The first act of AvX concludes with the arrival of the Phoenix and a wacky twist. The Good: The stray fighting is replaced by a contained confrontation with less background characters. Hope's admission and prompt action upon realizing she was wrong make it easier to like and sympathize with her. The unexpected turn of events does away with predictability, at least for a while.

The Bad: Why would Cap take Hawkeye and Black Widow to what is expected to be a decisive battle that includes a cosmic entity, is beyond comprehension. Namor vs. The Thing for the 5th time since the event started, Cyclops shooting at Cap, and Wolverine getting cut, mauled, and burnt, are all overkill. The ending twist is a rehash of Fear Itself where funny talking beings took over random characters. At least the X-Men seem to be getting a breather. John Romita Jr. ends his stint with unimpressive artwork and lots of almost blank pages.