Episode 1244 - Avengers vs X-Men Month 3

Pants

A battle on the moon! The Phoenix Five! Peace on Earth? We're only at the halfway point of 'Avengers vs. X-Men' and there's plenty going in with more to come as we cover issues 5 and 6 of the series. (1:10:38)

Listen here.

busty

First ever podcast I've turned off before it ended,sorry.

Caliban

Fol-de-rol

Greg

@JamieD ... thank you for going off about the lack of the editorial notes in not only the main AvX issues but in the tie-ins as well. Wise up Marvel.

random73

So... calling the Pheonix Force a cosmic force makes me think of it like gravity. How jacked up would reality become if gravity became sentient and started pushing some inscrutable agenda. I find this both fascinating and problematic from a story perspective. What sort of goals might such an entity have that could be translated in human terms?

Greg

Colossus fought the Thing in the Vs issue.

Urbalcloud

The short scene with Xavier and Magneto in issue #6 was nice. The stuff with him and Scott was at first, then less so, like it was just to pass on information to the reader.

It makes me miss Xavier. He's so tragically underused in all this, and I think in the X-verse as a whole. Is there anywhere he's been used effectively lately? I'm only really reading Wolverine & the X-Men.

Elsiebub

Nice episode, guys. I have the AvX hardcover preordered at Amazon (caught it during a window when it was 48% off!), so I'm not reading it in issues. The different page-count between issues 5 and 6 is sure notable, though! One would think that Marvel would have advertised the added content of issue 6, because even as it is I'm tempted to pick it up now just for the page-count value!

It makes me miss Xavier. He's so tragically underused in all this, and I think in the X-verse as a whole. Is there anywhere he's been used effectively lately? I'm only really reading Wolverine & the X-Men.

Xavier's been tragically underused/misused for several years now. It was a good idea to sort of get him out of the way so Cyclops could come to the fore, but for some time now it seems like Xavier's absence and/or lack of presence has been very noticeable, in a bad way. The last good Xavier scene I remember was the one in the opening of Wolv & The X-Men #1. And before that I didn't like anything they did with him since the first couple X-Men: Legacy arcs. Before that, he was okay in Messiah Complex; and before that I'd have to go back to the second arc of Whedon's Astonishing to find a good storyline with an Xavier focus. Kind of sad because, when all's said and done, Xavier is one of the best and most interesting Marvel characters.

Webhead

Good episode guys

I was not impressed with the reveal of the Phoenix Five, in fact I had more of the "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!!" reactions. For me that moment ruined issue 5. 6 was better for me but I was left with the feeling that Marvel was trying too hard to make the Avengers look bad. It felt like they were portrayed as sore losers, "we're not wrong, just because the Phoenix force is doing good now does not mean it won't turn on us and try to destroy the world" I'm sure in the long run they will be proven right.

So far on the whole I say the story is good, the first part has had a good balance of action and set up, unlike most events from the Big Two that are usually heavy on set up and little action.

JDick

I predicted a relaunch in the A v. X month one thread. Marvel Now!

Corwin

Xavier's son is named Legion. His mother was Gabrielle Haller. He used to have three different personalities with different powers. Recently he literally became a legion with thousands of different personalities each with a unique power....

Ok back to the episode.

...and this isn't the first time the Phoenix Force has been shattered...

Corwin

Some cool things to note:

Speaking of Uncanny X-Men... (Gillen did great with this subplot)...how many X-Men were protecting Jean on the moon at the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga?

@Pants the beginning of each Act (total of 3) will be over sized and possibly the last issue as well.


All in all I was behind Cyclops but I think here is where he crossed the line...trying to keep Hope against her will. And he was a dick for teasing her with the Phoenix Force.

ChrisBeckett

Okay. I'm not reading this series (no interest, but I do enjoy your discussions, and I like keeping abreast [Pants, get your mind out of the gutter] of things at DC/Marvel), and I'm just starting the episode and I have a serious question.

Pants asked the question: "Do you think Wolverine was really going to kill Hope?" And I would like to know, from anyone reading, does the threat of death carry any dramatic tension? It made me smile to think that this is a major plot point in any mainstream comic now. These companies have so diluted the meaning of death, that I am genuinely curious how those reading this, and similar mainstream book, react to it.

chris

Miraclemet

A battle on the moon! The Phoenix Five! Peace on Earth? We're only at the halfway point of 'Avengers vs. X-Men' and there's plenty going in with more to come as we cover issues 5 and 6 of the series. (1:10:38)

Disassembled -> House of M -> Civil War -> The Initiative -> Secret Invasion -> Dark Reign -> Siege -> Heroic Age -> Fear Itself -> AVX

ThreadKiller

Okay. I'm not reading this series (no interest, but I do enjoy your discussions, and I like keeping abreast [Pants, get your mind out of the gutter] of things at DC/Marvel), and I'm just starting the episode and I have a serious question.

Pants asked the question: "Do you think Wolverine was really going to kill Hope?" And I would like to know, from anyone reading, does the threat of death carry any dramatic tension? It made me smile to think that this is a major plot point in any mainstream comic now. These companies have so diluted the meaning of death, that I am genuinely curious how those reading this, and similar mainstream book, react to it.

chris

As a huge fan of Hope, following her story since she was a baby, I can honestly say that her death would have been very significant to read.

Also, I think it would suck for Wolverine to have to take out a teenager. As much killing as he's done, he would not have walked away from that one feeling good about himself.

Now, would it have been a major death in the Marvel universe at large...? Absolutely not. I think most people would have glossed over it as a medium sized plot point.

Corwin

Now, would it have been a major death in the Marvel universe at large...? Absolutely not. I think most people would have glossed over it as a medium sized plot point.

It would be a major death to any X-Men fan who has been following her growth.

ThreadKiller

Now, would it have been a major death in the Marvel universe at large...? Absolutely not. I think most people would have glossed over it as a medium sized plot point.

It would be a major death to any X-Men fan who has been following her growth.

Did you read the first sentence of my post? ;)

Corwin

Did you read the first sentence of my post? ;)

Yeah I was agreeing with you... Looks like I cut too much of your quote off.

alienal

Just listened to the episode last night! Good job, guys! I like how you guys admit that you don't know stuff and how you made a mistake in the last Avengers vs. X-Men episode. That's professional! Wow, we're only half way through the series? Whew....(tired of some aspects already!) I didn't find the art in issue 5 to be rushed, but then, when I read this series, I am rushed. Heh-heh....so maybe I just didn't notice. I did think Stark's robot was kinda clunky-looking. I guess it could be it's because it's just something he quickly cooked up so he couldn't make it all sleek like his own armor. Y'know what's weird?: Just a few months ago (Young Avengers Children's Crusade, I think) all the heroes were trippin' over each other trying to kill (or whatever) to Wanda. And now she's protecting a kid that they're trying to do the same to? It's kind of getting old for me...