After the excellent A.X.E.: Judgment Day, I’d wager most readers are going to snatch up every tie-in to the event, and that includes A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants #1. If you’re wondering what the “good” Eternals are up to, look no further than this new tie-in one-shot by Kieron Gillen and Guiu Vilanova.
If you haven’t been reading the Eternals series or the event, you’ll want to hold off reading this issue. Deeply tied into recent events and what Gillen has been up to in his main run on Eternals, this Death to the Mutants opens with a handy guide as to what the head Eternal Druig has been up to. That includes killing mutants on Arakko and attacking Krakoa with the general goal of killing as many mutants as possible. It has been determined Mutants are Deviants, and thus the Eternal’s central purpose is to kill Mutants.
As this issue shows, a select few of Eternals, mostly the Eternals we’ve come to expect as being “good guys”, are hatching a plan. They don’t want mutants harmed and are sickened by the knowledge that Eternals are reborn at the cost of one innocent human dying. They fundamentally stand against what they are, or maybe were, and this issue is about how they can help Mutants get an edge.
A decent recap of all the terrible things the bad Eternals have done.
Credit: Marvel
This issue is more for the fans of the Eternals. The “good” Eternals have been largely absent from the main event so far, so it’s good to check in on them. That said, it’s a lot of grumbling and standing around in this issue, leaving you wanting.
This issue gets too much into the weeds of Eternal politics and their familial connections. Once you finish, there’s clear progress made, like allowing Xavier to gain an advantage in a battle of the mind, but a healthy chunk of the issue is not very interesting. The art by Vilanova is very static, with characters mostly standing around, or if they are fighting, it looks about as interesting as standing around.
There’s a wonderful explanation by Gillen on how Xavier may be far more powerful than the Eternal he’s fighting, but using RPG logic, it makes a lot of sense why he’s in a stalemate. Little things like that and the ever-enjoyable voice of the Great Machine add flecks of enjoyable captioning throughout the issue.
The events taking place in A.X.E.: Death to the Mutants are important to the larger story, but there isn’t quite enough here to warrant a purchase unless you’re a die-hard Eternals fan. As it stands, it’s a so-so tie-in that could have used more mutants, more action, and more things for these characters to do. At best, this issue feels like a decent backup story rather than a full issue adventure.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.