MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
WRITER: Rick Remender
ART: Adam Kubert
COLORS: Laura Martin and Matt Milla
LETTERS: Chris Eliopoulos
COVER: Jim Cheung with Justin Ponsor
VARIANT COVERS: Gabriele Dell'otto; Adam Kubert with Edgar Delgado; Mike Mayhew; Mico Suayan; Skottie Young; Chip Zdarsky; and The Young Guns with Mike Deodato with Frank Martin
44pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2014)
Rated “T+”
The Red Supremacy: Chapter 1
About three years ago, I read the first two issues of Avengers vs. X-Men (#0 and #1), and I didn't find anything that made me want to keep reading the much-anticipated and much-talked about event “maxi-series.” So I don't know why I'm reading the new Avengers/X-Men crossover event miniseries, Avengers & X-Men: Axis. Maybe, I'm curious?
Avengers & X-Men: Axis #1 (The Red Supremacy: Chapter 1) opens with a brief recap/overview of what has happened since the shocking end of Avengers vs. X-Men, in which the X-Man, Cyclops, killed his mentor and founder of the X-Men, Professor Charles Xavier. The result was the branding of Cyclops as a criminal and also the founding of the Uncanny Avengers, a unity squad of Avengers and X-Men. Of course, a new team wouldn't make them better for long.
Fast forward: Magneto kills Captain America's arch-nemesis, the Red Skull, which leads to his resurrection as “The Red Onslaught.” Now, there is a wave of psychic energy and hate, initiated by Red Onslaught, because he possesses Prof. X's brain and psychic powers. This psychic wave, or onslaught, if you will, has the world in turmoil, so the Avengers and X-Men have to come together to stop Red Onslaught.
Wow. It has been an unknown number of years (but it is many) since I have read an issue of a comic book event series in which superheroes and super-villains engage in a slug fest. Part of me enjoys seeing so many of the superheroes that I've known most of my life together, even the new versions. I enjoyed the Scarlet Witch angle of this story, as well as the Scarlet Witch-Rogue subplot. I think this Red Onslaught character is ridiculous, however. I did not plan on reading any more of this, even while wondering why I was reading Avengers & X-Men: Axis #1 to begin with.
Then, I saw Sentinels at the end of the first issue, and then, I decided to read more. I think that is how these superhero crossover events work. The writers, artists, and editors throw so much into the event (something we can compare to a pot full of ingredients), and the readers are bound to find something to appeal to them. So there you have it. I thought I was out, but they dragged me back in.
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
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