Customer Reviews

X-Men: The New Age of Apocalypse

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To celebrate the ten year anniversary of the landmark X-Men storyline the Age of Apocalypse, Marvel comissioned hack writer Akira Yoshida (X-Men/Fantastic Four, Elektra) to script a six issue mini-series that returns to the dark, dystopian, alternate reality we all know and love. The mini-series itself begins where X-Men: Omega ended years back: Apocalypse is dead, and somehow Magneto and his surviving X-Men are still alive. However, not all is well, as we soon find out thanks to Yoshida's schizophrenic storytelling. Is it me, or does anyone else remember Sinister dying in the last issue of X-Man? Not to mention, in X-Men: Omega, remember when Jean Grey is killed, and as Weapon X cradles her, the caption states that "she is no Phoenix"? I thought so, but Yoshida tosses all that aside as Sinister is alive and well, and the Phoenix is here too. Nitpicks aside, this could be all well and good if the story were anything decent, but it isn't, and the characterizations of Magneto, Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Weapon X, Sabretooth, etc. are so far from what we came to know in the original AoA storyline that they seem like completely different characters all together. Other characters that weren't in the original AoA cross-over, including the Silver Samurai, Xorn, and even the currently hot X-23, are here as well, but for no good reason. Chris Bachalo provides the pencils for the mini, and they're about what you'd expect from the guy from seeing his most recent work: incoherent and sloppy. Also featured in this TPB is an AoA one-shot featuring work from original AoA writers Larry Hama, Scott Lobdell, and co., and that may be worth a look for old AoA fans, but all in all, this unnecessary TPB is better left on the shelf for the rest of us, and should be rightfully avoided.

I bought this volume with great interest. My understanding was that that AoA universe had expired due to nuclear holocaust (not Holocaust) some years back. Imagine my surprise and anticipation when Marvel found a way to keep this fascinating timeline alive. The orignal Age of Apocalypse was such an innovation, with good characters gone bad, bad gone good, and a goodly number of new ones mixed in. I didn't know what to expect from New AoA.

My initial reaction was positive. I was always curious as to the origin of Wild Child, and my memories of AoA didn't explain his appearance. This book does. However, it really makes me feel like a comic nerd (not that there's anything wrong with that) to notice a discrepancy here. Sabretooth and the Apocalypse troop parted company during a battle with the X-Men, and they left him behind. It doesn't fit that he would have been tossed into a cell with Wild Child after his moral turnaround. Why, oh why, do the writers do things like this? It doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it's one of those irritations common in comic books. The writers don't write to preserve existing storylines. Another huge revelation there!

A major premise of the main story involves a huge secret that involves Magneto, the government, and The Real Person who saved America from nuclear holocaust. The generally-held perspective is that Magneto is responsible, but gasp! it is someone else, and for some reason he's not telling. It's all based on a visit by Sinister and it causes all kinds of internal turmoil. The plot unravels further and further until it comes to an awkward and hastily-wrapped-up-ending that left a bad taste in my mouth. Characters who were noble and strong in the original AoA storyline are suddenly weakened into liars that capitulate to blackmail. It is unlike the original AoA. In fact, it is a cheap knock-off loosely based on Marvel's most innovative X-Men storyline in recent years.

Now, the artwork - the characters and artwork have changed, and changed again, since the very beginning of The Uncanny X-Men. Some of those changes were improvements, while some of them were stylistic disasters. I would count the artwork in this book to be one of the latter. Many important action sequences are packed into little tiny display boxes, followed by a great big box with a great big reaction to whatever just happened. I spent much time squinting at the artwork trying to figure out what just happened. The pages are arranged right next to the spine of the book, so many dialogue bubbles are obscured. The characters are sometimes glossy, as though they were made of shiny plastic. To top it all off, the artwork is so strongly anime-manga influenced that, were it not for distinguishing characteristics such as Rogue's white streak, they would be unrecognizable. They look childish, puffy-faced, and sloppily-drawn.

Had Marvel continued with artwork, storyline, and characters exactly like those in the original series, New Age of Apocalypse would have been much more appealing. Instead, this hastily cobbled-together volume touches on themes from the original, but it pays them no compliments.

Ten years have passed since the original AoA storyline but only a year within this current collection. The characters are thin copies of what made the original series exciting. Explanations of how events and such got to this age are minimal and laughable. Not recommended for fans of the original AoA and not worth it for a quick read to see what has been happening in the X-Universe if you stepped away for a while.

Title: The New Age of Apocalypse
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Scott Lobdell, Tony Bedard, Larry Hama, Akira Yoshida
Artists: Alvin Lee, Paco Medina, Talent Caldwell, Mark Brooks
Collects: Age of Apocalypse One-Shot, New Age of Apocalypse #1-6
Price: $20.99

OK, for those few of you who have never heard of the Age of Apocalypse (a Marvel Comics crossover event that took place 11 years ago in the X-titles), the series was about a dark, alternate future timeline where Professor Xavier had been murdered and Magneto formed the X-Men. Apocalypse and his legions of mutants have taken over North America and plan to eradicate homo sapiens from the planet, given enough time and opportunities to do so. By far, the best thing about the series was the chance to see the creator's revised versions of popular X-Men heroes and villains. Some villains were now on the side of the angels and some heroes were now devil's advocates. No matter which side the characters were fighting on, they all looked really cool, as did the new characters that were introduced in the series. The storyline was a bit weak, and the battles were pretty predictable, but the new character designs made the story all worth while.

On a play to monopolize on the fantastic success of the original series, Marvel launched this new series on the 10th anniversary of the original series to milk a few more dollars out of current X-fans and fans of the original series. I'm sad to report that the story in this new series is incredibly weak, the artwork didn't thrill me at all, and the characters just don't have the same appeal they had 10 years ago. I know that part of this is simply the fact that I've matured and demand better storytelling in my comic fare than I did 10 years ago. I also know what I like, artistically, and this just isn't it. The artwork in this story was very stylized. Most of it reminded me strongly of Ultimate War from Ultimate X-Men. I didn't care for it then and it's no better here. Fans of Manga would probably take to it more, but Manga is not a love of mine. Giant robots? Sure, I like those, who doesn't? But doe-eyed girls with simple triangle noses wearing sailor suits and guys with thick points of spiky hair and extra large feet just don't pull my trigger. While the overall character designs and re-vamps remain the highlight of the series (for me, at least), the artwork was not nearly as good as it was the first time around. X-23 shows up this time, too, and I don't care for that character one bit. NO CLONE CHARACTERS PLEASE! Leave that garbage to DC.

I'm not sure what the breakdown was here for the four writers and what part each had in the making of this storyline, but one would think that the four of them would have been able to come up with something more exciting than this. The story did very little to grab my interest, and there were really no surprises to be had in the entire series. Most "surprises" were foreshadowed and telecast so clearly beforehand that anyone could pretty much see what was going to happen in the end. Also, these futuristic X-Men have no qualms about killing their enemies. This is so far removed from what the X-men in current continuity believe that the whole thing seemed implausible. Would the general public really embrace "heroes" that readily put their adversaries six feet under? I don't know. Maybe at first, I guess, but not for long. I just didn't buy it. If you're trying to build a better tomorrow and a new age of peace between mutants and men, why stoop to killing all who oppose you? Like I said, I just didn't buy it.

The cover price of this book is high enough that I would really caution anyone against buying it until you really know what you're getting. No matter how much you liked the original series, I think you'll be let down by this addendum to the story. This is a shame, because the original was pretty good, even if it doesn't hold up well over time. They could have done something really special with this part of the X-Men franchise, but I came away thoroughly disappointed by this project. Buyers beware!


Writing: 4/10
Artwork: 6/10
Cool Factor: 8/10
Overall: 6/10

Ten years ago, all X-Men titles stopped for 4 months, replaced by a horrifying world called the Age of Apocalypse. In this world Professor Xavier had been killed, leaving Magneto to create the X-Men and guard the world from the horror Apocalypse created, a world were humans were being exterminated and only the strong could survive. In a final battle, this world was supposed to end, to be restored to the X-Continuity we know (and love)....

But ten years after that crossover event, comes this graphic novel. We learn that world did not end, but continued. Apocalypse has been defeated, but enough of his evil remains in the world that the X-Men are still at the center of rebuilding. Not only must they rebuild the world, but their own team, who has suffered and must be drawn back together. It's the usual X-Men twists and turns, just with different takes on the characters that we know and love. This volume features Wolverine and X-23 prominently, as well as the Phoenix in all her fiery glory. Magneto, Charles, Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Quicksliver are also featured characters.

This volume also lets us see characters that are now fan favorites, but weren't around or included in the original Age of Apocalypse, including Xorn, Beak, Cloak and Dagger, Psylocke, and the Hellions.

Also in this graphic are four small mini stories first published as a one shot, that gives background on the characters and makes the rest of the graphic easy to understand.

This volume can be enjoyed by someone who knows nothing of Age of Apocalypse continuity, but it is easier to understand if you have read the other AOA stories before. This trade collects the Age of Apocalypse miniseries from 2005 and the AOA one shot that proceeded it.

Over all this is very enjoyable. Just be aware if you aren't already that these characters are different in personality from their mainstream X-Men counterparts.

Recommended.

Marvel came with the age of apocalypse, which was one of the best from the house of ideas but then they release this book that does not even worths the paper that they used.
In the original history you can see one of the best endings in the comic book industry, but they destroy all of that in this one.
Being one of the best x-men fan ever I can tell you, save your money go ahead and get something else....

...But it was a somewhat confusing read. This book brings you seven comics from 2005, all bound up in one edition.

The 'Age of Apocalypse One Shot', which brings you four [short] never-seen storylines from AoA, shedding some light on some areas. Sabretooth's first encounter with Wild Child, the 'origin' of Generation Next, Weapon-X and a young Mariko Yshida, and a brief depiction of how AoA survived the nuclear bombardment that it was left with, ten years ago. These stories, though agonizingly short, had decent writing and images. The creative team (writers, pencils, inks, colors, etc) was different for each installment, which seems to help with the story-seperation, and add a unique flavor to the individual tales. All in all, not a bad one-shot. It delivers, if only in small quantities.

Next we have the X-Men: The New Age of Apocalypse #1-6 mini-series, from earlier this year. The writing and pencils were done by the same duo throughout, with about eight inkers and good ol' Studio F on colors. Akira Yoshida, who has also written a number of other recent marvel titles (which I have yet to read) does a fairly good job with this story. It's a difficult task to undertake, in my opinion... These brief mini-series deals always are. How to come up with a -good- story that will be worth the extra dollar or so per issue, and also pay hommage to the original AoA Epic, with such a short run? In general, I think that the ideas he worked with were good, though at times I felt that they were perhaps incomplete, or under-developed. But, that's pretty much a given with these short works, anyway. There's usually not enough time to truly develop the characters, new and old, with the 'new' setting. And yes, folks, make no mistake: This is a new setting. While it does pick up where the first AoA left off, the world is a very different place without old Porklips running things.

So, while I -did- enjoy the series, there were times that I was awfully confused. New characters were introduced without much explanation or backstory at all, and presented in such a way that it was difficult to follow exactly what was going on. Sure, most of them were variations of characters from the 'Mainstream' timeline, but the similarities were sometimes few and far between. (Growing up under the hell of a five thousand year old god-like dictator will have that effect on a character.) I was a little baffled by some of the characters, such as 'Xorn' (until her true story was revealed, which irritated me to no end) and a few others. But, really, the writing was pretty good, and the parts that were a little mushy didn't really detract all that much from the overall story.

Unless, of course, you factor in the very confusing art. I'm not a huge fan of Chris Bachalo's pencils in this, at all. Honestly, his name did not ring any bells, and I had to do some looking to find out that he's actually been around for a while, having co-created 'Generation-X' with Scott Lodbell, worked with Neil Gaimen on 'Death: The High Cost of Living', his own 'Steampunk' series, and some others. Having read GenX for a long time, and having enjoyed the Death piece, I was really surprised to find how much I disliked is pencils. I don't remember disliking his work in the past, at all. In fact, I think I probably liked it. But reading this AoA mini-series, I found myself peering at panel after panel, trying to figure out just what was going on. Who had done what to who? It's not always easy to tell, especially in the under-sized action scenes. Perhaps the overall confusion of this series is more related to the art then the writing, though I don't really feel comfortable 'blaming' one aspect when I cannot put my finger on anything definitely. I will say this: There are some scenes and images that Bachalo pulled off masterfully here. Aside from the action-confusion, there's really only a small handful of pencil shots that really irritate me, though it may simply be that his unique style does not work for me.

So, in conclusion... the writing is decent, if a little underdeveloped. The art is good, if more than a little confusing to follow at times. The overall piece is definitely worth reading, as long as you have already read the first AoA storyline. Without that, you're probably going to be pretty damn lost here, folks. Luckily, Marvel is printing the original AoA stuff in trade paperback form, as well! The first book of the 'Complete Epic' is out now, and is also worth picking up. But when does the next one come out, I wonder?

Back in the 90's Marvel released a series called Age of Apocalypse where the heroes of the marvel universe, X-Men in particular, were recreated in a world where Xavier had been killed and Apocalypse had taken control of much of the world. It has since become known as one of Marvel's most successful spin-off series and was both critically acclaimed and fan appreciated.

Now, ten years later, Marvel released this collection of all six New Age of Apocalypse comics and the Age of Apocalypse One shot. The one shot itself does little more than fill in a few gaps from the original story and without the original Age of Apocalypse is of little worth. The six piece mini series however is a continuation/stand alone series that's an interesting new take on the original X-Men, as well as those from the AoA universe. Chris Banchalo's art is what really makes this story worth the money. He offers a new design of all of the previous characters and his art style is fresh and dark, very appropriate for the AoA universe. The story however is where the graphic novel falls apart. Not that it is horrible, but author Akira Yoshida has a few unexplained gaps like how Psylock suddenly became Japanese or how Wolfsbane freed herself of her transitional form. Yoshida leave plenty of spots for action where the artwork really access and in doing so makes up for his misshapes. In the end the story is readable and the artwork is admirable, this book should defiantly be picked up if you're a fan of the original series, or Weapon X (Wolverine) as a lot of the story focuses on him.

Ultimate X-Men will just never be for me, I am afraid. I understand why
they are doing it, and it is has obviously been successful, but
eventually they will run into the same problems and reasons for doing
this universe. What will they do then, the same thing? A bit of the
manga art style here, too, that I am usually not a fan of when
hybridised like this, and a crossover Japanese writer, as well.