Avengers and X-Men: Axis 2

Avengers and X-Men: Axis 2

Red Onslaught has waged an impressive war on the heroes of the world while kicking off what they've quickly dubbed World War Hate. His biggest asset are two Sentinels designed by Tony Stark during Civil War to capture or kill the heroes of the world he was then fighting against. Now, the Sentinels are staving off the heroes while Red Onslaught breaks down their telepathic barriers and disappears them one by one. The Sentinels handle the heroes, even defeating a good if very soft science (or soft magic, as it were) plan from Scarlet Witch and Dr. Strange (THANKS NOVA, SCREWING EVERYTHING UP), leaving it up to Iron Man and Magneto (who is, understandably, not so happy that Iron Man built some straight-up Sentinels, even if they're not focused on mutants today). As Iron Man gets crushed by one of his own Sentinels, he sees Magneto looking on. Nightcrawler bamfs in to save Tony at the last moment. He wakes up the next morning to learn that the resistance is only him and a handful of others, who all get disappeared themselves in that day's fight, leaving Red Onslaught bragging to Iron Man about how he's the last one standing thanks to his own devices when Magneto and a cadre of villains show up to keep fighting.

After a disappointing first issue, Remender tilts the focus a bit, putting the spotlight on Iron Man's inner monologue, which goes into depth about his penchant, as a child, of discovering and recording the weaknesses and fears of his fellow classmates in order to exploit them later, a trait he attempted to repent for after he became sober, but something he never really stopped, as he explains. It's a deeply personal issue for Iron Man and one that really redeems a lot of what I didn't like about the first issue (not hurt, of course, by the reduction of double-page spreads and AXIS banners, which only appear on a couple of pages). It's a good story in the way that I liked the ORIGINAL SIN: HULK VS. IRON MAN tie-in before the end changed the story, a story that unquestionably vilifies Tony but also does what it little it can to explain it through his own problems. It's a good tact for the book to take. The book still does drag a bit as we see a lot of characters who have to develop their own voice here. Hard to really fault the pacing for that, I suppose. Certainly a more positive issue than the last one, and one that indicates things might be going somewhere.

Total Score: 4/5