Marvel Comic Books: Avengers & X-Men AXIS #4

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS #4 On Youtube

New Comics: Avengers & X-Men #4 Recap

On the SHEILD Helicarrier Iliad, high above the Atlantic Ocean, a meeting between SHEILD, Captain America, and the Hulk is taking place. The Stark Sentinels are being dismantled, and the Skull’s camps on Genosha have been torn down. World War Hate is over.

Nick Fury congratulates Captain America for a job well done. But Maria Hill says it’s time for the Avengers to hand the Red Skull over. The international community appreciates the actions of the Avengers, but nobody is comfortable with a team of heroes holding on of the most powerful telepaths on the planet in their custody.

But Sam Wilson won’t hear it. Tony Stark has found a way to keep the Skull and his powers contained, and the villain isn’t going anywhere. Maria Hill points out that Tony Stark was the one who has built the Sentinels and the Avenger hasn’t been seen for almost two weeks. She then points out that it’s just not right that a private group is holding a prisoner of war. When the Hulk points out that Maria might be right, Captain America quickly shoots both of them down. Nick Fury tries to diffuse the situation, but Sam won’t listen and quickly punches the spy. Sam Wilson says that Fury has Sam mixed up with Steve Rogers, and he is not THAT Captain America. As he and the Hulk leave, they contact the Scarlet Witch, and say they have a situation, and tells her not to mention it to Steve Rogers.

Elsewhere, in Brooklyn, a hostage situation is at hand following a botched bank robbery, but it is not going well for the police. Luckily, help swings in to save the day. Carnage bursts through the window and quickly ties the hostages up. Spider-Man arrives to the scene soon after, and the police chief tells Spidey that Carnage just went into the building. Knowing Carnage’s ways, Spider-Man says everyone in there is dead before heading in himself. However, he is surprised to find that everyone is fine. The criminals are tied up, Carnage didn’t take any money, and perhaps most disturbing of all, Carnage is engaging in potential copyright infringement.

Axis friendly neighborhood Carnage

Marvel Comic Books AXIS #4 Cont!

We then go to the San Francisco Giants Stadium, where a game is about to begin. However, Iron Man arrives with an exciting new announcement. The people of San Francisco, and only San Francisco, are about to be given an incredible app. Using only an app on any given smart phone, the all new Extremis program will give people perfect bodies that never age. Tony picks up a glass of champagne. While everyone downloads the new app, Matt Murdock is revealed to be in the crowd. Horrified, at Iron Man’s actions, he wonders what Tony is doing. Tony then says that it’s time to get this party started, and with a small pause, drinks the champagne. Breaking his vow to never drink again, he says, “I missed you too, sweetheart.”

We then go to the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning. Storm speaks to a large audience of mutants who have come together after the events in Genosha. Charles Xavier is gone. Wolverine is dead. Their numbers dwindle, their strength is diminishes, and the X-men splinter into warring factions of children. But no more. The X-Men have at last come together, under one new truth. Nature follows only one law… survival of the fittest. The X-Men have amassed an army.

The Avengers begin their meeting. Apocalypse has risen, and war with the X-Men seems all but inevitable. The mutants will come for the Red Skull. Captain America says something wonderful has happened to the Avengers on Genosha. A fog has been lifted, and their collective need to help others instead of themselves is no longer present. The others agree, and realize the best solution is to just kill the Red Skull right here and right now. Jarvis desperately tries to stop the Avengers, and begs them not to do this. But Scarlet Witch quickly knocks the faithful butler down. Hulk asks if Jarvis is okay, but the butler says he is not, and begs the hero to stop his comrades. The Hulk agrees, and insists that the Avengers do not kill. But when Luke Cage knocks the Hulk out of their way, it soon becomes clear that the Hulk was also affected by the inversion.

The green giant quickly transforms into a being called Kluh, who claims to be born out of the Hulk’s own innate rage instead of Banner’s, and thus is much stronger. Kluh knocks the Avengers around briefly, before deciding to just leave and relish in his own destructive power in the streets of New York City. No longer in their way, the Avengers are happy to just leave him be, and turn their focus back on the Red Skull. However, when they open the cell, they realize the Skull has escaped.

New Comics: Avengers & X-Men #4 Recap

Hello and welcome to Comic Island! My name is Arden, and this is my recap, and review, of Avengers and X-Men: AXIS #4!

So… wow, just wow. I mentioned how I felt issue three was a bit weak in my eyes. It felt like we had just lost all momentum in this event, and I was worried the next couple issues of AXIS were just going to be filler. But this was by no means a filler comic, and I’m happy to say I really, really liked this issue of AXIS.

What sells me is this story. Big, awesome things are happening here, and this comic is jam packed full of amazing moments that promise for some pretty cool excitement coming our way. The Avengers have indeed gone full dark side, and we’re treated to a very fun scene with Carnage as a hero. The X-Men seem to have also been heavily affected by the inversion spell, and look to be shaping up into more of a Brotherhood than a big team of X-Men, with a fully powered Apocalypse leading the way. And Tony Stark is showing some very interesting changes as well. All of this makes for a really compelling comic book.

What few complaints I have are very minor. Again some of Carnage’s dialogue is a bit unnecessary, and again the art is a bit hit and miss when looking panel to panel. But like the rest of AXIS, I haven’t really been that bothered by little things like these, because this issue is full of so many great little moments.

The Friendly Neighbourhood Carnage note that Spider-Man finds is my favourite moment in the comic by far, but the biggest news is this change we see in Tony Stark. See, my initial instinct for events like these is that most of the changes we are seeing will be undone by the end of the story. That’s the thing about magic, it’s all to easy to just undo everything when it serves the story, because it’s magic and there aren’t any rules when it comes to that sort of thing. But we kind of know that Tony Stark’s changes will be permanent and part of his new series as a result of this event. If that’s true, and this is indeed the new Tony Stark, an alcoholic, materialistic, and fundamentally selfish man, well, that’s just kind of fascinating to me. Maybe it’s a little sadistic but I’d like to see Tony Stark at his very worst. This would be a very different take on this character and something I think I’d really enjoy, personally. Keep in mind that even before when Tony was an alcoholic, he was always still a hero. So this is actually pretty cool to me. Yes, I understand that a hero becoming a villain isn’t the most original idea, but if it moves the story forward in a fun way, like I feel this comic is here, then I’m pretty on board with this plot line.

I’m overall pretty excited to see where things go from here at this point. And there’s just so much to look forward to now! So many of our heroes just aren’t heroes anymore, and there are a lot of villains and characters who were affected by the inversion spell that we haven’t seen just yet. Dr. Doom, Mystique, and Loki come to mind, and I’m interested to see what happens to them. It has me very excited and looking forward to what comes next.

If AXIS can pull together even a decent ending, then in my opinion, this is going to be one of Marvel’s best and biggest events in some time. Now, don’t get me wrong, big events like these tend to be notorious for bad or at the very least underwhelming endings, but if Rick Remender can pull off a good ending, then this is shaping up to be a very strong crossover and one that I’m going to remember for a long time.

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