Avengers vs. X-Men #4 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Laura Martin (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: As the Phoenix streaks towards Earth, Hope tries to make a deal with Wolverine.

The Review:  In a twelve-issue maxi-series, issues like this are all but inevitable – the dreaded, treading water, transitional issue.

Much of this issue seems like it’s buying time for the huge development/cliffhanger on the final page.  As a result, much time is spent with Emma Frost checking in on each team of X-Men and each “battlezone,” often visiting what’s been going on in some of the AvX tie-in issues.  It’s honestly not very thrilling reading – if you’re reading those books already, it’s redundant, and if it you’re not, each arena is visited so briefly and so superficially that it’s basically devoid of any real significance anyway.  Even Emma’s purpose in doing this (attempting to seek out Cap in order to figure out where Hope is going to be next) is geared towards getting towards that final page.  It’s as though Hickman just needed to kill time to that big event, as the series is effectively in a holding pattern until that event occurred, having gone as far as it could go.

That said, while the middle of the issue is a bit tedious, the opening and finale are quite strong.  The finale goes without saying: it’s a huge development and a huge cliffhanger that’ll have you hankering for the next issue.  Mission accomplished.  More than that, however, it also involved a plot twist in which Logan does something that’s really heartless and quite a surprise.  It’s great how Hickman had us, along with Hope, believing one way in the opening of the issue, only for it to get all twisted up at the end.  Just an ice-cold move by Wolverine.

Cable #5 – Review

By Duane Swierczynski (Writer) and Ariel Olivetti (Artist)

Last month I gave this series some credit for finally feeling as though things were moving forward (after months of going absolutely nowhere). Issue #4 was a much needed step in the right direction and, as a result, I found myself actually looking forward to the conclusion of the “War Baby” arc. Unfortunately, Cable squanders any good will it had built up last month with a far too hasty conclusion that suffers from poor storytelling and inconsistent, confusing art direction.

Basically, Cable #5 is all about the inevitable showdown between Bishop and Cable for the fate of the “Messiah” child. But first, the two mutants must prepare, so the first half of the book deals with that. Bishop takes over a unit of the Turnpike Authority in order to have some backup for the big fight, while Cable heads to Cannonball’s lab to stock up on weaponry, destroy Cerebra so he can’t be tracked, build some baby armor, and arm the waitress Sophie so that she can protect herself should she get involved. To be honest, while reading the entire first half of the book, I couldn’t help but feel I should have some sort of montage worthy music playing in the background. It definitely has that vibe going for it.

The second half of this issue is the fight itself and boy, does it feel  disjointed. Simply put, the action never gets its rhythm going. There are a few cool moments spattered about, but as a whole, the action is nothing special and it is actually hindered more by an abrupt, hilariously stupid ending. Also, on a personal note, I have to mention that I really hate it when the seemingly innocent bystander turns out to be well trained in weaponry… it’s a cliché and tired formula.

The writing here is kept at a minimum, but it works as long as there isn’t any actual storytelling involved. Allow me to explain what I mean. The dialogue/narration is fairly amusing from time to time; Cable and Sophie make a pretty decent character pair, but this story has no depth whatsoever. Every beat that is meant to move the story forward is usually just a one or two line explanation about why something is or must be done. Bishop is on the warpath in order to kill a baby and instead of exploring the complexity of that particular situation, he just keeps saying he has to stop his future from occurring. Another example is how the conclusion of this issue is a “oops, I forgot” moment that just sort of happens without any previous explanation about how Cable’s time mechanism works.

This whole arc has felt less like a story and more like a series of events held together by the fact that Bishop is hunting Cable. Sure the dialogue is fairly interesting, but it’s as though Duane Swierczynski forgot that he had to tell a story as well. Maybe the start of a new arc will lead to some actual story development, but, at this point, I can’t possibly get my hopes high. The way this issue concludes leads me to think the next arc will just be more of the same.

As for the artwork, things look decent enough during slower moments as Arial Olivetti has clearly improved his character work, but the direction in this issue is just sloppy. It feels as though there are gaps in continuity during the entire action sequence and it ultimately destroys any flow the scenes may have. Also, there are a few inconsistencies, the most glaring of which involves a guy getting shot in the head. It shows the bullet go through his head and then one panel later his head is completely gone, as though it had exploded or something. It is always good to see something improve with each new issue, but, in my opinion, this series would be better off with a new artist or art team.

Cable #5 is just a huge disappointment all around. The storytelling is incredibly weak, the art direction is a mess, and the conclusion just left me shaking my head at how ridiculous it was. I thought things would be looking up after a decent showing last month, but, as it turns out, I was wrong. (Grade: D)

-Kyle Posluszny