I take back any bad thing I ever said about the Hell on Earth War. I can’t believe I ever doubted Peter David. This story has been fantastic so far. PAD is writing it at such a fast pace that the story never slows down, it never lingers. I thought all of his previous high-concept mythical stories had that problem. They stretched on forever until their impact no longer mattered. But so far, PAD and this story are on a roll.

X-Factor #251

Though if I’m being entirely honest, when PAD explains the motivation behind the Hell on Earth War in this issue, it’s a far-fetched and arbitrary. But I’m comfortable with it.

Comic Rating: 4/5: Good!

The justification for this war is kind of silly. There’s no way around it. The idea of all of Marvel’s various hell lords getting into a fight is a cool one. It definitely has potential. But PAD comes up with a very arbitrary reason for their fight. At least he ties it into the X-Factor story in a neat way. That’s a definite strength of the story so far. All of the storylines PAD has been crafting over the past few years are coming together in a smooth way, from the birth of Tier to the corruption of Strong Guy. And while it’s sad to see Strong Guy as such a villain, it’s definitely adding to the personal feel of the story. This is X-Factor’s story and they are at the heart of the action.

Any story can be about the devil fighting a bunch of other devils for the rulership of Hell. And any story can feature superheroes beating up bad guys. But you’re not going to have a good story unless you’ve got good characters, and unless the reader actually cares about the characters. Well PAD has got things down pat, and the Hell on Earth War is burning up!

Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.

The issue opens with Monet and Darwin left alone in the rubble of X-Factor HQ. The others were teleported away by the Hell Lords, leaving Monet to try and beat answers out of Darwin. He tries to tell her to back off, that he’s had the power of Hel since he faced her in Las Vegas, but Monet doesn’t care and just keeps fighting! She wants to know where everyone went!

Turns out they went to the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, where Layla is trying to use a magical shield to keep them safe from the various Hell Lords – and Guido. Tier continues to narrate, which is both good and bad. On the one hand, I don’t particularly care about Tier. On the other hand, he’s kind of key to the story, so maybe it’s a good idea to flesh him out. He’s definitely more mellow these days than when he first appeared as a demonic evil baby.

Leonard Kirk’s art remains very impressive.

That’s a lot of ugly demon types

Madrox is not very worried about being surrounded by literal interpretations of the devil. Madrox isn’t afraid. Even when Pluto, from Greek mythology, breaks Layla’s force shield, Madrox still has a plan for getting Tier to safety. Even if the plan involves a lot of running and general chaos.

Multiple Man multiplies to create enough dupes to distract everyone from the fleeing Tier. Shatterstar hurls himself at several of the deities, intending to take them head-on. Everyone tries to leap into the fray, but the members of X-Factor are easily cast aside. It’s not exactly a fair fight. But then Madrox simply plans to run away with Tier. They almost make it until Mephisto appears to block his path. Don’t worry, Madrox has a plan for that.

He’s Dirty Harry all of a sudden

Not exactly the best idea when battling the devil.

Thankfully, the boy’s mother in a werewolf, and Rahne jumps into the fight! Buuuuut…she doesn’t really stand a chance against Mephisto either, and he easily knocks her aside to pick up Tier. Mephisto is about to get the kill when he’s suddenly stabbed through the back with a sword!

Betrayed by his own daughter Jezebel! But not Guido, apparently.

Oh Guido, you’re breaking my heart

Right in the feels.  Guido looks pretty unrepentant at this point. What a shame.

Anyway, Jezebel grabs Madrox and Tier and teleports everyone back to X-Factor’s HQ. They find Monet, who is no worse for wear, and Darwin, who clearly got the crap beat out of him. Layla crouches down to check on him, and Darwin is still awake, but barely. He locks eyes with Layla and asks if she knows that Monet is dying. He felt it when they fought, and so he let her just beat on him. Layla whispers that she knows. No one else heard them, and she tells Madrox that Darwin can be moved.

That’s a pretty interesting twist. Monet is dying? Where did that come from? It’s kind of sad, but it’s a nice little twist, and introduced in such a personal way. I like it.

So they all flee to Central Park, where they have a moment to catch their breaths and ask Jezebel what the hell is happening. Jezebel explains the whole point behind the Hell on Earth War…and this is the part that I thought was kind of silly.

Basically, several million years ago, all the Hell Lords were fighting for domination. They built demonic armies and went to war again and again and again. Until one day, the light showed up and told them to delay their battles for awhile. I guess Marvel isn’t going to settle on any Heaven Lords at this point. But the light set an arbitrary deadline that they will have a truce until the 7th billion person is born on Earth. Then whoever kills that person will be the ruler of all the hells.

Don’t look directly at it

First of all, what’s with the light? Clearly Marvel isn’t going to depict God (apparently), so why even bother with the light? Second, why the hell should the 7th billion person matter? It’s like this omnipresent light just picked a random number. And even then, killing said person to determine the ruler of all hells? Why would any of them adhere to those rules? Like I said, this seems silly and arbitrary. But it’s the story, so let’s move on.

It turns out, Tier is that 7th billion person. That’s why everybody wants to kill him.

What comes next is a fun scene as the members of X-Factor try to decide if they should go to the Avengers or the X-Men for help…

Nobody ever thinks to ask the Defenders

They don’t get long to decide because Pluto finds them. He smashes through the wall and attacks!

This is a rip-roaring adventure. It rarely slows down, and when it does, it’s to give the characters a moment to be charming and fun. There hasn’t been anything too emotionally extreme just yet, so perhaps we’re building up to it. For now, it’s just a lot of X-Factor fun, and that’s fine by me. Madrox is excelling as leader and the rest of the cast are admirable each in their own way. PAD even finds time to add new wrinkles, like that revelation about Monet. PAD is handling his characters very well as this story is going along. Granted, it’s a shame that Guido is a bad guy now, but the change in Jezebel to being a hero is neat. I look forward to see what he does with her.

And I look forward to see what PAD does with the whole rest of the story.