A.X.E.: Judgment Day kicked off by not holding back as Druig and the Eternals laid waste to Krakoa and Arakko. Arakko in particular possibly got the worst of the attack based on the glimpses of how Uranos the Undying completely decimated everyone on the planet. Now X-Men: Red #5 appears to be where we will get the full scope of what Uranos did during his attack on the planet of Arakko. What new things will we learn from this event during A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1? Let’s find out with X-Men: Red #5
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Colorist: Federico Blee
SYNOPSIS
The Great Ring of Arakko and SWORD aren’t given much time to plan out what to do with the Eternals coming as Uranos is already approaching. Before Uranos arrives Isca the Unbeaten beheads Idyll and appears to switch sides. Nightcrawler quickly teleports Isca to Earth to take her off the board.
Uranos finally arrives to take on Great Ring of Arakko and SWORD right away. Magneto, Cable, Legion, Xilo the First Defender, Orb Serrata, and Lodus Logos all fight Uranos.
Meanwhile Nova and the Brotherhood of Mutants defend all the people of Arakko attempting to escape the planet to safety.
Uranos power eventually completely overwhelms everyone. He proceeds to rip out Magneto’s heart and kills everyone in the area afterwards.
With the planet completely decimated Uranos leaves believing everyone is dead.
After Uranos is clearly gone Xilo pulls Lodus Logos out of where he was hidden away. As Lodus Logo thinks of a plan to strike back Magneto appears with a new heart. Magneto says he is now taking command of things. End of issue.
REVIEW
With A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1 only giving us a glimpse at what happened on Arakko Al Ewing and Stefano Caselli stepped up to tell us that story with X-Men: Red #5. It is not a complete home run as X-Men: Red #5 does have to work within the restrictions of what took place in A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1. Even then Ewing and Caselli find a way to continue the narrative this series has had since the first issue.
One of the best things about X-Men: Red #5 was the decision to have a running countdown throughout this issue. There was a sense of dread with each minute that was visibly passing as we all knew coming into this issue what Uranos did. It gave knowing the end result the twist it needed to create a sense of concern as to how everything goes down as Ewing and Caselli get you absorbed with all the action and character decisions.
The big surprise that X-Men: Red #5 does provide is the seeming betrayal by Isca the Unbeaten. Isca lives up to her name of as she knows that Arakko is on the losing side as soon as Uranos approaches. Isca showing her betrayal by beheading Idyll was a brutal way to present the character’s turning against Arakko. Now we have a secondary villain within that a compelling narrative can be built around in X-Men: Red that stays within the context of the events going down in A.X.E.: Judgment Day.
The fight Uranos further put over how an unstoppable force of nature that Uranos is. Ewing and Caselli did a great job putting over how powerful Uranos truly is. It definitely leaves a greater impression on the character being one to watch as A.X.E.: Judgment Day goes on.
While it was a losing effort Magneto, Cable, Legion, Xilo the First Defender, Orb Serrata, and Lodus Logos were all able to showcase themselves as defenders. Even as everything they threw at Uranos wasn’t working they made sure to keep the Eternal’s attention on them. This bought Nova and the Brotherhood of Mutants some much needed room to help as many people escape the planet. All of this really helped build out the massive scale that A.X.E.: Judgment Day has as an event. And for a tie-in issue that is what you want to see if happen as X-Men: Red #5 is a true companion to Marvel’s latest big event.
FINAL THOUGHTS
X-Men: Red #5 delivers on what it needed to be as we get a full look at Uranos attack on Arakko that we only got glimpses of in A.X.E.: Judgment Day #1. Even knowing the end results of the story in this comic book Al Ewing and Stefano Caselli were able to craft a narrative that pulled you into finding out what went down on Arakko. If you are reading A.X.E.: Judgment Day I highly recommend picking up X-Men: Red #5.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10