TALES FROM THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE - December 1997

Sinister Bloodlines

Credits: John Francis Moore (plot), Brian K. Vaughan (script), Steve Epting & Nick Napolitano (pencilers), Al Milgrom (inker), Comicraft (letters), Kevin Tinsley (colors)

Summary: Five years ago, Apocalypse’s men shot down an alien craft over Manhattan. Today, Christopher Summers escapes from Sinister’s custody and runs into the city. Sinister sends the Prelates to find him, but intentionally excludes Cyclops and Havok. When the Prelates fail, Cyclops and Havok search for Christopher. Christopher recognizes them as his children, and tells them the story of his alien abduction and eventual return to Earth. After facing a group of scavengers, the trio takes refuge during a storm. Later, infected humans attack their shelter. They’re rescued by Sinister, who explains that he hid Christopher from Cyclops and Havok because he was infected with alien DNA. Christopher suddenly mutates into a Brood Queen, and with his remaining humanity, begs Cyclops to kill him. As they dispose of his body, Havok declares he’ll never forgive Cyclops.

Continuity Notes: In the opening sequence, set five years ago, Beast is still human and Havok and Cyclops are training to become Prelates. Emplate and “the Monets” are Prelates in the present day, although Christopher Summers apparently kills Emplate. While on the run from Sinister, Christopher is aided by the AoA version of Joe Robertson. While under the Brood’s influence, Christopher kills him. He also infects Colleen Wing, who kills Misty Knight. During Christopher’s tale of his alien abduction, we see that the Brood have overtaken the Shi’ar in this timeline.

Production Note: This is a$5.99 prestige format book with no ads.

Review: Factor X was probably the most consistent of the AoA titles, so I’m glad Marvel revived these characters instead of presenting another underwhelming prequel story about the X-Men. Factor X’s John Francis Moore and Steve Epting return, aided by Brian K. Vaughn and Nick Napolitano. I know that Vaughn was a new writer Marvel was trying out in these days, but I’ve never heard of Napolitano. I can’t really tell where his art begins and Epting’s ends, which does at least give the book a consistent look.

The story is well-structured, taking advantage of the forty-eight page format. The opening “five years ago” scene is really only there to establish the arrival of Corsair (only called Christopher Summers in the story), but Moore also uses the space to establish the cast and set up the conflicts between Cyclops and Havok. The other cast members of Factor X aren’t the focus of the story, but they are at least given enough room to make more than cameos. Introducing the AoA version of Corsair is more significant than, say, the AoA Inhumans, which makes the one-shot feel like a legitimate story that’s perhaps deserving of the format.

I like the revelation that Corsair is actually a Brood Queen (for a second, I wondered if he would turn into the AoA version of Man-Wolf), although I have my continuity quibbles about the idea. The AoA diverged twenty years ago with Xavier’s death in Israel. Corsair was abducted by the Shi’ar a few years later, and as this story shows, they’re already Brood-infected by this point. How did Xavier’s death, years before he would’ve had contact with Lilandra and the Shi’ar, lead to the Brood taking over the Shi’ar? I realize this is kind of pedantic, but it goes against the basic premise of the Age of Apocalypse. The AoA isn’t just another alternate reality; it diverged from ours at a specific point. Xavier’s death would’ve had a large chain reaction on mutants on Earth, but it wouldn’t have impacted one alien race taking over another (especially if they’re doing it years before the X-Men had any contact with them). The inconsistency doesn’t hinder my enjoyment of the book, though. Besides, I’ve already come up with my own No-Prize explanation.

TALES FROM THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE - December 1996

By the Light

Credits: Scott Lobdell (plot), Ralph Macchio (script), Joe Bennett (penciler), Joe Pimentel (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Gloria Vasquez & Digital Chameleon (colors)

Summary: Nightcrawler receives word from Mystique revealing Apocalypse’s location. He’s recuperating from injuries on the Blue Area of the Moon. Morph disguises himself as Sabretooth and talks the despondent Blink into teleporting the X-Men to the Moon. There, they encounter the Horseman Death, who has used the Terrigen Mists to mutate a new army of followers. Blink escapes the fight and finds an ally in Cyclops. Elsewhere, Death plans on mutating the X-Men and using them to overthrow Apocalypse. Cyclops takes Blink to the X-Men and releases Sunfire from his captivity. Sunfire unleashes his powers and kills Death, as Blink sends the X-Men home. Magneto wonders if Cyclops was merely defending Apocalypse or if he is a potential ally.

Continuity Notes: This is supposed to take place shortly after Sabretooth rescued Blink. The X-Men are stationed in a hidden base underneath the Guthrie family farm. Gambit is shown as a member during a group shot, but disappears from the rest of the story. He’s not supposed to be a member at this point, since he left the team after Rogue and Magneto became a couple. The story opens with Magneto rescuing “American statesman” Robert Kelly in Central America from Diablo and Absorbing Man. Ship appears as the vessel that takes Apocalypse to the moon. A narrative caption says he’s destroyed when Sunfire’s powers explode. Death is apparently supposed to be Maximus of the Inhumans.

“Huh?” Moment: Cyclops ponders if mankind could’ve reached the stars if the eugenic wars never began. This reality diverged from ours twenty years ago, as we’re told three different times in this issue. Even in 1996, man reached the stars long before the twenty-year divergence.

Production Note: This is a $5.95 bookshelf format special. Digital Chameleon is credited with separations on the inside front cover, and Graphic ColorWorks (GCW) is credited inside the comic. Is this what happened to Digital Chameleon?

Review: Hooray. It’s Marvel’s first attempt at going back to the “Age of Apocalypse” well, and unfortunately it comes across as a mundane cash grab. Assigning the script to Ralph Macchio, who normally did last minute fill-ins, and the art to a young Joe Bennett, who was still a fill-in artist, was the first clue this wasn’t a high priority, even though Marvel charged six dollars for it. The AoA was unique because it was a story with a specific point that had a clean ending. I’m sure there are a few more stories to tell in the AoA universe, but you’ve really got to have something compelling to justify reviving the brand. What does Tales bring us? Some pages of Blink feeling insecure and a glimpse of how the AoA affected the Inhumans. There’s no real character drama, no secrets revealed, and the central story is just dull. It’s not even particularly “dark.” The sense of hopelessness and dread the original issues captured remarkably well is gone. Shockingly enough, this reads like a fill-in. A six dollar one.

X-MAN #-1 – July 1997

Breeding Ground
Credits: Terry Kavanagh (writer), Roger Cruz (penciler), Bud LaRosa & Wellington Diaz (inkers), Mike Thomas (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering)

Summary: In an abandoned orphanage in Nebraska, a young Nathan Grey emerges from one of Mr. Sinister’s devices. While Sinister speaks to McCoy via videoscreen, Nathan disappears. Sinister searches the orphanage for Nathan, who is psychically pulling up images from the building’s past. Sinister eventually finds Nathan, and shows him footage of America in the Age of Apocalypse. When Nathan sees video of a genetic processing plant, he creates a psychic replica inside the orphanage. Sinister triggers a telepathic failsafe in Nathan’s mind and stops the illusion. He creates a teddy bear to placate Nathan, and then places him back inside his mechanical cocoon. Sinister decides that Nathan is too powerful, and makes plans for a genetic time bomb he can use to kill him if necessary.

Continuity Note: Obviously this story takes place in the Age of Apocalypse’s past, but it’s hard to discern when exactly. Since Fantastic Four #1 didn’t exist in X-Man’s world, I’m assuming this title isn’t following the rule that the Flashback titles take place pre-FF #1. Aside from that, I have a hard time believing that it took Mr. Sinister the equivalent of 35 years worth of comics to age Nate Grey from childhood to teen-hood. The orphanage in the story is the one Cyclops grew up in, which is a lab Sinister is keeping secret from Apocalypse in this world.

Review: This is probably the most awkward of the Flashback titles - a Silver Age-style story for an alternate reality character who debuted in 1995. He has no association with the early days of Marvel, didn’t exist in the main Marvel Universe until recently, and, chronologically, was only created in a lab a few years ago. Stan Lee can’t even come up with a clever intro to the comic; he’s left explaining the AoA concept and recapping X-Man’s “dead by twenty-one” dilemma. The story really has nothing for X-Man (or X-five-year-old) to do, so he spends the entire issue wandering around, displaying his powers, and then going back into gestation. The end of the story teases another genetic problem for X-Man, which I assume was a setup for a future X-Man storyline. It’s not entirely boring, but it’s obviously padded, and literally goes nowhere. Cruz’s art helps to liven things up. This is his strongest work at this point, as a lot of the busyness and sloppiness is gone. It’s a cleaner, more attractive look that suits his cartooning influences well.

X-MAN ’96 – November 1996

Sins of the Father
Credits: Terry Kavanagh (writer), Alan Davis (penciler), Mark Farmer & Robin Riggs (inkers), Comicraft (lettering), Tom Vincent & Malibu (colors)

Summary: X-Man discovers a flickering reality warp and traces the source to Genosha. There, the Sugar Man is using the remaining energies of the M’Kraan Crystal within him to create a “fargate” that will transport him into the past of the Age of Apocalypse. The Genoshan Mutates he’s using to power the device aren’t enough, but when X-Men enters and attacks, he generates enough energy to charge the fargate. Sugar Man jumps through to the Age of Apocalypse, and X-Man follows. X-Man drops into Niagara Falls, and is rescued by a younger Magneto. He meets Forge, who already knows X-Man, even though they hadn’t met by this time. Forge explains that X-Man has already passed through time and spoken to him in the past. Elsewhere, Sugar Man is experimenting on Mastermind. One of Sugar Man’s scientists reveals himself as Morph and rescues Mastermind, shortly before X-Man, Forge, and Magneto enter. After defeating him, Forge recreates Sugar Man’s fargate. Mastermind uses his illusions to trick X-Man into energizing the fargate. The fargate drags X-Man back into our reality. Forge reveals that the last time X-Man traveled through time, he told him to do this because X-Man knew that he wouldn’t want to leave. X-Man returns to New York, knowing that he will find this reality’s Forge one day.

Continuity Notes: Sugar Man traveled to this world by jumping through the M’Kraan Crystal in X-Men Omega, which explains why he has the Crystal’s energies within him (assuming you buy the comic book pseudo-science). Forge returns him to this reality at the end of the story because he needs the M’Kraan Crystal energy within Sugar Man to power the fargate. The last remnants of the Crystal’s energies are used to send X-Man back to this reality, which conveniently prevents Sugar Man from creating any more portals to the AoA. Forge is adamant about returning X-Man to this world because he knows the Age of Apocalypse shouldn’t exist, and wants X-Man to ensure that Apocalypse never rules in the mainstream reality.

Sugar Man’s goal is to develop a waterborne strain of the plague Apocalypse used to decimate the human race (he also wants an antidote, presumably to provide to his followers). When he returns to this reality, he’ll use the plague to conquer Earth. At the story’s end, X-Man isolates the virus’ microbes from the water supply, and Magneto encases them in metal and takes them to a cold environment.

In the course of the fight, Forge loses his left eye to Sugar Man, which is used as the explanation for the cybernetic eye he wore during the AoA storyline. He tells X-Man that he never told him about his past conversations with the time-traveling X-Man because he wasn’t ready to learn about them.

Review: We all remembered that Alan Davis drew an X-Man annual in the ‘90s, right? Aside from having Davis on art, this issue is also significant for featuring the first return to the Age of Apocalypse timeline. It’s not an easy thing for the story to pull off, as the plot reiterates that the AoA wasn’t just an alternate timeline, but a reality that actually replaced the “real” world. The solution makes about as much sense as you could expect it to make, as Sugar Man duplicates the means of his arrival here and has to go to the past, since the AoA doesn’t coexist with our world. This doesn’t exactly fit with the idea that the entire AoA had to be erased in order for the mainstream reality to return, but I’m willing to live with “M’Kraan Crystal energies” as a plot cheat, since the M’Kraan Crystal affects reality itself.

After the plot goes out of its way to justify the AoA’s return, we’re left with an average story about stopping a plague and sending the hero back to where he was when the story started. It’s actually successful in making X-Man more sympathetic, which is something his monthly series rarely pulls off. Magneto and Forge are also given a decent conflict, as Magneto wants to use X-Man to fix their world, but Forge senses that their world shouldn’t exist in the first place and that X-Man is better off elsewhere. This is all fine, but it’s not enough to justify the gimmicky nature of the story. The real appeal of the issue is Davis’ art, and assuming you were a fan of the original storyline, seeing the Age of Apocalypse again. This actually could’ve been a much larger story, with the same premise being used as a proper setup for an AoA sequel, so it seems odd that it was tossed out as an X-Man annual.

Mindgames
Credits: Ralph Macchio (writer), Terry Dodson (penciler), Rachel Pinnock (inker), Comicraft (lettering), Joe Andreani & Malibu (colors)

Summary: Tessa, suspicious of Selene’s offer to reform the Hellfire Club with Sebastian Shaw, decides to investigate her protégé, Madelyne Pryor. Tessa enters Madelyne’s mind while she sleeps, and sees visions of the X-Men and the child Madelyne had with Cyclops. Madelyne awakes and attacks Tessa for invading her privacy. Tessa loses the psychic duel, but Madelyne refuses to kill her because she doesn’t want to anger Sebastian Shaw. Madelyne realizes that Tessa’s psi-probe has unlocked her memories, which revives her hatred of Mr. Sinister.

Review: I assume this was done to set up future issues of X-Man, although I have no idea if any part of the story was paid off. It’s actually the best Madelyne Pryor story I’ve read since her resurrection, even though I realize that’s very faint praise. Madelyne could work as a jilted friend with a legitimate beef with the X-Men, which is one of the reasons why I’ve always thought “Inferno” was better than the overwhelming majority of comic crossovers. Without that backstory, though, the character served no purpose, so I’m glad this story revived her memories. Madelyne decides at the very end that she’s finally going to get revenge on Sinister (the man who created and used her in the first place), which is a story you should do with Madelyne if you’ve already gone through the effort to resurrect her. I have a feeling that nothing came of this, but it is a legitimate direction to go with the character. The art is by Terry Dodson, and even if it isn’t his best work, it’s still light years ahead of what you’d expect to find in an annual back-up.

WHAT IF…? #81 – January 1996

United We Stand – What If the Age of Apocalypse Had Not Ended?

Credits: Mariano Nicieza (writer), Kevin Hopgood (artist/colorist), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary

Two years after the nuclear strike against America, Magneto leads the surviving X-Men to a station on the moon. A group of humans, including former Council members like Tony Stark, now lives there and refuses to return to Earth. Stark shows Magneto information they’ve learned from the Watcher’s technology. They’ve discovered that the Silver Surfer is leading Galactus to Earth. Magneto encourages the humans to work together with mutants to stop him, but many humans, including Dwayne Turner, refuse to trust mutants. Later, inside the Blue Area of the moon, Dwayne uses ancient technology to give himself super powers. Galactus arrives to devour Earth, and the X-Men and most of the humans unite to stop him. Bandit, Dwayne’s brother, is saved from Galactus by Quicksilver, but he’s soon killed by the Silver Surfer. After saying goodbye to his brother, Dwayne is inspired to use his new powers to mentally unite humans and mutants against Galactus. Their united force kills Galactus, leading Magneto to warn everyone to learn a lesson from the battle.

Review

I guess I bought into the AoA storyline enough to purchase my first issue of What If…? in five years. This issue is probably most notable as one of Marvel’s first experiments in digital painting (even though the cover is done in a traditional pencil/ink style for some reason). Calling it “dated” would be charitable, as most of the issue looks like a poorly airbrushed album cover from the early ‘80s. I recently discovered Kevin Hopgood’s pencil work through some Iron Man back issues, where he displayed a strong style that reminds me of Ron Garney’s art. His work here is buried underneath the garish effects and ugly computer modeling, so it’s definitely not a representation of what he’s capable of. I don’t know if he ran into deadline troubles or not, but the computer effects aren’t even consistent throughout the issue. The painted look is created by knocking out the black ink lines and replacing them with colors throughout most of the issue. Getting closer and closer to the final page, though, the black lines return and the art begins to resemble a more traditional comic (Hopgood’s linework looks like quick sketches on a few pages, leading me to believe that he didn’t intend for this to be the final product). As gaudy as it looks today, I was intrigued by this new look at the time and wasn’t bothered by most of the effects.

The story itself is a bland continuation of the AoA storyline that quickly moves into the cliché “Galactus attacks, everyone dies” format What If…? often used. How exactly the X-Men survived the nuclear attack is dismissed quickly in a narrative caption (Magneto used his powers to fly the team into space), creating more questions than answers. According to Quicksilver, Storm is dead, and most of the other X-Men aren’t seen either. What happened to them? How did they die? Why did Magneto save some X-Men but not others? X-Men Omega ended with a giant cliffhanger. If you’re doing a story that follows it up, why would you skip ahead two years? The story of how the X-Men did or didn’t survive the nuclear attack is a lot more interesting than Galactus’ five hundredth assault against Earth. Aside from skipping over the answers the original story left, there’s also a disproportionate amount of time spent on two cast members from New Warriors who had nothing to do with the Age of Apocalypse storyline. Did we really need to know what happened to Night Thrasher and his brother Bandit in the AoA?

The story also fails as a follow-up because it seems to have confused the timeline of what actually happened in the AoA. The idea that the human characters from X-Universe left Earth for the moon in order to escape Apocalypse can’t really be reconciled with what we’ve already seen. Apocalypse was killed and the bombs were dropped on America at the end of Omega. The human characters from X-Universe were fighting against his men at the same time. Why would the humans leave to colonize the moon in order to escape Apocalypse after he was killed? This might be whiny continuity nitpicking, but it’s an annoying way to pick up the story. Nicieza (the other one, I guess) does introduce the racism aspect of the X-Men mythos into the story in a plausible way, since it would be hard to argue against anti-mutant humans who lived under Apocalypse. He also tries to introduce character moments between Quicksilver and Gwen Stacy, and Bandit and Dwayne, but the dialogue is too obvious and generic to work. It all turns out to be a disappointing effort, and a good sign that Marvel really didn’t know how to follow up this storyline.

X-MEN OMEGA – June 1995

Endings

Credits: Scott Lobdell (plot), Mark Waid (script), Roger Cruz (penciler), LaRosa/Townsend/Kesel/Candelario/Hanna/Milgrom (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Steve Buccellato & Electric Crayon (colors)

Summary

Holocaust and Apocalypse continue to torture Magneto. Apocalypse boasts that he’s learned Magneto’s plan from the Shadow King’s interrogation of Bishop and is preparing for the X-Men’s arrival. The shard of the M’Kraan Crystal Apocalypse recovered from Guido has expanded into another crystal, which is being examined by his men. Outside, Angel straps himself with explosives and dives into Apocalypse’s force field generator, which creates a hole for X-Man to enter. Nearby, Blink teleports the X-Men into the Pens. They discover a wounded McCoy, who was nearly killed by his freed test subjects. He accompanies the team into the chamber where the M’Kraan Crystal is being held.

Meanwhile, the Shadow King informs Apocalypse that the Human High Council has just nuked the Midwest. X-Man arrives and frees Magneto. While X-Man fights Holocaust, Magneto reunites with the X-Men below. He meets Illyana and convinces her to go inside the Crystal. Bishop and Destiny follow her inside. While fighting Apocalypse’s men, Colossus has second thoughts about sending his sister inside the Crystal. Enraged, he rips through Iceman and even inadvertently kills Shadowcat while trying to reach Illyana. Gambit is forced to kill him. In the midst of the confusion, Sugar Man comes out of hiding and jumps into the M’Kraan Crystal.

As Apocalypse gives the order to destroy Europe, Magneto enters his chambers. They briefly fight until Guido enters with Magneto’s son, Charles. Apocalypse escapes with a shard of the M’Kraan Crystal, but he’s soon confronted by X-Man, who steals the shard. As Rogue rescues Charles from Guido, Magneto and X-Man fight Holocaust and Apocalypse. When X-Man shoves the shard into Holocaust’s chest, they’re both consumed with energy. Elsewhere, McCoy programs a teleportation module to send him inside the Crystal, but Quicksilver scrambles the program before the teleportation is completed.

Outside, Jean Grey senses the approaching nuclear strike. She uses her telekinetic powers to block the missiles, as Weapon X parachutes in to say goodbye. Havok comes out of hiding and kills Jean. After he blasts Cyclops, Weapon X appears from behind and kills him in retaliation. Inside the Crystal, Destiny views the world that should have been. She coaches Illyana into creating a portal that sends Bishop back in time. Bishop arrives twenty years in the past, and stops Legion just before he accidentally kills Professor Xavier. Bishop shoves Legion’s psychic blade into his chest so that he can see the world he accidentally created. The loop of psionic power created by interacting with Bishop kills Legion. In the present, Magneto uses his powers to rip Apocalypse in two. Knowing that the end is near, he holds Rogue and his son as they’re consumed by a flash of light.

Gimmicks

Just like Alpha, this issue has a wraparound chromium cover and no ads.

Continuity Notes

X-Man is referred to as Nathan Summers in a narrative caption, but Grey is always listed as his last name in his other appearances. Now that I think about it, I have no idea why Grey would’ve become his official last name instead of Summers.

In the previous chapters of the storyline, Destiny was supposed to meet Bishop and use her powers to determine if he’s telling the truth. I wonder if someone realized that this really made no sense, because that never happens in this issue. Instead, she just touches the M’Kraan Crystal and confirms the existence of the true timeline (which doesn’t make a lot of sense, either).

Magneto’s son, Charles, was previously shown to be a toddler in this storyline, but he looks and speaks like a five-year-old here.

McCoy (a.k.a. the Dark Beast), Holocaust, X-Man, and Sugar Man all enter the mainstream reality after this issue. How exactly some of them did this is clear as mud, but that’s what happened.

Review

As a testament to how popular this storyline was, I was never able to find this comic in any of my local stores, even though I had previously missed only one issue in all of my years as an X-completist. In fact, I think I’ve only seen a physical copy of this comic once. I’m reading it now through the Twilight of the Age of Apocalypse trade I found in the late ‘90s (the trade also reprints X-Universe, and feebly tries to cover up the series’ inconsistent portrayal of Big Ben). This issue is supposed to be the gigantic climax for the entire AoA event, and while it’s certainly a dense comic that covers a lot of ground, it also rushes through everything at such a breakneck speed it’s hard to actually get involved in the story. Cramming so much into this one comic in order to make it seem more “important” not only makes Omega feel disjointed, but it also cheats a lot of the individual titles out of real conclusions. The cramped, rushed ending also makes the obvious padding of some of previous chapters of the storyline seem even more pointless. An entire issue was spent on having the X-Men travel from Chicago to Indianapolis, but Shadowcat’s death only gets one page? Some of the other quickie death scenes are rushed through so quickly they strain any credibility (Gambit’s sudden ability to kill Colossus with one blast is especially ridiculous). After so many pages of chaos, Waid does a fine job with Magneto’s final monologue, and I do like the ambiguous ending that doesn’t let you know if the lights represent the nuclear strike or the elimination of this reality. After dozens of pages of carnage, though, it’s not much of a payoff.

Cruz’s work in Alpha, even if it was a blatant swipe of another artist’s style, at least competently told the story for most of the issue without any major distractions. His work here, accompanied by six inkers, looks rushed and sloppy, and is occasionally distracting based on its sheer ugliness (there’s a group shot of the X-Men on page sixteen that’s just hideous). Legion’s death scene, which is supposed to be the climax of a storyline that began six months earlier, is virtually incomprehensible. I assume Legion’s supposed to be dead in this scene, but you can’t tell that based on the art (of course, the story’s justification for his death is total gibberish anyway). In fairness to Cruz, he is given an insane amount of characters to draw here, and almost every page is supposed to be a “shocking” moment that should require a lot of attention. A twenty-year industry veteran would have a hard time pulling this one off; giving it to a young artist in his late teens who was still finding a style was suicidal.

Even though Omega turns out to be a lame conclusion, I think the X-office does deserve credit for creating a storyline that was initially poorly received, but went on to become one of the few ‘90s events that fandom still holds in some regard. I seriously considered dropping all of the titles when the event was first announced (I was convinced that all of the established backstory was being trashed), but ended up finding the story more engaging than the previous few years of X-storylines. The AoA has flaws, but it does have a clear setup, a clear goal, and a clear ending. That’s pretty rare for anything published by Marvel between 1991 and 1998. The industry was already slumping by 1995, but the AoA was successful in generating some excitement amongst the increasingly jaded fanbase. Unfortunately, Marvel predictably didn’t know how to let go. The AoA spawned the ongoing X-Man series, a series so unpopular not even young teenage X-completists (such as myself) felt the need to buy it. The fake cancellation gimmick also inspired one of the more egregious stunts during the endless clone storyline in the Spider-Man titles. It’s also likely that this event gave Marvel the inspiration for creating new #1 issues to coincide with title relaunches, a trend that continues to this day. Not surprisingly, Marvel also went back to the AoA well for a couple of bookshelf format one-shots, and a ten year anniversary miniseries (which wasn’t written by anyone involved in the actual storyline, and based on most reviews, was simply unreadable).

Looking back, I can still see the appeal of this storyline. As dark as the X-titles could often be in the ‘90s, this story goes into pitch-black territory. As Marvel and DC learned in the ‘80s, there is a market for darker superhero stories. I’m not sure if the primary audience is nihilistic teenagers who just think it’s cool, or adults bored with straightforward superhero action, or younger kids drawn in by something gloomy and scary, but it’s clear that this material gets a reaction. Marvel also showed a lot of commitment to the event, keeping a straight face until the solicits for the upcoming return of the regular titles showed up halfway through the event. Given the fact that this was an entirely new reality spread out over forty comics, the continuity was also kept mostly straight (if it weren’t for X-Universe, which was produced outside of the X-office, most of the continuity hiccups would’ve been pretty small). Some of the alternate reality inversions of characters are a little obvious, but the new continuity also placed existing characters in interesting situations that couldn’t happen in the original world. I admit that it’s all very gimmicky, but for the most part the creative teams were able to sell the new reality and make the event feel almost like an organic storyline. I do think the event went for probably a month longer than it should have, and I’ve already mentioned the weak resolutions of many of the arcs earlier, but overall this turned out to be a pretty enjoyable stunt.

AMAZING X-MEN #4 – June 1995

On Consecrated Ground

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (plot), Andy Kubert (penciler), Matt Ryan (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Kevin Somers & Digital Chameleon (colors)

Summary

The Madri continue to torture Bishop, as Storm arrives to rescue him. Nearby, Quicksilver and Banshee break into the hidden room of Jamie Madrox, the originator of all of the Madri. They’re shocked to learn that the experiments used to enhance his powers have left him mentally handicapped. At the X-Men’s headquarters, Rogue’s team returns from their mission. They’re greeted by Colossus and Shadowcat, who tells Rogue that Quicksilver left a note saying that her son is still in the Morlock Tunnels. She goes underground to find him, and is reunited with Dazzler, Exodus, Lila Cheney, and Gambit. Rogue hysterically punches Gambit, asking him where her son is. Meanwhile, Banshee and Quicksilver are ambushed by Abyss. He taunts Banshee for being a coward, which leads Banshee to confront Abyss while Quicksilver escapes with Madrox. Banshee is absorbed into Abyss’ body, but his sonic scream is enough to tear Abyss and the temple apart. Madrox knows that Quicksilver is too good a man to kill him, so he willingly shuts down the Madri. The strain kills him, leaving the Madri empty husks. Mourning the loss of Banshee and Madrox, Quicksilver and Storm return home with Bishop. Nightcrawler and Destiny also arrive at the mansion. With most of Magneto’s plan falling into place, Quicksilver vows that Apocalypse will fall.

Production Note

Notice that Fabian Nicieza is only credited with “plot”, with no credit for a scripter listed. It’s possible that I’m reading too much into this, but considering the fact that Nicieza was open about the fact that his work was being rewritten at this point, I wonder if he asked not to be credited for the script in this issue.

Review

Like the rest of the AoA finale issues, this is an action-heavy story that at least resolves one of the plotlines. Amazing X-Men wasn’t given a specific goal like most of the other AoA books, as it shifted from having the X-Men herd refugees, to a Magneto/Apocalypse fight, to a rescue mission for Bishop. The multiple storylines prevent the final issue from feeling like much of a climax since Bishop’s kidnapping only happened one issue ago (and Bishop barely had a role in this specific series anyway). The story really relies on the action to work, and while Kubert’s figure drawing is sound, the action just seems stiff, with a lot of posing and not a lot of movement.

Quicksilver and Banshee’s moral dilemma over whether or not to kill Madrox has potential, but the script never sells the drama. At no point do you honestly think they’ll actually murder Madrox in order to complete the mission. And since this reality’s X-Men have previoiusly been shown to cross ethical lines, this is a scenario that could’ve worked with the proper scripting. The majority of the dialogue in this issue is dull and generic, which gives me more reason to believe that it’s not Nicieza’s work (And in some cases, the dialogue is just terrible, as Gambit actually says, “(Guido) was de only one who coulda brought ya baby outta dat mess alive!” This leads me to wonder how much knowledge Gambit has on the art of “birthin’ no babies.”). That snippet of Gambit’s dialogue is another clue, since it contradicts what actually happened in Gambit and the X-Ternals #4, which Nicieza did script. The climax in that story involved Gambit choosing to save Lila instead of taking baby Charles from Guido; not him leaving the baby with Guido for his own safety (although I guess it’s possible that Gambit’s just lying to Rogue to cover himself). The only character given any real personality in this issue is Abyss, who’s given some convincingly nasty dialogue. The rest of the issue is pretty boring, since the plot isn’t that interesting and the characters don’t have a lot of personality.

FACTOR X #4 – June 1995

Reckonings

Credits: John Francis Moore (writer), Steve Epting & Terry Dodson (pencilers), Al Milgrom (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Glynis Oliver (colorist)

Summary

Havok orders the Prelates to follow orders and kill all of the prisoners in the Pens. The Bedlam Brothers refuse to kill the weak and wounded, which leads to a fight with the Guthrie siblings. When Havok receives word that Cyclops has escaped with Jean Grey, he orders the Prelates to find them. The Bedlam Brothers soon locate the pair, but disobey orders and allow them to escape. The Guthrie siblings witness their treason and attack, but are soon defeated. Meanwhile, Apocalypse’s Infinite soldiers arrive to shut down Angel’s nightclub, Heaven. Angel responds by setting the building on fire and escaping. Inside Apocalypse’s Black Tower, Cyclops and Jean find the Brain Trust, six telepathic brains used to anesthetize the prisoners in the Pens. Jean tries to psionically shut them down, but ends up accidentally killing them when they fight back. As Havok learns from Scarlett that she’s pregnant, Jesse Bedlam shuts off the main generators and kills the power. While the prisoners escape, Havok and Cyclops fight. Cyclops has a chance to finish Havok, but refuses to kill his brother. After Cyclops leads the prisoners to freedom, Havok wakes up and vows vengeance.

Review

With the series drawing to an end, Moore makes an effort to conclude the various arcs, although a few things just end up as setups for X-Men Omega. A big Havok/Cyclops fight is the main event the series has been building towards, but it only ends up as a two-page brawl. A lot of things feel rushed in this issue, such as Scarlett’s revelation to Havok that she’s pregnant (why exactly this thread was even introduced is lost on me, unless it’s paid off in Omega and I just forgot about it), and the Bedlam Brothers turning against Havok. Moore has tried to portray the brothers as average guys just doing a job, but that’s hard to rationalize with all of the evil things Apocalypse would've require from them as guards in a concentration camp. They seem to switch sides just for kicks, which is probably a better way to handle it than suddenly giving them a true change of heart, but it still feels forced. The story itself is capably done, it just feels like it’s going through the motions and checking off the things it needs to do in time for X-Men Omega. There’s not a lot of focus on characterization, and the action scenes aren’t very exciting. I have a feeling that Marvel tried to sell Omega too hard by pushing off so many resolutions into it, when series like Factor X would’ve greatly benefited from bigger finales.

X-UNIVERSE #2 – June 1995

Dying Breath

Credits: Scott Lobdell (original story), Terry Kavanagh (scripter), Carlos Pacheco & Terry Dodson (pencilers), Cam Smith & Robin Riggs (inkers), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Kevin Tinsley (colorist)

Summary

A dejected woman named Marta leaves her husband and baby to join thousands of other humans inside Mikhail’s mothership for his “personal augmentation” program. Inside the ship, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Ben Grimm, Susan Storm, Donald Blake, Gwen Stacy, and Victor von Doom are being held captive. Matt Murdock watches over Empath, who is being forced to stir emotions in the populace of London, provoking them towards a bloody riot. Meanwhile, Tony Stark is strapped to a table for organ harvesting. His mechanical heart acts as a booby trap once it interacts with Mikhail’s technology, shorting out the power and freeing the captive humans. They loot Mikhail’s arsenal, allowing Ben Grimm and Sue Storm to reclaim the nearby airstrip while Tony Stark and Gwen Stacy head to the lower levels of Mikhail’s ship. They’re ambushed by the Hulk, who made a secret deal with Apocalypse years earlier.

Inside the ruins of Big Ben, the remaining members of the Human High Council meet, distressed that more and more humans are joining Mikhail in his ship. Donald Blake reunites with the rest of the Council members, who are grudgingly meeting with Mikhail. When Mikhail sees a part of his mothership explode in the sky, he calls upon an army of enhanced humans to kill the Council. Doom arrives to rescue them, killing Marta, the woman who reluctantly left her family earlier. Donald Blake stabs his cane through Mikhail’s heart, forcing him to fall from the top of Big Ben to his death. Inside Mikhail’s ship, Matt Murdock accidentally touches Empath and connects to his emotional turmoil. Murdock responds to his anguish and rips him free of the machinery that’s amplifying his powers, killing him. Mikhail’s drones respond to the attack by targeting the crowd of humans outside. After her father is killed, Marta’s baby is saved by Ben Grimm. While fighting off the Hulk, Tony Stark breaks into Mikhail’s security system and learns that an armada is coming to bomb Europe. Stark talks Hulk into turning back into Bruce Banner, who is able to hack Mikhail’s system and gain control over his fleet. Doom arrives, saying that the fleet should be used to attack Apocalypse, but Stark decides to use it to relocate the civilians instead. The fleet races to freedom as Apocalypse’s armada approaches.

Continuity Notes

Kavanagh makes various references to the timeline of the Age of Apocalypse, and none of them fit. A narrative caption on the first page says that Apocalypse has caused “decades of darkness and despair”. Since this timeline diverged twenty years ago, that means that Apocalypse would’ve had to conquer the world immediately for that reference to fit. I realize that’s nitpicky, but there’s another reference to Matt Murdock being drafted by Apocalypse at age eight. This implies that Apocalypse conquered America (or at least a section of it) over twenty years ago (I’m assuming Murdock is at least twenty-eight). Not only does that contradict the premise of the entire storyline, but it also disagrees with the claim in Gambit and the X-Ternals #1 that Apocalypse conquered America on Jubilee’s sixth birthday (since she’s in her early teens, that means that Apocalypse has only been ruling America for around seven or eight years).

Big Ben is again portrayed inconsistently, not just with the other AoA books, but within the issue itself. During Carlos Pacheco’s section, it’s still lying on the ground, but Terry Dodson draws it standing erect (as it’s shown in the other titles). During the climax of the story, Donald Blake even shoves Mikhail out of the giant clock to his death, which really makes you wonder how Pacheco’s interpretation got through in the first place. (EDIT - Having just looked back at the Twilight of the Age of Apocalypse trade that reprints this series, I noticed that they covered up the first image of Big Ben in this issue with a white box. The giant splash page of Big Ben in the first issue is left untouched, though).

Review

In case the first issue left any doubt, X-Universe is now officially a pointless cash grab. Not only does it continue the annoying coincidences from the first issue (this reality’s Stark also created a mechanized heart after an accident, Sue Storm holds a refugee baby with the same name as her son in the original world, etc), but the story itself is uninteresting and often just confusing. I remember trying to trudge through this thing when I first bought it in my early teens, basically giving up on the story and just skimming over it until I got to the final page. Having to closely examine the plot for the purposes of this blog today made me feel alternately sleepy or just bewildered during some of the sudden scene shifts. I realize that the ending is supposed to be ambiguous (as the characters disappear into a white light, which either symbolizes the bombs dropping on Europe or Sue’s view as they go into high gear), but that doesn’t explain all of the other instances of awkward storytelling.

When trying to piece the whole thing together in order to write a comprehensible recap of the issue, I realized that the basic story is actually reasonably okay. The main problem is that it just jumps around too much and it’s weighed down by a lot of pompous narration that’s outright boring. Kavanagh overwrites almost every single page of this comic with a multitude of narrative captions, most of which fail to offer any insights into the characters or clarify what exactly is supposed to be happening. To his credit, he does introduce an interesting dilemma for the Council at the end of the issue, when Stark has to decide to use Mikhail’s fleet for a last-minute attack on Apocalypse, or as rescue ships for the humans about to be bombed. Unfortunately, he waits until the story has three pages left to set up this idea, and simply has Stark confidently declare what they’re going to do without any debate. Doom could’ve at least argued that saving the civilians is futile if Apocalypse himself isn’t stopped, but instead the idea is just dropped as the story rushes to an end. As annoying as it all is to read, the art is at least nice. Pacheco and Dodson still weren’t given any regular titles at this point, but their work here shows that they’re better than many of the artists working on the monthlies.

GAMBIT AND THE X-TERNALS #4 – June 1995

The Maze

Credits: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Salvador Larrocca (penciler), Al Milgrom (inker), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer), Marie Javins (colorist)

Summary

In the Morlock tunnels, Dazzler and Exodus find the remains of Nanny. She’s supposed to guard Magneto’s son, but Charles is missing. Elsewhere in the sewers, Gambit and Lila Cheney run from Rictor. Lila teleported Rictor along with the X-Ternals back to Earth as the M’Kraan Crystal exploded, but Sunspot died while trying to absorb the Crystal’s energy. Unbeknownst to Rictor, Jubilee is carrying both Charles and a shard of the M’Kraan Crystal nearby. On Gambit’s orders, she’s trying to find the X-Men’s headquarters. She runs into Guido, who reveals that he was implanted with a bomb months ago by Apocalypse’s men. In exchange for turning in Gambit, he was told that the bomb wouldn’t go off and none of the other X-Ternals would be harmed. Knowing that Nanny would lead them back to the X-Men, he destroyed her. He takes Charles and the shard away from Jubilee and leaves to find Rictor. Soon, Gambit and Lila are confronted by Rictor and Guido. Rictor reneges on his word and creates an earthquake to kill Guido, along with Gambit and Lila. Guido uses his strength to hold up the main support column and urges Gambit to save Lila. Gambit has an opportunity to steal the baby and the shard back from Guido, but saves Lila instead. Later, Guido hands over Charles and the shard to Apocalypse in exchange for his and Lila’s safety. Rictor is killed by Apocalypse for his incompetence.

Continuity Notes

A narrative caption reveals Exodus’ full name, “Paris Bennett”.

It’s revealed that Apocalypse has been secretly tracking the team through Guido, which would explain how the Madri found them in the first issue.

Review

For the final issue, Nicieza lays off on the action a little and focuses more on character moments. It does make the issue less tedious to read, although the story now jumps back and forth in time, which is just gimmicky and frustrating. Rictor is still chasing Gambit back on Earth, with the odd explanation that Lila brought him back from space with them. The X-characters in this reality have shown no aversion to killing their opponents, so it’s strange that she didn’t leave him behind in space (and Rictor’s dialogue specifically says she “saved” him, so it doesn’t seem as if he snuck along like in the first issue). Rictor’s arc is resolved in a somewhat predictable way, but Nicieza spends a lot of time building up the suspense so it doesn’t come across too flat. Revealing that Guido is a double agent is nice twist, which did receive a small amount of foreshadowing in the previous issues when it was established that he resented Gambit’s relationship with Lila. Gambit’s decision to save Lila over the Crystal and the baby is well done, and the scene does a good job of conveying his conflicting emotions over the choice. If the previous issues of this series focused more on characterization and less on frenzied action scenes, it probably would’ve worked a lot better. Overall, I think it turned out to be the weakest of the monthly titles during the AoA.

X-CALIBRE #4 – June 1995

On Fire

Credits: Warren Ellis (writer), Ken Lashley (penciler), Tom Wegrzyn w/Philip Moy (inkers), Joe Rosas & Digital Chameleon (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary

Nightcrawler returns with the rest of X-Calibre to Destiny’s village, unaware that they’re being trailed by the Shadow King. He begins to possess the refugees in Destiny’s camp, turning the mutants against the humans and causing chaos. Damask uses her “psionic skinning” powers to attack the Shadow King, but ends up killing one of his host bodies instead. Shadow King possesses Mystique, causing her shapeshifting powers to go haywire as he tears through her memories. Nightcrawler formulates a plan to attack Shadow King in the dimension he inhabits while in-between bodies. He holds hands with Damask and Switchback and teleports. With the help of Switchback’s time-altering powers, Nightcrawler’s able to stay in the adjacent dimension he enters while teleporting for a longer period of time. While there, he confirms that Shadow King inhabits the same dimension, allowing Damask to psionically attack him while he’s distracted. A wounded Shadow King inhabits one last mutant and shoots an energy blast at Destiny. Her adopted son Doug Ramsey blocks the blast, which kills him. Inspired by his sacrifice, Destiny agrees to help stop Apocalypse.

Continuity Notes

When Shadow King possesses Mystique, she begins to morph into different people from her past. She turns into Sabretooth, as the Shadow King comments that this memory is “worse than all the rest…” This, combined with last issue’s comment that Nightcrawler’s father had “fur in his genes”, makes me wonder if Marvel wanted Sabretooth to be his father at this point. Technically, Sabretooth is just hairy, not furry (the fur is supposed to be part of his costume), but it’s a vague enough reference to still work.

Creative Differences

On the page after Mystique is possessed by Shadow King, Nightcrawler’s dialogue has been totally re-lettered (in another example of hand lettering awkwardly being inserted in-between computer fonts). The altered dialogue details his plan to enter the adjacent dimension and attack Shadow King, which implies that someone changed this plot detail or didn’t like the way Ellis described the plan in his script. Since this is the next page after a possessed Mystique turns into Sabretooth, it’s possible that Nightcrawler might’ve inferred something about him that Marvel wanted changed, but that’s pure speculation on my part.

Review

It’s another action-heavy finale, which is able to work because Ellis also provides some strong character work throughout the issue. He doesn’t allow the characters to just easily go along with what the plot wants them to do; they have realistic doubts and insecurities that get in the way (Doug’s disbelief in alternate worlds is countered pragmatically by Switchback who points out that everything in this world is nuts). The story, oddly enough, seems to be making a statement against pacifism, as both Doug Ramsey and Destiny graphically learn about the dangers of “putting your head in the sand” and realize that fighting against Apocalypse is the only way to actually have peace. Superhero comics are inherently violent, but it’s rare to see a story that doesn’t tell you that putting down weapons is the ultimate solution. The Shadow King is a generically evil villain who can get old quickly, but Ellis is able to make his eerie narration interesting, and the chaos he creates at the camp brings a fair amount of excitement to the story. Lashley produces his strongest work yet, which is still very ‘90s but more attractive than his previous issues. On a few panels he skimps on the backgrounds, which unfortunately inspired someone to fill the white space with ugly, early ‘90s-style computer generated graphics that are supposed to look like trees. It dates the book pretty badly, which is unfortunate because this isn’t a bad issue at all.

GENERATION NEXT #4 – June 1995

“Bye”

Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Chris Bachalo (penciler), Mark Buckingham (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (lettering), Steve Buccellato & Electric Crayon (colors)

Summary

Illyana wakes up inside Mondo’s body and unknowingly pushes her hand outside of his chest. The guards notice and target him. Meanwhile, Sugar Man is still suspicious of Quietus, even though he shot Chamber. He shoots his sharp tongue into Quietus’ stomach, exposing him as Husk and Vincente in disguise. Chamber reveals that he used his psionic powers to make Sugar Man think he was shot, as Colossus and Shadowcat make a dramatic entrance. After Chamber blasts Sugar Man’s body apart, Colossus orders Skin and Chamber to find Illyana and Mondo in the lower levels. Nearby, Mondo kills the guards and pledges to rescue a human girl who asks for help. As soon as Skin and Chamber find Mondo, Sugar Man kills him with his tongue and kidnaps Illyana. Colossus crashes through the ceiling and kills Sugar Man. With Sugar Man dead, the Core erupts into a violent war between the human workers and mutant guards. As members of the team die, Colossus orders Shadowcat to use her powers to help him escape with Illyana. After helping them escape, Shadowcat attempts to go back to rescue the others, but Colossus orders her to get Illyana to safety while he goes back. Colossus reaches the Core’s entrance as the door closes, catching a final look at Husk as she’s overpowered by mutant guards. Distraught, he leaves and reunites with Shadowcat and Illyana. Unbeknownst to him, the Sugar Man has followed him.

Review

Well, things certainly happen in this issue. Lobdell takes advantage of the finite lifespan of the AoA world by ripping through the cast in a way he could’ve never done in the “real” universe. Having naive Illyana narrate this issue helps to underscore the tragic nature of the story. Juxtaposing her blind faith in her brother with his actions during the final scene creates an extraordinarily dark ending, one that honestly shocked me when I was young. Bachalo’s art helps to convey the story’s bleak mood, but the visual storytelling begins to fall apart here. There are a few scenes where it’s essentially impossible to figure out what’s supposed to be happening. Mondo’s death scene is staged in such a way it’s extremely difficult to understand what exactly the Sugar Man is doing. It looks like the page is missing some necessary panels, as Mondo falls down and Sugar Man just emerges from rubble holding Illyana. Chamber and Skin’s death scenes are also confusing, as they apparently just disappear between panels. There’s also panel here with the little girl that has a giant “YANK” sound effect that’s indecipherable (is the “YANK” supposed to be Chamber yanked away to an off-screen death?). Sugar Man is also portrayed inconsistently, alternating in size between a giant monster and a tiny Muppet. This might be connected somehow to his unexplained resurrections (does he make tiny Sugar Men or something?), but it’s not clarified at all in the issue.

Even though the story does have a respectable dramatic impact, there are elements here that don’t make a lot of sense either. Husk and Vincente, in disguise as Quietus, seem to think that only “shooting” Chamber should convince Sugar Man that they’re on his side. This ignores the fact that Sugar Man wanted both Chamber and Skin dead last issue. Apparently, Sugar Man has forgotten all about Skin in-between issues, even though he’s standing right in front of him here. Since it turns out that the gunshot was a mental illusion created by Chamber, he could’ve just as easily created the same illusion for Skin too, so it’s not as if this was a hard spot to write out of. The explanation that Chamber used his psionic powers to trick everyone also reminds me of how poorly defined most of the cast’s powers are. Since Chamber can communicate telepathically, can he also read minds? Can he use the psionic energy that ripped through his chest for things like telekinesis? It’s strange that basic questions about the characters’ powers were skirted over for so long.

The mechanics of the ending, where Colossus accompanies Shadowcat and Illyana out of the Core and then goes back, don’t really stand up to scrutiny. Since Shadowcat can phase through objects, I don’t see why she would’ve needed Colossus to go with her. If the idea is that he refuses to leave Shadowcat and Illyana, that’s contradicted a few pages later when he leaves them to go back for the others. So why did he go off with them in the first place? These nonsensical elements don’t really undermine the story’s impact, but they start to add up once you start to closely examine the details of the plot.

WEAPON X #4 – June 1995

Into the Maelstrom!

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Adam Kubert (penciler), Dan Green (inker), Pat Brosseau (letters), Joe Rosas & Digital Chameleon (colors)

Summary

The Human High Council shows Gateway holograms of Apocalypse’s genocide in America. He’s unmoved, until Weapon X forces him to watch the murder of a young girl by one of the Infinite soldiers. He shoves a recreation of the girl’s diary in Gateway’s face, telling him to guide the fleet against Apocalypse for her sake. Gateway finally relents and agrees to pilot the nuclear strike against America. Soon, Weapon X is on board with the members of the Council as the armada heads towards America. Emma Frost makes a cold comment to Weapon X about Jean Grey warning the enemy of the attack, and he responds by reminding her of what he’s sacrificing. Gateway heads to the prow to intuitively navigate the airship during a lightning storm, when Donald Pierce arrives with a new cyborg. Weapon X recognizes the cyborg as Carol Danvers, who was infected by Pierce’s techno-organic virus after a grenade nearly killed her. Against her wishes, she fights Weapon X and damages his right arm. Below, Pierce awakens the sleeper agent Brian Braddock, but Braddock is able to fight against Apocalypse’s neural implant. Pierce responds by killing him. He then heads back to the top and kills Carol Danvers for begging Weapon X to stop her. When Pierce tries to kill Gateway, Weapon X unsheathes the claws in his left forearm and guts him. With the armada now under attack from Apocalypse’s ships, Gateway creates a giant teleportation portal for the entire fleet to escape through.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority

A young girl is shot by one of Apocalypse’s men in the opening scene. After she’s killed, there’s a close-up of her dead face with blood splattered all over it.

Continuity Note

Gateway’s new personality is at least somewhat explained when Weapon X says that he was taken out of the Outback by “socio-anthropologists from Berkeley”.

Review

Weapon X concludes a solid run with a strong issue. The opening scene with the girl’s death could’ve come across as tasteless or just gratuitous, but the conversation between Gateway and Weapon X is able to justify its inclusion. Hama’s reinvention of Gateway actually makes him more than just a plot device or a mystery figure, giving him a real personality (and an odd speech pattern that might wear on your nerves, but I actually enjoy). There’s also a great conversation scene between Weapon X and Emma Frost, where he discusses the necessity of hardening your heart towards terrible acts during a war, and his sympathy for Jean for not being able to do that. The fact that he knows that he’s helping to drop the bombs on top of her could’ve been played for some overwrought angsting, but Hama finds a nice balance. The scenes with Brian Braddock and Carol Danvers at the end feel rushed (and I can’t tell if having both characters fight for their humanity is an intentional parallel with the inhuman act the Council is being forced to commit), but Kubert does a skilled job with all of the action that surrounds them. The Hama/Kubert Wolverine run was able to combine a sympathetic portrayal of the lead character with a lot of action during its best issues, and the AoA run is a nice example of what they’re capable of doing.

ASTONISHING X-MEN #4 – June 1995

Holocaust!

Credits: Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe Madureira (penciler), Tim Townsend & Al Milgrom (inkers), Steve Buccellato & Digital Chameleon (colors), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters)

Summary

Blink confronts Holocaust, and manages to use her teleporting powers to drop him into a boiling vat of genetic stew. Nearby, Rogue’s team of X-Men fights the army of Infinite soldiers. The team splits up, leaving Sunfire and Wild Child to rescue the humans inside the plant. Morph meets up with Blink, who tells him that Sabretooth is dead. Holocaust suddenly emerges from the vat and resumes their fight. Morph reveals himself to actually be Rogue, who absorbed his shapeshifting powers a few minutes earlier. Taking Holocaust by surprise, she uses her magnetic powers to reverse the electromagnetic flow inside his brain. The real Morph joins the fight, along with Sunfire and Wild Child. Rogue is gravely injured in the battle, but Morph uses his powers to impersonate her son, inspiring her to fight. After pushing Holocaust back into a teleportation platform, Rogue is prepared to follow him to Apocalypse, but Iceman arrives with Sabretooth to stop her. Rogue declares that the Age of Apocalypse will end tonight.

Creative Differences

The last page has an obviously tacked on exchange between Blink and Sabretooth, which has Sabretooth tell Blink that he’s hard to kill. I guess the editors wanted the readers to know that they didn’t forget about Blink’s numerous references to his death earlier in this issue.

I Love the ‘90s

The “X-Facts” hype page mentions the hostile initial reaction to this storyline that emerged when the cancellation of the X-titles was announced. “You sent your opinions spinning through the techno-void of cyberspace and posted them proudly on the bulletin boards of the information superhighway.” I think this is the first reference to internet fan reaction in one of the books (although the letters pages still haven’t started listing email addresses yet).

Review

This is the big fight issue, which is appropriate since it’s the series’ final installment that's supposed to lead the characters directly into X-Men Omega. As an issue-long fight scene, it starts to feel flaccid after a while, but the opening few pages are fairly exciting. Once you get to page sixteen and everyone is still fighting Holocaust, it can’t help but to be tedious at that point. Madureira’s art really helps to sell the action in the opening scenes, but it starts to look sketchier and rushed as the issue goes on. His exaggerated manga influence also gets dialed up in this issue (especially with his interpretation of Rogue), which starts to push things a little too far away from what normally works in superhero comics.

Going for an all-action issue to close things out is an understandable move, but it comes at the cost of developing the character dynamics hinted at in the first issue. The only cast member who completes a character arc is Sunfire, who comes to the sudden realization that he was the sole survivor of Japan because he’s destined to save humanity from Apocalypse. The scene doesn’t really work, unless we’re supposed to believe that Sunfire wouldn’t have done anything against Apocalypse unless he was personally affected by his actions, an idea that hadn’t been mentioned earlier. It’s also a very rushed one-page scene that almost reads like it was done as an afterthought. There’s some decent material that comes from Blink’s mourning for Sabretooth, but it’s undermined by his sudden resurrection at the end. This is also the third issue in a row where Sabretooth is believed dead but turns out to be alive, which I always thought was absurdly redundant.