I know zilch about the 1989 X-Men crossover Inferno. I think I might have attempted to read the trade when I was at Wizard, but don’t have any distinct memories of it. Anyway, when I saw this ad in the 1989 issue of Punisher #15 I had two main thoughts. The first is one my pal Sean T. Collins examines over at his Tumblr Superheroes Lose. Sean posts covers of the age old comic book trope of superheroes lying defeated on the cover to show readers just how serious of a threat the bad guys are. This ad made me wonder if that gag actually works. Maybe on inexperienced readers? Who knows.

The other thing I thought was interesting about this ad is that the bad guy is basically explaining Marvel’s publishing plan to you which I thought was really odd. Those dialog balloons are pretty awkward and clunky, aren’t they? The trouble with presenting things this way is that it makes me think that S’ym — the character I assume is supposed to be the big bad of the event — comes off as a goofball. Was he portrayed that way in the series? Where’s Brett White, can you explain this to me?