Death of X #4 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

All In Your Mind

Written By: Charles Soule, Jeff Lemire
Art By: Aaron Kuder, Javier Garron, Jay Leisten, Morry Hollowell, Jay David Ramos
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 23, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Up to this point, I’ve been quite a fan of this series. It has given me a lot of hope for the upcoming Inhumans vs. X-men crossover that’s about to start. That said, we only got the beginnings of a battle between the two groups in the last issue. I’m a bit surprised that we haven’t gotten more yet and I’m worried that this last issue will feel too rushed because of this. That said, this is the final issue of this series and plenty is going to happen in this issue so I’m really excited. How will Cyclops die? How will he turn the world against Mutants again? How will this story set up the upcoming event? Let’s find out.

We pick up with the Mutants who have gathered in front of the first Terrigen Cloud in order to stop it. The Stepford Cuckoos seem to doubt the current plan but Emma Frost and Cyclops calm their concerns. Sunfire then turns to Alchemy and the two are ready to put the plan into action. Meanwhile, back in Madrid, Magneto is taking care of the Inhumans that were led by Crystal. Storm attempts to talk with him but Magneto contains the group so Crystal makes a call to the royal family. We then pick up with Sunfire and Alchemy flying above the Terrigen Cloud to destroy it when they are shot down by Inferno who is accompanied by the Inhuman Royal family.

The two groups then begin talking amongst themselves. The Inhumans plan on talking with Cyclops but Emma and Cyclops simply talk with Alchemy again and plan on getting destroying the first Terrigen Cloud when they have the chance. The Mutants are able to sneak Sunfire and Alchemy into the sky again above the cloud. In order to do this, the Stepford Cuckoos step up and distract the royal family. The Cuckoos are quickly captured by Medusa but it is too late and Alchemy begins his descent. He changes the composition of the cloud and makes it completely harmless against Mutants and destroying it. The Mutants begin to rejoice when Sunfire catches Alchemy once again but despite thinking he was safe, Alchemy is terribly sick from the effects of the Terrigen Cloud. Alchemy dies and Cyclops goes off to face the Inhumans alone.

Cyclops and the Inhumans meet in the destroyed cloud. Medusa asks him why he has made their people enemies forever and he tells them that they already were and he isn’t going to listen to what they have to say. Cyclops then delivers and amazing speech about how he has changed so much over the years and now he is simply an idea and ideas never die. He then flares up his eyes to make an attack and Black Bolt unleashes his powers onto him, killing Cyclops while the Mutants (and even some Inhumans) mourn him. We then cut to the funeral for Cyclops where the Mutants have all gathered. They admire Storm’s words about Scott and it’s revealed that she was the one that kept Emma Frost from being detained by the Inhumans.

Emma meets with Alex Summers and he asks her if Scott is still alive because he knows there isn’t a body buried in his grave. He asks her if they are planning something and she simply tells him that she wishes it were so. We then cut to Daisuke who was captured by Magik. He was left in Limbo until the battle was over and Magik returns to free him. He screams in terror and tells her how both the Inhumans and Mutants are all maniacs and Magik doesn’t exactly disagree with him. We cut back to Alex and Emma who come across Scott’s body. Turns out that Scott had actually died on Muir Island back in issue one when he felt the effects of the Terrigen Cloud. Ever since then, Emma used her incredibly strong psychic powers to make everyone believe that Scott was alive so that she could make sure that he became an idea so that he would never truly die. This is where the issue leaves us.

So let me say that up til this issue, the only problem that I had with the story was that it was a tad slow. Unfortunately, this issue changes that. This series was supposed to be the lead up to a new crossover event and it was doing so damn well but then everything is changed. Instead of Cyclops having a slightly misguided view and fighting for his people based on that view, we instead get a story about how a grief-stricken Emma Frost did everything she could to send her people into a war that will most likely claim many lives on both sides. She was so dedicated to the idea of making Cyclops live forever as an idea that she created this whole situation. Granted, I’m not saying that it doesn’t make sense. However, it just makes this whole upcoming situation feel unearned and contrived. In addition, aside from creating a panic in Madrid, I don’t really see how Cyclops made the world fear and hate Mutants once again. It’s just a very odd way to end this story and frankly, there’s a lot more headscratching moments. For instance, why does Daisuke think everyone is crazy now? He was totally on board with being an Inhuman just one issue ago. Suddenly, he is frightened by his own people? It doesn’t make sense.

Bits and Pieces

The final issue of this series takes what was an intriguing story and lead up to a crossover event and instead turns the whole series into a head scratching mess. At this point, Soule and Lemire aren’t even keeping continuity in their own damn miniseries. This issue gets a very special rating because not only is this issue bad, but it also makes the rest of a very enjoyable series worse by association.

5.0/10