What happens when there’s just too much action for one series to contain? If you’re talking about Avengers Vs X-Men, the huge miniseries that Marvel Comics has been building up to for nearly a year, you create a separate series of rock ’em, sock ’em action called AvX: VS.
AvX: VS #1
Writers: Jason Aaron, Kathryn Immonen
Art: Adam Kubert, Stuart Immonen
Marvel Comics
There’s actually something very entertaining about a series that doesn’t try to be more than action personified. In AvX: VS there’s no character development, no real moving or essential moments that you have to read to understand everything that’s happening in the main Avengers vs X-Men miniseries. Instead, this is a book based solely on, as the intro explains, “awesome brawling” and “knock-down, drag-out whuppin”. And to my surprise, I totally dug it.
Why surprise, you ask? Well, I’ve never been one that’s all about action in a comic book series. I like the character development and quieter aspects of super hero comics; watching titans collide has never been my main reason for reading. However, I do think that AvX: VS does a great job of complimenting the main series, allowing us to see battles that would arguably take away from the major plot points if too much time was spent on them.
So who goes toe-to-toe in this first issue? Iron Man vs Magneto start things off in the first half, while Sub-Mariner vs The Thing follow it up. It’s sort of like a superhero pay-per-view. I won’t spoil anything with winners and losers, but I will admit that I was surprised with both finishes, something you can’t say about a UFC or WWE PPV all that often.
If you’re looking for nothing but action with zero context, you’ll may very well enjoy AvX: VS for the donnybrook it is. But if you’re following the main mini-series, I would say this is essential reading just to get the real scope and magnitude of this battle between the two super-teams.
Sign me up for Round Two!
