A video review of the issue that was pulled from the shelves in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado shootings.

this was originally supposed to be a video review, but life kept me from getting around to it. [caption id=“attachment_581” align=“alignright” width=“360” caption=“Avengers vs X-Men Round 6”] [/caption] I mentioned in my second video review that with Avengers vs X-Men #5, the Event was starting to get good. Things have kicked up a notch for the sixth issue and it’s no surprise that Jonathan Hickman is at the helm of this one. As we saw in the last issue, the Phoenix Force was split among five X-Men. At this point it’s unclear whether it was because of Hope’s rejection or Tony Stark’s Phoenix-killing Transformer. However, in a previous Uncanny X-Men issue, Unit - a weird mind-controlling alien robot - seemed to suggest that if the Five Lights had been there, they would have gotten the powers along with Hope anyway. This is both a great way to tie in the recently ended Generation Hope series as well as explain how it could be that the Phoenix split among the Five who ended up getting it. However, while this is a GREAT bookend to all that has happened in the X-Men since House of M, it is less than desirable for new readers who haven’t had a decade worth of stories to truly appreciate this Event for anything more than a fight between the X-Men and Avengers. ...

transcript: Intro: Welcome to the third episode of the Comic Pow! Video Reviews. This time around we’re discussing Spider-Men #1 Review: Let me just start off by saying what many of you were thinking. Heck, it’s what I wrote in my coverage of the announcement of the announcement of this mini-series. Marvel said, back when they created the Ultimate Universe, that if they ever had a crossover between the mainstream and ultimate universes it would mean they were officially out of ideas. So….there you go - Marvel’s out of ideas. ...

Another video review. This time I decided to try a different video format. Let me know your preference in the comments. Thanks! Transcript for those with sight disabilities: Welcome to the second episode of the Comic Pow video reviews. You might notice things look a little different. I thought I’d try out a different format for this review. Based on how it comes out, I’ll see which style I use going fowward. ...

Thought I’d spice things up a bit with video reviews. This is my first one and I’m just getting back into video editing, so it’s a bit rough, but I hope to do one of these either weekly or biweekly.

[caption id=“attachment_560” align=“alignright” width=“271” caption=“Uncanny X-Men: Divided We Stand”] [/caption] As I did with Amazing Spider-Man’s “Brand New Day”, I’d like to use the purchase of a trade paperback to take a look at a complete story arc. This time I’ll be looking at Uncanny X-Men: Divided We Stand. This story arc takes place in the aftermath of the crazy Messiah CompleX, in which the first post-M-Day mutant was born. At the end of that arc Cyclops proclaims that the X-Men are no more. Given that, there are certain expectations that come from an arc called “Divided We Stand”. ...

So don’t forget to stop by your local comic stop to get the free issues. It might get you interested in a series you’ve never considered before!

[caption id=“attachment_553” align=“alignleft” width=“195” caption=“The Manhattan Projects #2”] [/caption] Eric’s Book Eric: Thanks to Dan, I’ve become a huge Jonathan Hickman fan. It started with you, Dan, lending me the Fantastic Four trades that lead into FF. This made me appreciate the current Fantastic Four/Future Foudnation storylines in a way that I wouldn’t have otherwise. In fact, I might even had dropped FF without that context. Then you selected SHIELD Vol 2 #4 for the Week 7 POW and I got a sense of Hickman’s main themes. Other than father figures, he has a huge interest in timelines, alternate dimensions, and other hard science fiction . While F4 has always been Marvel’s sci-fi book, Hickman has really made the focus sci-fi instead of the usual comic book fare. ...

[caption id=“attachment_535” align=“alignleft” width=“194” caption=“FF 16”] [/caption] Eric’s Book Eric: Well, there’s been a bit of a break while I was adjusting to being a father and didn’t really have time to read my comics in the week in which they came out. But we’re back! And we have another brawl between two books from the House of Ideas. This week I thought for a long while about picking Avengers vs X-Men #0 because of Dan’s hatred for 616 X-Men. Also, I wanted Dan to see what a colossal a-hole Vision was to Scarlett Witch. Even Tony Stark was like, “Bro!” But I ended up going with my true favorite comic of the week and FF makes yet another appearance on this site. I think my favorite thing about this issue was the fact that it’s told from Valeria’s perspective and Hickman does a perfect job making her both a 3 year old and a genius. ...

Because I’m now a father!