Avengers VS X-Men: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Olivier Coipel, Mark Morales, Laura Martin, Chris Eliopoulos, Jim Cheung, Justin Ponsor, Sara Pichelli

I’ve decided that that AvX logo at the top of the covers is AWFUL. Because you can’t see all of Cheung’s beautiful work. Up until now I had no idea that the logo was actually covering things up! Here, as a deserved credit to Cheung, and a bonus to you, is the full cover image:

(click for source)

See? MUCH BETTER! Now you can see Scott delivering optic death from above!

Holy crap this issue starts off with a bang. The X-Men have found the fled Avengers and Wanda - whom the Phoenix Five now want captured or dead. Some pretty epic art here in the showdown, which actually REALLY reminds me of Cheung’s incredible work. I love it, and I want more. Coipel draws LAPS around Romita Jr..

Wanda takes down Magick, but Emma arrives as the Avengers flee. And…sob…Hawkeye sacrifices himself! I actually couldn’t believe that. But, then again, Marvel hasn’t skimped on killing off Hawkeye before. BUT! He’s still alive. The Phoenix Five hold him and are healing his severely burned body. Meanwhile, Tony’s building another machine. He and T’Challa have a little gruff conversation that I actually, again, LOVE. It seems that, ever since Fraction and Hickman took over for scripts, the character dynamics and interactions have been 100% better. I really dig how Tony’s behaving like the RDJ Tony. It just really fits.

The Avengers cook up this really weak plan and Witch ends up taking on Namor in a REALLY cool scene that’s just so expertly drawn. I can’t get over how much I love these pages by Coipel. The coloring for Witch and her powers is at an all-time high, I think, especially coupled with Coipel. You like that? “Coupled with Coipel?”

So now the Phoenix Five are starting to butt heads and I think Namor’s being a little stupid. He says that their mutant ally Transonic is “caged, like an animal.” But…aren’t they capturing and jailing Avengers too? So…double standard? Emma reveals to Namor that Wakanda is now the new Avengers hiding place, so he goes on his own to wipe them out.

At what point in this series are the Phoenix Five going to start fighting each other? That’s what I wanna know. I can see it now- the cosmic punch Namor lands on Scott’s face. Is THAT what’s going to end the world? The Phoenix pieces fighting each other without limit, without boundary, so that the world burns around them? Makes sense to me.

Avengers VS X-Men #7, the verdict: With the exception of one or two points of motivation and plot, I really liked this issue. The art is fantastic, the writing is soooo much better than the first four issues, and I’m really happy with where this is going. It’s actually starting to feel epic. It’s that whole thing about the Avengers not necessarily being outnumbered, but out-powered. Outmatched is the normal English term, but that didn’t feel proportionate. They’re just completely on the disadvantage, and I like that. I like seeing my heroes overcoming a huge set-back to win the day. Now. Win it so we can all go back to our lives.

(Photo Source: Comic Vine)