AXIS #2

As far as I know AXIS is the latest, and yet to be succeeded, Marvel crossover event. It has already run its course. But I am just catching up with it. Last weekend I got as far as AXIS #2. Rick Remender, who I often rave about on this page, takes his shot at scripting the hub storyline of a crossover. Adam Kubert provides the art. The narrative, as recapitulated in the second scan, seeks to tie up the AvX crossover, which concluded with the death of Professor X and a spontaneous outbreak of new Mutants. Red Skull has pilfered the super-powerful brain from Professor's X's corpse and used it to spread hate globally with the intention of wiping out Mutantkind. In AXIS, the Red Skull is reborn as Red Onslaught, a colossal mind-controlling telepathic demon.

All the action in AXIS #1 & AXIS #2 takes place in the Mutant homeland of Genosha, an island off the coast of Africa north of Madagascar. It has the feel of the climax of a Hollywood action blockbuster where the final fight scene always seems to take place in an abandoned warehouse.

To make a long story short, AXIS is a big disappointment. Maybe it will improve. I don't know. But the first two issues are extremely weak. Adam Kubert's art is juvenile; Remender's writing, exhausted.

Marvel's crossovers seem to be multiplying and getting weaker with each new iteration. The heyday, what really drew me back to reading comic books, was the strength of Brian Michael Bendis' Secret Invasion, Dark Reign and Siege crossovers as each led organically into the next. The storytelling was inventive and impactful.

And while there were one or two nice installments in Matt Fraction's Fear Itself, it has become increasingly apparent with AvX and Age of  Ultron that a commercial format is preceding any meaningful substance. Now Marvel appears to be committed to running two crossover simultaneously -- for instance, AXIS and Original Sin --  something which I don't think can be sustained.

The executives of Marvel seem to be of the mind that they can do it all: the crafty, compelling, fresh features of All-New Marvel NOW! as well as the bloated big ticket blockbuster like AXIS. I am doubtful. Eventually the reader's allegiance will evaporate.

In the scans below from AXIS #2 Iron Man battles Sentinels he secretly designed to exterminate all his brother and sister superheroes. Red Onslaught has acquired control of the Stark Sentinels.