X-men: Inferno Review by Fleur, 02/03 X-men: Inferno Cyclops: "Maddie...? You're alive!?" Madelyne: "Don't call me that!" Cyclops: "What... what should we call you?" Madelyne: "You may call me -- your Goblin Majesty!" Iceman: "She's not... normal." Back in 1989, 'Inferno' was one of the first big Marvel crossovers. New York found itself overrun by demons - which, of course, had an impact on many of Marvel's titles, most of which are collected in the trade paperback. The huge and obvious advantage of having a saga like Inferno in trade format is for ease of collecting and reading. Rather than having to track down all the single issues, and figure out which part goes where, it's all done for you. And it follows along quite well. "That's one postbox who won't eat any more of its customers!" (Havok) Inferno is a story with three main plots, all interwoven. We have the Illyana saga - Colossus's little sister as a manipulated ruler of limbo. We have the main demonic plot itself - demons from limbo wreaking havoc in New York - and we have the Phoenix story, of Jean Grey dealing with her 'twins' - Madelyne Pryor and the Phoenix Force. Surprisingly, the switches between subplots never jar, as they often can with this sort of format. The three plots are quite inseparable, and they set Inferno up for having a neat, well-executed three-act structure. The first, Limbo. The second, the sequence of many major battles. The third, the very impressive confrontation with the real villain of the piece -- Sinister. Inferno's writing is, generally speaking, quite strong, with smooth fluctuations between drama, humour and horror - the story opens with a touch of a horror film as we are introduced to a bickering family who quickly get eaten by an elevator. You also don't tend to notice the writer changes, which is a very good sign in a patchstory like this one. Not only this, the plot is interesting. It's emotionally engaging without being sappy, while all the time keeping a fast pace with the action, set through with both smaller and larger character conflicts. Storm: "That outcry -- Jean!" Wolverine: "Lady's full o' surprises. Didn't know she knew that kinda language." Cyclops: "Your influence, probably." Overall, 'Inferno' is up with the Phoenix Saga in must-own stakes for X-Men fans. It has the big confrontation between X-Men and supposed mutant hunters X-Factor, it has the showdown where Cyclops blasts Sinister into a skeleton, and it has Jean Grey first truly dealing with who Madelyne Pryor is. This is the saga, too, that a lot of people point at when explaining why Madelyne was a poorly treated character by both the writers and husband Cyclops. (Of course, due to some deep psychological problem that sees me always prefer characters with visor-covered or red-covered eyes [see also ninja turtle Raphael, Speed Racer's Racer-X], Cyclops is by far my favourite character, and I think he's unfairly villified for his actions during 'Inferno', and I'm stopping there before I get teased any more than is inevitable for hijacking my own review for an episode of Scott Summers Issues Showcase.) Inferno actually has lasting consequences - something often promised, seldom delivered from Marvel. The changes and developments with Jean Grey in particular were referred to and dealt with for a long time after the smoke from the Inferno cleared. Though the trade lacks a few fringe Inferno issues (the Power Pack tie-in, X-Terminators 1-4), it holds the main story quite brilliantly - and is, without a doubt, something that belongs in every decent comic collection.