Bought/ThouiiiiIIIIITTTTTSSSS OVER!!!!! WOOHOOOO!!!

[JewishHobbit]

Avengers vs. X-Men 12 - Well, the good is that the mutant race is powered up again. That's good. And the bad... is pretty much the rest. Cyclops was the bad guy of the story and that's exactly how it plays out.

The event began with Cyclops stating that the Phoenix and Hope had to get together and that the Phoenix would repower the mutant race. He was right and Captain America and the Avengers pushed events to where they had gone... and yet in the end he's the villain and Cap and the others get off scott free. Scott did the evil deeds but in my opinion, Cap is the villain of this story. Everything that happens is the direct result of his actions, and yet, it'll never play out that way and that infuriates me.

As far as the issue itself, it was boring. Random fighting, Scott being evil, a deus ex machina ending so obvious that people had been calling it for a long while (and yet, it was written as if it was a genious moment on Stark's behalf). Seriously, it was this simple: "There's two people who can hurt the Phoenix... let's sic 'em both on it at one time!!!" "GENIOUS!!!!"

Honestly, the event had it's good moments but overall this is still the worst event to come out of Marvel since I've been reading. I'm glad it repowered the mutants but I stated way long ago that the only redeeming quality this event can have is if it ends with the death of Emma Frost and/or the return of Jean Grey. Neither of those happened so it's still a crap of an event. I'm glad its over and it's only my absolute love of all things X-Men that I've not dropped Marvel entirely. I'm finishing up Defenders and New Avengers next month and Uncanny X-Force in December and then all I'm left with are a few X-Men books. I might try one or two others post AvX but even that's a stretch. Ultimately, I just can't stand Marvel and how they treat their characters or books. AvX was the biggest example of that since I first started reading comic books.

Uncanny X-Men 19 - This title has mostly served to fill in some gaps in the main event and usually makes it better as a result. This issue wasn't really that great... to the extent that I'm trying to remember what it was even about. Be right back............................okay I skimmed it. Boring and fairly pointless. The only real glimpse we get of Jean in this entire event happens in this issue and it's not very good. Basically, mid-battle with Hope and Wanda Cyclops' mind is wandering and he eventually finds his way to the edge of the White Hot room. Someone whispers that he's an idiot and that they like the name of Logan's new school..... aaaaaand that's it. Yay... thanks Marvel. You know what we fans want

And the worst line of the entire event coses out the issue. Scott's killed Xavier and a bunch of civilians with all the world destruction but in the end he'd do it all again to bring back the mutant race. I'm sorry but if every white person in the world turned black or hispanic I wouldn't kill a bunch of people to make them white again. I'm completely honest in saying that I'm so tempted to just throw this issue away that it's appauling. I've enjoyed Gillen's run a great deal but this issue was absolute trash and it's stupid that Marvel's direction and mandates require THIS to be what Cyclops is now. I'm sure he'll have some sort of redemption story, which I'm very interested in, but it shouldn't have to be told to begin with.

Defenders 11 - One more issue to go in this book and I'm beginning to feel that this entire series has been a waste of my time. I originally bought it for Iron Fist and continued to buy it for Iron Fist and John Aman. Ultimately there were only about 2 or 3 issues that I really enjoyed and this one doesn't quite reach that standard. I was expecting a final throwdown between Aman and Iron Fist, or the redemption of John Aman here but there isn't really any of that. He just sorta dies. Oppertunity lost. My only hope now is that when the world is saved next issue it brings back not only John but the other Weapons as well. Here's hoping. And I like Scott Lang and his minor role in this book but I'm really wondering what the point of Nick Fury and Black Cat is. They're just there, especially Nick.

Great send off scene for Wong though. If it were a piece that lasted beyond next issue it would have been a fantastic scene. Ultimately though, it's only good (much like Spider-Man's temporary send off in The Other: Evolve or Die).

Uncanny X-Force 32 - This was a pretty good issue. It's good to see that Deadpool chose to overcome the desire to kill Evan, despite what he's seen of the future, and does his best to save him. The battles with the Brotherhood are all very good but the Brotherhood themselves are something that kinda bug me. They're cool mostly, but I feel like they're just tacked together where most other things in this title has been built up to and made to fit together like a puzzle. Blob, Shadow King, and Skinless man work because they've been built up to prior to this arc. Daken showing up to one-up his father doesn't really fit in with the rest of the series as he had nothing to do with the plot we've had so far, and Mystique and Sabretooth are the same. If they had been built up to then it would have been great but they weren't... they're just there. I'd rather Lady Deathstrike have been used in one of their places since she was in an issue early on and replace the Omega people with some Reavers... it would have fit in nicely.

That tidbit aside it has been a fantastic ride. This arc has been very interesting and despite how odd I feel the Brotherhood is they're turning out to be a very good challenge for the team. The ending comes to no real surprise and I'm guessing that Nightcrawler's going to die as a result. Only a few more issues left over the next two months and this title is finished. I can't wait to see it all played out but I don't plan on picking up either of the new X-Force books. I'm just too disenchanted with Marvel to bother with too many books and neither of them interest me horribly.

Green Lantern 13 - I'm glad that the Zero month is over but I was honestly very bored with this issue. I have very quickly realized that I have zero interest in this new Green Lantern. I don't really care about what's going on with his back story and I don't really care where it goes. I want Hal and Sinestro back asap!



Best and Worst of the Month

Best: Uncanny X-Force - Honestly, this was the only issue this week that I liked... and I use liked loosely as it was just sorta good and not great.

Worst: Uncanny X-Men - This should be obvious. For as bad as AvX has been this issue tops it with Scott's final line. Horrid... simply horrid.

 

[Mad Ones]

I actually really liked Uncanny X-men 19. I was always under the impression that Scott would sacrifice anything in order to restore mutants. It makes sense that he wouldn't change any of his actions because the Avengers constantly forced his hand. It's interesting character development that despite being in jail and everyone hating him, he really did win. Nothing else matters now that mutants are restored... he wasn't doing it for selfish reasons which is why I can still see Cyclops as a hero (and everything he did as Phoenix is out of his control). The last page was great. And though I would have much much much preferred Jean returning, it was an interesting cameo.

 

[chamber-music]

I think AoA Nightcrawler is going to die.

Rick Remender actually acknowledging Mystique is Kurts mom. I'm sure that breaks some sort of rule in Marvel that only Rogue is Mystiques daughter

 

[JewishHobbit]

I actually really liked Uncanny X-men 19. I was always under the impression that Scott would sacrifice anything in order to restore mutants. It makes sense that he wouldn't change any of his actions because the Avengers constantly forced his hand. It's interesting character development that despite being in jail and everyone hating him, he really did win. Nothing else matters now that mutants are restored... he wasn't doing it for selfish reasons which is why I can still see Cyclops as a hero (and everything he did as Phoenix is out of his control). The last page was great. And though I would have much much much preferred Jean returning, it was an interesting cameo.

God I couldn't disagree more. I'm not against Scott going to great lengths to save his people but at the cost of other people is when it goes beyond rediculous. Like in my example above... I'm sorry, but if nearly every white person suddenly vanished or became black or hispanic person... I wouldn't kill people to make them white again, or make white people start being born again. That's psychotic and Scott... fully in his right mind... decided that such a sacrefice would be worth it. Not only is that a horrible character development, but it also, in my opinion, takes away the blamelessness of his actions while the Phoenix. He embraced them AFTER it left... therefor, he approved killing Xavier and others during his tirade because it got him his goal.

That's just all kinds of wrong and a horrible thing to do to that character.

 

[Mad Ones]

Well he said he'd switch places with Xavier if he could.

And I don't see it through your analogy. White people aren't marganalzed in the West, so it's kinda hard to put yourself in that kind of situation. Decimation was an unnatural event that made life living hell for himself, his friends, and family. It is in character for him to feel like he won and to have no regrets. Cyclops and other mutants are also victims of constant extreme marginalization - and he's been carrying the brunt of it for a while now. He won and now he can rest.

 

[JewishHobbit]

White people was just an example. Replace any minority who faces whatever -ism you want and it's still very very wrong.

 

[moraldeficiency]

I actually quite liked your analogy, yes it works for any race or type of people. It crystalizes how much marvel took cyclops (once my favorite X-Man) and turned him into something I just wish would die badly if only to stop the bleeding.

 

[Mad Ones]

I don't want to get into that analogy too much, but the decimation of almost an entire race would create some violent revolutionaries in that race. And it's not neccissarily their fault. If you don't know that kind of marginalization than than you can't really judge. And comparing white people to other races, or mutants, doesn't really work. That's how I see it.

 

[JewishHobbit]

It would be 100% their fault (as it is with Cyclops) and whether you know or don't know that kind of marginalization doesn't matter one iota. Killing is wrong and killing innocent people that had nothing to do with the crime is even worse. And again, white people was the random race I typed because I'm a white guy and it's the first thing I thought of. If it makes you feel better, make it Native Americans. If a Native American broke into your house and slaughtered your whole family, and then all the families in your neighborhood, and then went and killed Bill Clinton while he was at it and as a result his people began to florish again... does that make it right? When none of the people killed had anything to do with the crimes against their people but it brought about what he wanted... is that right?

To take that point a little further... was Al Queda right when they killed a bunch of innocent people to acheive THEIR goal?

All of these work (Al Queda not as nicely) in the Cyclops scenerio. The fact that he embraces what he did due to the end result is just stupid and he should be hung... and that coming from a guy who thought of Cyclops as his favorite Marvel character for years and years. Until something happens to undo this whole mess, Marvel has thoroughly ruined this character for me and many others.

 

[Mad Ones]

I agree that killing is wrong and I don't think it's good what Cyclops has done. I just think his character, and what people think about him now, is fascinating. But I still thinking Cyclops is as much of a victim (of society and Scarlet Witch's spell) as he is a murderer. I don't think it's black and white, but I do respect your opinion. Cyclops crossed a bunch of lines.

 

[moraldeficiency]

It turned out to be doom not the scarlet witch actually, and cyke never really went after him. He killed his mentor and a bunch of other innocents instead.

Mutants stopped being mutants they didn't all die (a few exceptions) they became just like everyone else and that was so awful cyke felt murder of innocents was totally fine as long as more people could fly and shoot eye lasers and such. There's really no good justification here for what he did now that after the whole power possession thing is over and he's still cool with his actions. If he was all "oh my god, I didn't want this, the power just overwhelmed me" that would be one thing but no.

 

[chamber-music]

Sorry but I don't see Cyclops finding it acceptable to kill innocent people just to insure there was mutants again. There has been 50 years comics in which Scott Summers has shown time and time again that he fights for non-mutants as well as mutants no matter what the cost.

Even though mutant survival became a top priority in recent years he still didn't put that above protecting non-mutants.

 

[Nitehawk013]

Cyclops has been on the death march to becoming Magneto for a long time now. I'm not sure why his "dark turn" is such a surprise to anyone.

And I also can't see why Cap was at all initially at fault. The Avengers know what destruction the Phoenix brings, knew it was goign after Hope and knew if they could possibly prevent it taking her they had a shot at avoiding the worst. Cap showed up on Utopia and if I recall...wasn't it Cyclops who fired the first shots and said "get off our island"? I've never been a big fan of the Avengers. I've been an X-fan for as long as I have been into comics. That said, the writers handling the X-Family have been butchering it for a while. Personally I would have liked to have seen Scott dead or removed a long time ago.

 

[JewishHobbit]

People keep saying that Cyclops is on the path to become Magneto but he's only done one questionable thing prior to this and that was forming X-Force... which he renegged on shortly after. Other than that he's simply been a hardcore leader keeping his people alive. What he's done now and condones having done is WAY out of character for him. I mean, what's next? Is Spidey going to kill someone to bring Uncle Ben back?

 

[Mad Ones]

Cyclops has always been about the mission. For him the mission's success outweighs the casualties to achieve it. He accomplished the mission in AvX, and I don't see him having any regrets because of it. I'm sure he regrets Cap interfering or Iron Man splitting the Phoenix, though.

 

[Doomed_hero]

i agree Scott the last few years has gotten cold and distant, but he has not really done anything evil on a magneto level. The one thing he did to me that was off was having Wolverine form X-force. But he eneded up stopping it while the new brave and bold leader of both avengers and xmen alike kept it going to this day.

 

[Mad Ones]

Can someone clarify this for me? Wasn't there an issue of X-force where Cyclops had to somehow choose to save Boom Boom and Hellion or bring Hope and Cable back to the present, and he chose to not save them? Obviously something happened so that they didn't die, but I remember thinking Cyclops was pretty cold and mission oriented there.

 

[Dread]

Average sized week, with the end of AVX, finally. Spoilers ahoy!

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 10/3/12:

ACTION COMICS #13: This is a Hallowe'en themed issue of ACTION COMICS as both Grant Morrison's main story and Sholly Fisch's back up story deal with ghosts via the Phantom Zone. The artist for the main story is Trevor Foreman, with Brad Walker handling the back-up strip as he usually does. Apparently on the day which is Halloween on Earth many decades ago, Jor-El and the rest of the Kryptonian elite first utilized the Phantom Zone projector on Dr. Xa-Du, who became the zone's first prisoner. Various other inmates are shown and referenced (including General Zod, the most well known), but with Halloween nearing earth, Xa-Du has apparently switched places in the zone with Phantom Stranger, donned some weird ghost suit as the Phantom King, and sought revenge by zapping Superman into the zone. Fortunately with the aid of the Stranger as well as Krypto - who was zapped into the zone by accident and whose loyal ghost form followed Kal to earth - help Superman escape and return things in order. The back-up strip follows Krypto the friendly ghost-dog's plight before being saved by Superman. It isn't a bad story but I can't exactly say that I will miss this series too much once Morrison calls it a run in a few issues. The irony is that I haven't bought the YOUNG JUSTICE tie-in comic to the cartoon due to the inability to find it easily as well as on principle, but if I had, I'd likely have enjoyed it far more than I have this title, and the two issues of BLUE BEETLE I tried, as well as the underwhelming JLI.

GUARDING THE GLOBE #2: Phil Hester and Todd Nauck continue to play with Robert Kirkman's toys in this INVINCIBLE spin off series. It has a cast of dozens who all scramble for panel space, but it does see focus switch across various characters every few pages. It does give it a quick pace, but it also makes it harder to attach to specific characters. Most of the team is stuck aiding in a flood/mudslide in Bangladesh, which leaves Best Tiger and Kaboomerang handling a human trafficking plot in Kuwait which ends up exposing a new plot from a Mauler Twin to spread his DNA across thousands, if not millions, of babies. The art is up to Nauck's usual standards, such as on WILDGUARD and his recent Marvel material, and the tone is still generally lighter hearted than many superhero comics from Marvel and DC, even if serious things such as deadly natural disasters come up. This first ongoing series spin-off to a Kirkman/Skybound title is right solidly in the "good, not great" realm so far. Thankfully, for $2.99 that is just about good enough.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #695: Long time writer Dan Slott is joined by frequent co-writer Christos Gage to get the march towards a 700th issue underway. "Danger Zone" begins and while the angle is having the new Hobgoblin (Phil Urich) meet the original (Roderick Kingsley), other developments are furthering subplots which Slott has weaved into the tapestry of his run on ASM since beginning it in fall 2010. The Kingpin - who now runs the Hand ninja cabal - is playing his trump card via an operative within the think tank Horizon Labs, where Spider-Man's alter ego works. The crime boss seeks a machine which can disrupt Spider-Man's "spider-sense" and thus eliminate his long time nemesis; however, the invention's test phase goes poorly, and Spidey manages to claim an important MacGuffin from Hobgoblin. Meanwhile, Peter Parker's explanation of why he and Spider-Man are intertwined - claiming he merely invents the hero's technology - is about to make the leap from something he told peers at the lab from a lead story at the Daily Bugle. Having such a revelation occur for the public at large may remind some of the start of Grant Morrison's BATMAN, INC. from years ago. Besides offering a hilarious take at Peter's "spider-sense" gone wild, it also foreshadows some big stories to come. Giuseppe Camuncoli returns on art and as usual does a fantastic job - in many ways akin to a modern update to the style of another classic Spidey artist, Sal Buscema. While this is merely the opening chapter to the latest arc, it is a very solid opening chapter, making one eager for more to come.

AVENGERS ACADEMY #38: This third (or even fourth) tier Avengers title launched in 2008 during the height of the "Heroic Age" editorial push at Marvel Comics officially releases its penultimate issue. If one counts issue #14.1 as its own issue, this series will have produced 40 issues of material in under three years; a notable accomplishment for a series which stars new characters as well as lesser known Avengers such as Hank Pym, Tigra, and Quicksilver. The book entered its final year by expanding its cast to include spare teenage characters from various other discarded series, having a team-up story with the RUNAWAYS, and crossing over with AVENGERS VS. X-MEN. The previous four issues wrapped up a major subplot which had cycled through the book involving character loyalties and the villain Jeremy Briggs. Rather than end it there, writer Christos Gage and regular artist Tom Grummet have decided to offer a two issue epilogue to their series.

Thus, this issue features no villains, no over the top plot, and no bloodshed. In fact, it offers something which Gage has teased about for a long time in the series' letter column - a flag football match between the Avengers Academy and the teenage cast of WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN. While it is another issue which offers a cast of dozens, it is a low key issue which offers a lot of notable things on panel. They include one-liners, quite a bit of comedy (including jokes about beer and tasers), perhaps the best insult of Wolverine given by another character, and some decent character dialogue. To a degree there was a sense of every character having to get an obligatory page of focus on them akin to a rotating spotlight, but given that this is the next-to-last issue of the series, that is a forgivable flaw. Grummet once again has a lot of characters to draw, but manages to make them all look distinct and appropriate, while nailing character reactions well. It is rare when he gets an issue which doesn't focus on chaos to draw, but he still manages to make it work.

On a week in which Marvel's crossover du jour finally wraps up and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN is counting down issues until its next relaunch, this issue simply offers a fun and occasionally touching issue about characters playing flag football. It may not be as exciting or awe striking as the previous four issues, but it sets a far more relaxed and optimistic tone for the finale of this series. Optimism and character exploration, especially with newer characters, are things mainstream comics should have more of, but don't. That is something AVENGERS ACADEMY has always had, and it will be tough letting it go next month.

MINIMUM CARNAGE ALPHA #1: Do not fret, this is not another new ongoing series; it is a one shot which kicks off a two issue crossover between VENOM and SCARLET SPIDER. It naturally pays homage to MAXIMUM CARNAGE, a 14 chapter crossover across all of the various Spider-Man comics circa 1993. This homage will mercifully be six chapters, including another one-shot in November. It is also functionally a continuation of two mini series featuring the villain Carnage published over the course of a year. This crossover is written by Cullen Bunn and Chris Yost (the writers of VENOM and SCARLET SPIDER, respectively) and drawn by Lan Medina, who was formerly the regular artist of VENOM. The premise is simple - Cletus Kasady/Carnage escapes from prison to slaughter people again - only the additional hook are the strange alien partners Carnage has and the first official meeting of the new Venom (Flash Thompson) with the new Scarlet Spider (the reformed clone Kaine). This issue focuses on gathering the promised characters and setting up the heroes for a potential "misunderstanding battle". While Marvel's longer crossovers tend to be messes, their shorter ones tend to be far more entertaining, and so far MINIMUM CARNAGE is meeting that standard.

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #12: The overlong crossover catastrophe that is "AVX" finally lurches to an end. While five writers penned the "story", the bottle spun to Jason Aaron to script this final issue, with Adam Kubert back to draw the over-sized and extra priced issue. Cyclops, who became the sole host of the Phoenix Force in the previous issue, goes mad as the Dark Phoenix and all of the assembled Avengers and spare X-Men attempt to battle him around the world and in space. However, in the end the secret weapons of the Avengers - Hope Summers and Scarlet Witch - manage to save the day. The most positive development is that this series officially ends "M-Day", the event in 2005 which robbed most mutants of their powers and robbed the X-Men comics of their central metaphor by making them more rare than narwhals. The negative developments are tied into the haphazard writing with dodgy character depictions across all editors and writers in this mess. The series treats Cyclops as a tragic villain akin to Magneto, and ignores the fact that its hero Captain America provoked him at every turn until the required disaster emerged. From blatant hypocrisy to believing the seeming death of Professor X was somehow unique - a story trope used since the 1960's for heaven's sake - to forgetting certain characters are present entirely. As usual, this remains an editorial promotional stunt to sell some more comics, and not a story. In that degree, it succeeded.

My recap, for the record: After never having anything to do with prior Phoenix Force adventures, Capt. America and Iron Man brief the President about it and gun themselves up because of what Wolverine's told them about it. While one could argue Cyclops' insistence that the Force would save mutantkind regardless of any destruction in the opening act was reckless, it was Capt. America who went to Utopia, essentially ordered Cyclops to surrender Hope for crimes she didn't commit without charge or trial, and that it wasn't a request. Of course Cyke threw the first punch (or the first optic blast), so I suppose legally the resulting team battle was his fault. After all, if someone with federal/international authority storms onto your property and demands you surrender a member of your family or a friend to them for their own good indefinitely upon order, it's your own fault if you decide to stand up for yourself. It was Iron Man's fault that the Phoenix Force split into 5 fragments and merged with Cyke and four others as well; they never asked to become possessed. Even when the Five were initially just performing good deeds around the world, Cap STILL wasn't satisfied and staged another raid on Utopia (which included moments like Thor pushing aside some teenager); only this second time Hope agreed to go with them. After that the Five escalated, with Namor, Magik, and Frost being the most militant of them. Included on the Avengers side are: Scarlet Witch, who the Avengers saw as a threat and wanted to kill/capture as recently as earlier in the year; the Hulk, who is considered a menace worthy of exiling to space except when his strength is useful; Rulk, who is another former menace who is now merrily one of the band now that he's agreed to team up; and Wolverine, who was once mind controlled by HYDRA in "ENEMY OF THE STATE", attacked SHIELD, murdered Hornet and afterward not held responsible for that in any way (unlike Cyke, who was arrested and incarcerated as a criminal after his Dark Phoenix moment). Even Hope is welcomed into the fold once her dangerous powers are affirmed to be used FOR the Avengers. I haven't read the tie-in issues but in this core series the worst thing Cyclops does is kill Professor X, but aside for that every escalation of him and the Five was provoked by Wolverine and the Avengers at every turn, only the story refuses to consider this. In the end, the Phoenix Force winds up going to who it was supposed to (Hope) and does what Cyclops expected (cured mutants and undid M-Day). In fact the only useful thing the Avengers did was have Iron Fist train Hope, which he could have done had there been more cooperation. I mean, Cyclops once dated Colleen Wing; once upon a time (the 70's) he and the H4H were allies. But then we wouldn't have had this WWE match of a story, nor an excuse for a diverse and bizarre mix of new launches, which is as always the real reason for this mess-terpiece. Glad it's over. Much like CIVIL WAR, the underlying moral is that everyone's a jerk.

 

[runawayboulder]

A lot of the complaints I read about AvX is the same buffoonery I've become accustomed to seeing from Marvel since oh......2004, AKA the Bendis era.

I'm not blaming Bendis specifically but if Marvel wants to put his face on everything good, that means you have to put it on everything bad as well. Truth be told, there's plenty of blame to go around for the numerous stories and events that left a bad taste in our mouths (Fraction, Millar, Quesada, ect).

Marvel NOW is obviously a shameless gimmick but I'm welcoming it with open arms for one reason and one only - new voices for the major titles. Remender, Aaron and Gillen are guys whose work I've adored for a few years now and I'm thrilled they're gonna be in key positions.

 

[CConn]

Marvel Now is a gimmick, but the actual stories and creative changes made are not.

Honestly, I think it's by far the best gimmick Marvel's had in years.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Can someone clarify this for me? Wasn't there an issue of X-force where Cyclops had to somehow choose to save Boom Boom and Hellion or bring Hope and Cable back to the present, and he chose to not save them? Obviously something happened so that they didn't die, but I remember thinking Cyclops was pretty cold and mission oriented there.

You have it wrong if my momory isn't. He sent X-Force into the future in the middle of Boom Boom and Hellion nearly being killed but he was not aware of the situation. You can't really pin it on him because he was simply ignorant of what was going on at the time.

 

[JewishHobbit]

You know, the more I think of X-Force the less I even think that was all questionable. Think about who Cyclops actually targeted.

1) Mystique - She betrayed the team time and again, resulting in the death of several members, and put herself before all mutant kind. Her being targetted was the most questionable. Though note that this story was written by someone not really dealing with X-Force at the time (Aaron I think) and likely just got it wrong.

2) Mathew Riesman - Leader of the Purifiers who were seeking to destroy all mutants. I understand this one for the sake of saving mutant kind.

3) Vanisher - Just stole the Legacy Virus for someone, which would easily wipe out what was left of the mutants. I think that makes sense for the best of mutant kind.

4) The Leper Queen - She was injecting the Legacy Virus into mutants to kill masses and cause an uprising against mutants, killing who was left. Knowing that she had the Virus, Cyclops targeted her. Again, to stop the virus from killing all mutant kind.

5) Bishop - He was targeting Hope for death and chasing her for years through time. He actualy didn't target Bishop at first, only when he escaped and went after Hope again despite Scott's trying to reason with him. Somewhat questionable but I can get that. Save the baby, save mutant kind.

The arc after that wasn't a mission I don't think but a rescue one, then Selene attacked and was near killing everyone and the team made their own choice to take her out, then Second Coming happened... an active attempt to kill Hope and all mutants.

So honestly, with the exception of Mystique... every target was due to them having the means to destroy all mutant kind. It wasn't like he just decided to go kill people who frustrated his efforts... it was the people who kill realistically kill his entire race and wanted to. As he said in the beginning, it was agreesive proactive measures to keeping mutants alive, and honestly... I think he made the right call in all of them. But he ultimately decided that it was the wrong approach to what he wanted and he disbanded the team... which was a good and noble call.

Now that said, AvX was NOTHING like any of this. The things he did under the Phoenix was all kinds of messed up and out of character but was forgivable because he WAS under its influence. Then his accepting what he'd done and saying he'd do it again once the Phoenix was gone was just horrid and, in my opinion, just tainted my opinion of Gillen as a writer. How can you get it THAT wrong?! Horrible! Even the main event didn't get it THAT wrong.

 

[Dread]

For the record, there was an arc in WOLVERINE called "GET MYSTIQUE" which Jason Aaron wrote. So if trying to kill Mystique was a sign of going too far, then Wolverine was just as willing to go there.

 

[runawayboulder]

Well, she helped Daken set Logan up so he would unknowingly slaughter all of his illegitimate kids. I can't say I wouldn't have been pissed off at her too.

 

[JewishHobbit]

For the record, there was an arc in WOLVERINE called "GET MYSTIQUE" which Jason Aaron wrote. So if trying to kill Mystique was a sign of going too far, then Wolverine was just as willing to go there.

Get Mystique was what I was refering to in #1 there. I included it because Cyclops made the call and Wolverine agreed fullfledge.