Burn it all down. Creative Staff:
Story: Dennis Hopeless
Art: Javier Garron
What They Say:
Darkchild’s Demon Horde, the Goblin Court, and Sinister’s Boom Clones all battle for power! Who will rule the new Inferno? The city is lost, but can Colossus defeat the Darkchild in single combat? Illyana’s soul hangs in the balance!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I had a lot of hope for the Inferno series when it was announced as the original event way back in the day is one that was a whole lot of fun. Hopeless and Garron have turned in a good bit of fun here as well, though it plays very light to what the original event was about. Which is par for the course with a lot of these Battleworld’s and warzones as it’s a title that pays lip service to the events that were while sometimes adding a few elements from them to tie it all together. That doesn’t bother me too much in the end because the series has mostly enjoyed itself, though it feels like it could have been wrapped up in four installments rather than five with a bit tighter editing all around.
With the finale, things are in a dire place as they always seem to be for our favorite mutants. Scott and his group have ended up in the sewers holding out for the moment as Darkchild has overrun the aboveground with her demons after breaking through. It makes for a good sense of atmosphere knowing that the swarm of demons are out there, though they’re getting hit back sometimes as well. A lot of that seems to come from Piotr and his use of the Soulsword now thanks to his demonic arm. That’s not exactly raising the stakes in a sense as Darkchild kind of finds it quaint since she’s so utterly in control. There’s a kind of lackadaisical attitude about her here that’s fun to watch because she knows she’s won and you can’t be quite sure that the book won’t give her that win since it’s all going to be dealt with in the main series finale that’s coming up. Even if it’s a temporary win there’s a lot to like with going that route.
Naturally, she doesn’t get it since Piotr’s intent on taking her out and ending things once and for all. That the book comes down to another fight between the two is a given as he’s still intent on trying to save his Illyana and that’s something that you can sympathize with, even with all that Darkchild has done. It’s a core part of Piotr and while frustrating, I’m glad it’s there. That said, as he’s ready to give up and let her win, it’s frustrating that it’s the arrival of Domino that gets him to fight. I understand it on a level, especially with what Darkchild says about how she exists in this world and what she did to Illyana, but it’s such as light switch change for Piotr to do what he does that it took me out of it completely. It’s a solid visual experience but the narrative leap was just jarring.
There are a few other jarring moments along the way as well. The time in the sewers accounts for much of it as we get Sinister arriving with a plan to use his cloned Boom Boom army to take out the demons and work with Scott to accomplish it. It sets up for a good battle but is then undercut by Maddie obliterating Sinister, which in turn causes the clones to go wild, which in turn causes the demons above to come below. It’s mad chaos and mostly done off-page once it gets started. To make matters worse, when we get our three survivors aboveground at the end, it’s a casual “oh hey, everyone down below is dead, let’s get out of here” moment. And they do just leave. I get it, but man, it’s just so awkward. At least the book ends with Maddie claiming power since I’ve always liked her.
In Summary:
Though Inferno didn’t live up to what I had hoped it would be, the book turned out to be a fun little diversion and one of the few miniseries that I actively kept up with. While there was a lot of material out there this is one that I felt like it had a solid enough team to make for some enjoyment and nostalgia. I didn’t get too much on the nostalgia side but Hopeless and Garron put together a fun book issue after issue and delivered some very entertaining character material along with very amusing demon material. Garron’s visuals definitely kept things moving well, especially with all the little things tucked into the first issue or two, and I was just glad to get his interpretation of both Darkchild and the Goblin Queen as I’ve always got a soft spot for these characters and what they represent. It’s a fun book overall, though I still think it could have been something more, even within the confines of Secret Wars.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 30th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
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