#mike deodato

Axis #8:Rick Remender, Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, Jason Paz, Edgar Delgado, Jesus Aburtov, Chris Eliopoulos, Jim Cheung, Paul Mounts, Israel Silva, Mike Deodato, Frank Martin, Idette Winecoor, Jake Thomas, Tom Brevoort, Daniel Ketchum, Wil Moss

Oh…okay. Gene bomb, um, taken care of then. That was easy.

So I’ve always disliked it when there’s this huge cliffhanger at the end of an issue, and you think to yourself, “holy crap, how are they going to get out of that?!” And then you open the next issue, only to find out that the big, huge cliffhanger was settled in, like, one page.

Well, that’s pretty much what happens here. Last ish, we saw Apocalypse’s gene bomb counting down to 0:01 seconds left. That was the big cliffhanger. Holy crap, right? At the start of this issue, Spider-Man is attempting to disable it, when Carnage comes along and seemingly gives his life to smother the bomb with his symbiote body.

The explosion doesn’t even feel very weighty. We don’t even get a final moment with Carnage, it’s just Spider-Man swinging away from a tiny boom. It’s about as impactful as Ultimate universe’s Peter Parker’s death. Yeah, I said it. That issue sucked.

Anyways, the inverted Avengers join the fight against the X-Men, realizing that they need to be stopped because they’re just going to be “in the way” (last issue)…kind of a lame excuse, but fitting for a group of people who only think of themselves.

Scarlet Witch is still doing a number on Latveria, and apparently her curse magic did…nothing? To Quicksilver and Magneto? I mean, Quicksilver appears weakened and straining, but he in no way seems to be as affected by her curse as he should be, given the power and words that she invoked last ish. And Magneto’s fine, too, apparently. Trust me, I’m relieved, but it’s stupid when a writer makes a really big, shocking choice - like apparently killing Quicksilver and Magneto within panels of each other - and then come to find out there’s no consequences for the events of the previous issue.

Folks, all you have to do to kill off characters, and not have to kill them, is just write them as being fine and dandy in the next issue. No one will question you, and everyone will read along and think “oh, sure, that happened.”

The art in this issue - well, let’s start by saying thank goodness it’s not Kubert. Second, it switches between really good and really not good. Yu has a great eye for detail, and he switches between going full-on super detailed, and medium detailed between panels, and it’s kind of frustrating. There are a couple gorgeous panels, like with Scarlet Witch screaming, “Release me!” and the arrival of Doom with Doctor Voodoo, and Absorbing Man wailing on Apocalypse. But then there are some really crappy panels, like one in particular with teen!Loki and Enchantress, where Loki looks like he’s 204 years old. Wth?

That being said, apparently this is the second-to-last issue of Axis, and - to be honest - I’m ready for it to be done. It was a really cool idea bogged down by inconsistent writing and a serious lack of consequences for the actions taken by the characters in the story. Not to mention the revolving door of artists that turns your favor into disdain in the small span of one week. What happened to events being drawn by one person throughout?

Axis #8, the verdict: A let-down of an issue, really. Other than the couple of pretty panels, it feels rushed and tamed. As if it was once a beautiful, wild stallion that had been broken and made to serve as a working animal, to do whatever its owners wanted. There’s no freedom in this book. I get the impression that, by next issue, everything will have worked out, and everyone will be back to normal. No dynamics. No change in the outcome…and, therefore, no reason for this to have existed at all. What’s the point of having an event if you’re not going to shake things up a bit?

(Photo Source: Marvel.com)