X-Terminators 4 - Inferno

The X-Terminators and the New Mutants team up to try to close the portal and save the babies.

X-Terminators #4

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Petra Scotese
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

With demons flowing through the portal Taki realises he's been tricked and tries to shut down the computer but N'astirh and Crotus stop him and more demons come to guard the computer. The other X-Terminators have been freed and Taki creates planes for them to take to the sky to take on the demons and rescue the babies. They are joined by the New Mutants who have also come through the portal whilst N'astirh confront S'ym. N'astirh cannot touch the computer himself without shorting it out so opts to be transformed by the techno-organic transmode virus to allow him to interface with it. As he does so Taki uses his own power to revert the computer to its components causing it to explode, taking N'astirh and the portal with it.

This issue brings the limited series to a conclusion and really exposes the problem with it - there's too much Taki. The character has been on an arc of self-discovery as he evolves from the embittered self-centred kid seen in the first issue to the brave and cunning child who pulls himself to the computer and is willing to give his life to destroy it. But ultimately it cannot disguise that he's an entirely new character to the series that combines a host of unfortunate stereotypes about east Asian Americans and the disabled and he's ultimately taken much of the focus away from the existing characters who are the main attraction of the series.

Although Leech and Artie do little more than pull out the power cord on the computer (which Crotus soon replaces), the other four do get some good moments in the battle as they each deploy their powers and show skills. But there's a strong hint of just where the team is going as the New Mutants fly up to join them with a strong hint that the two groups will soon be merged. As a result this limited series has ultimately been less of a solo showcase for the X-Factor kids and more an additional Inferno story that doubles as a way to bring the two groups together with the addition of a character who is best either totally forgotten or radically overhauled. It reinforces the idea that what was planned as a series based around five of them being at neighbouring boarding schools whilst Rusty started off in jail was hurriedly co-opted to instead serve as the main official build-up for the crossover. This explains the rather limited plot that isn't sufficient to sustain four over sized issues or even give a full conclusion to the saga.

The art is especially cartoony here and doesn't feel the most appropriate for a tale of demons invading Earth. In contrast to the first issue S'ym is now drawn in a more traditional comical form that continues to undermine the character given his role in the story. By contrast N'astirh retains a credible look as a dangerous force and this is even more so after he absorbs the transmode virus.

This issue invariably feels anti-climactic. It's clear that things have only been temporarily stopped for now because there's still so much of the crossover to come. It also feels like the series as a whole has gone in a completely different direction from planned. If there was any plan to give the X-Terminators their own ongoing series then this is not a good sample as to what it would be about. The whole thing would probably have been better done in a single special edition issue rather than bring dragged out like this.

X-Terminators 3 - Inferno

The X-Terminators journey to the mausoleum where Taki has agreed to create a spell casting computer for N'astirh.

X-Terminators #3

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: John Wellington
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

There's not a great deal of plot to this issue beyond the introductory sentence above. Instead the focus is on how the X-Terminators use their skills and powers on the journey whilst Taki and N'astirh engage in a battle of wills to get the special computer built in time to hold open the portal to bring the demons to Earth.

The issue opens with the four free kids in a library consulting maps to find the cemetery in Artie's image, a reminder of the very different information age compared to now. It's also a bit reminiscent of a scene in the original Ghostbusters film and one of the panicking readers even mentions the film. The journey to the cemetery then involves tackling a possessed subway train followed by a run in with a biker gang who don't like how close the kids are standing to their bikes - and get them "borrowed" for their troubles. Once again we get to see all four demonstrating their powers and also the constraints such as Rusty being unable to use flame powers in a library or Boom Boom's timebombs being unable to free Rictor's hands from the train doors without blowing up his hands. Skids's powers feel the weakest but she gets to show off other skills such as knowing how to stop the train, a trick all the Morlocks learned. This side of the issue is a lot of fun even though it takes up more pages than it needs, a side effect perhaps of each issue having 28 pages of story.

Meanwhile at the cemetery things are not so good. Taki opts to enter into a game of stalling with N'astirh by insisting on lots of supplies and repeatedly threatening to be too upset to deliver the promised technology. The problem is that this brings out all the worst characteristics of the now code-named "Wiz Kid" (could the character get any more stereotypical?) as he smugly tells the demon what he needs as though he's untouchable. However others are not so safe with two policemen who investigate the cemetery getting captured, one turned into a demon and the other eaten to force Taki to speed up. It's a relief when the X-Terminators arrive and try to save them but by this point the computer is complete and N'astirh is able to use it.

This issue feels overlong for all that happens in it and really suffers from the focus on Taki. Although there are moments where he shows concern for others it's also hard not to see his self-centred attitude being genuine, especially given some of the poses he's drawn in, that shifts his delaying tactics from a genuine strategy into a deliberate strop. Four parts is sometimes too much for a limited series especially when the issues are longer than the normal and this is a series that could have done better in three.

X-Terminators 2 - Inferno

The X-Factor kids find a name and costumes as they pursue Artie and Leech's kidnappers.

X-Terminators #2

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: John Wellington
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

N'astirh cannot get the staff it seems with Crotus having failed to grasp just what a baby is having kidnapped Leech and Artie. But the two young mutants soon display their power and Archie briefly transmits an image of his location. The other X-Factor kids and Taki see the image and realise they must head to New York. On the way they break into a clothes shop and adopt new outfits with Taki creating a computer on his chair to access his trust fund and pay for it as well as announcing his machine has a spelling checker which the demons overhear. The kids adopt the name "X-Terminators" and arrive in New York only to find they cannot contact help so will have to find Artie and Leech themselves. Taki notices demons but the others don't believe him until Crotus carries him off. Crotus presents him to N'astirh and declares the boy can use his computer to process information - such as spells.

This issue is rather thin on plot and instead focuses on establishing the characters and also showing the continued kidnapping of actual babies. Everyone gets at least one scene to show their powers whether it's Rictor shaking a coin for the phone out of an old Pepsi machine, Boom Boom blowing up the machine, Skids protecting everyone with her forcefield, Taki rebuilding the machine (to the modern design) or Rusty keeping everyone warm until they get some proper clothes. In the shop Boom Boom and Skids pick new outfits for everyone. Apart from Rusty's top they look more like clothes than superhero costumes and typically for Boom Boom they are very much of their time (and thus now very dated). The demons also get some good moments especially Crotus who is largely played for laughs but shows a determination to get back into N'astirh's good books and then get to eat Artie and Leech. It's not all fun as we see some particularly nasty kidnappings of babies.

But overall this issue prompts the idea that most stories come in three acts and a four part story or mini-series will invariably have one issue that's largely about marking time and focusing on highlighting the characters. This is that issue and whether it works or not depends heavily on whether the characters work. Some work better than others with Rictor feeling a bit of a cipher whilst Taki gets much of the focus but feels too much of a stereotype. But overall they're a likeable enough group to keep the interest going.

X-Terminators 1 - Inferno

The X-Factor children go off to boarding school but don't stay for long.

X-Terminators #1

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Jon Bogdanove
Inkers: Al Williamson & Al Milgrom
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: John Wellington
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

In Limbo the demons S'ym and N'astirh confront each other with S'ym winning the encounter and declaring his plans to rule Limbo and the realm beyond. He orders N'astirh to kidnap thirteen "power-filled babies" to be used in a rite to achieve this. N'astirh and his followers, the N'astiri, arrive on Earth but are limited by their lack of knowledge of the world and so hunt out small humans "with large heads... no hair... and round... innocent... little eyes..." Meanwhile the children under X-Factor's care are leaving in different directions. Rusty Collins voluntarily surrenders to the naval police in the hope the publicity will help discredit the Mutant Registration Act and help the mutant cause. However instead the authorities plan to make an example of him. The other children are taken to two private boarding schools in New Hampshire. Leech and Artie are placed at St Simons for younger children where they encounter Taki, a young orphan boy embittered by the accident that left him in a wheelchair. It soon becomes clear he has the mutant power to rearrange technology as he slowly befriends Artie and Leech. Skids, Rictor and Boom-Boom are placed at Phillips Academy, a prestigious "prep school" (we'd say "public school") with a number of especially obnoxious pupils. But their time at boarding school doesn't last long as one night the N'astiri kidnap Artie and Leech. With X-Factor uncontactable and the Phillips dorm phone answered by an obnoxious pupil who treats it as joke, Taki sets out to find the others, converting his wheelchair into a helicopter and then a plane. First he recruits the three from Phillips and then they fly to the prison and break out Rusty. The still nameless team fly off to rescue Artie and Leech.

"Now begins Inferno" proclaims the cover. This limited series has long been the overlooked part of the event. It began publication months before Inferno took off and was not mentioned on the adverts for the main part of it. Later in 1996 a trade paperback of the core of Inferno was released and did not include it. It's only been in the 21st century that this omission has been rectified with both the core oversized hardcover and the main two trade paperback volumes including with. Was this omission rooted in 1988? Did the plans for the limited series change suddenly? The build-up in X-Factor had concentrated on the kids going away to boarding school and yet this setting is ditched even in the first issue. Was the series instead conceived as a more or less self-contained affair and only late in the day switched to being a builder for the big crossover event?

It's not clear but it's probably for best that we got something other than a series based around heroes with powers at a boarding school. There's a lot of boarding school fiction around with plenty of possibilities and for a superhero series it would make a contrast to have kids with powers at a regular (in so far as a prep/public school is remotely regular) school as opposed to a small self-contained dedicated school (the New Mutants) or a family of children with glimpses of day school (Power Pack). But it would really require the powers to be hidden in secret rather than for the pupils to be public figures. Over the years the mutant analogy has shifted from race to sexuality and a boarding school set-up would really need the characters' powers to stay a secret to work well. But it's also a tricky scenario to write without descending into cliche about the various pupil types. Not everyone at such a school is an obnoxious tosser who thinks themselves superior because their family can afford to send them there (traditionally the worst are new money) but the other pupils we see at Phillips are all of this type and that's a rather restrictive character base. We learn less about St Simons and it's not even clear if it's a regular junior school or a school for children with special needs as the only other pupil we meet is Taki. Also the plot about Rusty voluntarily returning to prison in the hope of bringing down the Mutant Registration Act is rapidly abandoned.

Instead we get the build up for Inferno. The opening scenes are set in Limbo and establish the two main demons for the event. And S'ym looks a lot better than in previous issues. Gone are the waistcoat and the odd comical poses. He still has a cigar but otherwise he looks much tougher and fiercer, vastly improving the character's credibility. It's astonishing that this comes from the same pencil as the more cartoony pupils at Phillips or indeed Jon Bogdanove's general style. There's also a fun scene when N'astirh and the N'astiris arrive on Earth and encounter a parody of William Gaines, the publisher of EC Comics, in a cemetery that includes a grave for Fredric Wertham, the psychiatrist who led the mid 1950s campaign against comics that drove many out of business and led to the constraints of the Comics Code Authority. The Code was revised multiple times over the years and it's hard to imagine a horror story like Inferno would have been allowed in the early years so it's nice to see such a retort.

This first issue has a lot of setting up to do and so most of the existing characters don't get much development at this point. Instead we get the various shifts to get the kids back together and out to rescue Artie and Leech. Although it has a lot to do in setting things up it works to pull everything together by the end of the issue and get things going.