The 12-issue twice-monthly series was first published in April 2012, and features a storyline by Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman and Matt Fraction, with a rotating team of artists including John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel and Adam Kubert.

[1] In December 2011, Marvel Comics announced the launch of Avengers vs. X-Men, a 12-issue twice-monthly series featuring writers Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman and Matt Fraction, debuting in April 2012.

The series focuses on the return of the Phoenix Force, the cosmic entity of death and rebirth, as it looks for its new host, believed to be the teenage mutant Hope Summers, who will possess all of its power.

[6] A five-issue limited epilogue series, AvX: Consequences by writer Kieron Gillen and artists Tom Raney, Mark Brooks, Steve Kurth and Dale Eaglesham debuted in October 2012.

[13] While Cable is distracted fighting Spider-Man and Wolverine, Hope (guided by Blaquesmith) frees the captured Avengers, while the Red Hulk burns the techno-organic virus out of his body.

[24] The Avengers stall Cyclops as Hope retreats to find Lei Kung, who tells her that he has one final lesson and presents Shao Lao the dragon, the source of the Iron Fist energy.

[26] Seventy-two hours earlier in K'un-L'un, Hope takes her frustration over the war out on the Scarlet Witch, but Captain America mediates, suggesting that their only chance to win is if they work together.

In the aftermath, Cyclops is placed under arrest, but willingly accepts this, and Captain America decides to put together a new team of Avengers in order to mend the bond between the two sides, while Hope joins the Jean Grey School.

[35] In K'un-L'un, Iron Man and Beast develop a mechanism fed by the Scarlet Witch's hex powers, which use her inner thoughts to consider all the data gathered on the Phoenix Five and the Avengers, in order to figure out their best scenarios to overcome the X-Men.

However, as Hope enters the room and the Scarlet Witch sees her, a new scenario appears, in which Cyclops is defeated, making Iron Man realize her crucial role in the battlefield.

After the battle, Noh-Varr checks in with the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree Empire who informs him of the coming Phoenix force and orders him to intercept and contain it at all cost... even if it means eliminating his Avenger teammates.

[56] After the Vision frees Mar-Vell, Ms. Marvel and Noh-Varr from the mind control, and after the Krees posing as the Supreme Intelligence kill themselves, the Secret Avengers fight to take the Phoenix away from Hala.

He is eventually defeated by the Madelyne Pryor clones; shortly after, Magneto, Storm, Psylocke and Danger arrive at Mister Sinister's city and find out that their teammates were captured.

Wolverine warns the faculty of the crisis before joining the rest of the Avengers and heads off to Utopia to place Hope Summers (the Phoenix's likely target) in protective custody.

Brood helps Iron Man with the calculations for his mechanism to fight Cyclops and Emma Frost, while the Utopia teenagers adjust to the new school, Toad takes Husk on a date and Gladiator orders his son to return home with him, before telling Warbird that she will remain on Earth to find her true purpose in life.

Broo visits the church where Oya goes, noticing changes in her personality, and finds out that the Hellfire Club kids are manipulating her mind and planning an attack against the school, aided by Glob Herman.

After the unconscious Avengers are sent away from the school inside their jet, Rogue decides that she can't keep neutral in this fight, and asks Kitty to let Iceman know that she will be joining them in battle.

There, she saves a young girl forcibly married to a violent man which reminds her of her childhood, constantly beaten by an abusive father whom she accidentally killed one day while trying to defend herself.

[80] Seven days after Namor's attack, Wolverine and students from the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning fly to Wakanda to aid in the reconstruction efforts but are warned by Storm that they are not welcome and turn back after being fired upon.

Captain America convinces Wolverine to visit Cyclops, who is being held in a specialized private prison created for the reemerged mutant population, to learn where his Extinction Team might be hiding.

[102] Schedeen gave issue #2 a 5.0, carping that "Romita's work seems rushed" and "Aaron's distinctive voice is toned down to the point where the shift away from Brian Michael Bendis' script is far less noticeable than might be expected".

[106] Newsarama gave issue #0 a 9 out of 10 stating that it "does less to set up the impending crossover than to introduce the players involved, showcasing Scarlet Witch, whose return in the pages of Children's Crusade was touted as tying directly into the event, and Hope Summers, whose manifestation of the Phoenix Effect at the end of X-Sanction seems to be the ultimate precursor to what's coming".

Whether it's the X-Men pulling a magic switcheroo to escape the Avengers or Captain America suddenly deciding he's going to punch Wolverine, it feels like Brubaker keeps putting the cart before the horse.

[119] Pepose gave issue #8 a 6 stating, "Right now, the plan seems to be eliciting a specific reaction rather than focusing on story... this comic comes off more like a video game than a strong narrative".

[122] CBR gave issue #11 two stars, criticizing the death of Professor X and the marginalization of Hope Summers but found praise in the artwork of Oliver Coipel, Mark Morales, and Laura Martin.

[126] Schedeen gave issue #11 a 7.5 writing, "In terms of scripting, AvX #11 is neither the strongest nor the weakest installment of the series.... [Brian Michael] Bendis largely steps back and allows [Oliver] Coipel to go to town, making this a very brisk read.

Focusing primarily on Spider-Man as the last man standing against not one, but two Phoenix-corrupted X-Men, this comic puts a face on a large-scale conflict, suddenly giving this crossover some real tension and weight".

"[133] CBR gave issue #2 two stars, criticizing that "so far the crossover that this series is stepping away from also just feels like an excuse to see some knock-down, drag-outs between fan favorites, so the need for this title, even as just some between-the-panels fun, is severely hampered.

[151] CBR gave issue #5 four stars, saying "In AvX: Consequences #5, Kieron Gillen and Gabriel Hernandez Walta do exactly what they should: deliver a strong and logical conclusion to this weekly mini-series".

Having received the warning, The Avengers send a team into space as a first line of defense, while others go to Utopia to take Hope Summers, the intended host of the Phoenix Force, into custody.