Inhumans vs. X-Men #6

By Jeff Lemire, Charles Soule, Lenil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, David Curiel, and Clayton Cowles.

The end to the Inhuman and X-Men crossover is here in issue #6 of IvX. Medusa and Emma Frost have been leading their respective teams of super powered humans in the hopes of survival. The Terrigen clouds that have enveloped the earth that give the Inhuman’s their powers, kills all mutants. The series so far has received less than stellar reviews, but there is hope to turn this series around. A solid, climatic ending would be a nice little bow on this package of a series.

Lemire and Soule are co-writers on this series with pencils from Francis Yu, inks from Francis Yu and Alanguilan, and colors from Curiel. Having two writers on a book sounds confusing when you think about the coordination it takes to weave together two stories and form cohesive conclusions from two separate arcs of two separate character groups. The story seamlessly goes between the camps of the Inhumans being led by Medusa and the X-Men troops being led by Emma Frost. Frost is such a nice foil to Medusa; both women are leaders and have had to suffer heartache amidst duty to their people. However, their reactions to heartache is what sets them apart. Medusa lets it inspire her, free her, and gives her more purpose to her people while Frost lets it envelop her and consume her with nothing standing in the way of avenging her beloved Scott. Each writer really gets into the motivation behind each leadership style, while showing unwavering support for Medusa and shaky backing from the X-Men for Emma Frost. There is a moment when the threat has been eliminated and Storm urges Frost to stand down, but her blood lust shines through. She advances on the Inhumans, even after the Terrigen clouds have been eliminated.

As the story progresses, what really stands out is the consistent, tremendous art. From splash page to page, the pencils have been very busy in this issue. The heavy action is easy to follow in the panel layouts and panel compositions. The pages leave enough space amidst the action to give proper time to the heavy hitters from both sides. Magneto, Rogue, Karnak, Old Man Logan all are provided their own space to shine and satisfy their fans amidst the flurry of battle. The consistency of the art throughout the issue does allow the story to flow. The detail work we get in this issue is great. The sentinels, the character detail really brings this battle to life. The background shifts from serene snowcaps to terrigen mists and fiery landscapes seamlessly. With the shift in story it is nice to have the consistency in the artwork to give this issue some uniformity while also showcasing the artwork of Francis Yu and Alanguilan.

You might have expected this issue to suck (yeah you can admit it) but it doesn’t. This is a solid issue that really ends this series on a high note. The departing pages the readers get for both the Inhumans and the X-Men are both satisfying and exciting. The last page in particular left us with more questions than answers, and what better way to sell comics than to leave a door open to multiple possibilities. If you are looking at this series as a whole, yeah it was a little lackluster, but this last issue did make up for some of that bad faith that readers might have had.