Review - Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus #1 of 6 (2012)

*This review DOES contain spoilers in so far as revealing the winners of each match-up in Marvel’s Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus limited series.

Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus is the Avengers vs. X-Men’sgritty, brawler step-cousin.  It combines the Marvel Universe with a smidgen of Palahniuk’s Fight Club to create a story-stripped six-part limited series that focuses on two, one-on-one battles between an Avenger and X-Man.

Issue one of the series pits Iron Man against Magneto, andThe Thing against Namor the Submariner.  Each battle is penned by a different Marvel Architect and drawn by a different artist.  It’s nice touch; because it varies up the ‘feel’ of the comic and makes sure that the outcome is more diversified than if the same writer wrote both battles.

Round 1

Iron vs. Magneto

You would think that Magneto would have this battle in an cinch, because after all he’s fighting a man in an iron suit; however, Tony Stark is more than just a man in an iron suit.  He has counter measures set in place that negate Magneto’smagnetism.  The two trade potshots—Magneto by tossing something large and metallic, and Iron Man by using something technological and extravagant.  

The battle suddenly shifts gears and takes to the stars.  The tide abruptly shifts as Iron Man begins to siphon off power from Jupiter’s magnetic field to fight fire with fire in one of the coolest Iron Man powers presented in a long while.  Magnetotries to fight back by pulling out all the stops, but in a character expanding moment Magneto feels the death of star and is suddenly humbled by the power of the Phoenix Force.

At the end of the day…

Iron Man Wins

The Thing vs. Namor the Submariner

In the beginning of Avengers vs. X-Men #1 Namor and theThing trade blows as a Colossus destroyed Helicarrier lists and sheds its metal into the sea.  The two warriors fall into the ocean where Namor believes he has the advantage overBen ‘Clobbering Time’ Grimm, but the Thing stands in deviance to the sea and thus to Namor. 

Namor uses his power to nab a sea monster and toss it towards the Thing expecting to finish the battle in one fell swoop.  The Thing grabs a hold for the ride and ends up pulling out the creature’s fangs and using them to trap Namorto the sea floor ending the battle.

The Thing Wins

Overall, I was incredibly impressed with Marvel’s AvX: Versusseries—at times it was better than the core series, and even though the plot was highly minimal it often revealed plot clues and details that were otherwise omitted.  I give Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus #1 four-and-half-stars out of five.

(SOURCE: Review - Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus #1 of 6 (2012))

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Kalman Andrasofszky

Last week or so Celeste and I nabbed an older copy of X-23.  Number seven to be exact, and one of the main reasons we grabbed it was because of the stellar cover.  Here is the cover for X-23 #7:

X-23 #7 Cover by Kalman Andrasofszky

So after becoming intrigued by the cover art I started digging a little deeper into the bio of the artist and it turns out that Kalman Andrasofszky has caught my eye with his art quite a few times without me even knowing it!  He’s worked on the DC 12-part series, Ion, starring Kyle Rayner, X-23 (of course), R.E.B.E.L.S., Soldier Zero, Action Comics, Captain America, and a myriad of others that I enjoy reading but regretfully haven’t been regularly purchasing so hadn’t realized that I was looking at Kalman’s art until now!

Here are some other pieces of art that Kalman has done over the years that has caught my eye:

Definitely check out Kalman Andrasofszky’s blog and/or webpage at ComicVine.  He showcases a lot of his art there, and you could jot him in email or see some of the art that he is working at the moment.

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The Mighty Thor #1 (2011)

The Mighty Thor #1released April 27, 2011 and was met with fairly positive reviews across the board.  With latest volume of Thorreverting to its original numbering and then back to the original, original Journey into Mystery titling that Thordebuted in (Journey into Mystery #83 – 1962) Thor ceased to be the core character in his own series leaving him essentially without a series.

In order to correct this oddity, especially with the Thor film hitting theaters last week Marvel Comics enlisted Matt Fraction and artist Francis Coipel to author and pencil a new Thor comic series entitled, The Might Thor.

The Mighty Thor begins with the herald of Galactus, The Silver Surfer, describing his place in the universe and the reasoning behind the deviation of planets seemingly devoid of life to one teeming with life.  The power that resides within Asgard due to the world tree, Yggdrasil, that ties the Asgard to the other eight realms beckons to The Silver Surfer due to its ability to finally squelch Galactus’ hunger.

The power that resides within the world tree would hopefully abate Galactus’hunger ending his swath of destruction across the cosmos.  While The Silver Surfer travels to this plane of power, Thor and the Lady Sif are on a journey that follows the roots of the world tree in an effort to harvest a seed of light.

With the help of Thor’s stepbrother Loki, Thor and the Lady Sif harvest the seed and safely reach home.  Due to Thor’s achievement the whole ofAsgard celebrates, but something is amiss and Thor does not feel as if he accomplished as large a task as his brethren believe.

The issue wraps up with The Silver Surfer coming upon Earth heralding its destruction.

All in all the art was simply fantastic!  Coipel has been drawing Thor for years now and his detail in the representation of Thor and Asgard are phenomenal.  The issue is incredibly colorful and masterfully laid out, and features some of the most prominent characters within the Marvel Universe.

The story was solid and left me itching for more.  I’m excited to see where the next issue leads.

Definitely check out the movie Thor, and read my review on the film at the Examiner, and if you’re a Thor fan you’ve already picked up the comic and hopefully you enjoyed it as much as I did.

I give this issue a 4 stars out of 5.

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