best part. As you can see in the cover image, it’s Cyclops’ optic blast attacking the Avengers on the cover, but you don’t get to see it when you buy the actual book. I wish that they would have made the image smaller so that we could’ve had the full effect of the picture on the cover.
Verdict: Buy
AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #7
Written By MATT FRACTION
Art By OLIVIER COIPEL, MARK MORALES, & LAURA MARTIN
Cover By JIM CHEUNG & JUSTIN PONSOR
