X-Men: Inferno Crossovers [Rilegato]

X-Men Inferno Crossovers is an Omnibus-size graphic novel that collects Power Pack #40 and #42-44, Avengers #298-300, Fantastic Four #322-324, Amazing Spider-Man #311-#313, Spectacular Spider-Man #146-148, Web of Spider-Man #47-48, Daredevil #262-263 and #265, Excalibur #6-7, and Cloak and Dagger #4, all originally published between 1988 and 1989. Like other Marvel Omnibuses, the production quality is high: bright coloring on low-gloss paper, a solid binding, an attractive dust jacket, and finished boards with bronze foil-stamping. No bonus content is included, however, unless you count the single page "Previously..." that provides background for these issues.

Despite the title's use of the name "X-Men," the crossover issues collected here generally have only a single, minor link to Marvel's X-books, and that is their setting--a hell-ravaged Manhattan that is suffering not only a murderous heat wave but also an epidemic of demonically possessed appliances (seriously!). The various series that make up this graphic novel do not intersect with each other or the actual Inferno event (collected in X-Men: Inferno) in any significant fashion, but they do a good job of exploiting the setting for its story-telling potential. The result is a collection of self-enclosed stories that explore the psychologies of Marvel's New York-based superheros and the people close to them. Overall, the writers and artists working on these crossovers deliver some great riffs on the Manhattan-as-hell premise. Particular highlights are Walter Simonson and John Buscema's Jarvis-centered Avengers story, the Spider-Man multi-series storyline (with Todd McFarlane, Sal Buscema, and Alex Saviuk on pencils), and Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr.'s hellish, psychedelic Daredevil story.

Overall, this is a strong, coherent collection that is arguably a better read than the main Inferno event that spawned it. For its price, it's an excellent sample of the Marvel Comics universe at the beginning of 1989. For X-fans, however, this collection offers no material directly related to Marvel's mutants save the Excalibur issues (which are also collected in X-Men: Excalibur Classic, Vol. 2 - Two-Edged Sword) and the single Cloak & Dagger issue.

This book is not essential reading. If you loved Inferno, this is interesting enough to read but doesn't really add anything except the Excalibur issues. It is basically a collection of the other super-heroes dealing with the demon invasion. The Avengers issues are when the team disbanded and reformed with half of the Fantastic Four. The Fantastic Four issues are without Reed and Sue Richards. Power Pack is okay but I'm not the biggest fan of that series. There are eight Spider-Man comics collected here and they are the hightlight of the book. The three Amazing Spider-Man issues are from Todd McFarlane's run. Daredevil is actually interesting here too. Excalibur ties in the best, but that is to be expected since it is by Chris Claremont. These two issues really should have been in the main Inferno book. This is the only time the Goblin Queen appears in the book. Al Davis' art is outstanding as well. The Cloak and Dagger story finishes the epilogue well but ends with a cliffhanger that I actually wanted to read! The New Mutants make an appearance in Cloak and Dagger and Power Pack. No X-Men or X-Factor appearances here. Overall it is a book for completists only. If you can only afford one book, get the main Inferno omnibus. It is a good buy for the cheap price on amazon. I actually had to send one copy back due to the cover stuck to the book. My second copy had the same problem. Probably a problem from production.

I like how it shows the effect of the storyline on different characters outside the x-men. Especially the way characters like daredevil and spiderman are effected.