A Showdown for the Ages! The Avengers vs the X-Men!

The latest Marvel event has kicked off! Hoorah!

Never mind that the mini-series following up on the last event are only just finishing now. The crazy world changing events never cease! It's tough being a hero. Can't go a week without another cataclysmic battle with a new banner coming along and spoiling your Easter. On Wednesday/Thursday/whenever you decide to get your comics, Avengers vs X-Men #1 came out. I'm not counting #0. I never count any 0s, .1s or negative numbers. They're just obscene.

The concept of this event is that the Phoenix Force is coming back to Earth and targeting Hope Summers, the first new mutant ever since M-Day, when the Scarlet Witch went batshit and used her deus ex machina powers to wipe out all but the most profitable of mutants. Your Wolverines and the like. Right, obviously, this flaming bird is a bad thing, but different sides want different things. Cap and the Avengers want to keep Hope under observation, protect her from the Phoenix and whatever. Cyclops, in full dick mode, wants to see what happens, believing the Phoenix is a sign of rebirth, wants to use it to spark the mutant species back into existence.

All this is slightly familiar. A while ago, Mark Millar had a series called Civil War which put the superhero community against one another over real issues over their freedom. AvX (as the plebians call it) feels exactly like that, but with a lot of the subtlety and nuance stripped away. Just look at the title. They just wanted a way to have superheroes punch each other for twelve issues. Yes, twelve. Twelve issues of the first half of every issue of early Marvel Team-Up. Don't get the reference? Read early Marvel Team-Up.

It's fairly well devised superhero thuggery. There is Hope, which needs to be sorted out. There is the Phoenix, which needs to be sorted out. This story has been on the cards for years...for the X-Men. For some reason, the Avengers have gotten involved, because they think they know best, despite needing a new headquarters every other day (in Marvel time). The Avengers Tower was smashed to bits in Fear Itself, but it's back, brand new. So is Thor, which is fun.

Let's tackle the fast-paced, but ever so brief, issue. I used to be a fan of John Romita Jr., but his art seems to be getting more rushed by the series. It is no longer Eternals or World War Hulk level JRJR, but a bootlegged version which is rushed and seems to have forgotten that Beast is now a cat. Thankfully, we have the inks of Scott Hanna and the colours of Laura Martin to spruce it up. Lovely.

The writing is fairly straightforward to kick things off. There's some Bendis banter all round the Avengers Tower (good as new) and the MIGHTY AVENGERS defeat A PLANE. The new Nova seen in the Point One book is here, all bruised and battered up. His story is in AvX: Infinite, a new online, digital book. I'll have to take a look into that at some point. Yeah, Wolverine is pondering what side to pick. Cyclops kicks two shades of shit out of Hope in something he considers "training". Cap and Cyke meet, badassery from both and the battle commences with the X-Men hopelessly outmatched at the moment. It all feels a bit...90s? A bit Maximum Carnage perhaps? That's a bit harsh, it is a fun story and I do look forward to what happens next, but I don't feel that much will.

Basic fight stuff. If you want more, check out the specific fight mini-series, Avengers vs X-Men: Versus.

Now get off my damn island.

Supergods

Supergods, the new book by comicphile, Grant Morrison, gives us several interesting takes on history of superheroes, from Superman to Batman and from Ma Hunkel to Flex Mentallo. Some of these characters are better known than others.

Who's ready to slap a Jap?

Morrison divides the book into four "ages", Golden Age, Silver Age, he renames the Bronze Age as the Dark Age and then finishes with the Renaissance. Any of you whom have read any of Morrison's work know that he can be a pretentious little Glaswegian, but hey, it structures the book very well and it takes us through as simply as he can, chronologically.

He covers the creation of superhero comics, DC and Marvel/Timely, and the struggles they had to go through to get published. A light hearted romp through the extreme silliness of the Golden and Silver Ages, where anything could happen. Literally. Look at any Golden Age cover and you can see the ludicrousness of the stories. Apart from Wonder Woman, which is merely a bondage fest, but never mind.

It shows his love for the books, also shown in his work. It sometimes veers off track, such as the time where he claims he has healing powers or went lo Las Vegas with Greg Rucka. It carries the traditional Morrison tone, a mix of aloofness, arrogance and modesty, which gives the book a different feel to your standard history book. There are even some laughs in there.

Personally, it got interesting when it reached the era of time in which I was actually alive. The creation of Image Comics, Identity Crisis and event Comics, not discountign the effect September 11th had on many comics. He follows the changing styles and themes through out the books, themes that aren't neccessarily obvious if only reading comics as comics.

A worthwhile read, not the first choice for comics' history, but a worthwhile chapter and a good read. I certainly stuck with it and I hate reading. Thank God that comics have those cool pictures.