As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

INFERNO vol 2 #2
by Jonathan Hickman, Stefano Caselli & David Curiel

COVER / PAGE 1. Emma Frost, in diamond form, holding the helmets of both Magneto and Professor X.

PAGE 2. Once again, the opening quote comes from Omega Sentinel. She’ll actually say it on page 25, but more generally, it refers here to some of Mystique’s impostures being exposed.

PAGE 3. Recap and credits. The individual issues of Inferno don’t have separate titles.

PAGES 4-6. Flashback: Mystique retrieves a Cerebro back-up from Island M.

This is a repeat of a scene from pages 32-33 of issue #1, with the added revelation that it was Mystique, not Magneto. The art is new, but the three panels of Magneto reaching for the helmet directly copy the layout of the original, presumably to make sure we recognise it as the same scene. It’s not entirely obvious why Mystique actually needs to pose as Magneto, since nobody seems to be around, but to be fair, she didn’t necessarily know the place would be empty. Nor is it immediately obvious how she got past whatever security systems Magneto has – surely he doesn’t just keep this important object in an unlocked room? Again, maybe posing as him helps with that.

(Note: As Douglas points out in the comments, Prestige uses her “chronoskimming” power in X-Men: Trial of Magneto #2 to see Magneto apparently removing his Cerebro helmet from its cradle. That might be intended as the same scene, though it seems to be – incorrectly – set in his Krakoan home the House of M, rather than Island M.)

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As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

WOLVERINE vol 7 #17
“Message in a Bottle”
by Benjamin Percy, Lan Medina, Cam Smith & Java Tartaglia

COVER / PAGE 1. Wolverine and Maverick as a playing card riddled with bulletholes and claw marks, showing them as intertwined opposites (or just partners).

PAGE 2. Jeff Bannister monitors Delores Ramirez.

We last saw Bannister in issue #8. His narration in this issue is apparently the letter to Logan mentioned on the closing data page, since its opening line is repeated there.

We last saw Delores in issue #10, where she met with Maverick in a diner. That scene took place in New York, though, and this is Baltimore – so apparently she’s meeting someone else here, or at least it’s a different meeting with Maverick. (It’s also drawn differently.)

“Ever since she tried to take you down in Madripoor”. Also in issue #10.

PAGES 3-4. Jeff returns to the diner.

We last saw Bannister’s daughter in issue #3. Oddly, she still doesn’t have a name. Her short hair is presumably due to her leukaemia treatment, though honestly, it was longer in issue #3.

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As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

S.W.O.R.D. vol 2 #9
“Friends in High Places”
by Al Ewing, Jacopo Camagni & Fernando Sifuentes

COVER / PAGE 1. Henry Peter Gyrich holds Abigail Brand, Manifold and Frenzy in a globe, with the Orchis symbol behind him. Don’t worry, it’s purely symbolic.

PAGES 2-4. Guardian and Gyrich talk.

Guardian. We last saw Guardian in issue #6, leaving the Hellfire Gala. He was overwhelmed by the terraforming of Mars, and Henry Gyrich was moving in to recruit him for Orchis. It’s interesting that Gyrich chose to make his pitch in the name of Orchis, rather than in his official capacity as commander of Alpha Flight. It’s still not exactly clear how much Guardian knows about Orchis, or what he’s been told about their agenda – we know from issue #3 that aspects of Orchis’s organisation are internally confidential and that even Gyrich has only seen a redacted version of their organisation chart.

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As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

X-MEN: THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO #3
“Schrödinger’s Corpse”
by Leah Williams, Lucas Werneck, David Messina & Edgar Delgado

COVER / PAGE 1. Magneto, with the scales of justice balancing his helmet against the Scarlet Witch’s headdress. The perspective is a bit confusing – it doesn’t seem to be drawn as if it’s tilting one way or the other, but the pan with the headdress seems to be resting on the ground. I’m honestly not sure whether it’s meant to be balanced or not.

PAGES 2-6. The Scarlet Witch is overwhelmed, and Northstar attacks Magneto.

The Scarlet Witch returned at the end of the last issue, assured everyone that she was all right and kissed the Vision while saying that she wanted to “get back to normal”. The implication, confirmed later in the issue, is that she was resurrected from an old back-up. That’s essentially confirmed in this story, where Wanda appears to have been resurrected with her memories reset to some earlier point in continuity. She evidently believes that she’s still in a relationship with the Vision – I’ll come back to when exactly this is meant to be.

The Vision says that he had “not finished grieving my late wife” at the start of this story. He’s referring to Virginia, from the Tom King / Gabriel Hernandez Walta Vision series that ran from 2015-16 (long, long after this Wanda’s memories end). She died in Vision vol 2 #12, roughly five years ago now. Vision was seen working on a new body for her at the end of that series, but nothing ever came of it. At any rate, it seems a slightly odd thing for him to say about a character who’s been dead for five years, even allowing for Marvel’s sliding timeline.

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As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

X-FORCE vol 6 #24
“The Pen is Mightier than the Cerebro Sword”
by Benjamin Percy, Martin Coccolo & Guru eFX

COVER / PAGE 1: Colossus with (literally) blood on his hands.

PAGES 2-4. Mikhail Rasputin intimidates the Chronicler.

This is the sort of scene I’m used to seeing as a thinly veiled complaint from writers about editorial interference, but I can’t imagine it’s the actual intention here. Still, if I’m being honest, it’s the first thing that these tropes bring to mind.

This issue contains the first semi-clear explanation of what the Chronicler’s powers actually are, but we’ll come to that. In terms of what hold Mikhail has over him, it seems to be mostly a matter of threats of violence, though apparently this guy is also really keen on wine to the point of abject desperation – is he meant to be an alcoholic?

Mikhail gets another speech to claim that his manipulation of Colossus is in keeping with a long Russian tradition of secret police forces which, he says, are a constant throughout years of Russian change. The examples he gives don’t really support that claim, since they’re all secret police forces from the Soviet era:

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As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

X-MEN vol 6 #4
“Fearless, Chapter 4: Nightmare on 86th Street”
by Gerry Duggan, Javier Pina & Erick Arciniega

COVER / PAGE 1. Nightmare rears up on his horse, holding the severed head of Cyclops.

PAGE 2. Data page. Opening quotes about Nightmare from Dr Voodoo (currently in the cast of Strange Academy) and Magik.

Nightmare is a Doctor Strange villain, and the fairly self-explanatory ruler of a magical Nightmare Realm.

“He’s conquered a splinter realm…” This is just referring to the Nightmare Realm. The term “splinter realms” comes from the 2000 Magik miniseries.

“…once succeeded in trapping Eternity.” Doctor Strange vol 2 #13, published in 1976.

PAGE 3. Night at the Treehouse.

The pumpkin with a single eye is a cute touch.

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As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

NEW MUTANTS vol 4 #22
“Shadows & Mirrors”
by Vita Ayala & Rod Reis

COVER / PAGE 1: The Shadow King in profile, with the New Mutants fighting inside his mind.

PAGES 2-4. Inside the Shadow King’s illusion, the New Mutants make a last stand to defend Krakoa.

The horde of attackers include:

• Some good old fashioned Sentinels
• Former X-Man Omega Sentinel, currently allied with Orchis as seen in House of X and X-Men. I’ll come back to her.
• Nimrod
• Belasco
• S’ym, Magik’s former sidekick demon turned insurgent, and one of the main villains from the original Inferno.
• The Brood
• The First Horsemen, who aren’t actually enemies of Krakoa any more.
• AIM
• Some people from Orchis, including the helicopter in the top right and the evolved apes in the middle of the page.

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As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

HELLIONS #16
“Come Hurt With Us”
by Zeb Wells, Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo

COVER / PAGE 1. Greycrow, with the other Hellions in his sights – though in the story itself, he’s certainly not after all of them. It’s got an “After Liefeld” credit on it, which I can only assume is because of a very vague resemblance to the cover of New Mutants vol 1 #87 (the one with Cable and the heads of the New Mutants shown in gunsights). Calling it a homage is very generous

PAGES 2-6. The aftermath of the explosion.

Last issue ended with Sinister revealing his creation of a Sinister/Tarn hybrid chimera, and Empath responding by prompting Havok to destroy the whole place – thus also eliminating the backup of Psylocke’s AI daughter (from Fallen Angels) that Sinister has been using to keep her in line throughout this series. The Hellions also effectively learned that they’d been manipulated by Sinister and had their memories altered at his behest.

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As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

EXCALIBUR vol 4 #24
“By the Pleasure of the Court”
by Tini Howard, Marcus To & Erick Arciniega

COVER / PAGE 1. The regents of Sevalith with Betsy as a guest, and a spilled goblet of wine / blood. One of those cases where having a different cover artist is very noticeable, since Betsy’s costume is entirely different, and so is the entire style of room – Mahmud Asrar opts for something traditionally gothic, while Marcus To’s Sevalith is minimalist and modern.

PAGE 2. Data page. Our opening quote is from Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory (c 1415-1471). It’s missing a few words – it forms part of a passage about how Mordred has become a popular ruler in Arthur’s absence, and it continues: “For then was the common voice among them that with Arthur was none other life but war and strife, and with sir Mordred was great joy and bliss.” The general tone of the original is “bunch of ingrates”.

PAGES 3-5. Betsy has dinner with the regents of Sevalith.

I think this is the first time we’ve seen Oublia and Oscura as anything other than generics, but they were named back in Marauders #13.

“The assassin who attacked you in the Avalon woods.” A Sevalith assassin attacked Excalibur last issue.

“What followed within the market.” Presumably the skirmish with the Furies in the Crooked Market at the end of last issue.

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As always, this post contains spoilers, and page numbers go by the digital edition.

WOLVERINE vol 7 #16
“Ill-Gotten Gains”
by Benjamin Percy, Adam Kubert & Espen Grundetjern

COVER / PAGE 1: Wolverine and Solem fight, with Solem using the Muramasa Blade.

PAGES 2-3. Solem approaches Wolverine in the Green Lagoon.

When we left off last issue, Wolverine had just discovered that his version of the Murasama Blade had been stolen from his room by Solem. Evidently he’s been investigating further since then (i.e., a whole bunch of other stories could have taken place since last issue, which is handy).

Logan’s reflections about Solem’s confusing nature are broadly in line with what we’ve seen so far in this book. The bit about him potentially being a victim largely stems from his origin story as related by Sevyr Blackmore last issue; even on Sevyr’s version of events, Solem was the sole survivor of an attack on his village, who then got taken in and raised by the people who had slaughtered everyone he knew. Solem then bides his time before taking revenge… none of which makes him seem that bad. But he goes on to be an all purpose pirate and rogue himself.

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