Inferno #3: Line Them Up

With only two issues left before the end of the Hickman era of the X-Men, there still remains a lot of questions from his time on the title. Inferno #3 does a lot of work providing answers while setting everything up to what appears to be an epic finale.

I have to respect when a writer seeks to tie up their loose ends before leaving a title, or in this case an entire property, for the next writer. House of X, Powers of X, and Hickman’s eponymous X-Men laid out many plot threads that had since been unaddressed. Jonathan Hickman finally provides answers to how it’s all connected. While the Doug/Krakoa/Warlock reveal is delivered through gradual progression as we see the formation of the mutant nation on Krakoa, the remaining reveals are not handled as delicately.

While there is an interesting parallel to Emma psychically info-dumping the secret of Moira to Mystique and Destiny when placed Omega Sentinel doing the same to Nimrod. It still rushes to connect all the threads that haven’t yet been tied together.

With R.B. Silva, Stefano Caselli, and Valerio Schiti on pencils, Adriano Di Benedetto inking, and David Curiel providing colors, the art team isn’t pulling any punches. It is always a pleasure to see a good art team put Warlock on the page, and this is no exception. The contrast between the vibrancy of Krakoa and the way Warlock always remains in the shadows adds tension to the mystery being revealed. The visual callbacks to panel format of Powers of X make Inferno an appropriate bookend not only narratively but visually.