A deal is a deal, no matter how bad it gets.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dennis Hopeless
Art: Javier Garron
What They Say:
Spinning out of the universe-shattering events of Secret Wars, comes a new twist on the X-Men classic that’s a whole hell of a lot hotter than you remember. 5 years ago a band of demons rose up out of the fiery depths and turned Manhattan into Hell on Earth. The X-Men fought to vanquish the demon horde and…the X-Men failed. Welcome back to the Inferno. On this the fifth anniversary of Manhattan’s fall, Piotr Rasputin is leading a small band of mutants back into the Inferno. Colossus doesn’t know what they’ll find on the other side of those flames but he knows for certain…they’re not coming back without his sister.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As I continue to be really, really wary and choosy when it comes to the spinoff books from Secret Wars that I pick up, Inferno was pretty much a given from the start that I’d grab it. I had really enjoyed the original mini-event in the X-books ages ago with what it presented, and I’m also a longtime admirer of the character of Illyana, as well as the Maddie Pryor Goblin Queen character. So when that first cover came out, I knew I was sold. Bringing in Dennis Hopeless to write it and Javier Garron to illustrate it? It just became all the easier to invest in it. And after this first issue, I’m excited to see where else this little part of the Battleworld will end up going.
This particular part of Battleworld is one that was essentially what you would call a normal Manhattan four years prior to the start of the book, but it took a turn for the worse when the demons invaded with Limbo taking over, resulting in the whole place twisted and turned. To make matters worse, the main demon, N’astrith, had taken control of Illyana to secure his power and has slowly but surely awakened her Darkchylde side. For her brother Peter, he’s been intent on getting her back ever since, which is only natural and speaks to his character well. But because of the nature of the city now, and the way it’s so overrun with demons, he had to strike a deal with Cyclops that has him only going in once a year, on the anniversary of her being lost. The rest of the year he serves faithfully as an officer of sorts, patrolling the boroughs and protecting people from criminals and the like.
But each year that he makes the run in with a select team to get close to her, it’s ended in repeated failures – though he gets closer each time. But with losses. The book actually starts with this, but it goes badly as Cyclops gets wounded terribly, turning him into the Professor X of the book while also serving as the baron of the domain. There’s a lot of neat things that come into play as it shifts forward a year and we get Peter ready to do it again, though there are complications. The fun is in seeing that he’s hooked up with Domino and the two are living together, which makes for some great dialogue since he largely plays the straight man. The downside is seeing just how little planning he really does for these missions, how complicated they get, and how utterly trounced they get with this one as N’astrith and Darkchylde are lying in wait. But it has such a great little moment at the end that I practically squealed in wanting more of it right away.
In Summary:
I’ve always enjoyed the whole Peter/Illyana thing and having the little snowflake moment here with the twist of how bad things get is just wonderful. The original Magick miniseries made me a fan of this whole concept and then the Inferno arc played with some great ideas years ago. Here, Hopeless and Garron bring to life a great bit of fun in playing with the familiar world, shaking it up and pushing it through several changes. I’ve not read much X-Men for probably close to twenty years now, but there’s an ease and familiarity here that works while also enjoying the changes and the surreal nature of a transformed Manhattan. it’s a solid book that works through a lot while making Peter a compelling character for a good portion of it as you really get to understand just how deeply this impacts him and just how committed he is to rescuing his sister no matter the cost. And there is a huge cost. Very good fun all around, especially with all the little touches that Garron puts into his backgrounds with a wide range of characters. That just ups the re-reading value immensely.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 27th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99