Avengers VS X-Men

 

Certainly not the first time that these teams have fought, but this 2016 collection shows both sides with huge line-ups, including some characters that I am not familiar with - I guess I have some catching up to do!

Apparently, the basic story is that the Phoenix Force - that once impersonated Jean Grey (I assume that is still the story) - is returning to Earth to claim a child mutant (not sure how everyone knows this, but I guess ya gotta just go with that). The Avengers think that they should defend the child, Hope, while the X-Men, who Hope is living with, thinks they are best to handle the situation. Scott Summers as Cyclops is even more hot-headed than ever and while Captain America did not make the situation any easier, Cyclops basically starts a war.

Things change, of course, as the Phoenix Force appears and, through some scientific interference, takes over several of the X-Men instead of Hope. They use the power for good and start to create a Utopia on Earth but the Avengers don't trust them and their unchecked power and push them to start a war yet again.

Of course, their fears were justified in the end and there are a numbers of unexpected twists'n'turns before there is somewhat of a conclusion - with Marvel, there are usually some open endings and loose threads. A pretty good tale, overall, although, once again, not having kept up with the ever-changing MU, I'm not certain where this sits in with the rest of the timeline or if this is suppose to exist outside of the "regular" stories. Keeps me guessing, I suppose!