Avengers vs. X-Men #1

How far would you go to protect your planet? How about your entire species? With the Phoenix Force returning to Earth for the obvious chosen new host of Hope Summers, the Avengers and the X-Men find themselves with opposing viewpoints that aren't going to solved by mere words.

Captain America wants to take Hope and sequester her away from the Phoenix Force before it arrives. Cyclops wants Hope to embrace the power, and with it help Mutant-kind back from the edge of extinction. Not surprisingly, given the stakes, neither man cares much for what Hope wants for herself.

The rise in tension leads to Cap and Cyclops having a frank discussion on the shores of Utopia that ends far from peacefully with Cap blasted back into the sea, the Avengers assembling overhead, and the X-Men preparing to defend their homes and Hope from the invaders (who include former X-Men Wolverine and Beast) who have arrived to kidnap a teenage girl from a sovereign nation.

Brian Michael Bendis does a terrific job in crafting a story that paints neither side as the villain or a misguided puppet of one. The logic of both sides, from their perspective points of view, is sound. To Cap and the Avengers there's a very real threat that can be nipped in the bud simply by taking Hope out of the equation.

To the X-Men, however, handing over what many believe to be the Mutant Messiah their only chance at fighting back from extinction to a species known to hate and distrust them isn't going to go over well. What's going to be intersting is how these characters and two teams are going to coexist after all the smoke clears. I can't wait until issue #2. Must-read.

[Marvel, $3.99]