Death of X #2 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

Underhanded Tactics

Written By: Charles Soule, Jeff Lemire
Art By: Aaron Kuder, Jay Leisten, Cam Smith, Scott Hanna, Morry Hollowell, Jay David Ramos
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 19, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

The series leading into the Inhumans vs. X-Men event started off with a bang last issue. Was it perfect? Far from it but the issue did some really incredible stuff and set the stage for what was to come next. We all know that this series takes place before prior to the #1 issues of All-New, All-Different Marvel and will lead in to where the Inhumans and X-Men are today. Last issue we discovered that the Terrigen Cloud that was released by the Inhumans is poisonous to Mutants and that Cyclops plans on going to war over this. Meanwhile, the Inhumans are growing at a large rate. We already know how this conflict is going to end but how we get this is going to be important going forward and so I for one am very excited about this series. Let’s jump in shall we?

The issue begins at New Attilan where Storm has come to speak with Medusa. She informs Medusa about what they discovered about the Terrigen Cloud. Medusa seems unaware that this was the case as Mutants had been exposed to Terrigen in the past without any ill effects. Storm believes that when the cloud mixed with the atmosphere it changed into something that could harm Mutants. Medusa pledges to aid Storm in protecting Mutants across the globe from the Cloud and Storm believes her. She came to see if Medusa knew about the side effects before the Cloud was released but she believes that Medusa never had such intentions. However, she warns that Cyclops will not stay quiet for long. Storm leaves for Madrid to evacuate the Mutants and Medusa stays in New Attilan and speaks with Black Bolt about how they could be on the brink of war. Suddenly something happens and a message goes through to the entire world. It’s coming from Scott Summers and Emma Frost.

Scott talks to the entire world and accuses the Inhumans of wrongdoing. He believes that the Inhumans knew about the ill effects of the Terrigen Cloud and that it spreads death and disease across the globe. Scott’s message states that he knows that Mutants are effected by the Cloud and claims that it is most likely just as fatal to humans. He ends his message by saying that the Inhumans lied to everyone and that the Mutants will save them. After his message goes out, Scott and Emma retreat to a private area and close out all the other Mutants that are with them. Meanwhile, the Inhuman team has gone to Madrid in an attempt to help the Mutants in the area evacuate. Iso and Crystal attempt to use their powers to steer the Cloud away from the city and with the help of Storm, they are able to achieve their goal. However, things aren’t over yet. Thanks to the message from Cyclops, the city is panicking and could lead to people getting hurt.

Back on Muir Island, the Mutants have buried their dead and Colossus meets with Magik. She believes that the only way this is going to go forward is with war. The Inhumans believe Terrigen to be sacred and she is worried about what Scott and Emma are planning. She and Colossus go down and meet with Emma and Scott. They admit that they have a plan and have reached out to the most powerful Mutants that they know. They will understand if anyone doesn’t want to be a part of their plan but they’ve already put things into motion and there is no turning back now. Back in Madrid, the chaos caused by Scott’s message has snowballed into a full blown riot. People are scared and it could lead to someone getting hurt. Thus, Crystal turns to the Inhuman Daisuke to use his powers that he got in the last issue to calm everyone down. As he does this, we get a monologue from Emma Frost, she is reaching out to someone and saying that Storm and her team have been attacked by the Inhumans. She send footage of Daisuke from Madrid using it to seem like he is attacking everyone rather than calming them. Emma says that Inhumans and Mutants cannot coexist and asks for the person’s help. It is revealed to be Magneto and he happily agrees. This is where the issue leaves us.

Soule and Lemire clearly know what they’re doing because we have yet another amazing issue of this short miniseries. Last issue we got a great dichotomy between Mutants and Inhumans and this issue we see fuel being added to the fire of the growing conflict. Storm leads her own team of Mutants and tries to work with the Inhumans toward peace and safety while Cyclops sees war as the only answer and uses propaganda against the Inhumans causing a panic. The issue really is a testament to how misinformation spreads. There does seem to be a lot of controversy on this point but to me, Scott seems like a villain here. He doesn’t attempt to reason or work with the Inhumans, but rather his first instinct is to attack. Reminds me of Magneto in that aspect. Speaking of Magneto, seeing him join the fight at the end of this issue has gotten me very excited to see what comes next.

Bits and Pieces

Halfway through this series and we are still going very strong. I expect the next issue to see direct conflict between the group of Mutants and the Inhumans and I’m really looking forward to it. So far, Lemire and Soule are doing some incredible work together and if this is the level of quality that we can expect from the rest of this series and the Inhumans vs. X-Men crossover event that is coming, then we are all in for an amazing treat.

9.0/10