UNCANNY X-MEN #307, X-MEN #26

BLOODTIES

(Aveng. #368, X-Men #26, AWC #101, Unc. X-Men #307, Aveng. #369)

November and December 1993

Writers: Bob Harras, Fabian Nicieza, Roy Thomas, Scott Lodbell

Pencilers: Steve Epting, Andy Kubert, Dave Ross, John Romita Jr.

Inkers: Matt Ryan, Tim Dzon, Dan Green

Story:
To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of both teams, Marvel decided to bring the X-Men and the Avengers together for this big crossover.

Civil war has erupted in Genosha between the recently liberated mutates and their ex-oppressors. The self-proclaimed leader of Genosha, Fabian Cortez, has kidnapped young Luna, who happens to be Crystal and Quicksilver's daughter. This drags both X-Men and Avengers into the conflict. While U.S. Agent and the Beast escort Professor Xavier on an official diplomatic mission, the Avengers defy a U.N. order and illegally penetrate Genosha's borders. To make things worse, another man enters the bloody conflict, an immensely powerful man. His name is Exodus, he is Magneto's chosen messiah, and he wants to kill every human in Genosha (oh yeah, and Cortez too, whom he considers a traitor to his cause). Cortez's only chance is to use Luna as a hostage and a human shield to force the two groups to attack Exodus.


What's cool:
Since War Machine was a member of the Avengers West Coast at the time, he took part in this conflict. I must admit that all the artists involved did a very good job at drawing him. John Romita Jr. especially. Also, the fight between War Machine and Exodus (in the AWC issue) is pretty cool. Exodus' racist remarks really get under Jim's skin and make the battle a very interesting one.


What's baaad:
I found this crossover extremely disappointing. This could have been such a cool, momentous event… and all we got was this mediocre story.

First of all, Wolverine's absent. If I remember well, Magneto had just ripped the adamantium right off his bones, so he was on a leave of absence… but still, what a disappointment. The Avengers meet the X-Men and the latter team's most interesting character is nowhere to be seen. But even Wolverine's presence would not have saved the story, because the interaction between the two teams is minimal. I was hoping to see the two teams fight side by side a lot, but alas no, nothing. Heck, they only actually meet in the last issue! Aside from one small scene in which he briefly interacts with Storm (and makes a complete arse of himself), War Machine is mostly there as background decoration and rarely speaks.

The story keeps jumping from place to place, from group to group, from sub-plot to sub-plot and that makes the whole thing extremely hard to follow. At times, there are things happening in FIVE different places, all at the same time! Sheesh! The dialogues are overly long and uninteresting and keep dragging on and on, endlessly. Sometimes, the continuity between issues is dubious. One issue ends with the characters in a particular situation, and when the following issue begins, they're in a completely different situation with barely an explanation! Not a great example of collaboration between authors! This is a very unmemorable story that is quickly forgotten.


Quote:

When Exodus says: "Some species, like some races, are born to be masters - and others, slaves! Accept your inferiority, Avenger." War Machine charges and says: "That's IT! You're going DOWN, mister!"