I’ve said it elsewhere, but Chad Nevett’s GraphiContent blog has been home to some really wonderful commentary on Marvel’s Avengers Vs. X-Men event during its entire run. I’m particularly taken by his commentary on the scheduling of New Avengers #30:
I’m a little fascinated by the fact that both New Avengers #30 and Avengers #30 seem to take place after the end of Avengers vs. X-Men and… things are fine. We all expect that to be the case, but it’s more than that. Things aren’t just fine, they’re almost ‘normal.’ You could put either issue in a different place in Marvel’s history and not much would change. You’d need to rework some of the specifics in New Avengers #30, sure, but the basic idea of that issue was, after a big superhero to-do, Luke Cage struggles with what it means to be a husband and father while also being a superhero, and joins some other Avengers in fighting some bad guys before quitting the team. Take out Emma Frost and the fact that the bad guys hate mutants and… nothing that matters would change. The same thing applies in this issue, except in an even bigger way. You literally just need to take out the opening double-page spread and I’m not sure there’s a specific Avengers vs. X-Men reference in the comic.
This is the event that Matters (capital M, of course) and Will Change Everything Forever (for now) and, before it’s over, we’re being treated to comics that demonstrate just how much it doesn’t matter. At all. It’s just another crisis — another big event. Another giant threat to the planet that the heroes have to stop. The specifics don’t matter. Phoenix? Might as well be Thanos or the Beyonder or Norman Osborn or an act of congress or the Scarlet Witch or Apocalypse or Kang or Ultron or Dr. Doom or the Skrulls or the Kree or the Kree and the Skrulls or Galactus or anything else. Because it doesn’t matter.
I wonder whether the issue was originally supposed to come out after #12 of the main series – An issue that was solicited for September release originally, remember, then pushed back for good reason before release – which would have mitigated this reaction. But still: Things like Captain Marvel or Hawkeye take place explicitly after AvX, and have featured a perfectly-fine world for a couple of months now. It’s a thing; we as readers ultimately know that the world isn’t going to end/be massively changed by big crossover events, and yet releasing comics that show that before the end of an event nonetheless feels as if the game has been given away, in some way.
September 25th, 2012 at 5:45 pm
“Might as well be Thanos or the Beyonder or Norman Osborn or an act of congress or the Scarlet Witch or Apocalypse or Kang or Ultron or Dr. Doom or the Skrulls or the Kree or the Kree and the Skrulls or Galactus or anything else.”
He’s referencing a bunch of stories everybody likes, right? Specifically: Thanos, Kang, Ultron, Doom, Kree/Skrulls, freakin’ GALACTUS. And those stories didn’t result in the end of the world, nor did you see any (or much) evidence of their impact in adjacent comics. What exactly is the problem here? Do we really need to explain comics to you guys AGAIN?
September 25th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Also, I’m “a little fascinated” that the author of this blog (which I enjoy immensely) is annoyed that these comics aren’t either 1.) put on hold so the event can end; or 2.) reflecting every little bit of the event-driven biz/continuity/status quo that comics snobs seem to hate so much.
The alternatives are, what? Hawkeye and Captain Marvel should have been AvX tie-ins? Or that they take place PRE-event, robbing them of any suspense whatsoever? Or they show a scorched Earth scenario with mutant zombies devouring Avenger brains in the background, thereby ruining whatever small enjoyment you may have gotten from the event itself?
I mean, I know what he means, but this may be the most naive sentence uttered in the history of comics:
“You could put either issue in a different place in Marvel’s history and not much would change.”
September 25th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
Well, if you accept Brevoort’s claim that Bendis is a master of setting up and scripting “emotional beats,” then NEW AVENGERS #30 is another masterpiece, showing Cage making a dramatic, heartfelt decision.
If you believe that a story should have a plot in addition to emotional beats, then NEW AVENGERS #30 is junk, hardly worth ten cents. There are, for better or for worse, readers and pros alike who think that writing characters vividly is sufficient to do good work. Providing a plot is optional; providing suspense is a once-in-a-lifetime gift to readers.
SRS
September 25th, 2012 at 9:33 pm
I thought the impact of AvX would be some mutants being on some Avengers teams and other mutants not so much.
The setting (Marvel Earth) will not actually change, it never does.
September 27th, 2012 at 2:28 pm
This article is exactly why I do not buy comics anymore except for a handful of exceptions. When I do chose to read any Marvel or DC, I torrent them.