Month: April 2012

The dust hasn’t settled on Marvel’s Avengers vs. X-Men mini-series just yet (in fact, it’s just now getting kicked up; #2 came out on Wednesday), but the rumble hosted on Stack Exchange has come to a decisive end. After two weeks of competition, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange has declared the X-Men the winner of the AvX Stack Showdown. Now take it easy, Avengers fans; we’re not saying that Colossus could best the Hulk or that Cyclops is a better tactician than Captain America. The X-Men defeated the Avengers in a basic numbers game; the questions asked on our site in the past two weeks with the tag “x-men” simply got more views than those tagged “avengers.”

The Avengers were off to a strong start initially, with questions like Is Thor the only Avenger that can’t die? getting attention from many users. But once the X-Men pulled ahead in the number of questions asked, there was no stopping them. More questions asked meant more views total, and with questions generating thousands of views on their own, the X-Men had no problem taking and keeping the lead. In the end, the X-Men trounced the Avengers in page views, coming in with 15,642 compared to the Avengers’ 5,315.

Users old and new created a lot of great content about these two teams, but only a few exemplary questions and answers can be awarded with prizes. They are:

• Top X-Men Question: DavRob60 for “How to kill Wolverine?” (score: 23)
• Top Avengers Question: Bridget Fitzgerald for “Is Thor the only Avenger that can’t die?” (score: 25)
• Top X-Men Answer: Ian Pugsley for the answer to “How to kill Wolverine?” (score: 21)
• Top Avengers Answer: Thaddeus Howze for the answer to “Is Thor the only Avenger that can’t die?” (score: 37)

And since the X-Men emerged as the victor, one user was drawn randomly from the pool of everyone who participated in that tag, and will be rewarded with their choice of one of three grand prizes.

• Grand Prize Winner: chcuk

Thanks to everyone who participated in the event. Marvel Comics’ Avengers vs. X-Men is in stores both physical and digital now. It’s an event years in the making and the comic book event of the summer. You cannot miss it! You can also check out all of the AvX videos we made for the event. They’re timeless classics. Just because our event is over doesn’t mean you should stop reading the series and asking questions. The battle still continues!

If you’ve taken a gander at the Sci-Fi & Fantasy site today, odds are you’ve noticed a lot of questions about the Avengers or X-Men. Why is that? Well, it’s because the site is in the throes of its first big event!

AVX.STACKSHOWDOWN.COM

This event is closely modeled on the Skyrim vs. MW3 event that Gaming held last Fall, but modified for maximized, ultimate comic book goodness. Thanks to designer Jin Yang, developer Emmett Nicholas for getting the site up, and Tim Dillon and Ryan Penagos from Marvel for providing us with awesome art.

The event was inspired by Marvel Comics’ own Avengers vs. X-Men event, which just launched today. Avengers vs. X-Men is a 12 issue mini-series, coming out biweekly, pitting two of Marvel’s premier superteams in battle over an Earth-changing event. With the biggest names in comics on the creative team, this is shaping up to be 2012’s big blockbuster for comics. Be sure to check out the event by hopping by your local comic book shop, or checking out the issue on the Marvel App or at ComiXology.

So how does this translate to the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Stack Exchange site? Glad you asked that, me. We’re putting our Avengers questions against our X-Men questions, in a battle for views! Fans are encouraged to ask the questions that have been burning up inside them ever since they first held a comic, and then share that question so they can both get an awesome answer, and ALSO ensure that their side (Avengers or X-Men) gets the views they need to pull ahead. So far today, the X-Men’s early lead has given way to the Avengers, who are now winning. Come on, X-Men!

What kind of questions are welcome? You are really full of questions, me, but I’ll answer them. Any questions about anything X-Men or Avengers are welcome. All of the activity is being measured through the use of tags, so as long as your question falls within the scope of the Avengers or X-Men tag, it’s fair game! So far today, some of the leading questions are:

• Is Thor the only Avenger that can’t die?
• Why doesn’t Cyclops’ optic blast subject him to recoil?
• How did Captain America survive freezing?
• Is Wolverine an alcoholic?
• Why is the Hulk’s skin green?
• Did Nightcrawler ever get to be a priest?

Like those questions? Upvote and share them! Have a better answer? Post it! Get involved because there are prizes to be won.

Oh, did I forget to mention prizes?

At the end of the contest’s run (April 19th, specifics here), the winning side will be chosen and one lucky participant from that side will win our grand prize! On top of that, the users that have the top question and answer for both sides will win prizes. Lots to win!

So what are you waiting for? Avengers assemble! X-Men…x-trapolate? X-travaganza? The X-Men don’t have a rallying cry, but rally X-Men fans, rally! For more info on the contest, please check out the official rules and prizes page, as well as the Meta post!