rangements, each issue is subtly different from the others. It both plays to the strengths and shows some of the weaknesses that each writer brings to the table. The first issue, written by Brian Michael Bendis, was very dialogue focused in his trademark style of really long word balloons and banter among characters. It is apparent that his near decade-long tenure on the Avengers comics has mellowed him down somewhat when he works on team-books. That said, he still includes the occasional redundant phrase or panel. Overall, his issue was very strong in setting the tone for the event. Jason Aaron’s issue #2 worked as the first fight between the two sides and, compared to Bendis, Aaron used plenty of captions with his trademark wit to build the plot and bring a smile to the reader’s face. However, the wit
also diminished the drama of the story. Ed Brubaker played to his strengths in building more intrigue and personal tension between characters in issue 3; but shied away from dealing with the super groups outright when compared to Bendis and Aaron. Hickman’s issue was very strong as the intrigue, the threat, and the story in the first act builr towards its crescendo.
Geek Syndicate
ing involvement in the story is apparent and is well handled by all parties involved in the scripts. The Avengers are handled like an army and Captain America behaves like the honourable soldier. Cyclops meanwhile comes across as being very conservative and rather unhinged in his intense belief that the Phoenix force is a power for rebirth, rather than death. This stays true to their characters as defined over recent years and despite Cyclops’ blatant desperation, there is possible merit to his argument and it makes you wonder where the story could
The focus of the issues has been on the two sides of the dispute and the different views they held over what to do about Hope and how to deal with the threat of the Phoenix Force. Cyclops is convinced that Hope is the mutant messiah and that the Phoenix can give her the power to save the mutant race from extinction. Captain America and the rest of the Avengers believe the Phoenix is a massive threat to the planet Earth and that Hope is in danger of being overwhelmed by the power of that force. Hope’s role in the first act has grown as she goes from being initially dragged along by events to trying to take control of her own destiny. Hope’s increas-
go as it progresses. John Romita Jr. is the artist for the first act of the series and he does a fantastic job in conveying the story. True to form, his double page spreads are truly epic and every page goes above and beyond the call of
Marvel Augmented Reality: Behind the Smackdown
The Marvel AR app is a new widget that the marketing brains at Marvel released to bring comic book events into the twenty-first century and to perhaps boost the sales of monthly print editions compared to the rise of digital and those waiting for the trade paperback. The idea is simple. After downloading the app onto an Apple iOS or Android mobile device, you use the camera on certain panels that show an AR icon. When the icon is recognised, something will appear on the screen and voila: bonus features. Admittedly this is something that takes a little getting used to, but once you’re in the swing of things (and remember to double-tap to make whatever appears fullscreen), there are some nifty special features that the nice guys at Marvel give the viewer. Based on the first four issues of Avengers vs. X-Men, you get animated recaps of the story so far (from a scan of the cover), images of John Romita Jr.’s pencils prior- through to post-colouring, character biographies and some videos of the creators telling us something about working on that specific issue, including Jason Aaron and Ed Brubaker. A couple impressive ones are experts giving their own mini lectures on how to destroy planets and what would specifically happen to Wolverine’s body if you dropped him out of a plane. Overall there are some delightful features here. Unfortunately they don’t add too much to the enjoyment of the Avengers vs. X-Men story. It’s still early days for this new tool but what has been shown thus far is really promising. If the visual quality can be boosted, a wider range of features implemented, and perhaps a bigger budget added then this could become something really special.
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