Avengers vs. X-Men #3

Round 3 finds Hope on the run, the X-Men surrendering to the Avengers, and a big throwdown between two old friends. Cyclops and the X-Men's surrender is a feint that allows the group to escape and begin a search for Hope. Meanwhile the Avengers split into five groups to find the young girl before the Phoenix Force finds her.

Although we get very little of Hope in this issue (she makes little more than a token appearance hiding on the streets of San Fransisco) we do get Cyclops outsmarting the Avengers and Captain America and Wolverine coming to blows over Logan's plan to murder Hope before the Phoenix Force can claim her. We get far less story progression than I'd like, but the fight between Wolverine and Cap makes up for it.

By the end of the issue we now have three distinct groups. Cyclops and the X-Men who want to keep Hope away from the Avengers, the Avengers who want to keep Hope away from becoming the new Phoenix, and Wolverine who just wants her dead. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]