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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Generation Next #4

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Walt

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generationnext004"Bye"

Created by: Scott Lobdell and Chris Bachalo
Inks by: Mark Buckingham
Lettering by: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Colors by: Steve Buccellato and Electric Crayon
Cover: Bachalo
Edited by: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

This is certainly the darkest end to any of these minis yet, for the Age of Apocalypse.

Illyana’s been found…but her rescuers are not unscathed from their trials. Even with the arrival of Colossus, the kiddos aren’t quite able to make it, and the students find themselves left behind as Colossus INSISTS she be carried to safety, the mission Magneto set. Only then does he "go back" to save his students…and the result is where lies the aforementioned darkness.

As with the rest of the series, I’m not a big fan of the art on this book. In many places it’s just too "busy" for my tastes, with too many lines, and this title definitely has some of the weirdest-looking characters. It remains distinctive and carries a darker tone, so the uncomfortable weirdness is appropriate…it’s just not something I particularly enjoy.

While the characters and situation are believable, I don’t much like seeing this side of Colossus, or Kitty…it’s uncomfortable to see them in these roles. Still, the story is rather believable, especially given what we’ve seen of them before–students AND teachers…and we’ve been set up to see this as a "suicide mission," just that we don’t normally see the sorts of character deaths that we do here.

Of course, that’s something that "can" be done in this case–the final issue of a four-issue glimpse into the twilight of the Age of Apocalypse. Consciously, as readers, it was clear by this point that the "regular" X-Men universe would return and that the Age of Apocalypse–if only in terms of publishing–was racing to its conclusion. Unless characters would cross over, or get a scene in X-Men: Omega…this would be "it" for them, and the story already being a divergent status quo, stuff can be done that simply would not fly in the regular books.

Though I’ve not been a fan of the art in particular on this series, the story’s been good, and it’s been a lot more interesting than I’d expected going in. Generation Next #4 now balances to Generation X–four issues of each, with Generation X only "taking the lead" by the return of the regular books and cessation of Generation Next…an interesting "meta" dynamic I’ve always noticed.

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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Factor X #4

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Walt

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factorx004Reckonings

Writer: John Francis Moore
Pencilers: Steve Epting w/ Terry Dodson
Inker: Al Milgrom
Lettering: Richard Starkings, Comicraft
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Cover: Steve Epting
Editors: Kelly Corvese, Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

The order has been given–the pens of humans are to be culled. The newly "promoted" Alex Summers lords it over the others to enforce the order. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Jean are trying to save the humans, help them escape. This leads to the two having to fight through multiple obstacles (though they find unexpected allies). Things ultimately come down to brother vs. brother, and a new leader of the would-be-culled humans. Also meanwhile, Angel’s club is shut down, while Worthington himself ditches the place, essentially laying aside his neutrality in things.

This issue really does not offer any true finality or closure to what’s been set up throughout…more, it’s the fourth chapter of this side-trip following Alex, Scott, and (Dark) Beast and whatnot–our glimpse into things going on within Apocalypse’s ranks with characters we’re familiar with from the "regular" universe. To get finality for these characters and their arc within AoA, one definitely needs to follow this with X-Men: Omega.

The story, though, is good, and AS a story I don’t really have much to say on it; the writing is solid and consistent and not unexpected. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there’s also something to Cyclops as written here that made me think he’s portrayed as a lot more interesting than I recall his being at the time in the regular Marvel universe. Perhaps the notion of his having served with Sinister and Apocalypse at all, or a number of other potential angles of the character that could be explored to answer "Why is he where and how he is now?"

My surprise with the issue’s creative side is just how much I really like the art. My one actual "problem" with the visuals is Jean’s hair–I’d swear she’s had much shorter hair in prior appearances, where Jean in this issue has the longer hair of her 616-counterpart of the time. I could be annoyed at the inconsistency…but I prefer long-haired Jean as depicted here, so I like it.

I’m not nearly as familiar with Havok in general, and it’s been rather strange seeing him as so thorough a villain in the Age of Apocalypse (same for Beast). Still, there’s a lot more than could be explored between just Alex and Scott’s relationship, that it’s sort of regrettable this four-issue journey is over.

I’ve enjoyed the series, and enjoyed this issue. Were it a self-contained mini-series I’d almost certainly be quite disappointed at the ending. As-is, it leads into X-Men: Omega, and I recall a definite end-point for Jean, Scott, and Alex as well as the fate of the Beast; looking ahead to that, it occurs to me that Omega serves in many ways as a #5 for the various minis, with Alpha having served as a #0.

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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: X-Man #4

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Walt

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xman004The Art of War

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Steve Skroce
Inks: Bud LaRosa
Colors: Mike Thomas, Digital Chameleon
Letters: Richard Starkings, Comicraft
Cover: Skroce, LaRosa
Editors: Lisa Patrick, Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

Clearly, Apocalypse has no problem "shooting the messenger," and thus–it’s safe to say no one should look forward to being the bearer of bad news. Fortunately, the Shadow King is capable of surviving this particular wrath of the mutant master, who delivers the news that Domino has failed to remove the telepath she was sent to deal with. We then cut back to Nate battling Sinister over the death of Forge. Sinister killed Forge to remove what he saw as a detrimental attachment, and now faces the rage of his most powerful creation. Talking Nate down, Sinister reveals the young mutant’s origins, though still finds himself subject to Nate’s wrath. After bidding his remaining friends farewell, Nate heads to Apocalypse’s stronghold, where he bumps into would-be allies…faces from Sinister’s revelation. However, he keeps to himself, determined to chart his own course, to take out Apocalypse himself.

The cover is rather generic yet spoiler-y…showing an enraged Nate victorious over Sinister. It’s also relatively patriotic (to the US) with a general white background, red 3-D to the white and blue-ish logo, as well as the blues of Nate’s getup and Sinister’s blue and red. Generic as the image is, I do like it…enough that I’m talking about it here where I’ve not made a point of discussing EVERY cover of this Age of Apocalypse event.

The interiors work quite well, also. There’s something that seems a bit simplistic about the way Nate looks in certain panels, but aside from simply noticing and thinking that, the art team does a very good job with this issue. Nothing jumped out at me as atrocious or distractingly weird, and I never had to pause to ask myself what exactly just happened or try to piece it together contextually. As such, the art certainly did its job at the minimum, and since I enjoyed it overall, I must say that the art exceeded expectations.

This is a good "next chapter" to Nate’s story, following the events of #3…but there’s not much sense of things being tied up here outside of Sinister’s apparent fate. The wording there was a bit awkward…obviously going for the dramatic effect. But, being a nitpicker in wording, I found myself a bit distracted by the phrasing on Sinister’s final page. While the other Age of Apocalypse series are functionally mini-series…Nate’s four issues are more functionally a single arc. The X-Man title actually carried on after the Age of Apocalypse business, and ran about 75 issues if I recall correctly. So this "final issue" within the event is fairly well suited as simply a "next chapter" rather than having a conclusion…just that from issue 4 to 5 one pretty much has to read X-Men: Omega.

All in all, this is another good issue that gets Nate to where his story can converge with the others into a single, epic issue in X-Men: Omega.

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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Astonishing X-Men #4

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Walt

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astonishingxmen004Plot/Dialogue: Scott Lobdell
Pencils: Joe Madureira
Inks: Townsend/Milgrom
Colors: Steve Buccellato
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Letters: Richard Starkings, Comicraft
Cover: Madureira, Townsend, Buccellato
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

Doing what comics did well BEFORE they were commonly written-for-the-trade, this issue picks up a bit after the previous issue’s cliffhanger. Where there we saw Blink horrified at finding the eviscerated body of Sabretooth, here we find that she’s gotten over that shock and is now confronting Holocaust over the issue. The "Infinite factory" has been taken apart, and she’s soon joined by the rest of Rogue’s group of X-Men, and together they face Holocaust, each with plenty of reason to take the Horseman apart. The monster holds an ace in the sleeve, though, and escapes…but not before revealing to Rogue that her husband, son, and the stranger Bishop have been taken by Apocalypse…and setting her on a determined course.

Yet again, I found myself enjoying Madureira‘s art in this issue. By name, I’m inclined to want to avoid it in contemporary comics…but here, it’s very good and I enjoyed it. Twenty years ago, it just WAS…and with no name recognition I was–and still am–good with it. There’s a definite "feel" of it being ’90s art–particularly Holocaust’s appearance with the shoulder armor and such–but I’m definitely ok with that.

The story itself moves things along a bit and ties some things up–Sabretooth’s fate, the team’s handling of it, the immediate threat of Holocaust himself, the team dealing with the Infinites, etc. I nearly chuckled at the "smart-arse" back and forth between Rogue and Holocaust, and remember truly laughing out loud in the past when I’d read the scene. "From where I’m standing…" and Holocaust simply punching Rogue away "Then stand over there!" Childish perhaps, but a nice bit of levity within the already dark story.

While functionally a 4-issue mini-series and this is the "finale," the story doesn’t actually end here…just the chapter. The issue ends with a note to follow things into Amazing X-Men #4 and then X-Men: Omega…and that’s what all the AoA series do. We started with X-Men: Alpha with a singular whole, splintered off to the 8 (or 10) minis, and everything re-converges for the true finale in X-Men: Omega.

Were this a contemporary issue/contemporary end-of-a-miniseries, I’d be very annoyed, I think. As-is, seeing this as simply a part of the larger whole and having ZERO expectation of Astonishing X-Men wrapping up as a full self-contained thing, I’m perfectly fine with this, and suspect that (as with this issue) the rest of the #4s will be similar: each leaving me all the more eager to get to the grand finale, having journeyed through the separate sub-stories that make up the overall Age of Apocalypse story.

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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: X-Universe #2

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Walt

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xuniverse002Dying Breath

Story by: Scott Lobdell
Script: Terry Kavanagh
Pencilers: Carlos Pacheco, Terry Dodson
Inkers: Cam Smith, Robin Riggs
Colorist: Kevin Tinsley
Color Separations: Electric Crayon
Lettering: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover: Pacheco & Smith
Editors: Marie Javins, Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: June 1995
Cover Price: $3.50

We open on a new/arbitrary character–a father holding his child, as people are given over to Rasputin for upgrading, a last chance to stand with mutants without being eradicated. We then move to our Phenomenal Five (I saw THAT term in the monthly checklist on the X-Books This Month section) who have been captured and are helpless…at least until a contingency plan kicks in. Meanwhile, no one’s told the humans of the atrociously low survival rate of the upgrade process, that only one in a hundred-thousand survive any length of time and few of those survive indefinitely. Stark’s plan kicks in, and the humans begin breaking free, and the rebellion is on. After the battle, few humans are left, but they’ve acquired technology from Mikhail’s ship and make a last bid for permanent escape from Apocalypse’s rule.

This issue is all over the place. And when it ends…I only know it does because there are simply NO MORE STORY PAGES. There’s no particular icon or note or any indication the last page is the last page. It has all the makings of a second-to-last page, that you’d turn the page for some full-page image to finish out the series, but instead it turns to a double-page ad, then a double-page info/profile section, another couple ads, and that’s that.

The art’s so-so…not bad, not spectacular, and a bit minimalistic at points and just somehow looks a bit "off" from the rest of the Age of Apocalypse. Of course, multiple pencilers and inkers, suggesting (to me, with contemporary sensibilities) that this issue had run behind and needed to be caught up in a hurry to get it out on time. That’s also something that suggests further to me that this series was an afterthought of sorts, a late addition to the AoA stuff.

The story’s also only so-so. It could certainly be worse, but it doesn’t really feel like it has any real significance, given we’ve had no real reference, even, to these characters, nor any dealings with Rasputin elsewhere in the AoA, so this is just stuff going on "in the World of the Age of Apocalypse" and can be pretty safely ignored in the grand scheme.

Another element that lends the notion of this X-Universe series being set apart from the rest of the AoA is the covers. These are $3.50 cover price with cardstock covers and foil-ized logos. The chromium double-size bookend issues make sense as they’re "special," kicking off and concluding the entirety of the story. But the issues in-between have all been standard covers with no fancy enhancements or foiling or such. This mini just reeks of typical ’90s saturation.

Unless you’re–like me these last number of weeks–specifically determined to read the entirety of what was published as part of this original Age of Apocalypse series, this seems like a safe mini to skip. And I’m thankful to be through this because now I can jump into the #4s and the final parts of the story, as the various threads in the minis begin to–finally–pay off.

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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: AoA: The Chosen

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Walt

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ageofapocalypsethechosen001Cover: Ian Churchill, Scott Hanna
Cover Graphics: Ashley Underwood
Colorist: Ashley Underwood
Designer: Ronnie Lawler
Computer Imaging: Steve Alexandrov
Editors: Jaye Gardner, Kelly Corvese, Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: April 1995
Cover Price: $2.50

I had it in my head to include a review of this since I’m trying to cover everything else with the original Age of Apocalypse…but there’s really not much TO review. We have a 3-page framing sequence to shoehorn this issue into the AoA story, suggesting that we’re reading profiles through the eyes of one of the Madri and not just a random Marvel Comics publication offering some basic details on several key characters and titles involved with the AoA stuff.

The art and premise are passable and I appreciate what’s being attempted, though the execution falls pretty flat for me.

The profiles themselves provide a somewhat diverse mix of art and text–supposedly computer files Apocalypse has on major players in things and whether he deems them worthy or unworthy of survival ("Chosen" or "Forgotten").

Looking at this "in-continuity" as seems to be the intent, I have a lot of issues here, from how short and UNdetailed the entries are, to several spelling and punctuation gaffes I noticed (one that made me cringe before moving on), to the very notion of Apocalypse keeping such files and deeming anyone "Chosen" or "Forgotten" as if labeling toys on a shelf or some such.

This issue is really a primer, to give some basic information on a number of the main characters involved in the Age of Apocalypse, whether singularly or by title they appear in. I definitely have a problem with Mystique and Nightcrawler being labeled X-Calibre by Apocalypse…this is one of THE key elements that strikes me as entirely implausible given context of this book as well as those characters, that Mystique’s "X-calibre" bullets are the reference for the title and not a team name).

I believe this was supposed to be the Age of Apocalypse equivalent to the X-Cutioner’s Song issue Stryfe’s Strike File. In that regard, sure, it "works" and I can’t fault its existence entirely. The $2.50 cover price prices it as a premium issue, functionally an extra 50 cents over the price of the rest of the regular issues in the AoA…yet it seems like it was–as a unit–something much cheaper to have made, being primarily text over singular images rather than most of the "usual" that goes into the production of a comic…especially with only 3 "story pages."

Perhaps I should have covered this sooner…covering it now, in a gap between the #3s and #4s of the AoA arc, I’m already familiar with the characters and status quos so this seems all the more superfluous.

At the time, I suppose this issue would’ve been fascinating, coming out with the #2s and so possibly fleshing things out a bit more than had been done to that point in the overall arc. It’s more like a full-issue "bonus feature" to the arc, and neither truly adds nor detracts from the main arc. It exists if you’ve interest, but is not at all essential nor revelatory.

See below for the characters who got profiles, and the artists who did the visuals.

PAGES 1,2,31: Ian Churchill, Scott Hanna
MAGNETO/ROGUE: Salvador Larroca, Sergio Melia
X-MAN: Steve Skroce, Bob Wiacek
CYCLOPS: Slvador Larroca, Sergio Melia
HAVOK: Ian Churchill, Karl Kesel
MR. SINISTER: Ian Churchill, Karl Kesel
STORM: Salvador Larroca, Sergio Melia
QUICKSILVER: Ian Churchill, Terry Austin
NORTHSTAR/AURORA: Ian Churchill, James Pascoe
THE BEAST: Ian Churchill, Terry Austin
THE FOUR HORSEMEN: Val Semeiks, Bob Wiacek
X-CALIBRE: Tom Lyle, Dan Panosian
THE HUMAN HIGH COUNCIL: Salvador Larroca, Sergio Melia
WEAPON X: Ian Churchill, James Pascoe
X-TERNALS: Ian Churchill, Scott Hanna
COLOSSUS: Salvador Larroca, Sergio Melia
ANGEL: Salvador Larroca, Sergio Melia
SABRETOOTH/WILDCHILD: Tim Sale
BISHOP: Tim Sale
CHARLES XAVIER: Tom Lyle, Dan Panosian

ageofapocalypsethechosen_wraparound

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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: X-Universe #1

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Walt

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xuniverse001Last Stand

Story by: Scott Lobdell
Script: Terry Kavanagh
Penciler: Carlos Pacheco
Inker: Cam Smith
Colorist: Kevin Somers
Color Separations: Electric Crayon
Lettering: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover: Pacheco & Smith
Editors: Marie Javins, Bob Harras

We open on the familiar face of Gwen Stacy–dead in the regular Marvel universe but obviously alive in this altered reality of the Age of Apocalypse. She’s essentially a humanitarian worker here…saving those she can in Wakanda, though she quickly is reminded she can’t save everyone. Fisk and Osborne–Marauders–have arrived…though they’re almost immediately challenged by a Stark cargo ship carrying Tony Stark and Clint Barton. Once the Marauders are dispatched, there’s a reunion on the ground between Stark and Donald Blake. Shortly after, Mikhail Rasputin arrives on a peace mission from Apocalypse…though upon inviting Stacy, Stark, Blake, and others into his ship, his true colors stand revealed.

"Passable" is the first word that comes to mind on the art, though it’s not quite the word I’m grasping for. The art works here and I really don’t have a problem with it–but it’s nothing special or spectacular. Given the nature of this book, one probably shouldn’t expect too much of it as this is possibly the most "fringe" book of the Age of Apocalypse arc.

I could say the same for the story–I’m far less engaged by this than I’ve been with any of the other issues of AoA thus far. The story itself isn’t horrible or anything…it just fails to really draw me in or make me "care."

So far, we’ve been presented with a specifically X-centric take on this Earth–where mutants rose to power, crushing humanity beneath their collective heel. As an X-centric story overall, we’ve seen no appearance of nor any real reference to the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, the Avengers, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four–any of the "non-X" groups of characters or solo characters of the Marvel universe. This 2-issue series seems geared specifically to deal with that fact, by presenting us with a bunch of characters and references to off-panel prior deaths and such so as to not leave ’em out of continuity ENTIRELY.

While i’m quite glad for the addressing of continuity in this way, trying to answer the question of what happened to these various other characters–the execution leaves plenty to be desired, in my eyes. I’ve been quite content to consider that the Human High Council in Europe "speaks for" humanity, and to "assume" that the likes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and any younger characters had the entirety of their origins derailed by Apocalypse’s rise to power and thus would be faceless humans on the whole.

Given that…this series’ existence makes sense, but is a definite step away from the rest of the AoA issues, involving non-X characters. This mini does not seem to tie into any of Magneto’s plans nor have anything to do with him or any of the other X-groups, and as such this is largely "filler"…worth a read if you want a take on the non-mutant characters, but (for me) not at all essential to the rest of the AoA-verse.

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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: X-Calibre #3

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Walt

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xcalibre003Body Heat

Writer: Warren Ellis
Pencils: Ken Lashley
Inks: Tom Wegrzyn, Philip Moy
Colors: Joe Rosas, Digital Chameleon
Letters: Richard Starkings, Comicraft
Cover: Ken Lashley
Editors: Suzanne Gaffney, Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: May 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

Three issues in, and Nightcrawler has finally found Mystique (actually, she found him) though the reunion isn’t the greatest as they still have work ahead of them–getting to Destiny…something Mystique is actually quite hesitant on, for her own reasons. The two eventually get to Avalon, connect with Destiny…though SHE is hesitant to leave, speculating that it could be her leaving that causes everything to be destroyed as it appeared in her visions. Still, the place is found out and Mystique and Nightcrawler defend the group against Apocalypse’s agents–Damask and Dead Man Wade. Realizing the beauty of the place, though, Damask turns on Wade and he’s taken out. The group–Nightcrawler, Mystique, Switchback, and Damask–then prepares to take Destiny and get out.

Toward the end of the issue, Switchback asks Mystique about the bullets she has, the only markings being an "X." Mystique explains them:

"They WERE Magnum loads for a .44 calibre, but I customized them. The ‘X’ was kind of a joke."

And thus we get the title of this series: X-Calibre, a literalness that works, and juxtaposes nicely with the regular X-title Excalibur, referencing the legendary sword. The fact that that is worked into this reminds me of what I often very much enjoy in movies that seem to have a random title–explanation is given within the story as to the title…perhaps explicit, perhaps not…but noticeable when caught and yet not particularly intrusive. We also get a brief exchange between Nightcrawler and Mystique suggesting they both–in the Age of Apocalypse–know who Kurt’s father is, though I don’t believe THAT was revealed until nearly a decade later in the main Marvel universe.

This issue moves things forward into a second act, in a way. The first act (issues 1-2) involved Nightcrawler seeking Mystique in order to be able to then seek Destiny. The "finding" occurring at the end of last issue left this issue for them to proceed in seeking Destiny, and now we’re left with Avalon no longer being safe and though they HAVE Destiny, they still have to get her to Magneto to do her thing.

And as with the earlier issues, this was an enjoyable enough read. It may not be my favorite, but it’s not bad. I had to flip back through to find where Switchback came in, having totally glossed over her as an incidental character and not realizing she’d be significant at the issue’s end.

Overall I very much enjoyed the art, especially the first page with Nightcrawler and Mystique–linework, coloring, all of it–the two characters definitely look the part of mother/son (if not husband/wife or such)–the family appearance is there. I don’t quite "get" the sideways-double-page layouts from this time period, and though that’s mainly been something I’ve noticed in Wolverine (and thus Weapon X) opening this issue to that brought it back to conscious thought. That was the main ‘distraction’ to reading the issue, though.

I actually don’t recall anything offhand from the fourth issue, so whatever transpires between this and Destiny’s role in X-Men: Omega will be like another "new issue" for me…something I do look forward to.

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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Gambit and the X-Ternals #3

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Walt

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gambitandthexternals003To The Limits of Infinity

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Salvador Larrocca
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Color Art: Javins, Rosas, Webb, Thomas
Separations: Electric Crayon
Cover: Salvador Larrocca, Al Milgrom
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: May 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

Gambit’s crew has located the M’Kraan crystal…but realize the task before them–to actually steal it and return with it to Earth–may well be impossible. Still, they get beamed down to the planet, where their immediate welcome is quite hostile. As the group splits, Gambit and Deathbird follow Lila into the crystal itself after she was pulled in…where they meet a creature who explains to them what the crystal is, what it can do, and how important this mission truly is. Outside the crystal, the rest of the group faces an additional welcome party of Gladiator and Rictor as the situation goes south in a hurry…leading them to enter the crystal as a final, desperate attempt at survival. Once in the crystal, they’re just in time to see the crystal accept something of Gambit, and finally with Sunspot’s sacrifice, the group attempts to return home.

This issue seems to be the core of the series…we have the introductory stuff and setup in the first issue, the characters regrouping and dealing with being tossed across the universe in the second…here we actually see them get what they came for and presumably wrap up. Of course, there’s one issue to go, and we end on Lila’s declaration that she will not fail (to get them home)…but we don’t actually see them get home.

The art continues its consistent good quality as with the previous issues…really no particular complaint or gripe from me. I liked it, and sped through the issue without being "taken out of the story"  by anything weird in the art itself…I simply saw the characters and situations and that’s what the art is supposed to do.

Gambit’s internal conflict here is easy for me to empathize with–the feelings he’s continued to hold onto for Rogue, challenged by his presently being with Lila. That he’s forced to deal with his own feelings in order to save the universe itself is a rather deep thing to ponder. I’m also not familiar with Jahf, if he’s appeared before or not…there’s just enough ambiguity that I could see either option equally likely. Other than Bishop himself, I think this is the first we’ve seen any "confirmation" in-story that this reality is not the "real" one, and for the first time (maybe ever) I feel like there’s a reasonable hint of how the AoA reality has "continued to exist" to present-day.

The issue’s end is lofty–a declaration that failure will not happen. It nicely caps the last couple issues, but leaves things open for the next issue and conclusion of this particular mini. There’s no doubt the characters will face further hurdles before any of them make it to X-Men: Omega, and it’ll be interesting to see the "bridge" between this issue and that.

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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Amazing X-Men #3

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Walt

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amazingxmen003Parents of the Atom

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Penciler: Andy Kubert
Inker: Matt Ryan
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Color Art: Kevin Somers, Digital Chameleon
Cover: Andy Kubert
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: May 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

We open with Magneto at Xavier’s gravestone, reflecting on the past and significance of Xavier and his life. Bishop interrupts and we learn the two are out on the grounds of the mansion due to a perimeter alarm, and before long the two are attacked…first by Infinites, then Apocalypse himself. The two fall to Apocalypse…leaving the grounds empty when Storm and Quicksilver’s group returns. They split to seek Magneto as well as his son Charles, but find only evidence that Nanny defended Charles, and Magneto did not leave of his own volition. While Quicksilver confronts Angel–who is "in the know" with this sort of thing–we see Bishop being probed for info by the Shadow King, and then Abyss arrives. Meanwhile, having gotten what info he needed from Angel, Quicksilver prepares the group to retrieve Bishop, recognizing that Bishop is key to Magneto’s plans, moreso than Magneto himself.

This cover, and this issue in general–is one of the ones I remember and think of when I think of the Age of Apocalypse story in general. I remember the physical battle between Magneto and Apocalypse, and apparently have–at least subconsciously–been looking forward to this, despite not recalling for certain where stuff went down. I hadn’t remembered much detail on the X-Men and their searching for Magneto or how they connected the dots, but as I read this, that was almost "extra" after the battle between the two Big Players in things.

Visually, I dare say I was thrilled with this issue…everything looked good, ESPECIALLY a lot of the Magneto and Bishop stuff. Whatever nitpicks I might be able to find to cast some negative are easily overshadowed by the issue’s opening and the depiction of Magneto. As I’ve said in other reviews across the AoA stuff…this is where Magneto came to really be one of my favorite comic characters…and this version of him is easily my favorite depiction OF the character.

One almost needn’t have read the first couple issues to follow things here–technically those stand alone, apart, serving as our point of witnessing what the characters went through where in this issue we’re simply told THAT they helped with the evacuation of the humans. Magneto being attacked, and both he and Bishop being taken by Apocalypse cues the final stage of the Age of Apocalypse, as concepts and potentialities solidify and larger pieces of things are visibly coming together, everything being drawn toward Apocalypse himself at the heart of his empire.

Having so enjoyed this issue, I truly don’t relish forcing myself through (m)any other issues and I’m simply eager to get to the final issue of Astonishing X-Men, and of this title, and then on into X-Men: Omega…though there are a number of other issues yet to go before the finale of this story.

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