Inferno was the culmination of a lot of stuff that had been building up through the entire X-Men line since at least the Mutant Massacre. It should still make sense on its own, but it helps if you know more about Madelyne Pryor, the Marauders, and everything that happened in Fall of the Mutants. You should also probably read the X-Terminators miniseries first, as it’s the immediate lead-in to Inferno.

 

This helps.

Powers of X #2 Explained: How Iconic X-Men Villains Become New Allies - IGN

While House of X seems easy enough to follow, Powers requires an article for me to understand it properly.

 

My opinion on Powers of X #2 - This two-title 12 issue mini better be worth it in the end, or I'm done with X-Men.

 

Thanks for the article.

To be honest, this is why I'm enjoying Absolute Carnage. That event is easy to read, understand, and catch up, as well as a fun story.

House of X and Power of X are great stories, but there's a lot of "stop and analyse" moment, which personally I'm not very keen on.

 

I don't know, the only part of Powers of X that I found kind of confusing was the Year 1000 stuff, but that's also the part that I really don't care about so it doesn't bother me that much.

 

I suspect that the going fan theory is correct, Year 100 and Year 1000 are happening in Moira's 9th life.

 

This tends to be Hickman’s style.

 

I'm reading X-Terminators right now, it's on the reading list I have pulled up. I like the art, but the story is a little eh. I don't know who this fire mutant is, he's basically Fred from Scooby Doo.

I'm largely familiar with Madelyne's story up to this point, so that's a plus. I also think I read the Excalibur tie-ins to the story, which I recall being confusing at the time.

X-Terminators had an editorial box referring to X-Men 238, which is the one before where the reading order said to start. I think it was a typo, because N'astirh contacted the Goblin Queen in 239, and 238 doesn't have any connection to Inferno, except by name.

By the way, when did Havok and Madelyne officially get together? Because she acts like they've already been dating in 238 but 239 makes it seem like it's the first time they've slept together.

Also, I like Jean's X-Factor costume. Never seen it before, but I recognize Cyclops' from his newest toy.

 

Marvel Finally Declares Who's Stronger: The Hulk or the Thing

Spoiler

Unfortunately for Ben, he's out of his league for the better part of the fight. While he gets some good licks in, he spends most of the time getting viciously punched around. It's only when he finds himself on the ropes, with a face as badly beaten as Rocky Balboa, that Alicia finally rushes to her new husband's side for a pep talk.

Ben says the Hulk's got him beat six ways to Sunday. But that's when Alicia reminds the blue-eyed Thing what all of us know: he's got more heart than anyone -- and a lot more than a Puppet Master-controlled Hulk.

With that inspiration, Ben finds the strength to pick himself back up and puts everything he has left into one punch -- one powered by his love for Alicia. The sense-shattering punch takes up an entire two-page spread that shows just how powerful and damaging it is. The rock epidermis that covers Ben's arm shatters away as he screams in pain, but the punch so powerful that it knocks the Hulk out cold.

Pretty sure people would find that as a stupid deciding factor as to who’s stronger.

 

The final line from the article isn’t really the best conclusion to make, in my opinion (unless I’m missing something):

Spoiler

After all this time, we finally have our answer: the Thing wins thanks to what he's always had -- heart.

I’m pretty sure the Hulk has a heart as well. He cares for Betty Ross, She Hulk, Rick etc...

 

That's Rusty, the first mutant rescued by X-Factor. He ended up being mostly a romantic interest for Skids but is mostly inconsequential. The X titles between Mutant Massacre and Inferno are so nostalgic for me. That's when I truly became a comic book nerd.

I'm really enjoying House of X and Powers of X! I'm not going too deep into theory just enjoying the ride as it happens.

 

CBR has some pretty poorly-written articles. The story makes it very clear that the Hulk is far stronger and far more durable. Thing doesn't really stand a chance and takes more and more damage as the fight goes on, while the Hulk is just fine. Ben's last punch knocks the Hulk out, but only because it was somehow powerful enough to affect the puppet that Puppet Master was using to control the Hulk, while injuring Ben's hand in the process.

 

Yeah, Rusty never really amounted to much. He and Skids spent the first half of the 90s getting brainwashed and tossed between various different villain teams. Then he died.

 

Legacy virus? I quit Marvel in the 90s and just read Indies, Starman, Sandman, and Transmet.

 

Murdered by Holocaust.

 

This fucking family.

 

IGN posted an eerily similar article

 

I sometimes wonder if these guys even read the issue they're writing about. The Thing is NOT stronger than the Hulk, he just hung in there and survived, and got one final haymaker in that injured himself worse than it injured the Hulk, but it finally knocked the Hulk out, which is I presume what severed the control the Puppet Master had over him.

It's a good issue. I've read the last four or five of the current series, and I think I'm adding FF to my pull list. Haven't been a fan in the past, but between the first omnibus and the last few issues of the current series, I'm liking these characters.

 

Okay so, I think I only needed to read the New Mutants issues of Inferno to get what I came for, but the whole thing was good. I can only imagine what it must have been like to have been hundreds of issues deep in these stories only for everything to pop off at once.

- Jean goes down in the shuttle: 1976
- Dark Phoenix Saga ends: 1980
- Magik trapped in Limbo: 1982
- Madelyne Pryor introduced: 1983
- First mention of Sinister by name: 1986
- Baby Cable is kidnapped: 1987
- The X-Men "die," move to Australia: 1988
- Inferno: 1989

So, technically speaking, this story pays off 13 years of buildup at the most charitable. 9 is perhaps the more accurate assessment.