A.X.E.: Judgement Day has been an interesting event so far. It’s pivoted in some ways from its opening battle to become a far more interesting event story. Debates about roles, actions, judgment, and gods, have created a story that’s as much philosophy as it is action. It’s also a story that overflows. Often we get events with miniseries and one-shot tie ins that feel more like cash-ins than really enhancing the story. Here, we get something a bit different, as each tie-in so far feels more like an addendum, adding to the overall story. As if writer Kieron Gillen can’t fit everything into the main series and needs more notes to really flesh things out. A.X.E.: Death to Mutants #2 is an example of that delivering a mix of new and events we’ve seen before.

A.X.E.: Death to Mutants #2 continues the trend showing us the battle on Krakoa and the Deviants joining forces with the mutant nation. We’ve seen that asking for an alliance elsewhere, but here we get greater detail as to the motivation, adding depth and sympathy to Kro and his decisions. We also get to see how this decision impacts Kor’s judgement as well as the entire Deviant nation.

But beyond that, we see the struggle of so many to deal with the current situation. The Eternals themselves are torn in multiple ways as to what to do. They’re confronted by a new god who is here to judge them and some want to reason while others see the Eternals as a force that’s long past its use. There’s also the introduction of a new player on the board, one who should shake things up. It’s an event we’ve seen elsewhere but here we get more details about it all.

Guiu Vilanova‘s art is good. I’m not the biggest fan of the style overall but it looks generally good. With color by Alex Guimarães and lettering by Travis Lanham the team balances big battles with more subdued moments. There’s also a lot packed in with a lot of settings, dozens of characters, and just such varied situations. But, it all flows together nicely and even as different “segments,” it all works and works well.

A.X.E.: Death to Mutants #2 feels like the expanded version of A.X.E.: Judgement Day. It fleshes out characters and events giving us more depth as to what’s going on. It enhances the story, not working on its own but instead building on what’s elsewhere creating a greater tableau.

Story: Kieron Gillen Art: Guiu Vilanova
Color: Alex Guimarães Letterer: Travis Lanham
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.1 Recommendation: Buy

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

---

Purchase: comiXology/Kindle