Written by: Kieron Gillen
Art by: Valerio Schiti
Colors by: Marte Gracia
Letters by: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Mark Brooks
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: September 14th, 2022
A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4 takes the Eros genie out of the bottle to develop a plan to unite the planet in peace and love long enough to withstand the Progenitor’s judgment. Will it work? Of course, not.
Is It Good?
There’s a pattern emerging in Gillen’s writing that comes through loud and clear in A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4. Stuff in esoteric nonsense, pepper in wild action setpieces that have very little effect on the plot, sprinkle in a dash of character moments to elicit a human albeit irrelevant reaction, and then wow the reader with a big, meaningful moment on the last page or two. If you strip away everything but the last four pages in this issue, you miss nothing of importance.
The big question remains – Are the last four pages worth the cover price? Maybe.
At the end of issue #3, the Eternals decided to release Eros as a method of last resort. They plan to use Eros as a love amplifier in the hopes of swaying Progenitor long enough to get most of the population to pass Judgment. Eros isn’t down with the idea, so he concocts an alternate plan to get Druig to unleash the Uni-Mind to include the mutants (since they’re now “proven” to be offshoots of Deviants) and vote in favor of making Eros the Prime Eternal to shut it all down. In between the maneuvering and shenanigans, Druig unleashes Uranos on Earth, Magneto gets a little payback, and Twitter fails her judgment.
So, what’s the problem? The problem is the lack of rules, rhyme, or reason behind the Progenitor’s criteria for passing judgment. It’s not based on moral character, being true to thine own self, being a hero, being a villain, lying, telling the truth, being humble, being arrogant, or anything that’s remotely discernible. Progenitor’s rules for judging appear to be random happenstance, so there’s no way to convince it to allow the Earth to live.
Progenitor’s actions make no sense. All the actions taken by the Eternals and Mutants amount to nothing. And up to the last four pages, the story ends right where it started.
Therefore, it comes down to the last four pages. They hit hard, fast, and final. If the outcome sticks, it will have far-reaching consequences for the Marvel universe. Will they stick? Unlikely, but it will be interesting to find out.
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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Final Thoughts:
A.X.E.: Judgment Day #4 makes a lot of noise, brims with high energy and fast pacing, but ultimately runs around like a chicken with its head cut off until the last four pages. The ending hits big, hard, and fast. Are those last four pages worth a $4.99 cover price? Probably not, but it will be interesting to see what happens next.
Weird Science Marvel Comics 