AXE: JUDGMENT DAY
Eternal war
RELEASED OUT NOW! Publisher Marvel Comics
Writer Kieron Gillen
Artist Valerio Schiti
When a big event comic arrives, and it’s yet another example of Marvel or DC going “Hey – what if these two separate teams of superheroes actually fought each other?”, you tend to go in with ultra-low expectations. As a result, it’s a shock to find that this latest Marvel saga is is much smarter and more creative than your typical superhero beat-em-up.
The secret weapon here is writer Kieron Gillen, who always delivers inventive twists on superhero action. In this core six-issue miniseries of the event, he wrangles a tangled web of continuity into an action-heavy romp with some ferocious set-pieces.
The “A”, “X” and “E” in the title refer to the Avengers, the X-men and the Eternals – and the story begins in the wake of the world discovering the truth about the X-men’s new powers of resurrection. For corrupt head Eternal Druig, this is a step too far, and soon the “Deviant-correcting” super-beings are attacking the X-men’s home island of Krakoa, while the Avengers urgently try to de-escalate the conflict.
So far, so predictable – but then Gillen throws in a glorious narrative curveball at the climax of issue two, as a desparate plan to stop the Eternals/x-men war backfires, placing the world under threat of annihilation from the judgement of a god-like entity. Much of this is as eventful and fast-paced as you’d expect, but Gillen cleverly finds room for nuggets of humanity, humour and well-crafted characterisation among the constant event-comic stream of Dramatic Stuff Happening.
He’s helped in this by art from Valerio Schiti that’s stylish and super-kinetic – especially in the expansive battle sequences. These first three issues cram in a tremendous amount of value without ever feeling overstuffed, and set up a tasty selection of dire problems to be faced in the story’s latter half.
Admittedly, this is still a big superhero event comic, with some of the inherent flaws that come along with that. The links to various tie-in issues do feel a little glaring at times (even though some of them have distinct potential, especially the ones also written by Gillen). Additionally, while this core miniseries tries to welcome new readers in, a prior knowledge of the current status quo of both the X-men and the Eternals is a serious advantage.
Despite this, it’s a genuine surprise how much satisfying entertainment this bold superhero event has delivered so far. AXE: Judgment Day isn’t going to change anyone’s mind when it comes to this school of storytelling, but it is an absurd amount of lurid, maximalist comic-book fun.
One of Judgment Day’s villains – the Eternal Uranos – was partly inspired by the character Logan Roy from Succession.
Crams in a tremendous amount without ever feeling overstuffed