Sometimes you have to make that alliance.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dennis Hopeless
Art: Javier Garron
What They Say:
As if Colossus’s Inferno raid wasn’t impossible enough, now his skeleton crew X-Men is a team divided. Boom Boom’s gut stuck and bleeding out. Nightcrawler’s caught in Darkchylde’s hellfire web. And Domino’s fate is in the hands of The Goblin Queen Madelyne Pryor! Find out if our big metal mutant can pull his team’s bacon from the flames and get this suicide mission back on track, as X-Men vs. Hell-on-Earth action continues.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The opening installment of Inferno was certainly busy with all that it wanted to cover, especially considering it advanced the timeline a bit to fill in the blanks for the last few years of living in this area, but it provided me a new twist on an old storyline that I still really enjoy to this day. Having been out of the X-Men loop for years, it’s fun to reconnect with these versions of the characters to see some of the twists and turns. Hopeless certainly nailed the characters right and brought out some fun interpersonal connections while Garron definitely made it a fluid and dynamic book with some great background nods. But after all the setup, the series has to move forward with the plot, which is what dominates this book to a good degree.
With a bit of a save by the Goblin Queen the last time around, Colossus is pretty much trying to figure out what her real plan is. It certainly makes a basic sense for her to work with him in order to get rid of Darkchylde and her current ruling class, but he knows there has to be something more to it. But at the same time, there really doesn’t, since it’s both a short form series and Maddie is basically looking to gain power. And she certainly knows how to manage power, as we see her put him through a bit of a physical test in order to bring the demons over to fearing and respecting him, so they’ll follow her orders to follow him into battle, but also for her to slide the Soulsword into his hand, hoping a little Rasputin blood will work its magic. Since the need to deal with Illyana is what he’s really there for, it’s a good deal, but one where he’s continually looking for the catch.
While he deals with this, the rest of the team is scattered and coping with their own situations. You have to feel for Boom Boom as she’s being disemboweled by a demon that’s taking her to his master, since it’s got to be a surreal feeling. Kurt has a little bit of time as Darkchylde and N’astrith torment him by talking, which has some interesting points considering his ancestry, but it lets us get inside that lair for a bit. The fun part is with Domino as she gets befriended by one of Maddie’s kids, name a little boy that insists he be called Cable. He’s a twisted looking little tyke but one with a real affection for weapons, which means he and Domino get along really well. This plays into what Colossus is going through with Maddie, and it has a kind of light tone to it that’s more fun than it should be.
In Summary:
Inferno moves right along here in doing some plot and exposition pieces, relatively speaking, and sets the stage for the big fight to come. What works for me here is the lightness of it all because it doesn’t have to be deep. It has to be fun and to work the twisty nature of things to present a situation that fans of the characters can connect with and fill in the blanks on. And it does just that, letting us enjoy Maddie as the Goblin Queen again, seeing what Darkchylde and N’astrith are up to and also just to enjoy seeing Colossus with the the focus he has here to do what he can to save his sister. It’s a fun little story that lets him work with Maddie, take on the Soulsword and hope that he doesn’t end up killing the one he’s trying to save, even if that may be for the best in the end. It’s a solidly fun book through and through with the writing, character and artwork, making me want to pull out my old singles again to read the original storyline.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: June 10th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
