In this installment, The X-Men fight giant monsters, unwittingly allowing Tony Stark ample time to build a god in his own image. This will surely end well. A.X.E.: Judgment Day #2 is written by Kieron Gillen, drawn by Valerio Schiti, colored by Marte Gracia and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Sean: Salutations, True Believers! Itâs ya pal, Smilinâ Sean Dillon, here with Rambunctious Rasmus Lykke to talk to you about the death-defying adventures of the Avengers and X-Men as they face off against the nefarious Eternal weapon known only as ⌠THE HEX!!!
Rasmus: Excelsior!
What an issue! I thought itâd take longer until we reached such a big turning point in the series, but things are moving fast. By the end of the issue, the event series has taken a drastic turn away from what it appeared to be heading toward in the first issue.
But before that dramatic reveal, thereâs an entire issue of exciting events to take in.
A Poison Tree
Sean: The main crux of the issue is one massive fight scene between the X-Men and Avengers and the Hex. And boy is this something truly spectacular. Schiti does a fantastic job portraying the massive scale and impact of this battle. Just the sheer scope of the fightâs impact alone is truly spectacular. Just look at the detail put on the tidal wave as the crab Hex punches the ocean!
Rasmus: It is really amazing work. And itâs not only the sheer scale of the battle, he also nails the little moments in the issue. The scene with Sinister, Ajak, Makkari and Iron Man has some lovely acting in it as well, making the characters come to life for us.
Equally lovely is the work by Marte Garcia. Heâs selling the explosive action, the otherworldliness of the Hex, the colorful costumes and powers of the heroes. And he also makes sure to contrast these blockbuster moments with a more muted palette in the quieter moments.
Itâs an art team that’s working in perfect unison â something that, surprisingly enough, the X-Men and the Avengers also manage fairly well in the fight.
Sean: Equally, thereâs the narration. Typically in these types of stories, a narrator can become overwhelming and exhausting, highlighting details that make the events feel more portentous and pretentious than they ought to be. But here, Gillen is able to capture the scope of the moment in short and sweet text boxes that highlight the full implication of whatâs happening.
Look at the way he has Syne the Memotaur feel small and helpless with just two words contrasted by a massive explosion. We donât even see a visual of the moment, not even the words spoken by Syne in her final moments. We only see our narratorâs accounting of them.
In contrast, we see Exodus die a brutal and painful death. We see his scream of anguish come from his mouth. We are closer to the religious zealot than the giant monster he fights. And yet, thereâs something, for want of a better term, human about the plea for mercy. Not even a cry or a beg. A simple âPlease donât.â like the Eternal was being asked to have the entire history of the X-Men explained to them.
Rasmus: I actually felt more for the Hex than Exodus in that moment. Heâs a zealot, certain in his righteousness. Sheâs merely being used as a weapon. She doesnât know whatâs going on and is grasping at meaning and then mercy.
And her death is meaningful. Exodus simply returns, with no cost. Syne the Memotaurâs resurrection, however, has a high cost. Being Eternal means that to be brought back requires the Machine to take a human life. And thus it becomes clear(er) what role the six humans introduced on the very first page of the issue play.
The Human Abstract
Sean: The humans are a fascinating portrait in the Marvel Universe. Typically when non-superpowered players are involved in the narrative (and especially X-Men stories), itâs to act as a moral vacuum to contrast the nobility of the heroes. Be it the various people waving âMUTANTS DIEâ signs or the folks on the street telling Spider-Man to piss off, humanity isnât often highlighted in the best light in the Marvel Universe.
By contrast, the six snapshots of humanity weâre presented highlight a variety of perspectives. There are some who have contempt for the mutants or are simply nonplussed by them. But thereâs also a perspective Iâve not often seen: remorseful.
Weâre introduced to Jada in the first issue as someone who has ⌠issues with the mutantsâ resurrection policy only affecting mutants, but her presence here shows a degree of change (even if itâs not complete) regarding her discomfort toward her fellow protestersâ willingness to get on board the genocide train.
Which makes the ultimate nature of the six all the more horrific.
Rasmus: While the connection between the humans and the Eternals might not be immediately clear when we first encounter them (which is technically the cast page), in retrospect it appears to be quite simple. Syne is above Arjun, so when she dies and is brought back, he dies. A normal human death, without any way to return to life.
As the narration reminds us, this is the Eternalsâ secret. Because while itâs news that the mutants have defeated death, itâs long been a cornerstone of the Eternals. And given the spotlight on the humans, I strongly suspect it wonât be a secret for long.
Humanity mayâve been mad at the mutants for having kept resurrection secret. I doubt theyâll look kindly on a group of beings that actually cause humans to die.
Sean: Yeah, the base concept of the Eternals resulting in people dying is kinda fucked. This is not going to end well for anyone.
Rasmus: A Gillen classic!
Sean: Yeah, Gillen is often interested in the ways in which powers fuck things up for everyone involved. The obvious one is The Wicked + The Divine, where artists as gods result in fire, death, fascism and Woden. Ăber is about superheroes as the Bomb and the wrath they encur upon World War II. Even more pop Marvel work like Young Avengers centralizes events around the misuse and attempt to control the Demiurge.
But I think this might be the first time Gillen has explored the implications in long form on a religious level. Not simply a one-shot like the 1373 WicDiv issue or the penultimate issue of Uncanny X-Men thatâs also a Dr. Manhattan riff. But rather what it means for the gods and angels to enact horror upon mankind. To be responsible for their deaths and suffering.
Rasmus: Itâs interesting, because I think that for much of the buildup, tie-ins and even the first two issues here, the focus of the series has clearly been on the âothers.â The first issue focused on the Eternals, and this one is mostly about the X-Men defending their home. But given the expanded role that humanity is indicated to play going forward, the Avengers are bound to take a more prominent role.
This issue really upends a lot of, at least my, expectations for the event. It appeared to be the Eternals fighting the X-Men, with the Avengers caught in the middle. But with hints at the Eternalsâ secret being exposed, it may just shift and itâs the X-Men fighting the Eternals, with the Avengers caught in the middle.
Or it might be, if noted Avenger Tony Stark (and Ajak, Makkari and Mr. Sinister) hadnât brought a dead Celestial back to life.
A Divine Image
Sean: Has there ever been a time when Tony Stark has done something for the betterment of mankind, only for it to blow up in his face? There was the time he took over the world, only to let Norman Osborn steal it from him. The several times where heâs become a god, or godlike, only for it to go to his head. And now heâs built a God and modeled it after himself (in a moment explicitly tied to Ultron), and lo and behold, it wants to kill everyone!
Rasmus: The entire sequence of the Celestial being put together was wonderfully foreboding and tense. Even before we got to the âJust like Hank and Ultron, right?â joke from Tony, it was clear this wasnât going to end well for anyone.
Though, to be fair, the idea does seem to make sense on the surface. The Eternals are acting out, doing bad things. Letâs call their parents.
Hell, the plan mayâve even worked, if it wasnât executed by a group of people that have, historically, all shown incredibly bad judgment.
Sean: You have two religious zealots who have just learned that theyâre the flaw in Godâs plan, a man whose ego has destroyed galaxies and who thinks he was right regardless of the casualties, and Mr. Eugenics himself. Itâs a shock that everyone else didnât think to go, âThis is going to blow up in our faces, isnât it?â
But it’s the way it blows up in their faces thatâs truly interesting and ties into the role of the six humans beyond being sacrifices to continue the Eternal Machine. Rather than the traditional âKill them all and replace them with robotsâ plan an Ultron would have or Thanosâ âIâm a sensitive lover who wants to bone Death; genocide is my way of giving my girl rosesâ plan, God has decided to Judge everyone on Earth. If everyone doesnât meet Godâs standards, then they will have no tomorrow.
So thatâs Earth doomed.
Rasmus: Yup!
Itâs interesting, because what are our heroes going to do? Yeah, sure, they can beat God/the Celestial until it goes away. But thatâs lame and boring and not whatâs going to happen. So how the hell are they going to win? What can they do to prove that the people of Earth are worth saving? Is it all going to end with Scott Summers showing God the Good Place?
Another interesting fact is that we (as readers) are just going along with it. Sure, the big scary monster says weâve ruined the Earth, but that doesnât necessarily mean itâs true. Yet weâre all going along with it, nodding our heads, âYeah, heâs right. Some of us are good, but the majority are really shit.â Which says a lot about our times, I think.
Itâs an interesting wrinkle and something Iâm excited to see how Gillen and the rest of the team pull off, because I donât see a major Marvel event ending with a âyesâ to the question that Gillen has mentioned as the major theme for the series: âAre we just fucked?â
Sean: It could be a yes, but it could be a qualified one with the core being âGiven that.â Considering the mention of destroying the environment, there is a degree to which humanity has doomed itself. The failures of systems (or, perhaps more accurately, the consequence of their success) highlights this aspect of humanity being fucked.
In some regards, thatâs actually the core theme of Hickmanâs HoXPoX: What do you do when you know that you always lose? That no matter what plans for a better future you lay out, no matter how many times you achieve a utopian society, itâs always going to end with everything lit aflame in an inferno. Whatâs the next step from âGod is disappointed in you?â Where do you go from that?
Rasmus: Guess weâll find out in two weeks!
(Or more probable, in November, when the series ends).
Jury Box
- Every face Mr. Sinister gives in this book is amazing. Just so punchable, so smug, so perfect.
- Valerio Schitiâs designs for the Hex are all marvelous. Theyâre so weird, primordial and otherworldly, while also simply being scary AF (as the kids say).
- The moment where Destiny tells her son, âThat is accurate, child. I see the future. And I remember the past. We stand alone. We always did.â Chefâs kiss!
- But itâs not even true! The Avengers were there, helping. And they donât just leave, Cyclops tells them to go. Scottâs just the only one who appears to know. ⌠I hope nothing happens to him.
- The inability to deal with cosmic horror and mass death in the wake of doing a 9-5 job and just focusing on staying alive is a mood.
- Likewise, wow do I see a lot of people thinking just tweeting is enough. On the other hand, there is power in knowing youâre not alone. Everyone is important.
- Oh god, âEveryone is important,â one of fictionâs great lines of hope, being turned into a source of horror, is just brilliant.
- This event truly is Peak Gillenâ˘.
Sean Dillon
Rasmus Lykke
Rasmus Skov Lykke will write for food (or, in a pinch, money).
When not writing, he spends his time with his fiancĂŠe, their daughter and their cats, usually thinking about writing.
