Might Versus Misfits

So here’s the cover to the first issue of A Vs X, or Avengers Vs. X-Men. I’m not happy that John Romita, Jr.’s handling the art; I prefer him doing solo books like Kick-Ass. For some reason, his Avengers last year looked pretty messy.

Anyway, it’s an interesting cover by Jim Cheung. If previous teasers are to be believed, Wolverine and Beast will switch sides. Speaking of those teaser images, some of those matches are weird, like Hulk vs. Emma Frost, Beast vs. Cage, and Iceman vs. Spider-Man.

There are specific encounters that I doubt will happen, but I’d still like to see them during the event: Valkyrie vs. a Hela-repowered Dani Moonstar; Kitty Pryde vs. Amadeus Cho; Dr. Strange vs. Magik; Quicksilver vs. Northstar; Thing vs. Rockslide; Moondragon vs. Emma Frost; M vs. Jewel; War Machine vs. Warlock; Justice vs. Hellion; She-Hulk vs. Frenzy.

I think it’s more likely that there’ll be meetings like Avengers Academy vs. Jean Grey Institute, and X-Force vs. Secret Avengers. Let’s hope that those conflicts won’t be limited to just a few pages, if indeed they do happen.

As much as I really like the Avengers, I’m siding with the underdogs this time. I’d like the X-Men to win it. It’ll be a challenge to think of another moniker for the Avengers if they’re not “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” anymore, but it would be an intriguing new status quo. I do think that they’ll beat up the X-Men resoundingly, but there's a possibility that the deus ex machina-ish Phoenix Force will merge with Hope Summers and turn the tables at the last minute.