The Axis of Evil has won. Is there anyone left to stop them?
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #6: Is it good?
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #6 (Marvel Comics)
So the X-Men have essentially taken over all of New York and are planning something big to make sure they completely take over the world. Elsewhere… some shenanigans are taking place with the other heroes and villains that were inverted.
“Mom”? Don’t use that tone with me young lady! Go to your room!
It pretty much took Avengers & X-Men: Axis six issues for the overall narrative to finally get going (nearly $30 worth). Well, almost anyways. We’ll actually get the story in the next issue during the final third of the book, considering this issue was primarily setup without any payoff. So looking back — we had a three issue prologue, a three issue set-up and then three actual stories. That’s some aggravating plotting, folks. We got to see the villains acting more heroic this time around, which is very good since they were completely underutilized up until now (you see, all of that character inversion stuff you may have wanted to see was in the tie-ins and stuff).
The story here isn’t much to write home about here either. Just a lot of jumbled scenes where we see the heroes and villains get into a scuffle and then take off. Rinse and repeat until the ending. We don’t really learn anything new until the ending, so the comic feels like it is slightly padded out. Besides that though, there are a couple of plot points that really don’t make much sense and feel really contrived. The whole Superior Iron Man scene references the fact that the Extremis app costs money and that Daredevil has been dealing with a rise of crime. However, according to that comic, that stuff should be taking place after Axis and not during it. There’s also the fact that that the comic says that all of the world’s superheroes have been shrunk down. I’m sorry, but when did that happen? Yes, we saw a bunch of heroes in the last issue get captured, but that wasn’t every hero in the entire world. What about Captain Universe, Manifold, Squirrel Girl, Jessica Jones, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Girl, Red Hulk, Red She-Hulk, Smasher, Captain Britian, etc.? Were they all magically captured off-screen or through tie-in? Weak.
That being said, the characterization in Avengers & X-Men: Axis #6, inverse or not, still works and fits the characters well. The dialogue is enjoyable, especially in the Thor and Loki scene. The pacing is alright and so is the story flow. There’s not much else though to really chew on.
What is most disappointing to me this time around is the artwork. I honestly do enjoy Terry Dodson’s work and the man has shown he has plenty of talent (the old Harley Quinn run and his time on Wonder Woman for instance). However, his work in Avengers & X-Men: Axis #6 just looks rushed. Some pages fare better than others, but others often lack detail in the right areas. This is not his best work and I feel that having to draw two issues back to back cramped his style.
I know they are in New York but… I have idea where they could possibly be from just looking.
Is It Good?
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #6 is a big step backwards. Yes, the story finally feels like it is taking off, but it took way too long to get to this point. This issue is still just setup, the story was messy and poorly told overall, and the artwork didn’t enhance everything like it should have. There is some decent writing underneath the clumsy narrative, but it’s not enough. This event has been spinning its wheels for far too long and it’s really hard, even impossible, to recommend this comic. Unless this does a massive 180 next issue, just forget about this comic.
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