The last issue of Avengers & X-Men Axis saw a bit of improvement for this new event comic.
Can this issue keep up the momentum? Is it good?
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #4 (Marvel Comics)
Red Skull has been defeated and knocked into a coma and all of the heroes have walked away alive. Sure, each team is being a jackass towards the other, but as long as they saved the day… everything is copacetic, right? Well… our heroes’ jackass levels seem to be… rising a bit.
What?! Oh no you didn’t just tell the Hulk to shut up?!
This whole issue sets up what is going on with the heroes (and one villain) after the events of last issue. Needless to say, we are starting to see this “inversion” thing take place and the characters’ personalities are starting to flip or change in different directions. It’s definitely interesting to see how the inversion affects the different characters and it definitely makes for some interesting conflicts in the story.
However, this goes back to complaint I had with the recent Avengers issues: seeing the heroes be jerks, act out of character (even if there is a reason for it), being hostile and nasty towards one another — it’s done so often now that it has become boring. Sure, the idea of the villains turning good has potential and definitely spices thing (plus, not every hero went bad and the heroes that did are doing so in an over the top fashion), but it just doesn’t have that luster to it anymore.
*Sighs*
Rick Remender’s writing on the book is fine, even if it’s all just setup and nothing more. The pacing is fine, the dialogue is perfectly fine and gets the job done, particularly with Carnage’s scene standing out as downright hilarious. My favorite inversion aspect of the comic had to be the Hulk. He was enjoyable to read, though when he changed… he got a bit overly ridiculous looking (it’s a design of a character from early Image in the 90’s) . Good stuff — although I won’t reveal anymore regarding that and let you discover the fun for yourself.
Then there is artwork for the book and I’m half and half on it. Leinil Francis Yu still remains the artist and his work is still pretty good here. The characters all look decent and are well depicted, there’s no over the top T&A (except for one bit), and his layouts are pretty solid. Now where I am half-half about this book is the fact that there are two inkers for this book and they are greatly different from one another (you have Yu himself and Gerry Alanguilan). One style is much cleaner looking and appealing, while the other style (I assume Gerry’s) is not so much. It’s much sketchier, rougher, lacks polish, and makes the book look less finished than it should be. The style is mostly prominent during the X-Men scene and a bit of the proceeding one — it just looks rough.
Guys, you may want to be careful. I think Medusa is turning into a zombie.
Is It Good?
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #4 seems to be continuing the slight increase in quality for the book, with improved writing and a story finally emerging from the wreckage. However, what story is emerging or has been seen so far, feels rather tired with the heroes being villains/jerks. There are some interesting ideas and twists with it mind you, but Remender is going to have to pull out some more stops if this event is to truly shine.
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