Avengers VS X-Men #5: Review

The 5th and last round-robin scripter handles this issue, Matt Fraction. The 3 tie-ins in the 2 weeks since #4 relate to #3-4, so I've added descriptions of them to my comments on #4. There are 2 tie-ins this week, but only 1 belongs with this issue. Avengers Academy #31 continues from #30 and so fits more with AvX#4. Sebastian Shaw turns out still to be on the side of good, and persuades the Academy to set the X-kids free. Uncanny X-Men #13 runs in parallel with this issue, as the X-Men left behind on Earth discuss all and sundry. The major plot point is that Hope needs the 5 Lights (mutants from Uncanny X-Men #526-529 and Generation Hope) to control the Phoenix Force. At the end of last issue Thor crashlanded on the Moon as the Phoenix Force arrived. He's listed in the cast page this issue, but not actually seen inside. Protector is not with the Avengers space team. We'll need to wait for Avengers #27 and Secret Avengers #28 to see how they all got here, and what happened to Protector. Prof X has been looking after his son Legion since Legion's personalities were recombined in X-Men Legacy #253. They have previously had nothing to do with this story. Lei Kung had experience with a previous visit by the Phoenix Force, as revealed in New Avengers #25-26. Scarlet Witch has been lurking behind the scenes in this storyline. Next issue she will come to the fore. I presume Tony Stark's secret weapon was more than just a big robot with a big gun, but we aren't told any more than that. It is unclear whether it really had any effect. Was it the disruptor that stopped the Force from joining with Hope? Cyclops seems to suggest that it changed the Force so that the Force rejected Hope.

Extra comments on the next week's tie-ins:- Avengers #27 continues the deep space team's story. It turns out Protector hadn't really betrayed the Avengers because he thought the Supreme Intelligence was going to destroy the Phoenix Force and save Earth. When he finds that Supremor was going to let Earth die, and then harness the Force for the Kree, he rebels and takes the stolen Force fragment back. But the Avengers don't realise this, and leave him behind after taking the fragment off him. And protector has to flee from the angry Kree. This of course all happens before the end of Avengers vs X-Men #4. Avengers vs X-Men: Versus #3 expands some battles on the Moon in the current issue. It has Thing vs Colossus and Black Widow vs Magik. The current issue showed Red Hulk fighting Colossus and Thing tackling Namor. AvX:Vs#3 has Red Hulk punch Colossus through a wall, where he finds Thing. It doesn't say what happened to Red Hulk and Sub-Mariner. X-Men Legacy #268 is actually a spoiler for Avengers vs X-Men #6, where the transformed X-Men will return from the Moon and start ruling the world. This issue follows Frenzy, who is sent to help look after Africa.