The End of DaysCredits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciler), Art Thibert (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Chris Lichtner and Aron Lusen & Liquid! (colors)
Summary: In Israel, Sabra is attacked by Prime Sentinels while investigating Operation: Zero Tolerance. After defeating them, she vows to find the X-Men. Meanwhile, Iceman and Cecilia Reyes continue to dodge Prime Sentinels in New York. They hide out in Archangel’s apartment, which is currently occupied by his friend, Angie Quail. When Iceman tries to use the phone, his powers begin to disappear. Angie reveals herself as a Prime Sentinel and attacks. She’s shot in the back by Detective Charlotte Jones, who offers the mutants refuge at her police station. Later, while Iceman and Reyes wait in an interview room, Jones speaks to a pair of OZT agents. They claim that she’ll get her son back in exchange for bringing in the two mutants. The police officers in the station soon turn into Prime Sentinels, but the power goes out before they can attack. In the basement, Marrow, who cut the power, is waiting for the police.
Review: It’s another issue of Iceman and Cecilia Reyes dodging Sentinels, and even though the story is still moving slowly, it is fairly entertaining. I like seeing Charlotte Jones again, who’s given more to do here than she has in years. The kidnapped child angle is an old cliché, but I don’t mind it too much. The use of Prime Sentinels in this issue is a little annoying, since it strains credibility that so many people in New York (and officers in a specific police station) would be Sentinels. If the idea is that these are normal people who didn’t know they were implanted with Sentinel technology while having routine surgeries, it’s just implausible that so many of them would be in the same place. And if the Prime Sentinels have the ability to neutralize powers, why are they only now using it? The action in this issue distracts from some of the dodgier plot elements, though, and everything’s made more exciting by Pacheco’s pencils. Lobdell also handles the interaction between Iceman and Reyes pretty well, although her incessant whining gets old fast.
That scene with Iceman and the prime sentinels standing from the two sides of the observation glass is priceless. The whole issue has an omnious aroma, like a great thriller.
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