AvX 5
After much bickering and delay, finally the Phoenix lands...
THE GOOD
The ball gets rolling on this event, as we reach the climax of act one. And it only took 6 issues, lol. It's nice to see Marvel try to change the expectations up a little bit, with the Phoenix choosing a host (the costume change, I could have lived without lol.) It finally feels like the story is going somewhere, and certainly keeps the excitement up as we hit the end of this portion of AvX. With Wanda entering the fray in the next issue, I am brimming with hype to see where this goes from here.
Hope shines in this issue, her inner monologue highlighting the action and the distant threat, and how she reacts to it. And I especially liked the touches of how (I think) future heavy hitters in this arc reacted to the Phoenix, and I hope it pans out in a big conclusion if Xavier, Legion, and Wanda get involved. The fights were nice (Though I am sick of seeing Namor and Thing go at eachother every single 5 minutes) and dialog was fitting, if a little heavy handed.
THE BAD
The sad part is that it really took us this long to hit this point. I'm not really sure if it was how poorly written the hunt for Hope was, or how, I assume, most of the fans at this point were begging for the Phoenix Force to possess someone already, but at least we moved on. While the action is nice, the choice of opponents is getting stagnant, Cyclops vs. Cap vs. Wolverine every single issue isn't interesting nor is it good. I hope this is fixed later when the fights spread out again.
And finally, the "twist," in both execution and set up was a little sub par.
THE REDUNDANT
John Romita Jr needs to never pick up a pencil again.
THE VERDICT
While the verdict of AvX is still out, as it stands, its gaining a positive momentum. Pacing started off bad, but with this issue, we are finally hitting a good stride, and with it, events that really make AvX the explosive major event it aspires to be. So if you are still convinced that AvX is evil and wants to murder innocent children, as some opinions I have seen expressed, I suggest a read of this and the next issue and see how you feel then.
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