X-Man 4 -This is not how you get someone to trust you Dr Essex.

Credits: Written by Jeph Leob, pencilled by Steve Skroce, inked by Bud La Rosa and edted by Lisa Patrick.

Cast: Nate Grey, Earth 295 versions of Dr Nathaniel ‘Sinister’ Essex, Karl ‘Sauron’ Lykos, Theresa (here called Sonique) Rourke, Scott ‘Cyclops’ Summers, Jean Great, the Shadow King, En Sabah Nur and Erik ‘Magneto’ Lenscherr.

Plot: The Shadow King informs Apocalypse that Domino has fallen and that her quarry (lead character Nate) is a bigger problem than was originally thought. Apocalypse starts off enraged, but the muses about survival of the fittest and goes off to continue interrogating/torturing Magneto. Far from Apocalypse’s citadel, Nate confronts Sinister, who he now knows has killed friend Brute and his father figure Forge. Nate’s PK blast punches through Sinister, but it heals instantly. Sinister asks Nate to look into his mind and learn of his origins.

His is shown the lab where Sinister created him from the DNA of Cyclops and Jean Grey, he then sees his own escape from another angle, Sinister informs him that he was there watching, but unable to prevent it.

Sinister ends this exposition dump by explaining that he and Apocalypse had similar goals for the evolution of mutants, but work from different angles, Sinister in creating life, but Apocalypse worshipping death. In response, Sinister ‘made’ Nate to kill Apocalypse, This cosy chat is curtailed by a shot into Sinister and the sudden arrival of Theresa and an injured Sauron.

Sinister maintains that his is the only agenda that matters, all Nate is, is a weapon aimed at Apocalypse. Incensed, Nate channels his TK power through his fists and starts repeatedly punching Sinister until he stops moving,. Fully aware that this doesn’t remove the threat of Apocalypse, Nate flies off. Sinister stands, glad for that to be over, but as the blood pours out of him, he realises he is actually bleeding to death, alone and unmarked.

Nate sends Sauron and Theresa off, intending to find Magneto, a task left by Forge. Theresa kisses Nate as a goodbye and Nate flies off. In the skies above Apocalypse’s America, Nate sees a vision of Magneto at Apocalypse’s mercy and he knows where they are and flies to New York.

He arrives above the citadel, but feels a pull elsewhere and following it finds himself in the midst of the culling of the pens started in Factor-X 3. In the chaos he finds Cyclops and Jean Grey, his parents and there’s a feedback between him and Jean, they both recover and Jean invites Nate to join them. Cyclops remembers the kid, but they have their own path and Nate has a destined meeting with Apocalypse.

Notes: There was no way this was going to end without some kind of exposition heavy soliloquy from Sinister. So viewing this an over talky issue is a little unfair. The main thrust of the story is Sinister trying to convince Nate to wage war upon Apocalypse’s regime. His was of doing that is to point out that he is only Sinister’s tool, For a master manipulator as he’s often been portrayed, he’s failing to direct a teenager, so the main thrust of the story seems off. It’s still a well put together issue, the action and exposition match up quite well. The story moves along well and the stand out moments, well they stand out doing the job really well by putting Nate exactly where he needs to be in the book end comic in a very organic manner. By pure luck, where Forge wanted Nate to go is where Sinister wanted him to go, showing us that Sinister’s death was not quite as in vain as it could have been.

Verdict: Writing: 4 out of 5 – The emotional scenes work well, giving the story a melodramatic feel that works for a teenage protagonist, the story lurches forward in places that don’t feel out of place as memory, thought and vision get mixed up in this and even the death of Sinister, just after he feels he has won makes this a satisfying read.

Art: 4 out of 5 – Frenetic action and good panel progression pushes this issue forward towards an exciting cliff-hanger at the end, character design is good, faces are kept consistent and the larger set pieces are really well done, this was how 90’s comics were done well.

Overall: 8 out of 10 – Another series comes to an end and this one was very well done, some stuff is resolved, but most is left to be picked up in the bookend issue that’s only 3 X-Men comics away. It’s left me ready for the end of series in all the best way.

Next Time: Revenge from the Jackal’s grave.