Writers: Jeff Lemire & Charles Soule
Pencils: Leinil Francis Yu
Inks: Leinil Francis Yu & Gerry Alanguuilan
Colors: David Curiel
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
We have finally reached the end of the contrived conflict between Marvels Mutants and Inhumans as Inhumans v. X-Men (IVX) #6 reached the shelves this week. What began so long ago with the Death of X (DOX) and the unfortunate but expected death of revolutionary Cyclops at the apparent hand of the former Inhuman King Black Bolt. In reality Cyclops died from Terrigen poisoning at the end of DOX #1 and the entire world and readers were misled for the rest of that series. Then in IVX#0 it was revealed that the saturation levels of Terrigen Mist in the atmosphere and soil will be catastrophic to the Mutant race and they have a limited window to save themselves, by destroying the Terrigen clouds, thus ending the entire religious aspect of metamorphosis for the Inhuman race. So of course a war must occur and that brings us to IVX #6.
IVX #6 is a battle to end all battles as the culmination of the last few issues brought us to this moment. The core characters of both books are on hand and once again rather then talk they throw down, which is understandable since Magneto is chucking a Blackbird at the royal family of the Inhumans and Emma Frost has been orchestrating the X-Men to war since IVX #0. As frustrating as this mini-series has been it was nice to see these characters flex their muscles and throw down. The tides of war shift back and forth between both groups and everyone gets their time to shine, even Lockjaw, who along with Karnak finds a flaw in Emma Frost and saves Black Bolt, who has been muted by the Mutants in a previous issue. But just before things get completely out of control the young NuHumans arrive and Medusa, understandably, listens to them and the ramifications the Terrigen is doing to the Mutant race and why they are so desperate. It is of course Moon Girl who explains the science behind what they need to do and Medusa, being the monarch to her people makes a decision only a monarch can make and ends the conflict by destroying the Terrigen, ending Inhuman metamorphosis (until Marvel figures out how to bring it back).
This would have been a satisfying conclusion but I suppose it’s to simple and Emma Frost hasn’t had her revenge. IVX #6 returns Emma to the White Queen villainess that has been absent for some time as she brings forth Inhuman hunting Sentinels and refuses to accept the détente established by the destruction of the Terrigen Mist by Medusa. This leads to an ad hoc alliance between the two races as the X-Men rally to protect the Inhumans from a foe all to familiar to them. The Combined forces of the X-Men and Inhumans is more then enough to end Emma’s plot but Havok, in a nod to his brother, rescues Emma and the two disappear no doubt to be a foil in the X-men’s side. By issues end neither team is what they were and obviously with Prime issues for both franchises being released there will be a new status quo going forward.
I was excited when DOX was released and even wrote a glowing review of DOX #1 of what I thought was going to come. As we reach the end I have dropped every X-Universe and Inhuman book from my pull list and have absolutely no desire to read ResurrXion. This is a sad day as I have been reading X-Men consistently since the early ’80s when I was barely able to read but I loved the Byrne artwork. But the course the franchise has taken, the unsatisfying conclusion to DOX, and then the un-compelling IVX I just can’t justify spending my money on these books when there are so many better comics on the market. Plus when you put Charles Soule, a stellar writer, and Jeff Lemire, who is arguably the greatest writer in the medium right now together these conjoined events should have been spectacular, not just lackluster. Not even the addition of Leinil Francis Yu on art, whose style is always enjoyable with its unique layouts yet classic feel as Yu has been an A list artist since the ‘90s, could not save this issue nor this event as a whole.
Verdict: Pass. Unfortunately even this A list collection of talent couldn’t save this mini-series. Jeff Lemire and Charles Soule are excellent writers, just not here. This event was orchestrated for the next status quo of both franchises and it just didn’t work.I
