X-Men: Inferno [Hardcover]

There are a couple plot threads that intertwine, and the nice thing is that there is an introduction that explains the background. Anyways, the layout it this: Madelyne Pryor (The Goblyn Queen) strikes a deal with the Limbo demon Nastrith that through the sacrifice of her own son, a bridge will form between Limbo and Earth, and the Earth with be destroyed. Throw in the Mister Sinister factor, as well as problems with Jean Grey and Cyclops along the way.

Meanwhile, the other major storyline focues on Illyana Rasputin transforming more and more into the Darkchylde as the New Mutants try to save her from damnation. Oh, and while all this is going on, demons from Limbo have already invaded via a teleportation disc and a pentagram, transforming all of Manhattan into Limbo itself.

Its a lot to take in, but its very interesting and I was always left wanting more after each issue. There is tons of action and the villains include Nastrith, S'ym, Mister Sinister, The Marauders, and limbo demons. Our heroes include the X-Men, X-Factor, the New Mutants, and the X-Terminators.

This is one huge x-over, consisting of 12 issues, 3 of which are double-sized. My only complaint was that the 2 Excalibur issues were left out and so were the 4 X-Terminator issues. The Excalibur issues were stand alone I guess, but the X-Terminator ones would have explained better some of the background. Nevertheless, I was completely satisfied with the 12 issues anyways. I guess the other ones would have interefered with the focus probably.

Anyways, I definately reccomend this x-over if you are a X-Men fan. Espciailly if you like reading issues from the past, this is a good read. Alot of what happened in Inferno still echoes storylines recently.

I know Amazon doesn't have this one in its own warehouse, but you can get it directly from www.bn.com (Barnes and Noble).

Inferno contains: X-Men 239-243, X-Factor 36-39, and New Mutants 71-73.

Hell hath no fury...

Reeling from the return of Jean Grey in "Phoenix Rising," the X-Teams have no time to prepare for the impact of her look-alike. More is explained of the fate of Phoenix, and the Phoenix powers. The climactic face-off between Jean Grey and Madelyne is, however, not the end of the Phoenix.

As always in Marvel, what is done can be undone... and no one stays dead forever.

For more Madelyne Pryor, look to the X-Man comic books. You'll find another battle between the two gorgeous redheads of X-Men fame. For more of the Phoenix, look to Rachel Summers and eventually back to Jean herself.

Phoenix is a force that never dies.

The comic is a real page-turner, spurred on by the haunted women at the center of it--Maddy, Jean, and Illyana Rasputin (Magik).

When hell breaks loose on earth, individuals have to come to terms with it-and it changes them all. Madelyne's duty is to fan the flames, even at the expense of her own son's life, and recieve shocking answers to questions that have plagued those around her since her appearance in "From the Ashes." Jean is a woman searching for answers, with pieces of her life missing after her stasis at the bottom of the bay. Illyana is a young girl, raised in that hell, coming to terms with her own role within it and the sacrifice she will need to make to push it out of the real world.

While this is not where new readers should begin, it is essential for the most important arc in X-Men history. Start with the "Pheonix Saga", but make it all the way through to "Inferno." It's worth it.