- Written by: Kieron Gillen
- Art by: Pasqual Ferry
- Colors by: Dean White
- Letters by: VC’s Clayton Cowles
- Cover art by: Carlos Pacheco Rafael Fonteriz, Rachelle Rosenberg (cover A)
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: July 13, 2022
Avengers – X-Men – Eternals: Eve of Judgment #1 follows the Eternals in the aftermath of Thanos’s attack on Lemuria and the evolved Deviants. An age of peace and understanding is in bloom, but Druig has decided today is a good day to eradicate all mutants.
Is It Good?
Avengers – X-Men – Eternals: Eve of Judgment #1 does what it sets out to do – explain who’s behind the coming Judgment Day conflict and why. If you’ve been keeping up with Gillen’s Eternals run, this issue is simply a continuation of that series that acts as a prologue to the Judgment Day event. If you’re not up to speed on the Eternals and are not used to Gillen’s penchant for writing prose masquerading as a comic, this issue is a slog.
Once you peel back the dozens of layers of setup, this issue comes down to one thing, Druig has decided he wants to eradicate the mutants to fulfill his internal imperative to “Correct Excess Deviation.” That’s it. There’s no fancy revelation recently come to light or a malevolent influence come to exact revenge on mutant-kind. Mutants have a greater than average amount of Deviant genetics, and they’ve grown too powerful. Druig, the newly established leader of the Eternals, has casually decided to eliminate mutants as a show of strength in his new leadership role. The end.
Once you get that central concept down, the rest of the issue is either focused on relationship-building or Makkari and Ajak’s recent idea to create a god… for some unexplained reason. It would be unfair to say this issue has a basic takeaway wrapped in a lot of fluff, but you will have to do a LOT of reading. There’s no action, so the energy and the visual interest are low. You don’t have to be fully committed to the Judgment Day event to read this issue, but it helps.
While there’s no action to speak of, the pressure is on Ferry, White, and Cowles to deliver art that holds your attention. Mostly, they deliver. The facial expressions project the emphasis needed to provide gravity to each conversation, and White’s coloring is gorgeous. Put bluntly, the words may bore you, but the pictures are pretty.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces
Avengers – X-Men – Eternals: Eve of Judgment #1 is an excellent charter-building prologue for the Judgement Day event. This issue is all talk and no action, but you get the key behind who wants the mutants dead and why. The art is excellent, and every dialog scene is well-written, but you may find this issue a struggle to get through if you’re unfamiliar with the Eternals.
Weird Science Marvel Comics 