Universe X #10

Background

Isaac Christians has been chronicling the prophesies of Kyle Richmond. Viewing the past, present, and future, the two work to record the events transpiring three years after the lighting of the first Human Torch which so far include the resurrection of the Invisible Woman and the journey of Captain America and the newly reborn Captain Mar-Vell to collect various artefacts of the Marvel Universe. The quest ultimately leads Cap to his death.

Under the guise of Mr. Chruch, Mephisto begins to make his move as he seizes the followers of the Church of Immortus and uses Kyle's prophesies to help the Tong of Creel find all the pieces of Absorbing Man. Peter Parker, in an effort to preserve New York's Human Torch, offers Spiders Man a chance to join his side. Mar-Vell's has plan has also been revealed, he wants to kill Death and create heaven.

Reed Richards is confronted by those who were mutated by the Terrigen Mists to more horrific ends than most others. They pledge their support to continue his work to burn away the mists.

Story Details

We begin with what at first appears to be the origin of Mephisto. Instead, it's just an explanation of his motives. He would use humans to create new timelines to mess around in by either convincing them they were prominent demons through mutation, or manipulating events to create heroes to oppose them.

Isaac murmurs his final few words of repentance to Kyle before crumbling to dust. Mephisto arrives to try and pry some more information from Kyle, but he can no longer see into the future which means his death is near.

In New York, Loki decides to give the final piece of Absorbing Man to the Tong of Creel who finally reassemble him. Meanwhile Immortus tears his face off to reveal that of Kang the Conqueror. The NYPD make their final stand against the Church of Immortus with Iceman too exhausted to maintain the wall. The mob begins to run away when they're overwhelmed by a multitude of Daredevils.

On Wundagore Mountain, Mar-Vell finds Adam Warlock who joins his group. He then returns to New York to pick up Machine Man and Kyle Richmond, Kyle's ability to see the future having just returned to him. They then travel to Limbo to confront Belasco with the truth that he's actually Nightcrawler after having been twisted by Mephisto. Belasco ignores them and takes Mar-Vell by the throat, threatening to kill him.

In the realm of the dead, Mephisto arrives shortly before the civil war breaks out and greets his daughter: Death.

General Comments

While not quite as rapid as the last issue in its pace, there's still quite a bit going on in this one. Nightcrawler being Belasco is a bit odd, though the justification of Mephisto wishing to see a pure demon be corrupted makes sense. It's still hard to imagine someone like Nightcrawler being so easily manipulated though considering the large role faith plays for his character. I would guess that he would realize that Mephisto is a liar.

Loki aiding the Tong of Creel is odd, though it's likely he does so to meet his own ends. What those are however, are still only known to him. Loki certainly hasn't done much to be considered a vital aid to the Tong as they probably could have taken the hands without him. Loki continues to act in a way that has yet to be logically revealed, but there are still a few issues to go.

The scene of the approaching battle in the land of the dead was a bit visually underwhelming. While it would be incredibly difficult to craft something like that which is literally a cast of millions to a satisfactory scale, a mass of grey with minimal detail is a bit boring. You get some of the size, but not much else.

Overall Rating

Nice stuff. Not as good with the build up as the last issue, but still intriguing.