Avengers vs. X-Men Battle Report (Super Sized)

  Welcome Ladies & Gentlemen. Battle Report comes back with a MASSIVE update and return. We will catch up to date on all things AvX. We are gonna catch you up on all the hard-hitting action and events since the last battle report. There is a  LOT of ground to cover. So, sit back, hold on tight and brace yourselves cause this will be a bumpy ride.






Avengers vs. X-Men Round 6

       If you thought things were crazy before, the first part of the second arc of Avengers vs X-Men will make you go nuts. The Phoenix Five (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Magik & Namor) lead the X-Men into helping the world proactively. They grew crops in deserts. They end wars. The Phoenix Five, under Cyclops' direction, mean business. They  rebuild Utopia into a stronger country ... more so than it ever was; which gives Magneto glee while Charles Xavier does not seem to fond of the methods of the Phoenix Five.
   The Avengers, particularly Captain America, Iron Man and Black Panther, are finding all the work that the Phoenix Five are doing disturbing and set the Avengers to go after Hope. Yet, before they go, there is an exchange on how to KILL the Phoenix Five if need be. At which point, Beast is disgusted and quits; stating that he no longer has a home on either side.
    Back on Utopia, Hope talks with her grandfather, Cyclops, about how the Phoenix still calls to her but Cyclops tells her that she does not deserve the power; even though she was chosen to be the true Phoenix host. The Phoenix Five start an attack on the Avengers, stating that the Avengers are now looked upon as renegades. Yet, before they can collect Captain America ... Scarlet Witch arrives. Cyclops touches her, which hurts him. The Avengers escape while Cyclops orders for Scarlet Witch's head after they escape with Hope, who is more than willing to leave with the Avengers.


New Avengers # 25-27 

    The Phoenix/K'un L'un Connection is established as a former Iron Fist was also the host for the Phoenix at one point. And there are legends of the Phoenix fighting a crimson demon ... who points at a particular heroine on the Avengers. It moves from past to present as the Avengers are able to get Hope and have her, Spiderman and Iron Fist take her to the city of K'un L'un.


Secret Avengers #28

    The final part of the Kree connection in Avengers vs. X-Men as Captain Mar-vell has some long words with Carol Danvers. This issue helps set up Carol as the new Captain Marvel.


AvX:Versus #4 

    Psylocke vs. Daredevil. Phoenix Emma Frost vs. Thor. And that fight get brutal as Emma gets shattered during the battle.


Avengers vs. X-Men Round 7 

   Almost picking up where the last issue left off, the Phoenix Five are after the Avengers. Yet, the Avengers know that the Phoenix Five are not found of Scarlet Witch or her powers. They hatch a plan to use special disguises to make multiple people look like Wanda as they fight the X-Men on multiple fronts. Several Avengers are taken captive while Hawkeye is also burned alive. Scarlet Witch, once again, proves herself being able to hurt the Phoenix Five, teleporting Namor back to Utopia from the other side of the world. Yet, at the end of the issue, Emma makes out with Namor and convinces him to go attack Wakanda.

Avengers Academy #32 & # 33

    Emma Frost, powered up by her portion of the Phoenix Powers, decides that it is time to go to the Avengers Academy and make an example of the students there; particularly the young student that controls a  Sentinel. Emma Frost does end up killing the Sentinel but also contends with a hard battle; not only fighting the Avengers Academy staff but also the students themselves; including former New X-Man X-23. X-23 threatens to kill Emma but Emma ends up retreating.

Uncanny X-Men # 14 - #16

  UNIT's control of Danger has her taking down the Generation Hope kids and rewriting their memories. Meanwhile, the main story of these issues deal with Sinister making his ultimate play against the X-Men, hoping to get the Phoenix Five in order to control them. And he attacks the Extinction Team with legions of Sinisters, Madelyn Pryor & Gambit clones. His castle bases rests on top of a clone of Krakoa. And it looks that he is enough of a match for the Phoenix Five; leaving Psylocke, Storm, Magneto and Danger to the rescue.


X-Men Legacy # 268 

    While there are some details of the Phoenix Five dealing with a countries issue of war, this issue focus's on Frenzy and her brother. Readers get a good look to see where Frenzy's head is at these days.

Wolverine & the X-Men # 12 

   Focused on Rachel Grey, Rachel fends off the Avengers as she is tasked with hunting down Wolverine and the Avengers. Rachel is definitely not happy about this as she wonders if she did the right thing. After a disturbing talk with her father, Cyclops, Rachel ends up tracking down Hope ... then letting her go. (Good job Rachel. You are an awesome aunt.)

Avengers vs. X-Men Round 8

      It is devastation. It is gore. It is a Phoenix Namor, bringing a large tidal wave into Wakanda. Wakanda is devastated by this attack and the Avengers Assemble, with Scarlet Witch as they go all out against Namor ... and win. Finding that once they defeat a Phoenix powered member of the Phoenix Five, it leaves them and splits between the remaining hosts. Plus, Professor Xavier threatens Cyclops to stop this and Cyclops decides NOT to heed his old teacher.

New Avengers #28

   We see Spiderwoman, Hawkeye and Luke Cage escaping from their cells on Utopia as they fight off Magma, the Cuckoos and more, only to be stopped by Phoenix Colossus, Havok, Polaris, Gambit and Psylocke. They look as if they still are going to escape when .... oh no. It was a dream. Made by Unit and Danger. Nice try though.

Wolverine & the X-Men # 13 

   The origin of Warbird. Plus, an angry Gladiator, who is the Emperor of the Shi'ar. The Death Commandos and more. Gladiator takes on the Phoenix Five ... and Loses.

X-Men Legacy # 269 -270

  Rogue takes center stage these issues as we look at how far she has come. It is the long anticipated rematch between Rogue  and Ms. Marvel ... which she wins. When Phoenix Magik shows up, she introduces Rogue to the new prison they have been sending the Avengers . .. a mountain that Magik has transformed to be part of Limbo. This leads to Rogue deciding to help Ms. Marvel ... only to have them fight Phoenix Magik ... and lose. Ms. Marvel is put back to her hellish prison while Rogue is banished to another dimension.

Avengers #28 

   Red Hulk deals with why he's even involved in this conflict then decides to try to assignate Cyclops. And he gets his big Hulk self beaten badly by the Phoenix Five for his trouble. They even break Red Hulk's arm!

Wolverine & the X-Men # 14

   Phoenix Colossus drops by the Jean Grey School, being looked after by Kitty Pryde with flowers. The two go on a date and Colossus pops the question. And Kitty says ... NO. Meanwhile, Iceman, Rachel, Angel and more decide to defect from the Phoenix Five's side.

The King and Queen of Mutants Take a Stroll.

Avengers vs. X-Men Round 9 

    Wakanda starts to work on healing itself as Black Panther annuls his marriage to Storm after she admits that he was right. (BOOOOOOOOOOOO!) The Avengers numbers are dwindling till Scarlet Witch works her magic while Spider-man gets his moment to shine as he takes down BOTH Phoenix Colossus and Phoenix Magik by himself. Now, the Avengers got most of their comrades back: Spiderwoman, Luke Cage, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Thing & Thor. The stage is being set for the final showdown. And the only 2 Phoenix bearers left are Cyclops and Emma Frost.


AvX Battle Results: 

Red Hulk vs. Phoenix Five    Winner: Phoenix Five
Psylocke vs. Daredevil      Winner: Draw
Magik vs. Hawkeye        Winner: Magik
Spiderwoman, Hawkeye & Luke Cage vs. Utopia   Winner: Danger & UNIT

Dogpile Phoenix powered Namor.

Rachel Grey vs. Thor   Winner: Draw
Rachel Grey vs. Iron Fist   Winner: Rachel Grey
Rachel Grey vs. Black Widow   Winner: Rachel Grey
Scarlet Witch vs. Namor       Winner: Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch vs. Magik      Winner: Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch vs. Cyclops & Emma Frost    Winner: Scarlet Witch
Gladiator vs. The Phoenix Five     Winner: Phoenix Five
Death Commandos vs. The Phoenix Five   Winner: Phoenix Five
Wolverine vs. Cyclops    Winner: Cyclops
Rogue vs. Ms. Marvel          Winner: Rogue
Rogue & Ms. Marvel vs. Magik    Winner: Magik
Captain  America & Black Panther vs. Emma Frost  Winner: Emma Frost

Emma Frost vs. Avengers Academy Staff    Winner: Emma Frost
Emma Frost vs. Sentinel                Winner: Emma Frost
Emma Frost vs. Entire Avengers Academy   Winner: Avengers Academy
Emma Frost vs. Thor    Winner: Emma Frost
Iceman vs. Spiderman   Winner: Spiderman
Sinister vs. The Phoenix Five    Winner: Sinister ... kind of.
Namor vs. The Avengers     Winner: The Avengers
Spiderman vs. Magik & Colossus Winner: Spiderman




Injuries

 Where do I begin?

 - Emma as shatter and put herself back together.
- Hawkeye was burned alive then healed by the Phoenix Five
 - Namor got a few concussions after that battle in AvX Round 8
- Red Hulk's arm was busted with some other parts of him.
- Almost everyone has cuts and bruises
- Storm & Black Panther's marriage is pretty much broken
- Wolverine has burns, cuts, broken bones and more.
- Colossus's mind must be so messed up as he has the Phoenix & the Juggernaut in him. Well, had the Phoenix.
 - Rachel is hurting mentally because of being forced to hunt down the Avengers and her own niece.
 - Iceman was shattered several times.
- Rogue must deal with demon power and getting thrown into another dimension.
- Sentinel is dead.
- Hawkeye, Spiderwoman, Luke Cage & Gen Hope all got mind fucked by Danger & UNIT

Spidey gives Hope a pep talk about a person's moment in time.

- Danger being a slave to UNIT

- The Avengers egos got hit hard.

And those are just for starters.






NOTES

  We are seeing the beginning of the end.

- The Illuminati are coming back together for this event which means they may use the Infinity Gauntlet.

- What will Professor Xavier's role be if he goes up against Scott and Emma.

 - The X-Men seem to be leaving Scott's side. Which means ... WOLVERINE WAS RIGHT.

- The Avengers Academy might be ending soon with the recent announcement from Tigra and Hank Pym that they are closing the school.

- No matter what happens, both the X-Men ... well, Scott's X-Men more than the others and the Avengers are gonna need some major looks into their leadership. It is clear that this whole situation could have been avoided with better leaders.

- What the hell is up with Havok & Polaris showing up but no lines?  And siding with Scott?

- Spiderman proves why not only he deserves to be an Avenger but why the group NEEDS him.

- Scarlet Witch is a BAD BITCH! Werk it mija!

She is saying "Yes, I'm Back. And I'm a Baaaaaaaaaad Bitch!"

- Vision seems to be lightening up on Wanda ... a little.

- Where are Scarlet Witch's sons? I would figure they would want in. Well ... Speed more than Wiccan.

- Carol giving Rogue the benefit of the doubt and said that she proved herself speaks volumes on how far these women have come.

- Emma maybe getting too corrupted by the power, hmm?

- Storm and Black Panther's annulment is pure BULLSHIT!

- Again, Scarlet Witch is a BAD BITCH!



In 2 Weeks: More Battle Report. I promise.

Lack of Respect For Marriage in Comics

Warning: The Following contains spoilers from AvX #9 and more.

  Years ago, I went to my comic book shop and bought X-Men # 30, the wedding of Jean Grey and Scott Summers. For years, I would reread that very issue; merely enjoying the love of the characters had for each other and those around them. And then Grant Morrison's New X-Men happened and Scott Summers ended up having a psychic affair with Emma Frost, which became physical. Jean Grey died ... again and Scott moved on as he and Emma fell in love with each other.

Look at that. STAN LEE married Luke & Jessica! WTH Marvel!

  Fast forward to about 5 to 6 years ago. New Avengers were young in their first volume but Luke Cage's character rose. He and his long time love, Jessica Jones, tied the knot in New Avengers Annual # 1. They ended up having a daughter, Danielle, named after Luke's best friend, Danny Rand aka Iron Fist. They ended up buying the Avengers Mansion for a $1 ... I am not kidding. New Avengers Volume 2, # 1 for that one folks ... and they had become full fledged Avengers while Squirrel Girl became their babysitter.

  Go back about 7 years ago, during the time of Civil War where hero was fighting hero ... but the X-Men were out of it at this point. Captain America was on one side while Iron Man was on the other. The breather between the event happened to be the nuptials of T'Challa, long time Avenger Black Panther, and Storm, former leader of the X-Men. They had wed and became King and Queen of Wakanda. They also served a small stint on the Fantastic Four, allowing Reed and Sue to FINALLY have a honeymoon. The Watcher said they were gonna have children! The WATCHER! Freakin' Uatu! Said that T'Challa and Ororo would have CHILDREN! And they have been married since then ... UNTIL TODAY.

Black Panther's & Storm's Wedding

 Which gets to the bulk of my article. Marvel ... more so then any  Other comic book company, it seems, seem to not enjoy having their characters stay married anymore. And while I understand the divorce rate is 50% in the country of the United States and wanting to reflect society, some of these marriages desolving his troublesome. Now, motivations-wise, I can understand some marriage falling apart. Like Scarlet Witch and Visions.  Even Scott and Jean's I can understand.

 But there are some break ups that I'm just scratching my head over. Like Storm and Black Panther. THIS MAKES NO SENSE! Time and again, Storm has reached out to her husband and her husband is like I love you but I need to figure my way alone. Once I do,  I will come back to you. And Yet ... He annuls their marriage today. Why? I don't know?  Does he blame her for what happened or not telling him about the Phoenix? I don't know. And while in some cases, that translates to a relate-able marriage ... I do not believe that THIS would be true grounds for T'Challa to give up on his wife. Not after EVERYTHING they've been through together over the last several years. It just comes out of nowhere. Marriage counselling I see. Annulment? NO!

   Then, at the top of AvX, Jessica Jones decides to leave her husband, Luke Cage. Just 2 minutes before, he announced to the world that he wants nothing more than his wife and child. Granted, Jessica ran from him before but I figured that  1- Jessica knew what she was getting into when she joined the Avengers and married Luke Cage. 2- Even with a child, what makes her think she is REALLY any safer alone. Especially after having her face plastered on tv who knows how many times by now. So ... she ran. To take care of her child. Admirable. But still, logically ... she has a better chance WITH The Avengers than not. And Luke ... 2 minutes ago, you said you wanted nothing more than your wife and child ... on National TV .... but then you decide its important to fight the X-Men; when clearly ... the reason why is still kind of up in the air. Damn it Luke! You are better than that. *sigh*

  Oh. Marvel isn't the only culprit. Let's see ... ah yes. DC. Their reboot of Superman has brought so many new people to the book. And it is understandable ... to all but this.. . Lois and Clark had been married for nearly 15 FRELLIN' Years ... and that got all erased so they can have a new history. Sure ... we get to see Clark and Lois go through it all over again. But this time, there is no guarantee that they will end up together.

 And who can forget DC for breaking up Donna and Terry. Cause Terry suddenly decided, after them having a child, that super heroics was a no no ... even though Terry had stood by her as a hero for YEARS. Terry damn well knew what he was getting into when he married her. They had a child together. He even helped her with looking after the Team Titans (I know, obscure) but decided all of a sudden ... "Nope. Don't want to stay with you anymore after all these years."  So yay! Break up a marriage for convenience. Yay!

  And on top of that, let's go to the dozens and dozens of heroes and/or heroines who have had extra-marital or out of relationship affairs:  Omni-man, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Psylocke (twice), Gambit, Kyle Rayner, Havok, Kendra Saunders, Dick Grayson (how can you not know the person you are sleep with is not different when you have sex, even if they are a shape shifter), etc.

  But let me get to the easiest, most heinous of all marriage break ups that were pure and utter bullshit. Yes. I am speaking about THAT storyline. ONE. MORE. DAY.  And now, I have enraged probably half my readership by saying those three words. Yep. One More Day. The storyline that rebooted Spidey from long-time, happily married man, into the single man he has now become. Quesada has gone on print back when the storyline first came out stating that him being single will open more doors to Spiderman, storywise and him being married was holding him back. WHAT?! They were married for YEARS and you decided that that marriage couldn't work in upcoming storylines. WHAT?! They never even divorced. Spidey made a deal with the devil ... the freakin' devil ... to save Aunt May ... who had died before already. Sure, she was a clone but still ... save Aunt May for his marriage.

   What the frell?!

  While overall, some of these marriages coming apart are good and natural. There are these others that make me wonder what is on the minds of the writers and why do this. I understand divorce rate is 50% but it is looking like 80 to 90% in comics now. While life should be seen in multifaceted ways, this trend is starting to get REALLY disturbing. Makes you think about it, huh?

My name is Frankie Rodriguez and these are my thoughts.

Avengers vs X-Men Battle Report # 1

by Frankie Rodriguez

This has been a long time coming. Marvel's Premiere super hero teams having a battle ... again. But this time, the stakes are FAR higher than last. And the Avengers and X-Men are a lot different from what they were the last time both teams fought each other.

This series will take a look at the players, the books and the variables involved with Avengers vs. X-Men. What it means to both teams? What it means to individual characters and more. With the first round down and the fight just starting, we are gonna look at AvX #0 & # 1 as well as some interesting facts that we want to keep in mind during this storyline.

The Gauntlet has been thrown and now the begins the epic from Marvel: Avengers vs. X-Men. Who's side are you on and what will you do?


The Follow Summaries contain SPOILERS, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!:


On AvX # 0: It served as a prelude with 2 major players of the story, one from each side: An Avenger and an X-Men.

  For the Avengers, Brian Michael Bendis weaved a tale with Scarlet Witch, returning to her super hero roots in order to atone for her sins committed while under the control of Dr. Doom during Avengers Disassembled. (Yes, this has been confirmed during the Avengers: Children's Crusade maxi-series). She takes down M.O.D.O.K. and A.I.M. with assists from Ms. Marvel and Spiderwoman.

  Carol, in her infinite wisdom, takes Wanda back to the Avengers mansion. Wanda protests this idea but both Carol (Ms. Marvel) and Jessica (Spiderwoman) go on about how the Avengers have been worried about her till ... the Vision shows up. (The original Vision that is). And he tells Wanda that she does NOT belong there and that he will never forgive her for using him in order to kill their friends ... most of those friends were resurrected during Avengers: Children's Crusade. (Seriously, Scott Lang is alive again and I am happy!!!)
   So Vision is a douche as Carol is about to call him out on it but he stops her. Carol flies the crying Wanda away as Vision walks back into the mansion, shedding tears himself.

On the X-Men side of things, Jason Aaron tackles Cyclops, Emma Frost and Hope Summers for the first time since Schism and does not miss a beat. Hope wants answers and Cyclops just goes on about how important Hope is to the mutants. Since Cyclops wasn't gonna give her an answer, Hope blasts him, mimicing his force blasts and flies off, using his jetpack.

  Then we see what Hope does best ... Kick butt. She takes down the Serpent Society single-handedly as Cyclops and Hope come in to bring her home. Our #0 issue ends with the Phoenix force . . . and its coming.

-------   ----------         -------------------------             --------------------------           ----------------
Now, during AvX #1: This is where things get real.

Our book opens the way the #0 issue ends ...  with the Phoenix .. . this time, destroying a civilation.

Nova crashes on Earth violently. So violently, that the Avengers respond, saving people in the process.

Captain America and Iron Man tell the President the lowdown on the Phoenix force then ask Wolvie for help.

On Utopia, Cyclops is proving to be a harder drill instructor than his son, Cable. Cyclops sparring with Hope ... with him using his powers and Hope not being allowed to. During the session, we see the 2nd manifestation with Hope as the Phoenix as the bird comes up and burns Cyclops a little. Good job there Cyke. Pissing off your granddaughter. Must be so proud.

The Avengers pick this up and Cap drops by Utopia, TELLING Cyclops that they are taking Hope into protective custody while (unbeknowst to Scott, there is an Avengers team heading to space to try to head it off or destroy it. hahahhahahhahahahhhahahaha).

 Scott tells Captain America, " Respectfully, get the hell off my island."

Captain America again states that he wasn't asking and Cyclops blasts Captain America.

Our story ends with a Helicarrier coming off of cloak with a bunch of Avengers on it while the Extinction Team and some of the Security Team X-Men looking from the beach.

 ----

   Injury & Casualty List: 

Avengers: 

Injuries:

Nova: Epic crash onto Earth. Some burns and damage.

People of New York City: due to Nova's crash on Earth.


 X-Men: 

Cyclops: After  Hope gives him a bit of Phoenix Power and he got burned for it.


Casualties: 

The civilization that was destroyed by the Phoenix during the first few pages of AvX#1.


Notes:

 - Cyclops threw the first hit. Battle between Avengers and Extinction Team imminent.

- Hope Summers is not happy with Cyclops but definitely does not seem to want to be taken by the Avengers.

- Vision is a douchebag. Yes. A douchebag.

 - Scarlet Witch is doing her best to atone for her past. What does that mean during the course of this crossover? We will have to wait and see. But there is a chance that we might see her WITH her two sons: Wiccan & Speed of the Young Avengers.

- No word on who THIS Nova is.

- Captain America wastes no time to see Wolverine. And Wolverine seemingly sides with the Avengers pretty quickly.

- Emma Frost and Cyclops have seemingly switched personalities. Back in New X-Men (# 34, I think), Ms. Marvel had visited during Civil War to convince the X-Men to join Tony Stark's side. Emma telepathically showed Carol what the Avengers decided to take a blind eye too: Stating where were the Avengers during all these massacres of mutants. Cyclops told Emma to stop and walked Carol out.
   Yet, Emma recently went to Cyclops, telling him that Hope needs to choose for herself. And Cyclops then tells Captain America where were the Avengers when they needed them. Interesting circle, huh?

NEXT TIME: The War Begins. And we look at the variables.