AvX: Consequences #1 Review

Marvel NOW! may have officially kicked off with Uncanny Avenegrs #1, but there's still plenty of fallout to explore in the wake of Avengers vs. X-Men. AvX: Consequences offers exactly what the title promises -- a look at the consequences of this latest superhero war. And with Kieron Gillen at the helm, it should come as no surprise that the book is worth a read.

I was expecting a series of standalone tales for this weekly mini, but Gillen instead offers a more focused look at the Avengers and X-Men entering the rebuilding process. Gillen takes a wide look at both teams, showcasing the devastation in Wakanda, the hunt for the remaining members of Cyclops' crew, and Cyclops adjusting to prison life. The Wakanda scenes notwithstanding, this is definitely more of an X-Men-centric story than an Avengers one, but as the X-Men are more directly impacted by AvX, that's understandable.

In general, the script is pretty well focused and cohesive despite the disparate cast of characters. However, some scenes are more compelling and dramatic than others. The Hope scene in particular is pretty pointless in light of AvX #12. But the Wakanda material nicely tense and dramatic, suggesting big things to come from Black Panther in the future. And Gillen does a nice job conveying Wolverine's rage in the wake of Xavier's death. That material alone could justify a mini-series.

Tom Raney's pencils are a bit mixed in quality. The inks lend an unusually harsh edge to his line-work. It's an interesting shift, but one that only works in the more dramatic scenes. Raney's figures also have a tendency to appear tense and slightly distorted here. Oddly, the issue features Captain America in his Jerome Opena-designed costume, rather than the more traditional costume seen in Uncanny Avengers. I assume we'll be seeing a lot of that back-and-forth in the early weeks of Marvel NOW.

Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

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