Marvel’s X-Terminators follows Dazzler, Boom-Boom, and Jubilee after a girls’ night out turns into a blood-soaked battle in a deadly arena. This book is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds. Dazzler just broke up with her cheating boyfriend, but it turns out he was a vampire who runs an arena where people fight to the death. Things aren’t going so well for this girl gang. Written by Leah Williams with art by Carlos Gómez, colors by Bryan Valenza, letters by Travis Lanham, and design by Tom Muller, X-Terminators #2 is raunchy, rowdy, and ruthlessly fun.
X-Terminators #2 opens with a splash page content advisory warning — this book is intended for mature audiences only and lives up to that warning. Dazzler was just looking for a nice girls’ night out, looking to get wasted and forget about her breakup for a while. Unfortunately, she didn’t know her ex was a vampire. This complication all three heroes in a blood-soaked battle through an ever-changing environment. Things get even weirder when they find out that Laura Kinney, aka Wolverine, is the reigning champ of the place.
Williams crushes this book. A quote on the credits page, “This book is gleefully stupid”, sums things up perfectly. It knows exactly what it’s trying to be and nails it. There’s foul language galore, chaos and carnage everywhere, and some fan-favorite mutants letting completely loose with their powers. This book certainly isn’t for everyone, but fans looking for over-the-top action will fall in love with it. It’s clear that Williams had a lot of fun writing this, which makes it that much more fun to read.
Gómez’s art is splendid from cover to cover. Violence is one of the main attractions, and there is certainly no shortage of it. This issue features dismemberment, doppelganger fights, explosions, and so much blood. Every character in this book is also drop-dead gorgeous, something the story is acutely aware of and plays into. The action is brutal and impressively easy to follow, thanks to intelligent paneling. X-Terminators is a joy to look at as long as readers know what they’re signing up for.
Valenza’s colors are top-notch throughout. The overall color palette skews more light than dark, almost as if there is a bright sheen over everything, which fits the lighthearted tone of the book. The lightness is ironic, given the mature content, but it works brilliantly. The bright colors also fit Dazzler, Boom-Boom, and Jubilee’s powers perfectly. The sheer amount of blood is also noteworthy. Keeping that volume of liquid legible with everything else on the page is a feat worthy of praise. Lanham’s letters are great, with appropriately placed dialogue boxes dancing along the pages. The lettering and Muller’s design also get a chance to shine on the content warning page and a later case file page.
There is so much to love about this book. It’s a series that sets out to have a blast with an outlandish concept and delivers on all fronts. Letting these characters loose with a story aimed at adults offers a breath of fresh air and makes them feel more real. Their reactions to the carnage on each page are priceless. With X-Terminators #2, Williams, Gómez, Valenza, and Lanham deliver a ludicrously good, gory time.
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