First off, I apologize for my absence. An article on Avenger/X-Men: Axis should've been written a long time ago, but it's good that I didn't post about it because it gives me a chance to connect it to my next article. Part one of the two-part entry will spotlight Marvel's last event Axis and part two will be a piece on what I think is going on with Marvel's Secret War event. Enjoy part 1. Marvel Thinks You're Stupid... Part 2: Secret Wars will be released within the week.
Avengers/X-Men: Axis just felt FORCED… from the first issue.
No book I was reading, besides Uncanny Avengers lead up to this book. You
would think with a book that began with AVENGERS/X-MEN would include some
foreshadowing for this event in an X-Men book (or actually include them). There were a shit ton of tie-ins,
but not in the X-Books that matter. That would be All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men to you novices out there. You mean to tell me that the only fucking
mutants to truly care that a Nazi Extremist got his hands on Xavier’s Brain was
Rogue, Havok, Scarlet Witch, and Magneto?
I can see where Remender was headed. He was trying to
complete the story from his great run in Uncanny X-Force with some gusto. He probably imagined a universe
wide event that needed to be addressed by both the Avengers and X-Men. But
the problem with that is his story jumped three different titles and took more than
4 years to develop.
All in all this event was plagued with campy dialogue and
spontaneous character appearances. I found myself asking “Where did Cyclops
come from?” and “How did everyone get to Genosha?”. Remender prematurely shot his load on the Evan/Apocalypse story line turning his creation into the real deal Apocalypses in such a fast paced and FUCKING LAME book. No characters got any critical time in the event and there was not one trace of natural character development.
The inversion was a plot device used by Marvel to lazily move things where they wanted. No hero really made any stride as a villain. All the inverted heroes seemed to do was want to kill anything in their way. Marvel's normal villains don't even operate that way. The inverted heroes would've been better off if they were just given mustaches from the ordeal. Axis had the least amount of universe
consistency than any Marvel event to date. The potential here was squandered as
Remender just mashed characters together in a massive fight book.
If you want to see fight between pseudo-evil heroes and pussified villains, Avengers/X-Men: Axis is your Mecca.
A question I like to ask after every event is Was there a significant change in the Universe? As far as Axis is concerned? NO. There was nothing groundbreaking about this event. The body count was at an all time low and the only character I remember dying was Carnage. If you give a fuck about Carnage dying go back to the 90s choke go choke on you POGS. Another change that lasted the event was the permanent inversion swap of Sabertooth, Ironman, and Havok. This has some potential to be something, but if Marvel was really trying to get fans riled up they would've changed the alignment of a character that had some real goals and sway in the MCU.
The Gem of this entire event came in the form of Scarlet Witch and
Quicksilver's denouncing their mutant ties. Coincidentally in time for the upcoming release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. I believe this was the ultimate goal of the event. I
feel like Remender got a note accompanied by a partially filled pink slip
that read make sure Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are no longer mutants by the
end of this thing.
Marvel forgot one thing when they made this event. The best quality of their universe is their characters aren't painted in black and white. There is not clear line dividing good and evil or hero and villain. It's all grey. Civil War was one of the most appetizing events ever because there was no dictation that Captain America was hero and Iron Man was the villain (or vice versa). The readers got to choose their side and truly understand each characters views. To create inverted versions of "heroes" or "villains" depletes the drama of the story. We care about these characters because we know these characters struggle. Cementing a characters moral alignment is a death sentence... Just take a look at early versions of Superman.
Marvel thinks you're stupid and Avengers/X-Men: Axis was a joke. This event was fodder for the masses to feed off as Marvel planned to rip up the MCU in their next event. Axis had more
ramifications in the real world than in the Marvel Universe. I believe that comics should influence the movies. When your base material is being swayed by its subsidiary problems will arise. And this retooling will be
the sport of my next article Marvel Thinks You're stupid... Part 2: Secret Wars.
Despite my sayings, I want to believe in Marvel.
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