The Infernal Hulk #7 - Marvel Comics

THE INFERNAL HULK No. 7, July 2026

Whilst it’s never ever really explained just how the Infernal Hulk suddenly “exerts [a] mysterious control over all mutantkind” and begins “drawing them to his growing army in the horrific Living City”, it’s probably a safe bet that many a fan of this ongoing series will give Phillip Kennedy Johnson a pass due to the unconvincing notion setting up a scintillating scrap between the titular character and the X-Men. True, the confrontation only features those super-heroes located at the Factory Merle in Alaska – so doesn’t include such notable team members such as Wolverine, Rogue, Emma Frost and Ice Man. But this comic does still show Cyclops, Magneto and Magik doing their best against Eldest’s host body.

Furthermore, having horribly killed Marrow when the firstborn of Vinruviel kidnapped the Morlock Leech, the tense atmosphere inside the Sentinel manufacturing plant is arguably pretty palpable during the fight, with a few of the lesser known mutants certainly seeming to be close to a grim, grisly death whenever the Hulk turns his attention upon them. Indeed, at one point even Illyana Rasputina genuinely appears to be upon the cusp of being cut in two by the ‘daughter of horrors’ when the sorceress' Soulsword is taken from her; “This blade is bound… to your life force. Yes? What would happen, then… If I took your head with it?”

Perhaps far less impressive though is how the American author depicts the rest of the leading members of the Marvel Universe, who seem to be huddled up within the safety of the Baxter Building. Only Iron Man has actively challenged the might of the Hulk face-to-face so far, yet the way Reed Richards talks to such untried power-houses like Carol Danvers, Spider-Man, the Scarlet Witch and the Vision, any resistance against Eldest is disappointingly already doomed before it’s even begun.

Likewise, Adam Gorham’s artwork debatably doesn’t do the pulse-pounding punch-up much good either, with poor Sarah’s aforementioned death appearing to be overly gratuitous for no obvious reason. In fact, if it wasn’t for a hastily-sketch Pyro calling her by name some readers might even struggle to recognise that the figure sketched in the comic is actually Marrow, and not some other poor unknown Morlock. Furthermore the illustrator tries to cram in so much action into such thin panels, that there’s little room to really see who is doing what to each other when the action heats up – e.g. Magik actually stabling Hulk through the heart area with her hand-weapon.

The regular cover art of "INFERNAL HULK" #7 by Nic Klein

Uncanny X-Men #8 - Marvel Comics

UNCANNY X-MEN No. 8, March 2025

Outrageously announcing this particular twenty-page periodical as being “an all-out action issue” of “Uncanny X-Men” in its solicitation synopsis, Gail Simone’s actual narrative for “Finale” must have resultantly fallen very flat with its readers due to the comic essentially consisting of numerous word-heavy, conversational pieces and nose-to-nose discussions. Indeed, apart from Doctor Corina Ellis shamefully slapping her minion Scurvy squarely across the chops during the book’s opening, a proper physical blow in anger isn’t thrown amongst any of this publication’s numerous combatants until Professor Xavier’s mental image finally wallops Phillip’s psychological projection straight up into the stratosphere towards the end.

Up until this point, the vast majority of the sedentary storytelling is heavily reliant upon the considerable cast of characters disagreeably bickering with one another, and then supposedly ridding themselves of some malignant influence which has caused them all to be irrationally ireful. Just how the mutants manage to do this isn’t really explained, except through Rogue’s insinuation that the founder of the X-Men is somehow keeping ‘skinny boy’ too distracted to keep up this emotional assault upon her fellow team-mates.

Perhaps even more infuriating though, has to be this four-part storyline’s ending, which rather than show the likes of Cyclops, Jubilee, Wolverine and Gambit absolutely batter the over-confident military might of Graymalkin Prison, simply has the super-heroes impotently walk out of the correctional facility and leave their fellow incarcerated mutants behind. Such a conclusion is arguably far from satisfactory, and genuinely raises some important questions as to just how formidable these two teams supposedly top-tier rosters are when both completely fail to achieve so important a goal; “To Hell with your promises! You’re leaving him to rot. And worse!”

Possibly just as confused by so much talk and so little dynamism is Javier Garron, who undoubtedly does his best to provide this comic’s layouts with some semblance of pace. However, even the most proficient of pencillers can only repeatedly sketch Magik, Juggernaut, Nightcrawler and the Outliers inexplicably floating about in thin air for so long, before eventually resorting to a carousel of largely lack-lustre side-on shots of the two squads just waxing lyrical to one another about how they’d each do things entirely differently.

The regular cover art to "UNCANNY X-MEN" #8 by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson

Uncanny X-Men #7 - Marvel Comics

UNCANNY X-MEN No. 7, February 2025

Despite the first instalment to this comic’s “Raid On Graymalkin” storyline actually featuring in another “Marvel Worldwide” title entirely, Issue Seven of “Uncanny X-Men” still packs a surprising amount of punch. Admittedly, much of the twenty-page periodical’s opening third is understandably focused upon bringing anyone omitting to purchase Jed Mackay’s book bang up to speed with the mini-event’s overall plot. But the tense atmosphere between Rogue and Cyclops is so palpably penned by Gail Simone, that there is still plenty of entertainment to be found from the two former team-mates arguing over the phone.

Of course, the biggest hook to this publication occurs once Anna Marie LeBeau and Scott Summers have decided to attack Professor Xavier’s former home independently of one another, and some of the two squads' biggest hitters plough into the prison with an unbridled passion. These subsequent action sequences are absolutely chock full of pulse-pounding pugilism, such as when Rogue takes out the Blob within an instant of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutant-turned-Trustee making a startling appearance, or a brutally battered Beast finding the physical strength to renew the fight with his overconfident jailers, and should resultantly take any long-term fans back to the glory days of Chris Claremont, when his co-creations took few prisoners and arguably asked even fewer questions.

Another intriguing aspect to the American author’s script though is undoubtedly the short-lived tussle between Rogue and Cyclop’s ‘opposing’ squads. Misunderstandings between some of the New York City-based publisher’s top tier super-teams and the X-Men were always occurring during the Bronze Age of Comics. Yet it’s rare (and thoroughly enthralling) to see the veteran comrades-in-arms slugging it out amongst themselves, even if the kerfuffle is sadly rather short-lived; “This ain’t done, Scott. We both know it. You laid hands on mine.”

Disappointingly, what does probably let this comic down is the decision to intermittently utilise the artistic skills of both David Marquez and Edgar Salazar in the same book, as the two proficient pencillers arguably have disconcertingly different drawing styles. These differences debatably jar the reader from out of the adventure whenever a swap occurs, with Fred Dukes’ tubby alter-ego most notably suffering one of the more overt changes in appearance.

The regular cover art to "UNCANNY X-MEN" #7 by David Marquez & Matthew Wilson