Advance Review: X-Men Hellfire Gala #1

For the longest time the X-books seems to have been circling the same problems and questions, issues after issue, series after series. I was hoping that the recent interview of Cyclops, where he gave up the big resurrection secret to Ben Urich, would change things up. Still, you know what they say; the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Never one to let a party, or a good pair of thigh high boots it seems, go to waste, Emma Frost and the merry mutants of Krakoa host their second Hellfire Gala. This is a great time to gauge the impact their “news” has had on the heroic and villainous cast of the Marvel Universe. of course, there is something sinister about proceedings and not everything is as it seems.

Gerry Duggan writing fits the pitch idea for this book; constant talking, not a lot of action. Does it it really need to be super-sized. The gala allows a high number of guest stars (more on that later), and Duggan tries had to show that there may be further impacts in here that will lead into other books. This then is probably the books main second downfall, after its narrative above everything else style inherited from Jonathan Hickman. Does Marvel really think that Spider-Man readers are buying Spider-Man books? Can X-Men readers afford to buy another book with the pantheon of X-titles on the rack? I did enjoy the Scott and Emma scenes; I m thoroughly team Scott/Emma. Duggan continues to demonstrate the unorthodox relationship arrangements the merry mutants live by, or maybe it is just a couple of them.

The art for the book is mish-mash affair from Kris Anka, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli and C.F . Villa, the latter of which I really enjoyed on Black Cat, and despite the various styles on show, it seems that the overall aim form the artistic point of view was to make Emma look super hot! Mission accomplished! The thing is, with so many different artists on the book, characters faces tend to morph. I ahd no idea that was Steve on the bike until I saw the shield or at the gaming table ’till someone said his name! Thanks to the Mighty Marvel PR team( and Twitter) we knew that there was a slew of outfits for the gala. Some look great, Emma, Jean Grey and Doctor Doom are prime examples. Others such as Cyclops (how can such a dorky look attract Jean and Emma?) and the god awful Spider-Man (how did they manage to send him a new suit?) failed the aesthetic test. With many artists comes many colorists as Rain Beredo, Frank Martin, Matt Milla and Matthew Wilson all of whom try to maintain the dark first styling of the various X-books. Thankfully, VC’s Cory Petit is on hand to consistently deliver the X-font that we have come to love and expect.

There is a point to this book, a new team from the cast of thousands will be selected. With so many crossovers and ties that bind is there really any point of just one team? If you are a fan of the X-book then this is a must buy, due the number of different storylines that are entwined. For everyone else, it is just more of the same which will either be a good thing or a bad thing depending no how you view the Hickman-verse of X!

Writing – 3 Stars

Art – 3 Stars

Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 3 Stars

Written by; Gerry Duggan
Art by; Kris Anka, Russell Dauterman, Matteo Lolli & C.F . Villa
Colors by; Rain Beredo, Frank Martin, Matt Milla & Matthew Wilson
Letters by; VC’s Cory Petit
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network