We are entering the final phase of this event as Avengers & X-Men: Axis has taken another step towards the finale. After all the initial setup, the story finally seems like it is going to get going now. Where will it take us now? Is it good?
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #7 (Marvel Comics)
So the inverted villains take on and fight the Inverted X-Men and they fight… and they fight… and they fight some more. Oh god, do they fight… Also, there a scene where we see the other inverted heroes in San Francisco talking amongst themselves and Scarlet Witch fighting her family and Dr. Doom in Latveria.
So… this issue was mostly just one long fight scene from beginning to end and about three or four pages of plot points. As such, there really isn’t much of a story to chew on or take away from the experience other than all of the X-Men are crossing moral horizons and the inverted Avengers are just sitting on their asses somewhere else, not affecting the plot. It makes for a very fast and strangely unengaging experience outside of watching your beloved heroes get worse and worse. Also, there are a few plot holes that open up because of this issue that raise a bunch of questions: Like how exactly is Kluh back with the Avengers after he abandoned them a couple of issues ago? Why did the inverted X-Men leave Captain America and why isn’t he trying to do something after all that fuss he made about trying to run the world a couple of issues ago (having the X-Men do all this stuff seems counter-productive)? Speaking of X-Men, aren’t there some that aren’t inverted? You can’t convince me that every single X-Men was on Genosha, especially when they weren’t visible.
There’s ultimately not much to comment on with the writing either, since this was mostly just one long fight scene. The dialogue is okay, but nothing is particularly remarkable or engaging (inverted Deadpool probably has the best lines, though he’s strangely not all that funny this time around). The pacing is very quick due to it being a big action piece and the story feels over before it even begins. The story structure and flow are fine, with no particularly bad transitions or awkward breaks between the scenes. The ending is fine, but you know it’s not going to end all that badly due to the fact that there are two more issues to go.
And now a nice a cleavage shot for all the little kiddies reading this.
Something else that kind of jumped out about the issue, and frankly the entire series in hindsight, is that it is rather weak on the female character front. Mostly on the hero side of things (though most of the female villains haven’t really done much or have affected the story besides Scarlet Witch). Both Mystique and Enchantress have been… well, just sort of there and really haven’t gotten much attention during this entire event except for one or two scenes. Hell, Enchantress is possibly the most underused and just sort of there character in this story. She’s done nothing, barely said anything, and we haven’t seen a hint of her inverted personality outside of her working for the “good” guys now. If she’s been used in a tie-in, please let me know, because otherwise, Enchantress just feels like she is here for fan service and cleavage shots.
There is one other point that is worth mentioning. It’s not as big of deal for me as it may be for others (I’m not that big into these specific characters), but Scarlet Witch magically undid/retconned the fact that she and her brother are the kids of Magneto. So now the two of them are not related to Magneto and stuff. Honestly, the moment just sort of happens in the comic. There’s no fanfare or much attention given to it (it seems like something the issue should have focused on or ended the book on) before it’s brushed aside for barely a page and half worth of an inverted Avengers scene. It was so out of nowhere that I didn’t even really register it until after the issue was done and someone pointed it out to me. It’s so… pointless and feels like a huge slap in the face to all the fans of these characters and their dynamic together.
The artwork comes from Adam Kubert, who did the first two issues. To his credit, his work looks much better here and seems much more refined. His characters look a lot better and more detailed, the action is very exciting and not as static looking, and some of the imagery is very striking (especially with Deadpool versus Apocalypse). It’s nice stuff and elevates the comic a bit, though there are some minor hiccups here and there. There was an odd miscoloring of one characters, some facial expressions look really off in areas, and some characters look rather goofy in the background. Still, I’ll take the artwork here over what we got in the beginning.
That’s not true! I totally can tap the B button a couple of times to stop my Pokémon from evolving!
Is It Good?
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #7 is better than the previous issue, but that’s really not saying a lot. The story isn’t really there, just turning out one very long, albeit nice looking fight scene. There’s not much in the way of characterization, development, or twists to anything. Honestly, the way things are shaping up, it’s going to feel like a rush job to wrap everything up in the coming issues.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
