Death of X #3 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

This Is War

Written By: Charles Soule, Jeff Lemire
Art By: Aaron Kuder, Javier Garron, Jay Leisten, Morry Hollowell, Jason Keith, Wil Quintana, Matt Milla, Andrew Crossley
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 2, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Up to this point, the Death of X book has been an incredible little miniseries that has made me personally very excited for the upcoming Inhumans vs. X-Men event. That said, I’m ready for things to pop off in this issue. I think we’ve had enough posturing and preparing. I’m ready for Cyclops and his group of Mutants to finally clash with the Inhumans. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for in this issue. In the previous issue we had an awesome cliffhanger that included Magneto entering into the conflict as well as Storm and her group of Mutants being incapacitated by the powers of the new Inhuman Daisuke. So far, this series has been something special and I’ve been really looking forward to it continuing. How about we stop beating around the bush and just jump right into this penultimate issue.

We pick up where we left off with Emma Frost talking with Magneto to bring him into the fight. She is using the footage that they received from Madrid of the Inhuman Daisuke to convince him that they cause is justified. The Inhumans are celebrating their victory due to the fact that Daisuke was able to stop a major panic and prevent anyone from being hurt. However, Crystal and Gorgon discuss the Mutants and are worried about their reaction to having Inhuman powers used on them when they wake up. Crystal has faith that Storm will understand the choice that she made. While she and Gorgon discuss things, Daisuke and the other Inhumans discuss what his new name will be and he ends up settling on Downer.

We cut back to Emma Frost and Magneto and she asks him to go to Madrid and keep the Inhuman mobile force there while she and Scott execute their other plan. In this conversation, it becomes increasingly clear that Emma has come to truly despise the Inhumans. Meanwhile, the Stepford Cuckoos meet a Mutant named Alchemy and ask him to come with them as they need him to complete a mission for the X-Men. Back in Madrid, Storm finally awakes and sees her fellow Mutants lying next to her. She assumes the worst but is quickly able to recognize that they are all simply unconscious. As some awake, it becomes clear that everyone in the city is unconscious, except for the Inhumans.

Crystal sees the Mutants begin to wake up and she plans to go down and talk with them immediately, however, they are interrupted when Angel suddenly appears along with the rest of the Mutants. Tensions are high as the Mutants aren’t too keen about having powers used on them, even if it was just something to knock them out. Arguing ensues and Iceman attacks Flint with his powers. Flint falls to his knees for a moment and begins to activate his powers to strike back but Crystal stops him. Downer then decides that he can just put everyone back to sleep again. Crystal tries to stop him as well but before she can, Magik suddenly appears behind him and strikes the back of his neck with the handle of her sword, knocking him out. She grabs him and teleports away.

This raises tensions even higher as the Inhumans just watched one of their own being abducted by a Mutant. The Mutants try and defend themselves when they are suddenly interrupted by falling girders. They look up in the sky to see Magneto, Colossus, and a couple other Mutants. Magneto continues to makes steel girders fall upon the ground, using them to imprison the Inhumans. Storm questions Magneto but he simply tells her that she wasn’t strong enough to do what was necessary before turning his attention back on to the Inhumans. We cut back to Cyclops for a moment and he talks with Alchemy. They have teleported to the Terrigen Cloud and assumingly Alchemy will be able to do something about it but he seems to be a little hesitant. Scott talks with him for a while and is able to convince him to join their cause. They group decides to get to work as a cloud of fire erupts behind them. This is where the issue leaves us.

Compared to the other issues of this miniseries so far, this one is a bit of a drop in quality. Granted, it’s not bad in any way. The art is great, the dialogue is believable, and the storytelling is well done. That said, this is the penultimate issue of this series and the main conflict being Cyclops and the Inhumans hasn’t even started yet. I feel like we should have seen at least a little bit of the conflict begin. I’m just worried that we are going to be rushing through the final act of the story too quickly. That wasn’t my only problem with this issue though. I understand that the Mutants are a little pissed that Downer used his power on them but they are all fine and alive. I can understand anger but Storm and the X-Men seem to be itching for a fight immediately. It just felt like an extreme response to me. That said, there is plenty of good in this issue as well. Seeing the hatred that Emma has formed towards the Inhumans is really interesting and I’m still really excited to see how this story continues. I’m hoping it won’t be too predictable. I have a feeling that Downer is going to be killed in this storyline and that in retaliation, Medusa or Black Bolt will kill Cyclops. However, Soule and Lemire are doing great work on this book.

Bits and Pieces

While this may be the weakest issue so far, Death of X continues to provide legitimately interesting storytelling and shows how small mistakes or misunderstandings can lead to large conflicts between two groups of people. This issue had some problems and I’m afraid that they final act will be rushes and predictable. However, I’m still very excited for the conclusion of this series and I can’t recommend it enough so far.

7.0/10