Rarely do I read super hero comics. I’m an SF and Crime guy! I actually went to my LCBS to pick up #2 of ‘The Cleaners’ last night. Down and to the right on the rack I immediately noticed issue #1 and #2 of ‘x-infernus‘. The covers of these two comics just POPPED and grabbed me immediately.
What the hell is this, I thought! I didn’t even recognize them as an X-Men spin-off. I am not up to speed on the latest nuances of the X-Men universe but after a brief scan I recognized Colossus and Cyclops. Aha, I thought, an X-Men mini-series. After a brief struggle with my conscience I bought them along with The Cleaners #2.
For me it was all about the art work which is just superb. ‘x-infernus’ is penciled by Giuseppe Camuncoli . My first thought was, this guy is genius. I’ve never heard of him but I’m quite sure the rest of the comics world has to recognize Giuseppe Camuncoli as a HUGE talent. The breathtaking cover done by David Finch is absolutely captivating.
The incredible artwork is this comic’s strong suit by a long shot.
Since I am not familiar at all with current events in the X-Men Universe I had to do some reading outside the comic to understand Limbo and its inhabitants.
The story opens with Colossus’ sister, Illyana, being lost and imprisoned in a place called Limbo. None of the X-Men have been able to enter Limbo to do a rescue. This is the opening scene as told dramatically by Colossus. Jumping to Limbo, it seems Illyana is possessed and has become a serious villain called Illyana Rasputin. She is ruthless in her quest to find the souldagger. The story jumps back to earth and focuses on a fairy-winged mutant, Pixie, who possess that souldagger. Or does the souldagger posses her?
I don’t know much about Limbo. It seems more like hell to me. The art work that depicts Limbo and the creatures who inhabit the place excels at rendering the scenes into a beautiful surreal setting. The story is a stretch and requires the reader to stretch his imagination accordingly. The plot is unusual enough to hold my interest though. Still, there’s too much of that greasy X-men kid’s stuff in the story for my taste. I give the high quality art work five stars plus, the story line 3.5 stars and the dialog 3 stars.