Welcome to Inferno! As our friends at Jay & Miles Xplain the X-Men like to say, Inferno never ends! And with that, we’re in the thick of “Dark Web”, AKA Inferno II: Electric Boogaloo!
In Dark Web: #1, Christmas in New York gets interrupted by a familiar demon problem from Zeb Wells, Adam Kubert, Frank Martin, & Joe Caramagna!
Then we tear away from demons in New York to continue Beast’s game of limbo to see how low he can go in X-Force #35 by Ben Percy, Chris Allen, Carlos Lopez, & Joe Caramagna!!
And the Dark Web continues in Dark Web: X-Men #1 from Gerry Duggan, Rod Reis, and Cory Petit.
Things Go To Hell (Dark Web #1)
Tony: You and I were both hyped about this one. “Dark Web” is basically the most direct “Inferno” sequel since the original. Except it’s Spider-Man centric. Now, it took me a few issues to warm up to Wells’ run on Amazing Spider-Man. I think it’s nailed the soap opera, which is the strongest part of this issue. The superhero stuff have been hit or miss, though. The Tombstone opening arc was really strong, but since then it’s been kind of middling (though the recent Hobgoblin story was good).
That proves to be the case here, in my opinion. The late Harry Osborn’s birthday party? Great stuff, even if it’s dragged down by the still unexplained Peter-MJ riff. Ben Reilly confronting Norman Osborn? FANTASTIC. The X-Men stuff and the Limbo stuff? I thought it was kind of a drag. What did you think?
Matt: I am not a Spider-Man guy, per se. I’m not anti-Spidey (it’s hard to be, I think), but I have always been a casual Spider-Man reader, so I have been mostly excited about this because of how much I loved Zeb Wells’ Hellions run, and all that went into setting this up over there. And I do agree that most of the X-Men stuff here is a sideshow. This is very much a Spider-Man comic. And while I haven’t been following Amazing Spider-Man aside from when it’s touched on other events, I’m happy to say I didn’t feel lost. I do have one question, one thing where, while not lost, I was so unfamiliar that I wanted a little more context: Who is Hallow’s Eve?
Tony: So this is probably the element of Wells’ Spidey I’ve liked the least. Hallow’s Eve is Janine Godby/Elizabeth Tyne. She’s Ben Reilly’s ex girlfriend who is also an ex-con, who was in prison for killing her abusive father. Wells has treated her like Ben’s soulmate, but they dated for… a few months (maybe?) while Ben lived in Salt Lake City. I guess they could be soulmates, but as far as what we’ve seen on-page, Jessica Carradine would be closer to what Wells wanted to do with her. I’ve liked Janine as a character (though most artists haven’t done much to distinguish her from MJ), but treating her as Ben’s true love has always felt kind of off to me.
Yeah, not at all complicated.
Matt: OK, cool. Just one of those little details that left me a bit at a loss.
Back to the matter at hand, while I don’t know if I’d got as far as calling it a drag, I found the Limbo stuff a lot of setup that could have been done quicker. And while I haven’t read Wells’ New Mutants run from the late 00s, the whole pipe organ struck an odd note for me (pun very much intended), since I have no memories of music being linked to Marvel’s Limbo or to Madelyne Pryor in the past. It kind of felt like a fun idea that Wells wanted to use and was thrown in just because it was a cool visual, and didn’t have anything to hang it off of.
Tony: Yeah, that and the weird Latin mantra. That’s a lot more acceptable when it comes to magic, but when combined with the organ, it kind of twists it. It was a very cool visual though.
Was the repeated mantra present in the original Limbo? I don’t remember it. I missed Wells’ New Mutants as well, so maybe it’s from there. It’s not from Ayala and Reis’s recent Limbo storyarc though.
It’s a bit frustrating that the strongest stuff here is the Spidey story beats. Like you said, it’s a Spider-Man story through and through, but it would have been nice for a stronger balance. Hopefully it’ll get stronger as the story goes on. The Norman/Ben confrontation though? I thought that ruled.
Matt: Ben wanting to get revenge on the guy who jerked him around back in the Clone Saga? Love it. I wish there had been a balanced scene where Maddy finally got to taken a swing at Sinister, but he’s too busy setting up “Sins of Sinister,” I suppose. Could you imagine Osborn and Essex sharing the page? The scenery would be chewed to mush!
Tony: Definitely. Maddy does get some more scenery chewing as the issue ends though — she gets to unleash Eddie Brock on New York. But she’s messed with Eddie’s head, regressing him to pre-Carnage insanity! Loved that was the last page of the issue. Great moment.
Too Far Gone (X-Force #35)
Tony: Well, we talked about how Beast is irredeemable three columns in a row, and now it’s finally his time. Last issue we learned he has an off-the-books prison in space. This issue, X-Force finds out.
We’ve been cheering for Beast to face consequences for his actions, and if that’s not on the horizon after this issue, I’ll be stunned.
Matt: We have talked about it, and we have seen Beast do hideous things. In the last issue, we read in a data page some of the things he has done on his prison. But this issue, seeing him testing bio-weapons on prisoners? Well, as someone of Polish Jewish heritage, I see that and I see echoes of Mengele. Beast has crossed a Rubicon. He is an utter monster now, and there is no way, short of resetting him to a backup from… pre-Krakoa, that he can ever be a character I want to see as anything other than a villain. And I have to imagine that Percy knows that.
Tony: Absolutely. Beast said this is what he’s building towards but I had no idea that he would be this far gone. He experiments on inmates, he uses them as human shields, and he transforms one into a monster just to slow down Sevyr Blackmore and Solem. It was horrifying. There’s no doubt at this point that Hank is the villain of this series. Thankfully, Domino and Omega Red see it too. When Omega Red thinks you’re a bad guy, you’re a bad guy.
X-Force #35 is a straightforward action story, plot-wise, which makes those details stand out even more. And it continues Maverick’s descent too, as it shows that he’s okay with all of Hank’s evil, just for the paycheck. I mean, Solem and Blackmore look like good guys in comparison.
But it looks great. Artist Chris Allen is just starting to break away from Marvel’s house style. I think we will probably be seeing him explode on something really soon.
Matt: Allen’s art is definitely improving, definitely becoming its own thing. The monster that attacks Sage is a great example of what he can do, and it makes me hope that he gets a chance to do something with that flavor. Am I the only one who remembers that Man-Thing one shot Steve Orlando did with the X-Men that gave Illyana a team of Dark Riders who were all kinda monastery mutants: Marrow, Shark Girl, Mammomax? Let them have a real horror themed X-mini and put Allen on it. I’d buy it.
Tony: Oh absolutely. The Sage plotline was definitely very horror tinged, on a bunch of different levels.
Matt: Speaking of Sage, this issue finally places her firmly on the wagon. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it’s also the issue that Beast’s reckoning starts. The data page from last issue showed Beast enabling her alcoholism, which might not be as world-shakingly evil as war crimes, but is personally just so shitty that it might make me hate him even more.
Tony: Yeah, her alcoholism was a great slow burn plotline. I hope it gets treated well from here.
Amazing Friends (Dark Web: X-Men #1)
Matt: I am notoriously bad, when it comes to my reviews, on spending way too much time focused on story and not enough time on art. So I’m going to remedy that partly here by saying Rod Reis, late of New Mutants, absolutely steals this comic. I loved his work in that book. I’m glad to see him given a higher profile assignment here.
Tony: Duggan is a writer that’s really good at stepping back and letting his artist go nuts. As far as the story, there’s some cheeky dialogue, and a cute Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends reunion. But the art rules. Reis’s “Inferno” monsters are a great mixture of scary and silly. I mean, besides Maddy Pryor, the main villains of the issue are possessed Christmas trees. He makes that work!
Matt: I wonder if this is where we’re finally going to see something done with Alex Summers that makes him more than a gag, because it’s the place to do it. We saw hints of it at the Vault, but now, with Alex facing Madelyne, the result of his crusade to get her resurrected, alongside someone else who has such issues with their own agency in regards to a certain others Summers, well, it seems like this is the story where Alex has to face his demons (see what I did there?).
Tony: This issue was kind of slight plot-wise, and that’s okay. It sets up Illyana and Alex getting some interesting plots with the remainder of the mini, and gives us the reunion straight out of the gate. Alex getting the Goblyn Prince outfit was a great gag, and I liked how Reis shifted his style as it happened, mimicking Neal Adams’ and mixing it with his own. It indicated that the story might shift as well.
My one fear is that this will sequester Spider-Man from the X-Men, in a story that was billed as a team-up. I get that the Venom confrontation had to happen the way it did in this week’s Amazing Spider-Man, but from this point on, let’s hope for a true team-up.
X-Traneous Thoughts
- Adam Kubert’s “Inferno” monsters can’t be praised enough. We’re also getting more Reis, plus Ed McGuiness, and, I believe, Romita Jr’s versions all before this crossover ends!
- The fact that no one mentions one of the last times Scott and Jean were in Rockefeller Center around Christmas was the lead-up to The Phoenix Saga [Editor’s Note: See the classic X-Men #98!] seems like a missed opportunity.
- Also, Spider-Man is right. Santa is a mutant. Go listen to the BotA episode that talks about it.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble.
