New Mutants 71 - Inferno

Illyana confronts her past as it collides with her present.

New Mutants #71

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Bret Blevins
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The New Mutants are trapped in Limbo but find they can escape from S'ym and his demons within it and he snatches the Soul Sword. As they flee through the realm Illyana tells them how she grew up here and the horrors she endured. Due to the different nature of time in Limbo they witness a young Illyana being assaulted by S'ym but N'astirh intervenes. This incarnation of N'astirh professes his love for Illyana and tells her how to regain her power and the ability to teleport to Earth by recovering the Soul Sword and embracing her dark side, which Illyana accepts. New York continues to suffer from objects coming to life and Magneto leads the Hellfire Club in investigating the continued growth of the Empire State Building. In Limbo Illyana overcomes S'ym, transforms into the Darkchilde and opens a portal to Earth... only to arrive in Times Square and discover N'astirh holding it open to bring all the demons through to Earth.

After a lot of build up and small scale incidents in New York we come to one of the key moments in the entire crossover. This issue also shows how some of the antagonists have been planning for a very long time. Much of this part of the crossover builds on events from the Magik (or "Storm and Illyana") limited series from five years earlier and so an issue that recounts the events and how they shaped the protagonist into what she now is very welcome. It's also a strong reminder of the themes of child abuse that ran throughout that limited series as Illyana was taken from her family, had her childhood stolen as she spent seven years in the realm and grew up around men who professed to love her but instead sought to use her for their own ends. The addition of N'astirh to the story helps to reinforce the sense in which Illyana has been a pawn all this time.

What is potentially confusing is the way that time operates in Limbo combined with Illyana's teleportation powers and the appearances of N'astirh at first adds to the confusion as it's not clear if this is the one from when she entered Limbo or the present day incarnation and it's further complicated by his having travelled back in time as well. As a result it's not immediately apparent whether he's a long term schemer who betrayed S'ym or a short term opportunist. But he still comes across as the more effective of the two main demons in Limbo even though Bret Blevins and Al Williamson have managed to make S'ym look fierce and sinister with the techno organic transmode virus compensating for the more comical aspects of his design.

Also less than clear is just how far alternate timelines can be forced in Limbo. Illyana tells how there was a timeline in which the X-Men never escaped and were either transformed or destroyed until she killed the last survivors yet she declares it's not possible to intervene to save her younger self because she has to grow up to control her teleportation discs to get them home. Why she cannot do both in the warped time is not explained.

The deception and corruption of a young girl has always been at the heart of Illyana's story and here it reaches new levels as she ultimately succumbs to the dark side of her nature and allows demons to manipulate her into opening the portal linking Limbo and Earth. This may at first seem an explanatory issue but it also serves to up the stakes for the crossover as a whole in spectacular fashion.

Amazing Spider-Man 312 - Inferno

Inferno brings out the goblins in more ways than one.

Amazing Spider-Man #312

Writer: David Michelinie
Artist: Todd McFarlane
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Harry's memories of having been the Green Goblin have returned and he once more dons the costume to protect his family. Meanwhile Curt Connors is wondering if he still has the Lizard under control and Mary Jane is modelling as Cleopatra when gold snake jewellery comes to life. Spider-Man comes across the battle between the two goblins.

It's amazing to realise that the Green Goblin hadn't been seen outside of flashbacks for over a decade at this point. Instead an alternative had been created in the form of the Hobgoblin and although the original had twice confronted Harry Osborn over his father's legacy, Harry had got little further than picking up some pumpkin bombs to throw back. But the goblin legacy was always there and it was probably only a matter of time before someone realised what a mess of a character the second Hobgoblin was and looked elsewhere.

However at this point Harry is only concerned with protecting his family, nothing more, and shows no sign of remembering Spider-Man's identity or seeking revenge upon him. He scoffs at the suggestion that New York could use another crime fighter, declaring he has responsibilities as a married man. It's also clear he is utterly unready for this battle. Time and again he thinks how he's no longer insane and how that had given him an advantage in the past until he eventually realises that rationality could be the way out. The Hobgoblin is clearly the superior fighter but constrained by the intervention of Spider-Man and overconfidence to the point he doesn't realise the Green Goblin has outmanoeuvred him for an aerial bombardment. The Hobgoblin also continues to demand something without actually saying what until the end when Harry tells him it was destroyed years ago and "You're an idiot." A narrative caption adds "Sometimes -- the truth hurts!" Although not too blunt it continues the habit of treating the character as a fool and of little danger to a competent experienced foe.

Neither goblin is the original and with Harry having only just got back onto the glider there's a clear limitation to this battle that reduces the impact. But an eventual confrontation between the different heirs to the Goblin legacy had been much expected for several years and it's good to see it finally happen. A rematch when both have had further development is naturally anticipated here.

This is very much the action issue with limited development of subplots beyond showing that the Lizard is returning for a future issue and a surge of demons coming into New York to make things even worse. Presumably this is a deliberate structuring to put the main battle in the series with the future Image artist drawing a lot of splash artwork and leave the more character and plot focused developments to the titles with more traditional artists. As a result the main attraction is the long awaited battle and the art doesn't disappoint.

Web of Spider-Man 47 - Inferno

The series finds a writer who will last a good while.

Web of Spider-Man #47

Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: Alex Saviuk
Inker: Keith Williams
Letters: R. Parker
Color: J. Cohen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Whilst New York continues to experience random demonic madness and Peter and Mary Jane briefly stay with Aunt May, placing Kristy with her for a time, the Hobgoblin is searching for something first at the ruins of the Osborn chemical factory and then later at Harry Osborn's home out just outside the city. Peter is visiting Harry to find him obsessed with finding something when the Hobgoblin attacks demanding Harry give him some unspecified formula. Peter becomes Spider-Man and fights back but the Hobgoblin is only sent away when Harry claims the formula can be found in the safe at his factory. The whole situation is contributing to Harry's anxiety as he realises the face in the mirror was his own.

Web of Spider-Man had long been the runt of the litter. Launched back in 1984 as a replacement for Marvel Team-Up (at a time when team-up books where generally fading away; reportedly this was because it was one of the concepts that did not transfer well from the newsstands to the direct market) it soon got into a creative mess. A glance at the credits would suggest that a new Spider-Man editor ditched the initial creative team of Louise Simonson and Greg LaRocque (carried over from Marvel Team-Up) too rapidly then struggled to find not only replacements but also a purpose for the book. There was a brief period when it focused on Peter Parker going out of New York with reporter Joy Mercado on assignments for Jonah's magazine but that ended after a terrible story involving the Troubles in Northern Ireland with David Michelinie and Marc Silvestri hurriedly moved on and the series then drifted into an almost permanent fill-in without even making a virtue of being a showcase book. The presence of Spider-Man's name in the title kept it as one of the top sellers but something had to give. By this time the series had finally found a lasting penciller with Alex Saviuk having reached nearly a year (albeit with the odd issue skipped for other projects) and he would go on to chalk up nearly seven years in total on the book but no writer had done more than seven issues in a row. Until now.

At first glance it appears that this and the next issue were simply assigned to a regular writer on one of the other Spider-Man books simply to make it easier to co-ordinate the crossover. But after one further issue by a passing writer Conway would stay around for nearly two years and together with Saviuk the title would finally get some stability. Perhaps some warning siren should have sounded that only two lasting Spider-Man writers could be found at any given time and maybe there should have been a reassessment of the need to have three separate Spider-Man titles on the market although it probably wasn't commercially viable at the time to simply cancel one and permanently double the frequency of another. But for now big things were finally happening in the title.

This is the second Hobgoblin and already signs of problems with the character are apparent. How the original Hobgoblin's identity was revealed and the situation that led to the character being killed off and replaced by Jason Macendale (previously Jack O'Lantern) has been discussed in many places as a sign of the general editorial mess in an earlier period of the title. It's not worth going into detail here save for noting that one consequence was that one of Spider-Man's major foes was now a character generally treated as a loser whose incompetence often led to his downfall. Here it's notable that he charges in on the attack and doesn't stop to specify just what he is searching for. A more rational approach would have been to capture Liz and little Normie Osborn as hostages then calmly present his demands to Harry. This is basically what the original Hobgoblin had done although by that stage the only secrets of the original Green Goblin to be discovered was a notebook with a duplicate list of hideouts already raided. But this Hobgoblin was never written as being on the same level as the original. Instead he was all too often a mindless thug to hit first, think later and was sometimes used to demonstrate other foes' strength such as when Tombstone had thrown him out of the Kingpin's window in one of his earliest appearances. Although he presents a clear danger to civilians such as the Osborns and does make good use of some new weapons such as a tear gas sprayer, one way or another something needed to be done about the legacy of the Green Goblin to have a more dangerous goblin foe.

The Hobgoblin's not the only one who doesn't think things through too carefully. Peter is very concerned that Harry may come to remember his identity as Spider-Man yet he changes into costume to deal with the Hobgoblin all too quickly and makes no attempt to protect his identity such as suggesting he's been following the goblin or declaring that he's got Peter to safety. At the end he swings away to go to Manhattan with no indication that Peter would make a further appearance. It may be a convention of the genre that those around the hero don't notice such things very often but this is in a storyline when Peter is especially concerned about keeping his secret.

This issue serves to reintroduce the Hobgoblin and set him up as a threat to Harry Osborn but also demonstrates well how something needed to be done to get past the mess that had been left by replacing the character in the first place. It also shows a Spider-Man surprisingly casual about his secret identity. This may have been a rush assignment given the wider problems on the book but it isn't the best start for a permanent writer.

Spectacular Spider-Man 146 - Inferno

Harry Osborn is attacked by his factory pipes and a face in the mirror.

Spectacular Spider-Man #146

Script: Gerry Conway
Art: Sal Buscema
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Spider-Man deals with a ventilation pipe that's come to life then heads home where Peter and Mary Jane are continuing to handle the problems of having MJ's young cousin Kristy living with them. Joe "Robbie" Robertson has decided to plead guilty to charges of not speaking out about a murder twenty years ago. A lot of mob lieutenants are found slaughtered in a sign someone is gunning for the Kingpin. J. Jonah Jameson is not happy with his acting editor-in-chief's choice of headline for the Daily Bugle. Glory Grant literally bumps into a man who sweeps her off her feet. Harry Osborn has moved his family back to his old home on Long Island but is suffering nightmares from a face in the mirror. Outside the Hobgoblin is flying around. He meets Peter at his New York factory when suddenly the pipes come to life and attack him. And it seems his memories of the past are returning.

This is an issue mainly advancing subplots. It had been less than a year since Gerry Conway had returned to the title and already a huge number of plot lines are in motion. Some will come to the fore in Inferno but others would run on afterwards. One that particularly stands out is Robbie's impending trial. Earlier issues had revealed how in his youth he had become aware of Tombstone's activities but pulled a story due to intimidation. Later he witnessed Tombstone murdering a man but did not report it at the time. When Tombstone re-emerged Robbie collected and supplied evidence of his crimes to get him sent down but found himself charged with "accessory to murder after the fact" or "misprision of felony" over his failure to report the murder twenty years earlier. There's something that doesn't sit right about the way a witness is prosecuted for being intimidated even if he has gone on to reach a highly respectable position in society. Robbie's acceptance of the situation and decision to plead guilty just makes it more awkward.

Other plots are more simmering and show Conway has a good grasp on the supporting cast. Together with Sal Buscema's artwork, which I much prefer to Todd McFarlane's over on Amazing Spider-Man, this gives this title quite a traditional feel that's also using the current situation to the advantage. Getting married usually doesn't bring just a spouse but also in-laws and so it's good to see Peter having to deal with the situation of one of Mary Jane's relatives staying with all the complications of having to conceal his identity at home and also with the problems she brings with her. There are also some fun moments, especially when Jonah comes onto the Bugle's editorial floor to berate acting editor-in-chief Kate Cushing about the headline and shows her how it should be done.

But the main focus in this issue and indeed of the Spider-Man Inferno issues as a whole involves Harry Osborn and the Hobgoblin. Harry has come to terms with his father having been the Green Goblin but long suppressed the memory of having taken on the role himself despite the original Hobgoblin having twice come after him. Now though his dreams are bringing memories back to the surface and it's not helped by the way his factory comes to life to attack him. The shadow of his dead father is looming again and the issue ends with him seeing the Green Goblin's face in the mirror.

This is very much a calm before the storm issue, building up the characters and especially re-establishing the backstory to Harry Osborn and the Green Goblin. It's good to see the series in such strong hands with a fantastic cliffhanger.

Fantastic Four 323 - Inferno

Kang travels into the Inferno of New York as part of his plan to steal a weapon buried in California.

Fantastic Four #323

Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Inks: Romeo Tanghal
Letters: Ghastly J. Workman
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Fantastic Four or rather Three encounter Mantis as she searches for help to find her child which they offer once they have ascertained the situation in New York can be handled. Meanwhile Kang the Conqueror is seeking a powerful weapon created by a Celestial buried in California and plans to use Mantis's power as the Celestial Madonna to secure it. However she has lost this power and so he has to try other ways with the Three pursuing him to California and attacking as the Human Torch's power gets out of control.

Why isn't Kang a Fantastic Four villain? He made his debut in the series under the identity of the time travelling Pharaoh Rama-Tut. It was originally suggested that he was a descendent of Doctor Doom or even perhaps a future incarnation of Doom himself. Later it was revealed that he was from a parallel timeline that had been influenced by the intervention of Nathaniel Richards, Reed's father, who became an alternative candidate for the ancestor with Kang's real name revealed to be Nathaniel Richards. But instead the character got used in Avengers where he got his best known name and appearance and rarely ventured outside it. Prior to this issue his sole encounters with the Fantastic Four have been restricted to a cameo in an annual when just about every villain in the fledgling Marvel universe tried to attack Reed and Sue's wedding or a single story in the Human Torch/Thing strip in Strange Tales. Otherwise he had mainly been in Avengers but did sometimes turn up in other series. It's odd as a time travelling dictator who is the descendent of either the Four's archenemy or else of the (usual) leader's father would surely be a natural foe to turn to. But instead he has rarely come to these pages and here the attraction is not so much the team (who currently lack any of the Richards clan) but rather his pursuit of Mantis and Steve Englehart's continued attempts to tell her story.

(Later on in the mid 1990s the Fantastic Four did indeed get another foe who is a time travelling future dictator descended from the family. But I seem to be about the only reader who liked Hyperstorm. And he's also connected to another prominent Marvel family who are not known to have encountered him yet.)

As discussed previously on Fantastic Four Annual #21 (and more briefly on Silver Surfer Annual #1 and West Coast Avengers Annual #3) this was a period of prolonged behind the scenes struggle between Steve Englehart and his editors on all three titles with disagreement over the direction they should go in and the use of particular characters such as Mantis. Consequently after leaving West Coast Avengers he transferred his plans to Fantastic Four hence the use of traditional Avengers villains both last issue and this one. It would appear that Englehart had also planned a semi-crossover with Avengers as Kang is here seeking the same goal as Nebula over in the Fall of the Avengers storyline and working sneakily to avoid the Council of Cross-Time Kangs. The result of all this is that the Three are all too clearly wandering through someone's else's storyline and despite the "Inferno continues" triangle on the cover this issue is only very tangentially related to the crossover with a minor encounter with living parking meters and Kang commenting on how he can use the dimensional upheavals to slip in undetected by his counterparts being the only significant features. The Torch initially thinks his problems with controlling his flame power are down to the effects of Inferno but the problems continue even out on the west coast.

Combined with some poor art that seems to be a consequence of new inker Romeo Tanghal struggling with both the Thing and Ms Marvel the result is that this really doesn't feel like an issue of Fantastic Four or an Inferno crossover. Instead it is hard to disguise that it is supposed to be a West Coast Avengers storyline with even the California location retained. Also if editorial was closing in on Mantis then it would have helped to accelerate the telling of her story but instead things continue to drag out with Kang's intervention feeling more of a distraction than an advancement of the plot. This issue is forgettable.

Daredevil 262 - Inferno

Daredevil is molested by a vacuum cleaner whilst the Black Widow fights a lift.

Daredevil #262

Writer: Ann Nocenti
Penciler: John Romita Jr
Inker: Al Williamson
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Max Scheele
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Daredevil is missing, lying near death after a battle with Typhoid Mary. A vacuum cleaner comes to life and starts attacking his body. Inside his head a dream of his mentor Stick berates him to fight back and live. Meanwhile Karen, the Black Widow, and two of the skateboarding kids' gang the Fatboys, Butch and Darla, search New York amidst inanimate objects coming to life and attacking them. They cannot get police help and so return to the Free Law Clinic which has been smashed up. It soon becomes clear more objects have come to life with a lift trying to consume Butch and Darla until the Black Widow frees them. Elsewhere Typhoid Mary struggles with her different personas. Daredevil comes too and smashes the vacuum cleaner only to realise Typhoid Mary has returned.

This is a series that's in the middle of an ongoing big storyline running headlong into a wider crossover event and it can sometimes be hard to reconcile the needs of the two. The introduction of Typhoid Mary was one of the biggest developments in Ann Nocenti's run and a bold move was made to not have Daredevil recover straight after a battle in issue #260. Instead our hero has been lying unconscious for two issues with the focus being on the search for him.

Inferno brings some weirdness into the scenario with the result that this issue is best known for the vacuum cleaner. Oddly the machine starts looking normal but seems to change into a vaguely scorpion like creature. As it changes it's also drawn and coloured as though it's Warlock from New Mutants (though the cover colours it differently). But it's actually only fairly minor to the sequence which is really about Daredevil finding the inner strength to recover as an image of Stick berates him and for this any animal or passing mugger could have performed the same role. The main signs of the demons come as the others venture though the city with sone gargoyles dropping down on them, subway train doors suddenly closing on them, the equipment in the law clinic going wild and then finally the lift tries to consume the two children. It's all fairly low key stuff but Daredevil is usually a street level series that has often struggled to accommodate some of the wilder elements of the wider Marvel universe.

There are some good character moments for all of Daredevil, Typhoid Mary and Karen as each in their way confronts elements of their past and overcomes them. Mary does so in conversation with herself, Daredevil through a dream struggle and Karen through a real life encounter with prostitutes she used to work alongside.

As an advert for Daredevil at this time this is a rather awkward issue being midway through its own developments and so not giving visiting readers from the crossover the greatest sense of what the book is like. As an issue of its own series it's a stronger character piece with typically good art from John Romita Jr that manages to take the odd situation all around and work it well into the narrative flow.

Fantastic Four 322 - Inferno

A battle breaks out between two fundamental forces.

Fantastic Four #322

Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Finishes: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Workman
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Chief: Tom DeFalco

Graviton is flying the chunk of Earth that had been his base back towards the planet as he reflects on how he survived an encounter with the West Coast Avengers. In New York the remaining three members of the Fantastic Four - the Thing (Ben Grimm), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm) and Ms Marvel (Sharon Ventura) - tackle mailboxes, bins and bikes that have all come to life. A rogue Watcher observes from high up in the Empire State Building as Graviton arrives in the city, encounters the demons and reflects on how his power could prevent the merger of two separate dimensions. But before he can decide to do it or not Ben and Sharon attack with Johnny soon joining. Graviton quickly overcomes them and is crushing them with his power when the Torch tries again and challenges the fundamental force of gravity with the equally fundamental force of fire using temperature changes to keep Graviton off balance until Ben knocks him out. The observing Watcher notes how Ben did what he thought was right but stopped Graviton from dealing with the wider threat. Meanwhile Johnny finds it a little harder to turn off his flame.

This issue is an interesting staging post. As has been discussed in some of the other reviews and elsewhere on the web it was around this time that Steve Englehart had big disputes with his editors that resulted in him leaving West Coast Avengers, Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer one by one, and also trying to transfer key plots and ideas from one title to another. Here this only manifests with the use of Graviton, a hitherto Avengers foe who was seemingly being built up to be one of the main recurring enemies for the West Coast team, with the bigger transfer coming in the next issue. What's a more notable sign of editorial disputes at this stage is that the Fantastic Four have been numerically inaccurate for several issues now since the departure of Crystal in the annual and no fourth member has yet come forward.

Also notable is the way that Inferno is only used as a small backdrop at this stage with a few demons and animated objects running around and Graviton's consideration of trying to stop the dimensions merging is more theoretical than a driving plot point. Instead this is a character and action issue as the Three try to take down Graviton upon seeing him and considering their current situation. There's a scene where Sharon and Ben reflect on how her appearance is changing from leathery skin to a rockier form much as Ben's did in the past. Although this follows the pattern with the Thing it must also have been a relief for the artists to make Sharon a little easier to draw - especially as Ben's current "pineapple" look must have been a nightmare and probably wasn't designed or agreed with long-term use in mind. Ben tells Sharon that there may be a way for her to change back as there was once for him but a mental block was in the way. However although it's not explicitly said it seems Sharon has come to terms with her current form making Ben's comments feel crass.

This was Joe Sinnott's final issue of the series. His first was as early as #5 and he'd been the series's regular inker for most of the period since #44 bar the John Byrne years (when Byrne did his own inking). He would switch to Thor for a few years before retiring (although he continued to do the Spider-Man newspaper strip until it ended in 2019) so it's a pity that he left on such a flat issue that doesn't feature the traditional line-up when there was editorial pressure to go back to it. This is unfortunately just an example of how crossovers often mandate an excessive number of issues with some such as these forgettable.

Amazing Spider-Man 311 - Inferno

Spider-Man must deal with the consequences of the death of a would-be hero.

Amazing Spider-Man #311

Writer: David Michelinie
Artist: Todd McFarlane
Letters: Rick Parker
Color: Bob Sharen & Evelyn Stein
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Outside New York's main library two lion statues come to life and Spider-Man tackles them. Swinging down an alley he rescues a couple from a mugging when a wall suddenly turns into a giant and attacks him. One of the couple tries to help by hitting the giant's ankle and gets crushed into the ground. Spider-Man destroys the giant by throwing a car through it but the man's death eats away at him and over the next day Peter is permanently distracted. Then at a bar he steps in to help subdue a bully and Mary Jane explains that like the man in the alley Peter stepped in to help regardless because that's who he is and the man died of his own choice. Peter comes to accept the situation and as Spider-Man he goes to retrieve his camera from the alley - only to discover there's no sign of the fight as if it was all an illusion. After getting information from the mugger he locates and overpowers the true cause - Mysterio.

Up to this point the Spider-Man titles had generally avoided crossovers especially those that required the creative teams to all work together. Kraven's Last Hunt and Mad Dog Ward were each done by a single creative team and run over all three titles instead of in just one. Secret Wars II crossovers had dipped in and out of the three series but never involving more than two at any given point. The crossovers with Inferno were thus the first time all three books would come together to tell a linked story though at this stage the only hint is on the final page as Harry Osborn deals with dreams about a goblin not realising another is watching his house. It was quite a significant step forwards though it would take several years before all then four titles would regularly crossover for years on end. Reportedly it was also unpopular with some readers at the time who either only subscribed to one of the series or who didn't have all three easily distributed in their neck of the woods which in part explains why it remained a rare thing. But it makes sense to tie the series together when taking part in a bigger crossover rather than giving three separate storylines within one big event.

This first issue is surprisingly tame though and rather working through the obvious. In a scenario where everyday objects are suddenly coming to life and attacking people there's an obvious suspect within the Spider-Man rogues' gallery. So it makes sense to get him out of the way. This is a pretty straightforward Mysterio story in which he fakes a situation to make Spider-Man doubt himself with a showdown on the set of a science fiction movie ("Star Fight IV: The Return of the Sequel") with some special effects. It's perhaps over simple with the scenes with Mysterio over focused on splashy art at the expense of plot, a sign of what would come to be called the Image style growing in prominence at the time. As a result this is a rather dull start to the Spider-Man part of the crossover.

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.

Uncanny X-Men 239 - Inferno

Mr Sinister reflects on the X-Men and what his plans might have come to.

Uncanny X-Men #239

Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Dan Green
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Bouncer: Tom DeFalco

In New York the Empire State Building is growing in size and one of its lifts consumes a family of tourists. Meanwhile Mr Sinister reflects on the X-Men and how he expected to one day confront them but now they are (presumed) dead. After calming down Malice who is unhappy with being permanently in the body of Polaris (Lorna Dane) Mr Sinister reflects on several of the X-Men individuality as, unbeknownst to him, they enjoy some relaxation time in Australia. Dazzler goes singing in a pub. Havok is coming to terms with the violent streak he has adopted including killed some of the Brood. Storm discovers that Jean Grey is alive and confronts Wolverine about his not telling her. Psylocke, Colossus and Rogue are training exercising with the latter temporarily taken over by Carol Danvers's psyche. And Madelyne is intriguing. She shows the ability to read Havok's thoughts and seduces him. Elsewhere Mr Sinister comments on how he had great plans for her then turns his attention to her son, Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. Madelyne and N'astirh communicate further.

This is a classic character piece between events that also serves to really introduce Mr Sinister after only one previous appearance. The character has been given a modified colour scheme with the green removed and instead his armour is now bluey-purple with red trimmings that will remain his default look for many years give or take some variation in just how blue or purple. It is a great improvement. His goals of replacing humans with mutants are straightforward but his plans remain a mystery since many of them were based around the X-Men. Otherwise he shows his power in calmly dealing with an angry Malice before continuing to reflect, not realising N'astirh is also watching.

With the X-Men relaxing one of the two big moments involves Storm discovering that Jean Grey is alive. This brings up yet another problem from the initial X-Factor set-up. Despite that title now having been around for three years the two teams have never actually met. They missed each other in the tunnels in the Mutant Massacre and then had separate contributions to both the Fall of the Mutants and the Evolutionary War. But X-Factor have not been some hidden organisation and during their mutant busters cover days their alternative disguises as the X-Terminators did not evade coverage either. It is astonishing that the X-Men have not previously seen any footage and realised who she is.

The main focus in Australia is on Madelyne as she seduces her brother-in-law, demonstrates telepathy, briefly has a flaming bird effect around her and communicates with N'astirh to arrange revenge on the Marauders and find her son. Successive issues have built up Madelyne towards this moment and there's a real sense of tragedy to her descent that makes her actions more credible.

This issue is a classic prologue character re-establishing piece and it does it well along with reintroducing Mr Sinister and making him seem a credible threat. Now the pieces are all in place for the conflagration ahead.