A.X.E.: Judgment Day--Week 4
A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants #1
Written by Kieron Gillen
Drawn by Guiu Vilanova
Colored by Dijjo Lima
Lettered by Travis Lanham
A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants #1 is, deceptively, not at all about mutants--the various X-Men only appear in a few scattered panels. What it actually is is a story spotlighting the main cast of Gillen's Eternals run (Ikaris, Sersi, Sprite, Thena, Phastos, Kingo, Ajak, Makkari, and the Forgotten One) and what they're up to during and immediately after Judgment Day #2. It's definitely a side story, not nearly as weighty as Gillen's prior issues of the event, but it's still very impactful if you, like me, are a fan of what Gillen's been doing over in Eternals.
The miniseries' title comes from Druig's proclamation on the first page--it's a declaration of war, which the heroic Eternals cast spends the issue reacting to. The cast is in fine form--the Machine is quirky, Sersi is snarky, etc.--as Team Sersi goes on a series of sidequests to stop Druig's anti-mutant inquisition. Their séance of the ghosts of Lemuria, genocided by the Celestials in the Second Host, which was previously shown in a panel during a montage of Judgment Day #2, is shown here in full, and it's a fascinating setpiece. The Lemurian dead aren't ghosts, the Machine says, but sort of psychic imprints of these peoples' pain and anguish left behind when their God reduced them to ash. It's a very literal take on the themes of cultural memory Gillen's being working through throughout his Eternals run, infused with his brand of charmingly weird sci-fi.
The real thematic meat of the issue for me, though, comes from the second sidequest in the issue's back half: Ikaris and co. teaming up with the Forgotten to cut a path through the Eternals' defenses for the mutants and disrupt the Uni-Mind attack on the Quiet Council. The attack coincides with the activation of the Progenitor shown at the end of Judgment Day #2 and shows that cracks are beginning to form in Druig's façade of leadership--with doubt in his skills kicking in, it seems like a matter of time before Uranos is freed to take over. More importantly, the fight's aftermath sees Ikaris and the Forgotten One, portrayed by Gillen as basically being the Eternals' equivalent of the Punisher, come to a consensus on what must be done: Death to the Eternals.
It's not fully clear as of yet how we're meant to read Ikaris' "Death to the Eternals" proclamation. Given what a himbo Ikaris has been under Gillen's pen, it stands to reason that his plan is to find a way to disable the Eternals' resurrection system, thereby rendering the Eternals mortal and minimizing human deaths. If that is the case, it's a fascinating culmination of Ikaris' development in Gillen's run thus far--the Machine usually refers to him as "the Arrow" in reference to his directness and lack of complexity, but the development here changes the meaning. He is now poised to be an arrow to the heart of his own people, driven just as much by despair as by justice.
A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants #1 is just fine as far as tie-ins go. It's not incredibly relevant to the main event, but as a chapter in Kieron Gillen's larger Eternals narrative, it's a very promising bit of set-up. Guiu Vilanova's art is very meat-and-potatoes, very good at rendering faces but very stiff and samey otherwise, but it gets the job done.
X-Force #30
"The Hunt for X Part 1: Dawn of the Hunt"
Written by Benjamin Percy
Drawn by Robert Gill
Colored by GURU-eFX
Lettered by Joe Caramagna
X-Force #30 is one of those "not actually a tie-in" tie-in issues of an event. While there's a light thematic connection in its discussion of humanity's response to learning about the mutant resurrection protocols, the bulk of the issue is mostly a demo of X-Force's two newest members, Deadpool and Omega Red, and this arc of the series' main villain, Spider-Man rogue Kraven the Hunter. In fact, the issue actually seems to take place before Judgment Day proper, instead apparently set in the aftermath of this year's Hellfire Gala one-shot.
Make no mistake, this is a fun issue. Beast is in top form as a massive douchebag--he compares humans being mad about the resurrection protocols to a peasant revolt--and the dysfunctional dynamic between Deadpool and Omega Red is entertaining enough. It's similar to previous buddy cop pairings between Deadpool and Cable and Deadpool and Wolverine, but taken to its most extreme--Omega Red is essentially a serial killer with debilitating trauma who has absolutely no time for Deadpool's usual schtick and just kills him whenever he gets too annoying. Robert Gill's art has taken a major step up from his first issues on this book, and he's especially good at little visual gags and at rendering large empty spaces like the Arctic tundra the issue opens in. It's nice. It's fun.
But it's just... Not really a Judgment Day issue. Even if future issues do move the timeline up to coincide with the event itself, Percy's baffling choice to have Kraven as the arc's villain makes it hard to see how "The Hunt for X" will be in any way relevant to the goings-on of the event. With the themes of moral decay X-Force comics always deal with, it would've been really interesting to see this team get judged for their actions by the Progenitor, but that isn't what we got.
X-Men #13
"Resurrection Blues"
Written by Gerry Duggan
Drawn by C. F. Villa
Colored by Matt Milla
Lettered by Clayton Cowles
This issue of X-Men finds writer Gerry Duggan and artist C.F. Villa taking the new team elected at the 2022 Hellfire Gala out for its first mission, fending off the Hex attacking Krakoa and assaulting the Eternals' armory following Ikaris' sabotage in Death to the Mutants #1. The new team (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Magik, Forge, Iceman, Firestar, and Havok) certainly undergo a trial by fire in sharp contrast to the 2021 lineup. It's a refreshing change of pace, keeping the sense of fun that's been endemic of Duggan's X-Men while subtly setting up the new team as more dynamic and dysfunctional than last year's.
As with all of Gerry Duggan's comics, the character interactions and dialogue are where this issue really shines writing-wise. Seeing Cyclops and Jean as a stable couple remains a novelty of the Krakoa Era--a far cry from the marital strife and angst that defined them for so long before this period of stories--and Synch, the other holdover from the previous lineup, is still charming as a team player. I'm especially intrigued by all of the ticking time bombs among the cast Duggan's already set up: we know from the Hellfire Gala issue that Firestar is spying on the X-Men for the Avengers and that Forge has some kind of secret mission, and the data page at the end of this issue further establishes that Firestar's family has an (understandable) grudge against Emma Frost. Throw in Havok's flippant attitude in this issue, likely a holdover from his time with the Hellions, and the team is a powder keg ready to blow.
Moreover, this issue does what this volume of X-Men has always done very well: giving ample opportunities for the book's artists to flex. C.F. Villa, now one of the series' main artists alongside Joshua Cassara, is fresh off a charming run on Black Cat, and he combines his gift for expressive characters established in that run with big, widescreen capital-S Superhero action. I especially enjoy his sense of scale in this issue--Iceman and the Hex tower over the other characters, but all of them still feel like characters that exist within the world. It's a new style for the book that keeps the dynamic, fluid action beats that worked under Pepe Larraz but puts a new coat of paint on them--literally, in the case of Matt Milla's vibrant colors.
"Resurrection Blues" is about as exciting as a superhero comic can be, in a "turn your brain off" kind of way. It's not the deepest thing in the world, but it doesn't really have to be.
Other observations:
- Between these three issues, this week was a good week for comedic beats. The Machine mentioning Fortnite, Deadpool pulling a whoopie cushion gag on Omega Red, and the Elvis impersonator who wants Krakoa to resurrect the King, these issues were pretty funny.
- Pour one out for previous X-Men artist Pepe Larraz, easily THE best artist at Marvel right now, who has left that book (hopefully temporarily) to work on an Image book with Mark fuckin' Millar. It's the equivalent of a pro sports player quitting a team to join little league. Here's hoping Millar pays well.
- I have my fingers crossed that Duggan does some serious dramatic work with Forge during X-Men. He's been very fun as comic relief over in X-Force, but I miss what a complicated, fascinating character he was under other writers like Chris Claremont.
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