X-Men of Apocalypse #1: Space is Warped and Time is Bendable

The Age of Apocalypse was one of the most defining events for not just X-Men, but comic books in general. For four months in 1994 and 1995 Marvel “cancelled” all their current X-Men titles, and replaced them with books set in a world where Charles Xavier’s dream of human/mutant coexistence had died a violent death at the hands of his son, Legion. Without Xavier’s guidance the world fell into chaos at the hands of the mutant despot Apocalypse and the only chance of survival for both humans rested in the hands of a reformed Magneto, moved by his old friend Xavier’s sacrifice, and his X-Men. The effects of that event still reverberate through Marvel today, so much so that their world has started to crash into ours. 

After the events of X-Men of the Apocalypse Alpha, Forge and his X-Men have traveled to the main Marvel universe in order to save what remains of their world, even if it means sacrificing this one. After a brief battle with Nate Grey, the Apocalypse X-Men come face to face with a depleted 90’s X-Men team consisting of Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, and Bishop. An all out battle leads them further into the past, back to where it all began. 

It would be wrong of me to discuss the writing portion of this comic without addressing the Jeph Loeb sized elephant in the room. His controversy is well documented so I won’t go into it here, but I felt it important to say at the beginning that I do not agree with anything that he said regarding people of Asian descent. Now that that is out of the way, onto the actual writing of this comic. 

If you are a fan of the Age of Apocalypse stories as well as other X-Books from that timeframe of the mid to late 90s then you will find a lot to like here, since Jeph Loeb was one of the many writers on those books he is very aware of how these versions of these characters should speak and act. Though the dialogue is updated a bit to suit modern comic standards. The pace is a bit quick at points and there are a few moments of show instead of tell, but overall it is a good intro to the stakes in place for the story and where these characters are supposed to be going. 

The art by Simone Di Meo is definitely the highlight here. The action, while at times hard to follow, is kinetic and fast-paced like a shonen anime, and everyone stands out even when there are multiple characters on the page at once. The colors also pop as well, mixing well with the pencils in dynamic ways.