Customer Reviews

X-Men: The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic, Book 1

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was a big fan of the Age of Apocalypse story when it originally came out, and was happy to see that Marvel was collecting the storyline in a series of trade paperbacks. What I don't understand is the logic behind the issues collected in volume 1. This should have been the start of the saga and been comprised of X-Men Alpha and a couple of the more important limited series like Astonishing X-Men, Factor X, or Amazing X-Men. Instead, Marvel packaged all of the random throwaway AoA stories like the Blink limited series and an X-Man annual. These aren't bad stories, and most should have been part of the collections, but certainly not in book 1. This volume would have been more appropriate as a follow-up book to the real AoA series. Maybe it makes sense from a marketing perspective, since if these stories were collected in a later volume it might have been easier for fans to skip it altogether. It certainly doesn't make sense from a storyline point of view though.

Of all the storylines (many of which were actually pretty lame) to occur during the 90's run of various X-Men books, nothing was better than the Age of Apocalypse. The Age of Apocalypse storyline (has it really been 10 years?) began when Professor Xavier's illegitamite son David "Legion" Haller traveled back in time to kill Magneto so his father's dream of human and mutant unity would come true. Legion accidnetly killed Xavier, thus altering history forever. In an era of no X-Men, Apocalypse took over America, and the only ones to oppose him are Magneto and his team of X-Men. The alternate reality setting surprisingly worked out well, as heroes became villains (Cyclops, Beast, Havok), villains became heroes (Sabretooth), and classic characters were given apocalyptic (no pun intended) makeovers. Marvel has decided to re-print the complete epic in seperate volumes, but sadly, Book 1 doesn't include any of the various 4-issue series' that replaced the regular X-books (Astonishing X-Men, Amazing X-Men, Weapon X, Factor-X, Generation Next, X-Calibre, Gambit & The X-Ternals, X-Man, etc.) but instead compiles various one-shots, a special X-Man issue, and the Blink mini-series among others. As a previous reviewer stated, the AOA storyline should have been re-printed the way it was originally released, beginning with the intro X-Men: Alpha one-shot, the various series', and the finale X-Men: Omega, with the issues collected here scattered between. The issues collected here aren't bad, including the Factor-X one-shot in which Cyclops meets his real father Corsair, with tragic results that really show how dystopian this alternate reality is. All in all, if you missed these issues and were a fan of the storyline, you may want to give this a look, but it's up to you if it is worth laying down this much cash for it.

The Age of Apocalypse was the high mark for the X-Men (and company) in the 1990s, and can in many ways be considered the climax of the X-Men saga.

Professor X's mentally unbalanced (yet frightfully powerful) son, Legion, had gone back in time to slay Magneto. Xavier thwarts Legion's efforts and sacrifices himself to save his friend, thus birthing a chain of events that would bring about an age of darkness and genocide. Magnus attempts to fill the void left by Xavier but must face a threat in the form of Apocalypse, an ancient mutant demigod who champions the rule of mutants over humans with the most powerful mutants gathered about his throne of skulls (oddly enough filling the role Magneto would play if not for Legion's manipulation of the time stream). [Note- this back story is not presented in this volume, although it would make much more sense than the inclusion of the Blink series at the end]

In this first volume the Age of Apocalypse unfolds in (mostly) chronological order. The first chapter (and in my humble opinion the one reason that this collection is worth buying) shows us Apocalypse's first (modern) declaration of war against the "genetically inferior", and a time when Magneto's X-Men were at peace in the sanctuary of Mt. Wundagore. The Four Horsemen, along with Sabertooth, strike at Cape Citadel (where Magneto strikes in Uncanny X-Men #1), but the X-Men intervene and save the day, but at a high cost: Magneto suffers a diminishment in power and the loss of a child.

Other items included are the meeting between Cyclops (a high ranking officer in Apocalypse's régime) and (his father) Corsair; the beginning of the romance between Rogue and Magnus; a battle between the X-Men and what has become of the Inhumans on the Blue Area of the Moon; the origin of the X-Man (the AOA's version of Cable); and the Blink mini-series (possibly the greatest flaw in this volume due to its relevance to the Exiles over the AOA overall).

Overall Vol. 1 of the AOA is good but I recommend that new readers to purchase the later volumes and only pick this one up if you can't get enough of the AOA (but even then the New Age of Apocalypse is a better outlet for such a craving).

This volume encompasses several stories that are only connected because they happened in the same time line. The stories jump from event to event. This was frustrating, since I purchased this book because I had read many of these before and was curious about the stories surrounding them. What I ended up with was a little more information and a lot more confusion.

One of the stories featured in Volume 1 centers around Forge and X-Man, aka Nate Grey. It involves time travel, Sugarman, and removing microbes from Niagara Falls. There were implications that Nate passes through Forge's lab on a regular basis, but beyond that, the story left me very confused.

The positives - The artwork, while differing from story to story, was pleasing on the whole. The characters were decent-looking and the stories hint at greater things to come. Marvel could have done a better job of arranging it, or could have at least given readers a clearer idea of what to expect.

Age of Apocalypse was the kind of once-in-a-lifetime story that had even the pickiest of nerds (like myself) scrambling for an aspect to criticize. The problem was, there really wasn't one....when looked at as a whole. Volume one, however, is largely comprised of everything in the series that WASN'T rock-your-world great. With the exception of the story about the X-men rescuing sunfire from the blue area of the moon, these tales are very average. They set the background for the splendor to come, but I think Marvel may have had it right the first time around - where you are introduced to this incredibly bleak wasteland first (in "X-men: Alpha" and the like) and are later made to ask yourself "well - how did we get here"? In other words, though these books are in chronological order as far as the storyline goes (occurring before "X-men Alpha" in comic-world), they were actually released later - and rightfully so, as they need the excitement and wonder of "X-men: Alpha" and all the rest to build interest in them before you dive right in. As they stand, they read like a bunch of mediocre "what if"s.

I gave this book 5 stars for reasons beyond the book itself; please read on to understand my thinking. This book is an essential portion of a larger whole. The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic wll total four volumes running in chronological order according to the Age of Apocalypse storyline (not individual title release dates). This storyline originally ran in the summer of 1995 and featured a bleak alternate near-future scenario where Professor X has been killed before forming the X-Men and Apocalypse is poised to dominate the world. Although little, if any, original material from the summer of '95 is presented in this volume, the material that we are presented with provides great backstory and insights into the characters and events that occur in the following volumes.

If you are not interested in the AoA storyline from start to finish, which I believe is one of the greatest Marvel storylines to date, if only for the incredible concepts and artwork (though not so much in this particular volume), then skip Volume One for a later volume featuring the actual material from the summer of '95. On its own, with no relation to the following volumes, this book would rank around two and half stars. My review of five stars is due to this title's relation to each other volume in the series.

Most fans would rather they made this book vol. 2 and the second vol. sould have been first. But this is because everyone likes the other issues (and for good reason) more.

However, If you are a true fan of the AOA series then you should have no problem accepting this as the first vol.

Yes, some of the issues in vol. 1 really art exactly the most important for readers to start with... but like I said if you are a fan then you will appreacate their attempt to lay down some backstory to the characters before you get to the meaty AOA issues.

The most obviously unnecessary series is the 4 part mini Blink seris... however, since she is a more recently added character it is, i feel, important to lay down her character before moving on.

And other back points are important too. Like the death of the scarlet witch, or the examples of the gambit-rogue-magneto love triangle.

To wrap it up... if you are a casual reader... then buy Vol.2. But if your a true AOA fan... this is a Must!

I have to disagree with the people who think this was an ill advised attempt to rip off the comic reading consumer. Because of their advice I skipped Volume 1 and went directly to Volume 2, and spent a long time trying to figure out what was going on in this counter universe. I now see that if taken as a prequel (because it really doesn't feature Apocalypse) it offers all the background you need to understand what is to follow. It would have made for a more enjoyable read. OK, I do agree that the Blink mini-series was ill placed, but I feel the Marvel team felt they needed to bulk up the book to make it worth the money.

I first read the Age of Apocalypse storyline when it originally came out, back in 1995. Ten years later, I was excited to reread the whole series, with all of the one-shots and specials included, ordered appropriately.

And... Well, I -did- enjoy the book, but was still a little disappointed by the time it had ended. I question the inclusion of "Blink 1-4", since the vast majority of that mini-series (which sparked the start up of the 'Exiles' ongoing title) has little or nothing to do with AoA, as Clarice (Blink) is galivanting through another plane.

All in all, it was a good collection. . . But a very incomplete one. Though large in size, know ahead of time that this volume is only a single installment of the huge epic. It barely even scratches the surface, presenting you with back-story and additional pieces, without delving into the core of AoA in the least. I'm looking forward to Book 2, which I'm hoping will be a little more 'all-inclusive'.

Don't buy this book!

Although it features stories from the Age of Apocalyse story line, it doesn't "begins here" as stated on the book description. It is mearly a collection of one-shots and stand alone issues but with almost nothing to do with the main story line. If you realy want to read the age of apocalyse, buy books 2, 3 and 4, not this so called "book 1".