Oh look, it’s time for another comic about superheroes fighting each other. Thought we’d get a break after “Civil War II?” Nope, Marvel’s getting ready to kick this off before the current big event is even over. Nothing to do but dive in and see how this one gets started.
Written by Charles Soule
Illustrated by Kenneth RocafortThis issue sets the stage for the upcoming Inhumans vs X-Men mega-event! Learn who the major players will be, plus the seeds of the incredible plan that will unfold in IVX #1. Beast and Iso travel the world to learn a desperate truth, the X-Men assemble their ranks and the Inhumans prepare for the war to come. It all begins with one choice – see it here.
Did you think it was over with “Death of X?” Were the mutants going to keep hiding in space and in Limbo while the terrigen cloud did its thing, and Beast worked tirelessly to find a cure? Oh no, that was just the prelude to Marvel’s favorite pastime: hero versus hero events, almost always brought upon by a failure to communicate and compromise, but inevitably casting one group of heroes as the designated bad guys.
And yet, while I went in completely expecting that, what I got at first was, to my happy surprise, an optimistic attempt at finding a nonviolent solution to the problem presented by the terrigen mists. Yes, while we know that Beast has been working on finding some sort of cure or solution to M-Pox, that hasn’t been the focus until now.
Seeing him at work, I must admit, I like Beast (Hank McCoy)’s initial outlook. There’s real optimism there, in spite of the potential extinction event. As Beast points out, this is hardly their first time staring extinction in the face, and this time it’s a scientific problem with a scientific solution. He can put his mind to work, and is genuinely hopeful that there’s a peaceful solution to their problem.
He’s contrasted nicely by his assistant, the Inhuman known as Iso. She’s equally dedicated to finding a solution, but is less optimistic than Beast; equally bright, but more modest and cautious. They make a good team, and nothing captures that dynamic better than Hank’s selfie, showing him with a wide, toothy smile, ridiculous wink, and flashing the peace sign, while Iso stands in disbelief in the background.
Hank might need to improve his selfie game just a bit, but it’s an amusingly awkward moment, lovingly illustrated by Kenneth Rocafort.
But we have a contrast to Beast’s hopeful outlook and efforts, as Emma Frost readies for the worst. For some reason, this involves jumping off a cliff repeatedly to diamond up faster and faster. Presumably she’s trying to improve her reaction time to the speed of sound, since she seems to think that’ll be the trick to defeating Black Bolt.
Yes, she’s gearing up to defeat Black Bolt in particular, claiming she wants revenge for what he did to Cyclops. As readers should know, and the Stepford Cuckoos point out, it wasn’t even Black Bolt who did it. In the “shocking twist” (or at least what they want us to believe is a shocking twist) at the end of “Death of X,” it was revealed that Cyclops died of M-Pox, and the Cyclops we saw get blasted by Black Bolt was a psychic projection from Emma.
Apparently psychic projections can also get recorded on cameras, too. Or is Emma constantly scanning the world for anyone viewing the video of Cyclops’s last stand to psychically make them see him in the videos? To the best of my knowledge, you can’t exactly use telepathic manipulation to make a video camera record something that isn’t there. Maybe she edited the video before it was released to add Cyclops – is psychic photoshop a new power she got recently?
I know I’m harping on this one point a bit too long, but it’s a moment that bugs me. So let’s get back to the issue itself.
The progression of time throughout the comic is presented nicely, showcasing both Emma Frost’s plans for war and Beast’s attempts at finding a cure for M-Pox. His minor successes in helping protect mutants continue to provide spots of hope, but given that this is the zeroth issue for a series literally called “Inhumans vs X-Men,” we know it won’t be enough. Thus, the mood of impending failure continues to loom over the issue.
Continued belowArtistically, the comic is fine. There’s some wonderfully done moments, such as a beautiful landscape of the Savage Land, or the general goofiness of the aforementioned Beast and Iso selfie. The various scenes, from the Inhuman base to the Hellfire Club, are all drawn spectacularly well, with great establishing shots and backgrounds throughout. In each shot, the character designs are very solid, letting their personalities shine through even if they’re just off to the side.
At the same time, there are some scenes which could have been done just a little differently to provide more of an impact; at one point, Emma Frost meets with Magneto atop a massive metal platform which Magneto keeps balanced on a thin metal pole, and when we see the shot in its entirety, the pole is as tall as the redwood trees beside it. But because it’s from so far away, at an angle that looks at it dead-on, it doesn’t look quite as impressive as it should. The platform is far wider than the pole is long, and since it isn’t dwarfing anything, it lacks the impact that it should have. Other times have the characters lacking just enough detailing to look a little more on the sketch side, which I know contradicts my earlier compliments about the character designs, but it shows how things can change from panel to panel.
That’s not to say I dislike the artwork, though. Overall I felt it suited the issue nicely, and has a lot of merits to stand on; but the minor setbacks and inconsistencies are still worth mentioning. Kenneth Rocafort is a talented artist, and overall the positives outweigh my nitpicks.
Overall, I went in with low expectations, expecting the entire issue to be “they’re going to fight and here’s why.” Instead we got “This group is trying to avoid a fight, but they’re going to be ready, because some people in this group are preparing for one,” which generally makes for a more compelling story, even if it’ll pretty certainly cast the X-Men in the “designated villain” role.
Let’s hope it’ll lead up to a satisfying ResurreXion later down the line.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – A surprisingly solid buildup to the IvX conflict, handled in a satisfying manner. I may be skeptical of IvX as a whole, but the zero issue was actually pretty good.
