Avengers vs. X-Men #11

Big, dumb event comics are supposed to feel like this.

Despite or perhaps because of its tired clichés, huge plot twists and epic melodrama, the penultimate issue of “Avengers vs. X-Men” looks and reads like blockbuster fun.

Most of the X-Men have joined with the Avengers to stop Emma Frost and Cyclops, who possess and are possessed by the Phoenix force.

The issue opens with the return of an original Avenger and closes with the realization of everyone’s “worst nightmare” in a twist that somehow works.

Writer Brian Michael Bendis hams up the confrontation between Cyclops and Professor X, but the characters’ history and the Shakespearean tragic irony make the stakes feel high.

Penciler Olivier Coipel delivers some jaw-dropping splash pages and facial expressions. Laura Martin’s colors perfectly capture the mood and pop with the action.

It’s a shame it took “Avengers vs. X-Men” 11 issues to get to this point in the story, especially since several main characters’ arcs remain underexplored.

Nevertheless, issue 11 packs the punch this series has been missing, but it’s too little, too late.

By Patrick Beane