Thursday at Marvel's "Mondo Marvel " panel at San Diego at Comic-Con, Marvel Comics announced plans for a new event with old connections to the Marvel Universe: X-Men: Infernus. Details are still sketchy but it's shorthand title, "Inferno II," may give X-Men fans an idea of what to expect in the storyline. The four-issue miniseries is slated to begin in December. The artist for the series is yet to be named, although David Finch will provide the covers.
Abridged Crossover History Lesson: Inferno was an X-Men crossover from the late ‘80s that spanned the breadth of the X-titles of the day. The evil of Inferno spilled over into a number of other titles as well; including Daredevil and Spider-Man.
Centered on New York City, the demons of Limbo invaded Earth;
perverting everything in their wake with evil—all the while the
sinister machinations of Mr….um, *ahem*… Sinister and his clone of Jean
Grey culminated at the apex of the insanity—and the X-Men, who were
thought to be dead, reunited with X-Factor and the New Mutants, to
thwart the evil demons and Mr. Sinister for the win.
This new event, which will feature a core mini-series and tie-ins that
have yet to be determined already boasts the return of more than one
character from past continuity as well as the deaths of others.
Newsarama contacted CB Cebulski (with a special cameo from X-Editor, Nick Lowe) to see just how hot things are going to be getting for this sizzling new event from Marvel Comics.
Newsarama: First off CB, does Inferno II have anything to do with the events in Divided We Stand Book 2 and Illyana Rasputin's return as Darkchilde?
CB Cebulski: Yes, the Darkchilde story in Divided We Stand 2 was direct set up for this story. And for those that missed it, it will be reprinted in the new Return of Magic one-shot coming out in September!
NRAMA: How does Infernus relate to the first event--nearly 20 years ago? Comic book time is weird...
CBC: And Limbo time is even weirder. You'll just have to read to find out.
NRAMA: A lot of crazy stuff happened the last time around--will the scale of this project be as far-reaching?
CBC: It won't be as far-reaching the first one. The greater Marvel Universe will just be coming off of Secret Invasion
and that series has a lot of ramifications and deep impact on the
heroes and villains as a whole. So this won't be an event on the scale
of that size; we don't wanna do one biggie right after the other I
don't think fans would want that either.
However, in terms of the X-Men universe, this will be huge! It will
affect a handful of different X-characters very deeply on physical and
several emotional levels, and change a few in ways they don't see
coming.
NRAMA: What is the structure of this new event?
CBC: A four issue mini-series with a few possible tie-ins, like X-Men Manifest Destiny 2 and 3, and a few other books that will be determined.
NRAMA: Does this "Inferno" have the same Dantian overtones and corruption of evil?
CBC: Yes.
NRAMA: Demons?
CBC: Oh, yes.
NRAMA: Buildings and buses eating people...that sort of thing?
CBC: Things will get crazy!
NRAMA: Will there be characters returning from the dead during this event?
CBC: I thought dead means dead.
NRAMA: Flipside then - will there be any characters that die?
CBC: Does die mean die?
NRAMA: Any chance the X-Terminators will make a comeback?
CBC: Not in this event. Sorry.
NRAMA: Most of the themes of the original Inferno crossover dealt with corruption from the inside--will anyone be turning bad?
CBC: Yes. And the bad will get badder.
NRAMA: There were scores of villains in the first Inferno--any
familiar faces this time around? S'ym, N'astirh, or Belasco (not that
he was in the first one...)?
CBC: Yes, yes, and maybe.
NRAMA: CB, how much of an impact did the original Inferno have on you?
CBC: I loved it. I've always been a huge X-head and followed
every issue of every title for as long as I can remember. I loved the
original Inferno, especially the New Mutants role in it as they have
always been my favorite characters. It's an honor for me to be writing
this one and using some of them in such an integral way.
NRAMA: Will the events of this second Inferno have longer lasting effects than the previous one?
CBC: You'll just have to wait and see.
NRAMA: The Phoenix Force manifested during the previous Inferno...any chance...you know...Jean Grey?
CBC: Nick?
Nick Lowe: Are you suggesting that I am Jean Grey? Well I have worn a red wig a few times…
