I’ve been with the Avengers since the get-go, since, admittedly, long before there was a whole lot of evidence to support it. Frankly, I just like taking an unpopular side. I was with Iron Man for the Civil War, after all, and I wasn’t even reading comics much at that point.
Things are getting pretty real in the Avengers vs. X-Men right now. In AvX #9, the Avengers are hiding out in K’un Lun, the mystical city that is providing shelter for Hope (y’ know, the Mutant Messiah) and the rest of the gang. Spider-Man is training her, for some reason, but neither really likes it all that much. But Spidey cheerfully does his thing because that’s what being an Avenger is all about. Remember that, kids, it becomes important later.
Basically, after Namor got his butt handed to him last issue, the other members of the Phoenix Five (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, and Colossus) gained his strength. However, it also seemed to give them his crazy, too. Colossus and Magik are all mob enforcer on Thor while Emma is going certifiably crazy. The only one who’s keeping himself together is Cyclops but even he seems to be struggling with the power he’s been given. I almost wonder if maybe he’s doing all this good in the world just to keep himself from going crazy. That whole “idle hands are the devil’s plaything” kind of reasoning, you know? Not that I don’t think that deep down, Scott Summers is a good guy. He has to be. He’s been the poster child for what the X-Men should be since the 60s. A little something like the Phoenix Force isn’t going to change him fundamentally.
Take over the world or start an X-family band…?
However, the rest of the gang? Of course they’re going to have their lives turned inside out by this. Look at this Rogue’s Gallery of “X-Men.” Namor. Namor? Why the crap was he even on the X-Men to begin with? Was he fading off into obscurity until World War Hulk and then, in a desperate stab at keeping him relevant, someone thought to stick him with Cyclops on Utopia? For whatever reason, he’s there. And apparently has some kind of past with Emma Frost, as we saw previously.
Speaking of Emma, and her craziness, we saw her manipulate Namor into acting on his own in Wakanda. And now we see her holing herself off somewhere to keep from reading every single mind on the planet, blatantly telling Cyclops that she can’t trust herself. And Scott just shrugs and goes on his way. Because his peers going crazy flies in the face of everything he’s been trying to tell the Avengers about being able to handle the Phoenix Force, I guess. Later, Emma kills a man who killed a mutant before. Is she about to be a serial killer? More importantly, will there be repercussions for this? Marvel?
What was that? Did you say something? Must’ve been the crazy wind.
And then there are Colossus and Magik, both of whom have suffered from darkness in their long, convoluted histories. Yep, I’m sure they’re very equipped to handle the Phoenix Force.
The X-Men have been locking up Avengers prisoners in some volcanic hell in Siberia. Guarded by demons and whales with legs, for some reason. Storm, who has had enough of the X-Men crazies, goes to her husband, Black Panther, to offer assistance to get the Avengers back. Black Panther accepts her help as well as informs her that their marriage has been annulled. Because Namor destroying Wakanda last issue warrants divorcing his X-Man wife, I guess. Just another example of the sanctity of marriage in the Marvel U. I’m sure Storm can go cry on Mary Jane Parker Watson’s shoulder.
Anyway, with Storm and Professor X’s help, the Avengers go in to save their teammates. Unfortunately, they run into Magik and Colossus, who are in charge of guarding the prisoners. Earlier, they took down Thor. You know Thor, right? God of Thunder, emphasis on GOD. So Spider-Man decides that this is his moment, the one he had been talking to Hope about earlier. He provides the distraction his teammates need in order to escape. He throws himself between two of the craziest, most powerful beings on earth, and proceeds to get his ass handed to him.
It’s hard to be quippy with your own web around your neck.
It’s a very noble, heroic battle. And, by battle, I mean brutal beat down. Every time Spidey gets up, he gets knocked back down. HARD. And the whole time, he keeps jabbering. Because that’s his thing. He jabbers. Eventually, he jabbers until he finds the last reserves of sanity in the pair of X-Men, and they decide to take themselves out of the struggle.
Giving their power to a certain boy scout and his murderous girlfriend. And now they know where Hope is.
Things are really heating up with AvX. I’m a little over the event at this point but there isn’t much longer before this whole thing gives over to Marvel NOW, which I’m pretty excited about. I just hope the climax is worth the drawn out shenanigans.
Whales with legs. Really?
And for the record: neener neener neener! I was right!
