By Zack Quaintance — I remember the first cryptic teases for Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men run. They appeared in Marvel comic books as house ads, and they did not tell us exactly what they were advertising (I remember some speculation that Hickman would helm the Eternals, which, c’mon). They appeared in March 2019, a few months before the run began, and they read: When two aggressive species share the same environment, evolution demands acceptance or dominance. This, it turns out, has been a thesis statement for Hickman’s X-Men run…the entire time.

IF YOU DON’T WANT INFERNO #4 SPOILED, STOP READING HERE

I have a question for you, dear reader. Did you assume these two species were humans and mutants? It’s okay if you did. You’re not alone; I’m right there with you. Conflict between those two has been the foundation of X-Men comics for a very long time. Well friend, guess what? We were all wrong about those first ads. Inferno #4 — the last issue of X-Men comics that Hickman will pen for the foreseeable future — reveals as much. BIG SPOILER COMING…those two species were actually mankind (a group consisting of humans and mutants), and artificial intelligence. Gasp! It was right there in front of us from the start.

That revelation was the headliner for me after reading Inferno #4, and I think it stands out as the lasting point of Hickman’s X-Men run, so much as there is one. Humans and mutants are just a slight variation of the same species, fighting among them is misguided, and the conflict could ultimately lead to their shared demise, specifically because of artificial intelligence they create while warring with one another. Thematically, that’s where Inferno #4 goes, and it feels content to leave us there at the end. We are all people, and we should get along — it’s a rote message, a little cliché, but it feels powerful here, bolstered by the surprise revelation and the years of mutant vs. human fighting that these comics have depicted. I like it as a reveal quite a bit. It feels like it’s always been there, with this run artfully connecting the dots. The fact that the mutants themselves are not getting along (not really) heightens the poignancy, too.

As a singular issue, Inferno #4 feels a little rushed, like it has too much to get to in too few pages, even though it spans an oversized 52 of those. The entire series has felt that way to me, though, and it is maybe a symptom of the way Hickman is leaving the line, which has also felt a bit abrupt. The seeds were planted for much of what we see in this, but he’s knocking down in four issues what he set up in 12 (and what several other creators spent 20-plus issue runs exploring). Particularly, I found this to be a problem as it pertains to Moira, a character who has been mostly absent since HoX/PoX, and is not served all that well here, getting an endcap that involves literally running off into the ether. This is a qualm that will ultimately hinge on whatever the next creators do with her story.

The visuals throughout Inferno have been strong, if a bit more disjointed than would be ideal for a story as concentrated as this one, but rarely in a distracting way. I appreciated the art team in this book using imagery that harkened back to the now-iconic opening of this era. You remember the one, wherein the X-Men emerge from goopy reincarnation pods and a newly-helmeted Professor X says the thing: To me my X-Men. That bit, from the visuals to the person who was reviving them, was all great (features editor Harry Kassen did a great job writing about usage of those visuals in the past, and you can read that here).

These comics are destined to be compared to House of X/Powers of X, and Inferno won’t hold up well in that context. HoX/PoX was nigh-perfect, some of the best superhero comics of the present era. A lot of the excitement of Inferno is from simply revisiting the goodwill of the story’s beginnings. The closer here is not so decisive, nor can it be, tasked as it seems to be with leaving the status quo open ended (more on that below). Last time Hickman told a giant Marvel story, they let him destroy the entire universe (see Secret Wars); not so here.

Looking ahead at the future of the X-Men, this comic — and, indeed, Hickman’s time writing the characters — leaves us with what very well may be a long and enduring status quo. Yes, the Krakoa Era as created by the landmark House of X/Powers of X mini-series (actually one series) has no end in site, to the point I found myself entirely unable to guess when the general state of things may change drastically. Could the Krakoa Era be over in 2024? Sure. Could it last until 2040? Definitely (provided comics are still around at that point…wait, provided the earth is still around at that point…wait, goddamnit). In fact, with that in mind Hickman’s aforementioned abrupt departure from the X-Men comics feels like it’s put into context just a bit by the ending of this book.

I remember sitting in the conference room at SDCC 2019 hearing him talk about his plans for an overarching structure for this era. He alluded to major events that would shape it and a set of I believe three distinct acts. That all seems scuttled now, with the folks involved preferring the status quo in the first act so much so they want it to largely continue in perpetuity. Think about that, and consider that this book ends with a character reel of all our principal mutant leaders and the roles they play. Atop these panels, the narration notes: Krakoa was created to last. To endure the end times. Built on hope, paid in full…And able to withstand any force that would rise against it. We built the walls high. And locked ourselves inside. Forever.

I don’t think Hickman originally expected to end his story with the Quiet Council or Krakoa intact. That’s an assumption of course, but this ending feels to me like Hickman’s personal sendoff for the franchise and those that will continue to maintain it. It’s a note that what he and his collaborators have done here over the past two years and change is built to endure, and it’s up to them to find the creative spark within a new, firm status quo, which he himself was maybe not so interested in maintaining long-term. There’s not bitterness in this insinuation, but it is cheeky in a way. Maybe Marvel leadership wanted the Krakoa books to keep going, selling as strongly as they were, and maybe this is a Hickman wink to that. I like to think so.

But in the end, I get it. Hickman is an idea-driven writer, perhaps the best in all of superhero comics, and is likely off to do just that in creator-owned work. He has also said in interviews he is doing one last Marvel project. I’m hoping that project is Spider-Man, the Marvel property most in need of a Krakoa-esque overhaul (but that’s another conversation…).

To me, the Hickman era was a success — I knew it from House of X #2 on — a wild and bold reimagining of a franchise that had gone from the most popular and recognizable in all of comics to a bit of a mess, a murky set of characters with creators retreading past stories in ways that sometimes worked but more often did not. For years, the X-Men had also been mired in other interests, with Marvel not owning the film rights to them, and rumors/creators suggesting strict prohibitions had been put on their usage, one of which was no creating new characters. Where the X-Men are now is not only exciting by comparison, it’s among the healthiest they’ve been in some time.

So yes, the walls have been built high and the characters locked in, but there are worse places to be; hell, we’ve seen it and not so long ago.

Overall: A well-told story that bookends the time of writer Jonathan Hickman on the X-Men, Inferno #4 features some major revelations, as well as a hint at what is to come next for Marvel’s mutants. 8.5/10

REVIEW: Inferno #4

Inferno #4
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Valerio Schiti and Stefano Caselli
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: Joe Sabino
Publisher: Marvel Comics
TO EMBERS! Jonathan Hickman’s time on X-Men ends with the dramatic conclusion of one of the first and best mysteries he brought to the line. Valerio Schiti returns on art to help bring down one of the foundations of the era.
Price: $5.99
Pre-Order the Inferno Collection: Inferno

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.