Credits: Written by Scott Lobdell with Fabian Nicieza, pencils by (Deep breath) Bryan Hitch, Jeff Matsuda, Gary Frank, Mike McKone, Terry Dodson, Ben Herrera and Paul Pelletier, inks by (deeper breath) Al Milgron, P Craig Russell, Cam Smith, Mark Farmer, Mark McKenna, Tom Palmer, Tim Townsend, Hecoor Collazao and edited By Bob Harras.
Based on the format of this book, I’m going off script as there is a big story and a bunch of little ones that are split along casts and art teams, so will frame them that way.
Story 1, part 1: Cast: Professor Charles Xavier, Lucas Bishop, Scott ‘Cyclops’ Summers, Dr Henry ‘Beast’ McCoy, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Ororo ‘Storm’ Munroe, Remy ‘Gambit’ LeBeau, Clay, Trish Tilby, Rory Campbell, Moira McTaggart and Dennis Hogan.
Plot: Months after the world didn’t end, Jean Grey tries to get Wolverine to return to the mansion, but he is staying where he’s been for the past several weeks as he will not go inside that mansion as long as Sabretooth is there. After kissing Rogue, Gambit is comatose in the mansion being tended to by Storm. Bishop is struggling with the memories he got from his older self in the past. He keeps flashing back to them as he attacks Cyclops and Beast in the hallway. He calms down and is distraught over his mental state.
Elsewhere Dennis Hogan, a mutant is trying to make his way to Salem Centre, to find help. He takes refuge in a local diner, but he’s very anxious and struggling to hold his human appearance together. Just prior to going to air, a reporter/producer called Clay questions whether Trish Tilby (occasional girlfriend to Beast) is happy with breaking the new story that she has ready to go, she is and that night breaks the news that Dr. Moira McTaggart (a human) has contracted the Legacy Virus. (Stryfe’s killer disease that targets mutants and a bit of an on the nose AIDS allegory) Moira and Rory on Muir Island are shocked as are the X-Men in Westchester. Past the shock, Beast is heartbroken as it girlfriend was the one who has set this all off.
Story 2: X-Factor – Cast: Forge, Lorna ‘Polaris Dane, Alex ‘Havok’ Summers, Raven ‘Mystique’ Darkholme and Valerie Cooper.
Plot: X-Factor are trying to stop Mystique from blowing up a dam disarming the bomb, Mystique is hiding, but is attacked by a shadowy creature and seriously hurt. Despite this she manages to pose as Val Cooper to try and escape, Forge sees right through this is captures her. Before they leave, the dam is destroyed anyway. Forge expects it was a second device, but Polaris arrives and admits that Havok was what actually exploded, having lost control of his powers.
Story 3 -Marrow: Cast Sarah/Marrow and Dark Beast, the Henry McCoy of Earth 295.
Plot: Marrow arrives to find the first one to get his blessing to wage war on humanity. Dark Beast arrives and recognises her as a Morlock, a race he’s taking credit for creating. He is happy to see her and gives her this blessing.
Story 3 Excalibur: Cast: Mutate 01, Pete Wisdom, ‘Douglock’, Kitty ‘Shadowcat’ Pryde and the Sugar Man of Earth 295.
Plot: Wisdom and Pryde along with Douglok are talking with the first known mutate. This mutate 01 is about to tell them about who changed him, but he explodes, the Sugar Man does not want to be known about just yet.
Story 4 Rogue/ Generation-X – Cast: Rogue, Robert ‘Iceman’ Drake, Jubilation Lee, Paige ‘Husk’ Guthrie and Everett ‘Synch’ Thomas, Gayle Egerton & Emplate.
Plot: Rogue has left the X-Men, accompanied by Iceman, she’s partying away her cares, but then the news comes in, in the new Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, the members of Generation-X call their teachers as they can see trouble is brewing. Elsewhere Emplate meets with wheelchair bound Lady Gayle Edgerton, he hopes for an alliance against their mutual acquaintance, Jonothon ‘Chamber’ Starsmore.
Story 5 – X-Force – Cast: Blaquesmith, Nate Grey, Nathan ‘Cable’ Dayspring Askani’son Summers, Neena ‘Domino’ Thurman, Theresa ‘Siryn’ Rourke, Julio Esteban ‘Rictor’ Richter, James ‘Warpath’ Proundstar, Roberto ‘Sunspot’ DaCosta, Sam ‘Cannonball’ Guthrie and Shatterstar/Gaveedra 7.
Plot: As Blaquesmith tracks something coming through the atmosphere, something that affects Professor X. That something turns out to me Nate Grey. In Murder-world, currently the home of X-Force a training session is interrupted by a security system setting a self destruct device off, Arcade doesn’t want squatters in his place. The team get out just in time and are safe, but homeless. Cyclops is waiting for them, offering a solution.
Story 6 – Acolytes: Cast: Piotr ‘Colossus’ Raputin, Joanna ‘Frenzy’ Cargill, Milan, Rusty Collins, Amelia Voight and Paris ‘Exodus’ Bennett.
Plot: In orbit, a team of Acolytes leave Avalon (Formerly Asteroid M) and bring in a strange rock in space, a rock that contains a glowing, living creature. Exodus wants it brought aboard, believing a great change is coming.
Story 1, part 1: Cast: Professor Charles Xavier, Lucas Bishop, Scott ‘Cyclops’ Summers, Dr Henry ‘Beast’ McCoy, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Ororo ‘Storm’ Munroe and Dennis Hogan.
Plot: Dennis is at a diner somewhere in Westchester, when the story hits the TV news. He quickly leaves as a lot of vocal anti-mutant bigotry comes out of the other patrons, Dennis leaves. The other patrons are suspicious and follow him. He is distraught and terrified and Professor X picks this up and gets his X-Men to head out to find Dennis, who is now surrounded by the diner patrons. As Denis changes into a more reptilian appearance and that is literally all he does, he is beaten to death, with Xavier’s mind connected to his. When he is finally dead, his attackers just walk off, still dehumanising their victim, thinking they’d probably get a medal. The X-Men arrive, a heart-broken Xavier holds Dennis in his last moments. He tells Bishop that he has to believe in a better world, because it’s insane not to fight for that better world if this is the one they’re in and will be their future.
Notes: Going to deal with the issue as as whole again now. This was less of a story and more of collection of jumping off points for other titles, setting up new threats for the X-Men, a new antagonist for Generation-X and new status quos for Excalibur, X-Factor and X-Force. It uses the news that the Legacy virus (the 90’s didn’t do subtle allegory) can now be transmitted to humans, or at least specifically one human, as a way of connecting all the disparate threads together, to some degree of success. I don’t know if the goal was get you interesting in staying with all the titles you picked up for the last few months, or fill you in with what happened after the world didn’t end. Neither are particularly successful, but nor does it fail. There’re some foreshadowing moments that don’t really seem important and some nice bits of story as well. The introduction of Dark Beast is interesting and reminds you how fun the amoral Hank McCoy from Factor-X was. Ultimately though, it had a story about bigotry at it’s heart and the heart-breaking moment where Dennis is beaten to death is powerful for something in a comic. The captions on that page razor sharp.
“That Amy is fine doesn’t matter, that Dennis has done nothing is of no consequence, all that matters is that five youths have encountered something different from themselves.” I was raised well, racism and other forms of bigotry were shown to me as the evils they are, but stories like this, they reinforced that within me. People are people and there’s something missing when people won’t see that. The parts of this issue that work, lean into that struggle against hate and ignorance, a struggle that destroyed the world that was ruled by Apocalypse.
Verdict: Writing 4 out of 5 – Solid and capable throughout most of the issue, with moments that go beyond that, which for a bit of an odd duck issue is as good as you are going to get, I don’t know that I needed this as a denouement for the Age of Apocalypse, but am glad I got to re-read it anyway.
Art: 3 out of 5 – A mixed bag/jam issue so the art is dramatically inconsistent, but Mike McKone and Bryan Hitch do some great work in here. The look on Beast’s face when Trish breaks the news is a study in devastation and their work bookending this issue gives a strong start and finish.
Overall: 7 out of 10 – A fun, if unbalanced issue that welcomed the X-readers back to the 616 and reminds them that the dystopia that was removed may be replaced by the one that is coming, but you’ll want to be here to watch these characters fight for the world that now hates and fears them a little bit more.
Next Time: A quick overview as we say goodbye to the Age of Apocaylpse.
My Marvel Life 