AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #1

When they announced this (about two years after Brian Bendis said that Marvel wouldn't be doing big events for awhile...and a year after Marvel's last event, Fear This) I thought: these teams have been around since the 60's...they've never done this before? Duh. They have. I'm sure multiple times...but in the late 80's there was a 4-issue mini-series called Avengers vs. X-Men drawn by Marc Silvestri. So it's nothing new. Add the fact that this new event features the Dark Phoenix, the evil force that ended up killing Jean Grey, and you realize that is about as far from original as possible. But I do love events, I love John Romita, Jr., and this excited me. I'm a sucker for big events, whether it's a big summer popcorn film or a new Stephen King release or a new album from Lady Gaga...they peak my interest. Not that I would actually buy all 12 issues of this, the 6 side battle VS. issues, the many tie-ins...but I'll read some of it. I hated last week's #0 issue...but this #1 is entertaining. The premise has the Dark Phoenix headed towards Earth and ready to take over Hope and destroy the planet. I'm taking a guess, but expect the evil force to take over and kill Cyclops. Why? Cyclops doesn't want to give Hope to the Avengers so they start fighting. Literally that's the entire plot. But I do like the Dark Phoenix even though it's pretty much a copy of Parallax from Green Lantern. & John Romita, Jr.'s art is awesome stuff (everyone hates him for some reason these days). Bendis' script is super-basic. It's same-old, un-original, standard fare...but the book as a whole entertained me. **1/2