In which there is no longer life on Mars, the Eternals learn the wrong lesson from Alan Moore’s Glycon worship, and the Avengers prepare to buy a liquor store to deal with this shitshow. A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1 is written by Kieron Gillen, drawn by Valerio Schiti, colored by Marte Gracia, and lettered by Clayton Cowles.

Sean: Hello and welcome to ComicsXF’s coverage of A-X-E: Judgement Day! I’m Sean Dillon, and joining me on this inaugural issue is Karen Charm! Say hello, Karen.

Karen: Hi there, Sean. Here we are, the moment we’ve all been waiting for – the main Event. I think I can truly say that this is the first major Marvel Summer Event that I am fully invested in since childhood. As some readers may know, I’ve been excitedly covering Eternals for this very site for a while, and I am a self-professed “X-Men Fan.” As battle lines are drawn up, dare I ask where your sympathies and affiliations lie?

Sean: Well, I’m here purely as a Kieron Gillen fan who follows him wherever the muse leads him. Sometimes, that means learning the bleak history of Superheroes as the bomb, other times its a pop epic about being a young adult whose mom is an interdimensional demon out to eat your boyfriend, and sometimes it’s as simple as being fabulous and blowing up the moon. In this case, it’s somewhere in-between a bunch of eugenicists out to keep the world the same way by killing all the mutants, a civil rights metaphor that hasn’t worked for the majority of its existence, and the straights. So I’m basically rooting for letting God sort this out.

Karen: I think it’s safe to assume *a* God will be the final Judge when all’s said and done. We’ve got a lot of event between that point and us, so let’s get right into it.

Sexy Fun Times With Tony Stark

Karen: The comic begins with our usual narra… oh wait, the color of the text is different and the tone is way more ominous. 

Sean: Yes, where the narrator for the Eternals books is a whimsical, somewhat high sentient Earth, here we have something… different. The being in question is ultimately (seemingly) revealed at the end, but for now, there’s a degree of unknowability to… Ok, as a JM DeMatteis fan, I default to hir/hir pronouns for God, but do you have any preferred pronouns when talking about God?

Karen: I guess I don’t really – if memory serves Kirby used the masculine pronouns you’d expect for all the Celestials but I can’t think of gender being something that much applies to the Space Gods. This splash page here is our first entree to the tour de force that is Schiti and Gracia’s team up, a gorgeous shot of the humans of New York. I’m going to be pretty annoyed with them later in the issue, but here it looks nice. Setting the stakes of this whole thing. Also, as I implied above, Cowles continues to be such a great member of this team, his patented hexagonal narration boxes with just the subtle change of blue to this soft coral to clue us in to the new speaker.

The spectacular views continue after the dramatic title page (hat tip to Jay Bowen, if not also Cowles again), to a lunch date between Sersi and Tony Stark, in direct view of the X-Men’s Treehouse.

Sean: Where the opening splash was full of cosmic dread, this sequence is full of the down to earth banter you’d expect from modern superhero comics. It also goes out with the core idea at the heart of this event (as well as many, many events Marvel has done): Just who is the hero of this story?

One would assume, given they have top billing and aren’t the main participants of the conflict, that the Avengers would take this role. A middle ground between the two forces colliding against one another, the judges who will determine which side to be helped, maybe have some of them disagree with one another.

Instead, they kidnap Sersi and lock her up, establishing them as a third faction rather than a force of arbitration. Sure, the Eternals broke into their base last month, but there’s really no sign here that Sersi was going to warrant being suckerpunched by the Pheonix and tossed into space. At most, she was acting about as glib as Tony often does.

Karen: Yeah, not very heroic behavior here, Tony. Heads up: I don’t like Iron Man very much, but I will give credit to the creative team for using hum very well here. Gillen is capitalizing on his unlikeability, which does make the Avengers a good middle point in this Triangle of War. All that said, the snatch-and-grab looks sublime – Marte Gracia coloring fire is about as fire as you can get.

If we stay with the Avengers a moment, we follow them back to their base (which is a dead Celestial – that’s important for later), where Sersi is tied up and under interrogation. Where Tony may be having a tough time being heroic, there’s one Avenger who has no trouble. Mr. Steve Rogers is usually pretty good at keeping perspective in matters like this.

Sean: The introduction of Steve Rogers is gorgeous. Probably one of my favorite single images in the issue. Just the raw light beaming from behind him. But where the sun in the opening splash was blinding, almost painful to look at, here we have a softer light that demonstrates a contrast between him and Tony (who spends the majority of the interrogation in shadows).

But it’s also an image that contains a minor issue I have with the art. That being there’s a lot of lens flares. Every page has at least one or two of them. I get the stylistic impact of them, but it got to a point where the things started to get a bit overwhelming.

Karen: I think that’s a fair note. I can say that the effect maybe doesn’t work as well in this scene as elsewhere. A lot of this scene, and the first third of this book, is doing a lot of work catching people up to speed on stuff that’s happened Previously In Eternals. As someone who’s been reading all of that and the X-Men/Krakoa stuff very closely, I do sense the a change in the acoustics of Gillen’s exposition voice – this is clearly being written for a larger audience now and so the characters need to project a little bit more to hit the back of the room. The upside is we get some good digs from Sersi. The Avengers still are able to surprise her again with intel she’s not aware of, namely that Druig has already started his war. 

You know, she was similarly caught off guard when Thanos took over the Eternals, they really ought to be paying more attention to what’s going on in Olympia. But, as she points out, they’ve left Eternal society behind. The world may be all the worse for it…

Death to the Mutants… Again. Must be Tuesday

Sean: At the very least, things aren’t looking good for the Mutants. In many regards, this is one of the better eras for the Mutant Race. They have a land to call their own, they can’t die by the truckloads, and Scott Lobdell isn’t writing them. So naturally, this is the point where things go to crap.

But before we get to that point, might I say that I adore the scene with Scott and Jean. It’s only a page long, but it captures everything about the current status quo of the Mutant people for those in the background: they have an island, they’re immortal, and there’s controversy. Schiti’s art captures the impotent sorrow the heroic Mutants feel towards humanity while also acknowledging the honest truth: Just because they can live forever, doesn’t mean people aren’t still trying to kill them.

Karen: The way the story played out in X-Men, Cyclops’ conviction that the truth was the only option regarding the secret of resurrection had an infectious hopefulness. That’s why we read these comics, right, for the fantasy scenario of justice existing? Whatever optimism Scott still clings to is now harder to buy into. As someone invested in the promise of the Krakoan project, whether or not I always feel like the writers are exploring its possibilities in compelling ways, this issue is rough.

As Destiny says, war is coming, and she finally is able to discern from which direction. It’s a little funny because the Eternals have never been much of a threat or going concern before, but they really make the case for it here. 

Sean: In many regards, this is a continuation of one of Kieron Gillen’s core themes: the terror of a good story. Throughout his Eternals run, Gillen has taken time to look at various adventures from the Eternals’ past, most notably of a premonition regarding a boy being saved by Ikarus, only for it to be revealed to be his Grandson who is saved shortly after the boy died.

Here, we have the cruelty of believing in a utopian dream. Not that believing in a better world is a bad thing. Indeed, it’s the driving force to making that world come into being. But the fact of the matter is the whole world doesn’t nicely fit within narratives. Our dreams often consume us, can blind us to the bigger picture, and damn us towards villainy. Especially if our roles within them don’t fit what we wanted them to be.

Which brings us nicely to the lickspittle’s newest ally: Moria MacTaggert.

Karen: The handling of Moira’s heel-turn hasn’t been my favorite, but I concede Gillen has done a lot to win me over with just this one simple line. As she explains her current situation to Druig, she recalls Inferno with Destiny’s call for Mystique to burn Krakoa to the ground if the seer was not resurrected, adding “I should have made it clear the inverse was also true.” That’s pretty hard core. 

So this scene is interesting, because Druig and Moira seem to have first row seats to the Eternals’ multi-pronged siege of mutantdom. As they sit and eat bagels, we get – the Uni-Mind attacking the Quiet Council, Jack of Knives attempting to assassinate Egg and Hope of the Five, armored soldiers dropped onto Krakoa (I thought X-Force was supposed to be prepared for something like that…), and Uranos laying waste to the Great Ring of Arakko. It is a lot. It is beautifully depicted, and is quite brilliant in how dramatically it takes the mutants by surprise. I do wonder, though, if the narration muddies it just a bit. Moira and Druig talk over the action as if this is a thing that happened thirty minutes ago, but are reacting as things happen in real time on the ground.

It’s pretty breathtaking to consider how much damage was done when you consider the kind of fire power mutants have in their corner… We don’t see very many Arakki in this issue at all, and I can’t help but wonder how Isca the Unbeaten factors into all of this. Or the fact that The Five have an Omega-level reality warper and someone who can control time, neither of whom have gotten to do much but stand around in the past few years. I can imagine a writer not wanting to break their story with too many over-powered characters, but it does make me very curious to see what a creative solution for those obstacles might look like.

All that said, the psychic attack on the Quiet Council looks particularly stunning, as Druig acknowledges.

Sean: On the note of Arakko, I do agree with the general point that’s being made. While I do like the unseen nature of this Mutant Massacre, there’s a degree to which it would’ve been helped if we spent a little more time with the fourth rock from the sun. The obvious comparison to make (considering both involve the death of Magneto) is the massacre of Genosha in Grant Morrison’s New-X-meN.

In that moment, we’re given roughly the same amount of space as we are in A-X-E before things go all “They’re dead, Dave! Everybody’s dead, Dave! Everybody is dead!” But it feels slightly more impactful by virtue of the little details we see of Genoshan society. We see the art and architecture of the people. What the schools are like for the mutant children. A few of the final moments of its civilians.

Whereas A-X-E just has us return to dust. And yes, the moment is impactful. The raw horror of not seeing people who should be unstoppable, who are at their peak, reduced to mere dust is a genuinely horrific moment. But just that little bit more would’ve pushed things towards perfection.

Karen: Totally. It’s clear that Gillen has had to curtail the size of his cast (for this issue at least) to make the story manageable, and this issue overall is told more from the Eternals viewpoint. The characters we do focus on, however, are all used extremely well. Wolverine’s distress as everything falls apart around him, Uranos’ easy malevolence, even Stark’s self-centeredness. Everyone gets great moments. And hey, not all of Druig’s plans went through without a hitch, so there’s that.

If There is No God to Fight, HAVE THEM MAKE GOD!

Karen: Druig may be a lickspittle, a snake, but he’s convinced the humans of Earth that he’s their savior. The way those people cheered, their tears of joy at the news that the mutants have been put back in their place… just wow. Sickening.

Also sick, in a different way, are THE HEX! Oh, I’ve been waiting so long and it’s beyond my wildest dreams. Sean, what were your thoughts as you beheld the Hex?

Sean: Well, the reaction from humanity is very much akin to this:

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzse69b0qMo]

Which is to say good golly, that is one freaky ass apocalypse being. Just… holy shit, what a design. A mathematical monstrosity that looks like the grim reaper with a cold red eye gazing down upon humanity. While I had issue with the lens flare in this issue, here it works to tremendous success. In particular, I like the halo effect around the Hex’s eye. The way it makes the Eternal feel kin to the original, horrific image of Angels that Kieron and the King both frame the Eternals as. The vegetation growing out of the mechanical spurts is a nice touch as well.

Karen: I completely agree on the lighting effects – I think they work amazingly well here. This is probably my favorite page in the issue. Valerio did an unbelievable job designing these creatures (good news, Sean, it’s not just one – there are six of them!) but to see them drawn on the page, colored by Marte, it’s really everything I want in a blockbuster comic event. 

A little background, because I can’t resist I’m too excited – way back in Eternals #1, Gillen and Cowles had their data page of all the Eternals the Celestials created, and listed as “The Hex” were six redacted entries. There was no other information available about them until now, aside from a stray remark of how it was obvious why they wouldn’t be present to vote for Prime Eternal. Now that we learn they are inexplicably these gargantuan monsters who are also Eternals… I need to know more. I can also see them being a great game piece for other tie-ins to use, a la the attack of the Horsemen back in “Fall of the Mutants.” 

It’s such a classic move for the villain to declare “we are here to protect you” while destroying cities and killing people. I’ve got my popcorn ready.

Sean: WHAT THE FUCK IS THE PURPLE ONE! OH GOD, THERE’S A CRAB ONE! WHY DOES IT HAVE TENTACLES!!!

Ahem. It certainly looks to be a fight for survival where everyone’s got a kaiju to aid them. The Hex for the Eternals, Karkoa for the Mutants. And then, there’s the Avengers’ foray into the mix of this Giant Monsters All Out Attack: God.

Now the project of building God (especially when done by tech people like Tony Stark) has often led to pain and misery. Most notably with regards to Roko’s Basilisk. For those of you who somehow made it through the 21st century without a Harry Potter phase (or your Harry Potter phase did not involve any engagement with the fandom), Roko’s Basilisk came about from a cult by the name of LessWrong. LessWrong believed that it was possible for a bunch of science fiction fans with little to no experience developing Artificial Intelligence to be able to live forever inside a computer alongside their 1,000,000 anime waifus. One member of the cult, going under the name Roko, devised an idea for a God who would reward them for creating it by giving them eternal life inside a simulation. Those who weren’t helpful in creating the God, even those who had never even heard of the God, let alone cared, would spend the rest of eternity being tortured by said God.

If this is sounding a bit nuts, good. That means you are sane.

But in terms of this take on creating God, the results look likely to be less “Mad Cult funded by Peter Thiel” and more “OH GOD, GOD IS KILLING US! WHY MUST MY HUBRIS GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD GOD!” Karen, thoughts?

Karen: Well, truthfully I don’t know about all that, but I do know that Kieron Gillen, Mr. Sinister, and Celestials are known to get on like a house on fire. When I saw our Celestial narration on the first page, I guessed that Ajak and Makkari were going to resurrect Avengers Mountain and that guess was right on the money. The pair, with Sinister in tow, interrupt the Avengers assembling to pitch their plan. Stark, being a fan of hubris and dangerous plans, is DTRASG (down to resurrect a space god). 

Sean: Tony Stark: Willing to take any opportunity to prove he’s better than God.

Karen: We’re heading into this event with some very promising developments – Eternals ascendant, mutants on the back foot, and the Avengers suspicious of what Sersi isn’t telling them. I won’t lie and say that some of the setbacks the mutants suffered here didn’t get to me, the stakes feel quite real. I’m especially eager to see what happens in X-Men Red moving forward. It’s pretty remarkable when you remember that Kieron Gillen is actually writing the majority of the event, though I do wonder what having another voice involved might have added to things.

All in all, this is an exceptional comic made by a heavyweight team turning in some of their best. It’s so great to see Valerio Schiti step up into such a prominent role as Event Artist, and I just love everything Marte Gracia does (his more recent style of ropey paint strokes to define form is really working for me). I have some inklings on where this will all lead, but all my speculation just excites me more. How about you?

Sean: I had a lot of fun with this one. Unlike a lot of event comics (especially ones from the Direct Competitors), it actually starts at the beginning. Yes, there’s stuff that came before the events of the book that’s important to what’s happening in A-X-E, but Gillen does a wonderful job expressing it in a swift amount of time. No doubt some of the twists are going to be things readers of Eternals are already aware of, but I’m curious how those revelations will be turned on their head.

With Gillen, what I love is the small character moments. The parts that highlight that these are people fighting rather than action figures bashing into one another. And here, Gillen nails it even in passing. I get the majority of characters within the book instantly, feeling the years of history in every detail. To say nothing about the fight scenes themselves, which are a ton of fun to behold. Even conveyed in single images, they nevertheless highlight the whole of the moment expertly.

I can’t wait to see where this goes!

Karen: Thumbs up!

The Jury Box

• It’s nice seeing Mystique, Destiny, and Nightcrawler all together. Just get Rogue in there for a proper reunion, though.
• Hmm…

• This is the first outing we really get to see of the new X-Men! It’s fun, if brief.
• Magneto makes a point to correct Nightcrawler calling Planet Arakko “Mars” only to… call it Mars in the next panel.
• I literally screamed when the Damocles Foundation building showed up but was so let down that it was only Druig there. I’m (mildly) sorry I’m this way.
• If you would like to read more on Roko’s Basilisk and the ideas it inspired, consider reading Neoreaction a Basilisk by Elizabeth Sandifer.
• Schiti draws a great looking Makkari.
• Also thank you Valerio for the Skin and Marrow cameos, you’re the best.
• I should note that for all the bleak horror at the spectacle of two immortal races fighting for survival while the rest of the world has to deal with that, the book is genuinely pretty funny. From Uranos’ pleading that he’ll “try to spare a hemisphere” to the look on Tony’s face as he declares himself to be pro-hubris to how miserable Mister Sinister looks while wearing a gag. It’s funny, but not overwhelmingly so. It lets its beats land.

Kieron, I’ve been meaning to ask you this since The Heretic: Are you at all familiar with the Dalek plan in The Dalek Invasion of Earth?