In the closing panels of the second issue Hope channeled the power of the Phoenix quickly eviscerating Wolverine into a seared heap. Avengers vs. X-Men #3 begins with a scorched Wolverine rebuilding his muscle tissue and charred skin under the supervision of Spider-Man. A couple quips are exchanged, with Spider-Man as the catalyst, before the two rush out to regroup with the rest of the Avengers. Unbeknownst to Captain America and the rest of the team the Avengers are being duped by a Doctor Strangedoppelganger, but with the arrival of Wolverine and Spider-Man Wolverine sniffs out the imposter spoiling Cyclops’ruse.
At this note, the X-Men disappear in a flash and the two groups are once again separated, except this time with the common of goal of finding the Mutant Messiah, Hope. With the narration now split three ways (between the X-Men, The Avengers, and Hope) the story is beginning to unfold as the three jockey amongst each other waiting for the return of thePhoenix. The X-Men are now on the run (but hold an ace within the heart of Wolverine’s school), the Avengers take a tip from the very same defector and scatter about the globe to search for Hope in five possible locations, and using specialty tech Hope has masked her trail and is hiding out till the Phoenix Force returns.
Due to Wolverine’s subordination of Captain America’s orders during the battle of Utopia (in the first two Avengers vs. X-Men issues) Captain America questions Wolverine’s motives and trust as the Avengers’ jet flies over Antarctica en route toHope’s possible location. Their argument escalates untilCaptain America and Wolverine windup battling till Wolverinegets thrown out of the jet into the snow below.
The script is slowly getting better as the issues wane on, but thus far Avengers vs. X-Men is still pretty shallow. TheAvengers vs. X-Men: Versus crossover miniseries often reveals more pertinent plot details than the actual AvXcomics. Nevertheless, the run has been consistent, and the quality (rather than needlessly fluxing) has gradually improved. John Romita’s artwork shines even with the lack of action, and yet as the tension builds and finally erupts between Captain America and Wolverine the art takes off and climaxes with a literally steaming Wolverine shaking the snow from his battered body.
I give Avengers vs. X-Men #3 four-out-of-five stars; check back here for my future reviews on Avengers vs. X-Men, as well as its counterpart series, Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus.
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