I initially gave this issue three stars, but, upon reflection, I decided to upgrade it to four stars, because Hopeless really delivers a kick-ass surprise here. (As expected, we don't get a happy ending.)
The issue starts exactly where we left the team last issue, contemplating Sinister's offer of help to take down Illyana. Sinister has used Tabitha's DNA to create clones but mixed said DNA with demon DNA: he now has his own demonic Boom Boom Army. Combined with Colossus' control of the Soulsword, you have a moment here where you think that the team might just win. But, then, it all goes to hell. Seeing the chance to avenge the years that she spent as Sinister's puppet, Madelyne uses her telepathy to have one of the Boom Booms incinerate him with a plasma bomb. His death frees the Boom Booms from his control, and they systematically start killing X-Men, starting with Havok. To make matters worse, Illyana appears with her own demon horde, after N'astirh told her about the gathering of her enemies in the sewer. The X-Men are quickly overwhelmed, and Colossus makes his way to Illyana, with Domino and Tabitha in tow. Illyana frequently reverts to her childhood self to prevent Pete from killing her, but Domino throws herself into the mix, convincing Peter to do the deed to save her. (Good call, Dom. Seriously.) With the X-Men all dead, the trio leaves the domain as its completely overwhelmed by demons. Madelyne steals the Hellfire spewing from Darkchilde's body, completing her takeover of the domain.
This entire series has been a solidly told story that answers all the questions that we had at the start. For example, Madelyne does take over the domain, explaining why she was in charge at the start of "Secret Wars" #1. Moreover, it's the sort of dark ending that I want more authors to embrace. I mean, Hopeless kills off all the X-Men and the domain falls to a bad guy. It may not affect the larger "Secret Wars" plot, but I'd call it one of the better tie-in series.
**** (four of five stars)
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