Avengers VS X-Men: Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Adam Kubert, John Dell, Mark Morales, Laura Martin, Justin Ponsor, Chris Eliopoulos, Jim Cheung, Adi Granov, Jerome Opena, Dean White

And so, it ends. I have to say, right off the bat, that I don’t think I’ve ever been this impressed with Jason Aaron’s writing. Yes, so I do like Wolverine & the X-Men, but that’s…I dunno, somehow different. The issues of AvX he’s done have been lacking…disappointing in terms of dialog, whereas he nails it in Wolverine & the X-Men. So I dunno what’s going on there, but here, in Avengers VS X-Men #12, it’s quite good.

The issue begins with a bit of a history lesson, unfortunately. I would hope that, if we’re reading to this point, we’re already on-board with the story and what’s been going on. I mean…I’m not a big Marvel reader, but I’ve been reading this book since issue #1, and so I already know everything that’s being said. Sure, Tony spins it into how he has this plan to combat the Phoenix…but it really feels like a history lesson to the readers, not the other Avengers. Because…don’t they already know all this? Wasn’t this already explained to them, or at least they were there through it all to know what’s happened. None of them are that new, are they? Except maybe Scott Lang, who had died before all this.

Thankfully, though, it soon cuts to an amazing double-page splash of the action currently underway. See, this issue tends to flashback constantly to 3 days prior, while they were all recovering in K’un L’un. It’s annoying, but it makes for a couple of interesting moments. Was it worth the jumping around? Not so much.

So, what did you expect? It’s the Avengers versus Phoenix-Cyclops. There are lots of great, epic action shots of Scott punching Avengers across the Earth and stuff…while other Avengers work together to stop threats to innocents that Phoenix-Cyke is causing. It’s through all this that I realized I still hated Kubert’s art. A lot of characters have this generic superhero jaw, and there are lines all over the place. I just wasn’t digging. There’s even a point near the end of the ish where Scott has two right hands.

Hope Summers and Scarlet Witch show up to smack down on Cyke, and there are more flashback panels of Scott with Wolverine and Xavier that are surprisingly effective. I won’t spoil how it all goes, but it does involve another Phoenix, and then something really cool that happens with the help of Scarlet Witch. I honestly loved this moment, confirmed by the Cuckoos who watch with Cerebra, at the end. I practically cheered out loud. I’ve been waiting for this day (yes, even though I don’t read much Marvel).

Finally comes what everyone’s been hoping for, and it has to do with walls made out of ruby quartz. These, I must point out, because they are drawn and colored amazingly. It looks so real, like something I can very easily imagine its feel were I to touch it. That’s not easy in comics.

The final words given by Wolverine were, simply put, “whoa.” Very well done.

Avengers VS X-Men #12, the verdict: I’m gonna be honest. It’s just like every single other Marvel crossover event. There were points that felt almost identical to parts in “Fear Itself,” for example. Marvel just doesn’t do it for me with the crossovers. Were certain issues amazing? Super well-done? Incredible? Mind-blowing? Yes, of course there were, just like there are issues that way in their other big events. But does Marvel play by a certain set of rules? Guidelines for these crises that must be followed? Do they always have the same gameplan, or checklist that they go by? Yes, yes they do. Or at least, it seems that way. Look, they’re even doing a follow-up series called “Consequences,” just like they do with every event. Let’s compare, shall we? Marvel’s “Avengers VS X-Men” event: One major character death, no real big consequences on the world. “Fear Itself” event: Two major character deaths (that were later reversed), and no real big consequences on the world. DC’s “Infinite Crisis” event: HUNDREDS of characters dead, entire worlds erased, history rewritten. “Blackest Night” event: HUNDREDS of characters dead, seven major characters resurrected, all life in the universe is revealed to have begun on Earth…the Guardians of Oa have been lying for centuries. ‘Nuff said.

(Photo Source: Newsarama)