Reviews

X-Men: Hellfire Gala - The Red Carpet Collection by Al Ewing, Jonathan Hickman, Gerry Duggan

lyrafay12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful lighthearted tense medium-paced

4.25

nick_jenkins's review against another edition

5.0

Douglas Wolk's book All of the Marvels convinced me to pay serious attention to the ambition and complexity of what is basically a unique form of storytelling—and the Hellfire Gala event is a perfect encapsulation of Marvel's ambition, complexity, and uniqueness.

jammasterjamie's review against another edition

4.0

I think that the hype had raised my expectations for this event a little bit too much. Stories all were fine and the art for the most-part was glorious, but the fact that such a big event that carried through all of the X-Books really only had a handful of plot-points that amounted to anything makes me feel a little let down. Yes, some exciting doors for future stories have been busted wide open, but the same could have been accomplished in a more concise manner (that would have been less costly for the consumer). All on all, a fun and enjoyable read, but I was expecting a bit more from it, I guess. Basically, a three-star read, with one bonus star added for all of the cameos of comedians that the artists peppered throughout the series. I caught Conan O'Brien at least twice, Jason Mantzoukas, Paul Scheer, and Mark Maron and a bunch of others as well. It'll probably be worth a re-read just to try to catch them all, but not really for any reason other than that.

impybelle's review against another edition

3.0

Basically this boils down to one thing: They made Storm Queen of Mars.


And I've had that Phineas and Ferb song stuck in my head ever since.

Otherwise I suspect that this is a more interesting ride for those who've been more invested in the storylines leading up to this, or are better at the cameo spotting. It's a fun party at times and some characters I enjoyed catching up with or learning were a thing (it's been awhile, k?) and some I just wondered wtf happened to them.

I'd also somehow forgotten that even though I wasn't reading these at the time, I did know two things about this arc: there was 'news' coverage of the fashions (some tragic, some fab) and then the ending.

remigves's review

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

hayhails's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

danpalooza's review against another edition

challenging informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

linhares's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

wanderlustlover's review against another edition

5.0

Summer 2021 (June/July);

The Hellfire Gala has come to an end and I can finally review this one!

How do I, where even. I was so impressed with how these books were scattered entirely across the night, everything being put together through time stamps as you got to see where dozens and dozens of people were, what they were doing, who they were talking/interacting/fighting with etc, etc, etc the whole time. The way it lead to hints of reveals right before and after they happened.

Shout-outs: OMG MARS AND EVERYTHING/EVERYONE INVOLVED WITH THAT. AAAAHHHH, WANDA, I'M STILL NOT OKAY, BRING ME THE TRIAL BOOKS NNNNNOOOWWW. Every appearance of Jean was my most favorite, of course. Hank ... really is just barely not a supervillain because he's still on the side of the angels, doing dark, bloody deeds for them at this point, isn't he? Everything about the new formation of the team, and the musical reveals. The interactions with Reed, Captain America, and Namor were delightful in all their multifaceted ways.

nathanaeljs's review against another edition

4.0

This is almost entirely filler involving the X-Men being eXtra even for them, but I like self-indulgent X-Men soap opera drama so it’s a win for me.