AvX Contest: Weeks 16, 17, 18 Scoring Update

photo(28) — Colossus beats up Deathlok? That’s it. Nobody’s rooting for the X-Men anymore.

What’s the best thing about this summer’s Avengers vs. X-Men event? Is it the fact that nothing is developing as predicted? The genuine prospects of the oft-repeated but rarely realized “nothing will be the same” promise? The scripting talents of Aaron, Hickman, and Bendis, all adept team-book scribes in their own right, on display over a full twelve issues and numerous tie-ins? Maybe just the marquee matchup of Marvel’s two hottest families of characters?

AvX should be great… for all those reasons. Too many cooks, though, I suppose… The Hope/Scarlet Witch/Phoenix/Iron Fist intrigue should be more compelling; save the blunt trauma beatdowns for the Vs. tie-in. Somehow, however, we’re still treated to page after page of “whose blood is this” mid-fight introspection. Give us more cosmic intrigue. More deft superpowered strategizing. Hell, at this point, I’d even be down with a closer look at Frenzy Saves Africa. But Act II closes with more running and more fighting (granted, on a grander scale: “Wakanda gets trashed” should have been a scoring option), and Act III opens with a Spider-quip strong enough to take down half of the Phoenix Four.

I’ll keep reading, obviously. I’ll even admit that “AvX” banners on books still help move a comic to the top of my reading list each week. Besides, I have this contest to keep track of…

Week 16

Avengers vs. X-Men 8
The Uncanny X-Men 16
Avengers Academy 33

Week 17

Wolverine and the X-Men 14
X-Men Legacy 270
Avengers 28

Week 18

Avengers vs. X-Men 9

No scoring in weeks 16 and 17, and without any pre-solicited one-on-one battles to factor in, we were thinking that Carly W. (who has accurately called every available bout thus far) was going to run away with this contest prize unchallenged.

In week 18, however, Storm is finally fed up with her creepy god-powered X-generals and switches sides. Looks like every sane hero has made a similar choice at this point: even Rogue, in the pages of Legacy; and Beast, in that one panel of this week’s issue nine, helping carry Avengers wounded in the wake of another one of those fight-and-run-away sequences. As a consequence, Chris B. leapfrogs Carly on the leaderboard, and things stay interesting. Especially since Carly just needs either one more resurrection or one more character death to score points on those conditions. Remain vigilant, sports fans.

Leaders through week 18: