The fact that the mutants themselves are not getting along (not really) heightens the poignancy, too.Īs 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. It feels like it’s always been there, with this run artfully connecting the dots.

human fighting that these comics have depicted. 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. Thematically, that’s where Inferno #4 goes, and it feels content to leave us there at the end. 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. 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. Gasp! It was right there in front of us from the start. BIG SPOILER COMING…those two species were actually mankind (a group consisting of humans and mutants), and artificial intelligence. Inferno #4 - the last issue of X-Men comics that Hickman will pen for the foreseeable future - reveals as much. Well friend, guess what? We were all wrong about those first ads. Conflict between those two has been the foundation of X-Men comics for a very long time. You’re not alone I’m right there with you. Did you assume these two species were humans and mutants? It’s okay if you did. IF YOU DON’T WANT INFERNO #4 SPOILED, STOP READING HERE This, it turns out, has been a thesis statement for Hickman’s X-Men run…the entire time.

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. 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). By Zack Quaintance - I remember the first cryptic teases for Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men run.

Inferno by jonathan hickman