The opening shots of the fight between the Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals are thrown in AXE: Judgment Day #1

AXE: Judgment Day #1 panel — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

AXE: Judgment Day #1 kicks off the three-way throwdown between the Avengers, X-Men, and Eternals - and believe it or not, it's the Avengers who swing the first punch of the fight.

Even though the Eternals believe that mutants are descended from their ancient enemies and are the product of "excess deviation" that drives the conflict, thanks to the Eternals' desire to destroy all mutants, it's the Avengers who apparently get the jump on at least some of the Eternals, as seen in a newly released preview of interior pages from AXE: Judgment Day #1 from writer Kieron Gillen, artists Valerio Schiti and Marte Gracia, and letterer Clayton Cowles.

Here's the preview of interior pages, along with the issue's main cover from Mark Brooks and Sabine Rich:

Image 1 of 6

AXE: Judgement Day #1 page — (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Meanwhile, as Sersi is subdued, Cyclops of the X-Men muses to Jean Grey about how the Phoenix is now part of the Avengers (making a subtle reference to the story Avengers Vs. X-Men, in which the two teams battled for control of the Phoenix Force). But Jean is too distracted by the protestors who are angry about the recent revelation of mutantkind's ability to be resurrected to take much notice.

AXE: Judgment Day #1 goes on sale July 20.

Will AXE: Judgment Day rank among the most impactful Marvel Comics events ever?

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011, and now I'm the Entertainment Writer at GamesRadar+. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)