I hope at the end of this series, the appropriate people at Marvel sit down and say “So…uhhh…it’s all fine and good to come up with a crossover event and write it in the style of TV sitcoms. But having individual authors write in completely different styles probably isn’t such a great idea, unless we find a way to creatively make that the point of a story. You know, maybe have Bendis write something from Wolverine’s perspective, Fraction write from Hope, Jason Aaron can tackle Cap. Something like that. But, man, just giving each person their own issue for no reason was a terrible idea.”

I hope that happens, but I don’t think it will.

Brubaker has brought AvX back to the realm of sane writing. No more hyperbolic narration. No more “fun facts”. We’re back to characters moving the plot along for the purposes of their own agendas. It’s not literature, but it’s the same popcorn movie fun that the first issue was, without any overwhelming sense of IMPORTANCE.

I still don’t like Romita’s deadline style art, but it’s at least consistent with the first two issues.