Sins of Sinister Dominion #1: The Future. There’s More Of It

Sins of Sinister Dominion #1, the final installment of the event, is perfectly balanced action, characterization, and the imperative all serial artists feel to set up future events. Indeed, if the rather unfortunate Nightcrawlers series hadn’t been included, this event would have stood right next to the original AoA series in regardes to fun, mayhem, and the potential to influence future X-Lore. As the cards fell, Rasputin IV has finally made it to the current continue,ty and the upcoming Fall of X event has (heh) set down its dark roots.

Without giving away too much of the plot (seriously, read this book. Go buy a copy. Now,) here is a selection of bits that brought a cheer: the rebirth of Rasputin IV (and Kate’s flirtation with her: seriously, the woman has a type. I’m shipping them already), Storm’s tremendous, potentially world-ending error, Destiny’s measurement of future (it only counts if Mystique is in it), Sinister’s bleak moment of realization, and the latest use of The Pit. Let’s say that The Sinister Four has taken on another meaning beyond the obvious. As for the final Big Bad, Mother Righteous is a phenomenal character when Gillen writes her. She’s (shall I be politic?) substantially less effective in other hands.

It cannot be overstated how difficult it must have been for Gillen to balance all of the elements of this story, but he’s managed it phenomenally well. Obviously, he had substantial help. Paco Medina and Lucas Werneck did a lot of heavy lifting with their art. This story seamlessly blended gritty, post-apocalyptic futurism with Werneck’s more utopian shades. Panel by panel, page by page, the art built this world and lifted it up above the vast majority of contemporary comics stories. Bryan Valenza’s color work tied all this art together in vivid, well-considered wrapping.

I’ll be a very happy Bethany if I have a chance to see these three artists working together again.