That said, the one irony of AXIS #7 is that even though it's a series about the Avengers and X-Men turning into villains (and their so-called villains stepping up to the plate), this series has only gotten really good once Remender has ignored the vast majority of the characters involved. Sometimes you can only shove so many different voices in 20 pages before it starts to feel incoherent or rambling. Yet even as he narrows down the scope of his characters to some familiar faces, Remender does manage to distill the key element of AXIS - namely, the difference between a hero and a villain. And that's an achievement that justifies playing favorites. Read Full Review

As the series winds down we are seeing everything come to shape. This issue will definitely have some consequences that will linger in the Marvel Universe moving forward. Rick Remender is continuing his fine job on this mini, but the art holds this issue back. With only two more issues to go I cant wait to see what Remender has up his sleeve. Read Full Review

Along those lines, the issue's actual moment of greatest importance not only underdelivers but threatens to yank the cart out from beneath the whole affair. This sort of twist spin-off is usually reserved for the final epilogues and really trips up progression with its clumsy placement smack in the third act. Raising more questions than answers and offering little hope in quick resolution within the remaining time, this new development also doubles as a great in-story fix to some rather troublesome marketing issues. Synergistically convenient? Perhaps. Despite the inelegant manner of the news broken, it's certainly paid its way forward to be a tale examined another day. Too bad it's being done at the disservice of finishing strong on the current story in progress. Read Full Review

Axis enters the home stretch carrying the weight of all the problems it has amassed thus far. The tension of the plot is high enough to generate a bit of excitement, but conceptually the event just doesn't live up to its potential. With another artist rotation and an increasingly rushed plot, Axis isn't able to find its footing even in its final act. Read Full Review

With a big character change and little plot development, AXIS continues to be mediocre. Read Full Review

Axis isn't going to blow many people away. It's affects on the rest of the Marvel U have been fairly hit and miss (the villains are the ones who seem to be having the best time because of this event) so it's doubtful it will have the longevity of some of Marvel's older events but what it has done so far is try to keep things interesting and with its weekly as opposed to monthly release schedule it means it will be over much faster than some of the other, seemingly endless minis in recent years. Read Full Review

The series continues to thrive on sheer momentum-- set up the premise and watch things throw down. Unfortunately, the variety of things we can see are just there to be a background image for a panel or two, and we get a Deadpool one-shot issue instead, which has to rely on Remender's weak point-- naturally-sounding humor. Still, there has to be *something* fun about the fact I can type a phrase "final showdown between Deadpool and Apocalypse," which would never really happen if it weren't for this comic. Read Full Review

In sum, "AXIS" is getting better as it moves along. I'm curious to see how it pulls itself out of the bog of the middle issues, and where it will leave the Marvel Universe. Read Full Review

Avengers & X-Men: Axis #7 is better than the previous issue, but that's really not saying a lot. The story isn't really there, just turning out one very long, albeit nice looking fight scene. There's not much in the way of characterization, development, or twists to anything. Honestly, the way things are shaping up, it's going to feel like a rush job to wrap everything up in the coming issues. Read Full Review

I'm still interested in Zenpool but I'm wondering how much this tie-in is advancing the overall narrative versus just being a gimmick to put Wade Wilson in a new costume. Read Full Review

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS is an event that has been fraught with issues and this newest installment is no different. Based on this issue, it feels like the story needs to slow down and ground itself before continuing so that the dramatic reveals actually have some weight and don't feel like they are randomly occurring. Read Full Review

In terms of the story itself, the plot is largely what Remender has been building up to all along, and for all the criticisms I have for the comic, when it gets to the plot threads Remender has been building to: like Deadpool and Evan it works really well. However, it's hard not to see the book as largely a launching pad for tie-ins, while it's understandable that would happen in an event designed to sell comics, when those tie-ins overwhelm the flow of the story, it's doing more harm than good. Read Full Review

Terrible Magneto retcon that I hope isn't true.

Stuff is moving forward, the plot is pretty good, but it's just not interesting to read anymore, as even when there's just a few issues left, it's still dragging. Also, some stuff was absolutely not needed. You know what I'm talking about.

God, I hate Deadpool's dialogue in this. I also hate the Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver retcon. And this whole thing seems so unfocused. My eyes are starting to glaze over. Just two more issues, I hope I can do it.

No. Just no.