Review by Antony Ellis

“Messiah War – Conclusion”

Writers: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, with epilogue written by Duane Swierczynski
Art: Clayton Crain, with epilogue art by Ariel Olivetti
Letterer: Cory Petit
Assistant Editor: Jody LeHeup
Editor: John Barber
Published by Marvel Comics

It has been no secret that we here at TheComicAddiction.com and the X-Men centric podcast X-Addiction have been rather let down by Messiah War, as the sequel Messiah Complex. The reasons for this are many (and not as you might thing just due to Deadpool’s foolish inclusion) but the main crux of the matter is that the drama and tension found in all of Messiah Complex’s thirteen issues was hardly to be found in Messiah War’s seven issue storyline – and this isn’t simply an issue of length. That being said, Kyle and Yost do manage to pull it back in this concluding issue, although admittedly the tension is created by constant reference to the team’s mission prior to the time travelling escapade.

We rejoin our team just as Bishop has the opportunity to kill Hope (again – just pull the damn trigger!) and Stryfe has all Warpath, Elixir, Cable and Wolverine at his boot, whilst Domino, Vanisher and X-23 attempt to sort out the “shield” that is preventing them from time sliding home. All seems lost for our mutants as Archangel appears with an unlikely ally in an awesome juxtaposition of the expected.

The problem with Messiah War is unlike Messiah Complex I feel that little has changed now it’s over. The Swierczynski penned epilogue does little to make me believe that Cable’s time jumping cat and mouse plot will change any time soon, and whilst I’m excited to see X-Force get back into the Leper Queen storyline, you do sort of get the feeling that Messiah War was more of a nuisance than a passion for the writing team, and as such the nasty taste of the middle, lacklustre chapter of a trilogy is definitely palatable here.

Crain’s art is different too, it is much muddier and frenzied, and whilst this is lightly reflective of the action, it doesn’t fit with the presentation of the previous X-Force chapters which is a shame. That being said there are still some great shots including the arrival of Archangel on the scene and Domino’s brutal fix of the time jump shielding problem.

Messiah War was ultimately a letdown that will be remembered for bolstered the sales of Cable and disturbing the flow of X-Force during an amazing arc, and perhaps little else, which considering where the tale of Hope Summers began, is a little sad. Little seems to have changed and the X-Line remains untouched by this three month ‘event’. That being said X-Fans have Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia (also out this week) for that big event fix!

Rating: 6 out of 10 (Slightly Above Average)

Messiah War Rating: 4 out of 10 (Slightly Below Average)