• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

  • Reading Orders
    • Marvel
    • My Marvelous Year
    • DC Comics
    • All Comic Book Publishers
    • Most Recent
  • Beginner Guides
    • Beginner’s Guide To Comics In 2023
    • Marvel 2023: Where to Start?
    • DC 2023: Where to Start?
    • Best of Lists
    • Tablets for Comics
    • Guides for Digital Readers
  • Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
    • DC Comics
    • Comic Book Movies
    • Comic Book TV
    • Video Games
  • Podcasts & Video
    • My Marvelous Year
    • Best Comics Ever (CBH)
    • CBH on Youtube!
  • About Me
    • My Favorite Comics of All Time
    • Columns
    • CBH Email Newsletter
  • Support Comic Book Herald
    • Ways to support
You are here: Home / Featured / Avengers & X-Men: Axis #2 Review! It’s All Your Fault Tony Stark

Avengers & X-Men: Axis #2 Review! It’s All Your Fault Tony Stark

October 17, 2014 by Travis Bass Leave a Comment

c5

Two issues in, and we already get a giant battle between a demon Nazi with two giant robots and a large percentage of Marvel’s biggest characters. Apparently Rick Remender didn’t get the message that Marvel events are supposed to hold back on anything exciting until the last issue (or maybe last two), and the rest of the event is meant to promise that something cool is coming like they’re dangling a shiny object in front of our faces. Anyway, Axis began on a good if not spectacular note, but how does the second issue continue the tale of Red Onslaught’s rampage?

c2
Rick Remender Must Have So Much Fun Writing Tony Stark

Following off the cliffhanger of last issue where Red Onslaught creates two sentinels based on designs that Tony Stark had subconsciously created during Marvel’s Civil War event, things are not going very well for our heroes. Tony Stark is understandably shell-shocked that his friends are being taken down by something he designed (however indirectly). Eventually Captain America snaps him out of his shell-shock state, however most of this issue is filled with Stark’s inner monologue about how he has always taken notes of how to take down those he considers to be a rival (which eventually became everyone), and how he hates that this aspect is a part of him. Iron man throws together a desperate plan to stop Red Onslaught, and things quickly get even worse. That’s actually a good way to summarize this issue: the heroes’ backs are on the wall, they fight back, and things get worse very fast. That’s not a bad thing, I’m not saying that this is extremely predictable or anything (I mean it’s a corporate event, how “shocking” can it get), there just is a pattern to the storytelling.

c4




They’re Like This The Entire Issue

Rick Remender cuts back a bit on the quipping this issue, mainly having Iron Man throwing jokes around, but it all fits with the tone and helps elevate the stakes for this book. He does have some really good interactions between these characters, with the highlight being the back and forths between Iron Man and Magneto. If there was one rather odd thing about this issue, it’s that more than halfway through the issue, the text boxes switch from focusing on Iron Man to Havok. It fits with what’s going on at the time, but it’s also rather jarring to suddenly switch characters in this manner. Remender also is able to write some very good “inspirational speeches”, especially the one Stark makes when he needs to motivate the remaining heroes to pull off one final assault on Red Onslaught. Even though Remender is cutting back on the joking a bit here, he still is able to make this issue a fun and enjoyable read.

Capture
While The Artwork Might Waiver Throughout This Issue, This Is Easily My Favorite Panel of The Issue

Adam Kubert’s artwork is still solid overall, but it starts to waiver a bit in this issue. The line-work starts to get a little more sloppy looking during the middle of the issue, one particular scene that stands out is a moment between Wasp and Havok where there is not a lot of detail on their faces (more notably on Havoks deformed face). Thankfully the artwork is strong where it counts. The big battles between heroes and sentinels, Red Onslaught himself, and the emotions being depicted on the characters faces especially when everything seems lost. Let’s hope he returns in strong for to this series seeing as the next two issue will be done by Leinil Francis Yu.

Overall Avengers & X-Men: Axis is shaping up to be a fun event. We’re two issues in, they have basically comprised almost entirely of fighting, and the stakes are being continuously raised throughout the book. There are still some hiccups involving the large cast of characters, large number of plot points being carried over into this book, wavering art, and more jokey dialogue from the characters (especially last issue), but everything seem to be coming together so far. While we still have seven more issues (and several more artists rotating in) to see if this event falls flat on its face, with Rick Remender at the helm, I think we’re in for an enjoyable ride.

Support For Comic Book Herald:

Comic Book Herald is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a qualifying affiliate commission.

Comic Book Herald’s reading orders and guides are also made possible by reader support on Patreon, and generous reader donations.

Any size contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Support CBH on Patreon for exclusive rewards, or Donate here! Thank you for reading!

CBH Score: 4 out of 5

c5

[schema type=”review” rev_name=”Avengers & X-Men: Axis #2″ user_review=”4.0″ min_review=”0.0″ max_review=”5.0″ ]

 

 

Filed Under: Featured, Marvel Reviews Tagged With: Avengers, axis, Event, Iron Man, Red Skull, X-Men

Heroically Support Comic Book Herald!

If you like Comic Book Herald, and are able to donate, any small contribution will help keep CBH alive and full of new comics guides and content. Donate here! Or, support CBH on Patreon for exclusive rewards! Thank you for reading!

Become a Patron!

About Travis Bass

Travis Bass is a Phoenix, Arizona resident whose great love of comics and movies helped keep his sanity in tact (relatively speaking) while studying for a degree in Biochemistry. Along with his standard classes, he took as many film, literature, and screenwriting classes possible because this kind of stuff is like crack to him.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

The Comic Book Herald Podcast!

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsRSS
My Marvelous Year reading club helps Marvel fans become comic book experts

Recent Posts

  • Pax Americana and The Infinite Loop Of Imperiums March 25, 2023
  • Fall of X Teasers & Al Ewing’s Sins of Sinister | Comic Book Herald Live! March 24, 2023
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 6: Immoral X-Men #2—in Review! March 23, 2023
  • DESTINY OF X | The Krakoan Empire Divided March 22, 2023
  • “Secret Identity” with Alex Segura | CBH Interviews #107 March 21, 2023
  • 2002 Pt. 3: Daredevil & Elektra March 20, 2023
  • Immoral X-Men #2 and Wolverine vs. Dark Beast! | Comic Book Herald Live! March 17, 2023
  • X-Men: The Animated Series Season 2 Rewatch! March 16, 2023
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 5: Nightcrawlers #2—in Review! March 15, 2023
  • My Marvelous Interview: Paul Jenkins on Wolverine Origin, Inhumans, Spectacular Spider-Man, & More! March 13, 2023
  • The Dark Knight Trilogy 15 Years Later: Film & Comic Influences! March 11, 2023
  • Sins of Sinister: Nightcrawlers, X-Men #20, New Mutants: Lethal Legion #1 | Comic Book Herald Live! March 10, 2023
  • 2002 Variant A: Ant-Man & Wasp Quantumania TAKEDOWN! March 6, 2023
  • Steve Orlando’s Marauders #1-5—Annotated! March 4, 2023
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 4: Immoral X-Men #1 in Review! March 3, 2023

Popular Articles

DC Rebirth Guide

Batman Reading Order

DC New 52 Reading Order

Marvel Ultimate Universe Guide

Civil War Reading Order

Marvel Cosmic Reading Order

The Best Comics of All Time!

Deadpool Reading Order

Justice League Reading Order

Complete Thanos Reading Order

X-Men Reading Guide (Modern Era)

Age of Apocalypse Reading Order

Modern Marvel Universe in 25 Trades

Best Tablet For Digital Comics

Is Marvel Unlimited Worth It?

Footer

New to Comic Book Herald?

Hey there - my name's Dave and this is my comic book blog. It's my way of sharing my borderline obsessive addiction to the comic book medium, and I hope you like some of what's going on here.

Most people that come here are looking for my (WIP) Marvel reading order guide. You can probably also get a sense if CBH is for you by taking a look at some of my columns.

If you like what you see, let's connect on Facebook or Twitter. Or, leave a comment on the blog here, I'm always looking for new awesome people in the comic book community.

More on Comic Book Herald

  • Home
  • About
  • Support CBH
  • My Marvelous Year
  • Join!
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Recent Posts

  • Pax Americana and The Infinite Loop Of Imperiums
  • Fall of X Teasers & Al Ewing’s Sins of Sinister | Comic Book Herald Live!
  • “Sins of Sinister” Part 6: Immoral X-Men #2—in Review!
  • DESTINY OF X | The Krakoan Empire Divided
  • “Secret Identity” with Alex Segura | CBH Interviews #107

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in