One big pile-on.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dennis Hopeless
Art: Javier Garron
What They Say:
The gates have burst open. Hell has broken loose. And as if things weren’t bleak enough…enter Mister Sinister! Shame on you for thinking we left him out! Will anything survive the flame as all-out Inferno War burns on?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Though the third installment of Inferno felt like it lost a lot of its oomph and energy with the way it dealt with things, it did start showing towards the end just how crazy things are about to get in the city. With Illyana having given over to the Darkchild side completely at this point, there was a real thrill in watching her demon horde just slide out into the boroughs and cause a whole lot of chaos. The psychological impact of that is profound on those that were holding her at bay all this time and with a few different groups in the mix the reaction was almost universally the same. Which makes a lot of sense as this particular slice of the Battleworld is about to be consumed wholly by what Darkchild represents. And that’s not going to go well for any mutant involved.
The chaos in the streets isn’t given a lot of time but Garron gets the chance to have a lot of fun with it, especially with the demonic bus that reminded me of a twisted Catbus. The flow of demons into the streets shows them sucking up the place completely but it also provides a chance for a little recon. That gets to be done via Longshot, a character I haven’t seen in years due to a lack of reading X-Books. It’s fun to see him in play even for a little while, though he has to deliver the bad news to Scott and the others about the state of things. Scott’s completely fallen apart at this stage and while he’s trying to come up with a plan he’s also confronted with a growing segment of mutants that want to get the hell out of town before it’s consumed. You have to feel for Scott at this stage as he’s trying to do right while realizing he’s done so much wrong in protecting the city. But it also says a lot that Jean is practically pleading with him to agree to the escape as opposed to a tactical retreat.
The book also spends some time with Colossus and his group as they try to make their way back but continue to meet stiff resistance. Peter’s certainly struggling with the realization that Illyana’s lost and that his actions have caused all of this – leading to a great little fight between him and Scott later on. But mostly it serves up some good character dynamics with the way Maddie is viewing this whole event; she’s grasped quickly that this is the end of everything unless something changes, so her throwing in with the group makes a lot of sense. Of course, she’s not in top form either so it’s really a matter of survival at this point, something that Havok can’t quite see. What complicates all of this further is that the arrival of the supposedly dead Tabitha is just a precursor to the arrival of the scrawny Sinister who believes he is their savior. Strange bedfellows has always been part of being a mutant and trying to survive in the world but aligning with him may be a step too far – even in Battleworld.
In Summary:
Inferno has been the kind of weirdly fun title that I expected, though I figured it would be a little more tied originally to the event from years ago as opposed to this re-imagining. As it’s gone on it’s had a hard time maintaining its energy and momentum but this installment kicks it all back into gear and provides for a lot of action and a lot of uncertainty. You can’t say it’s all going to end peacefully and right in the world because it’s Battleworld. But what we do get here is the kind of weird mishmash of characters and situations that feels crazy and chaotic but also totally fun. I’m not looking for rich or deep storytelling here but rather a good romp with characters set in twisted situations. And that’s what Hopeless and Garron are delivering issue after issue. This one is definitely a whole lot of fun and has me curious to see where it’ll go by the time it all ends.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 19th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
