What do you think?
Rate this book
X-Men: The Road to Onslaught #2
X-Men: The Road to Onslaught, Vol. 2
The buildup to the Marvel Universe's darkest hour continues as the X-Men face danger from without and within! What decades-old connection does Professor X have with the secretive ClanDesti ne? When Synraith returns, the two teams clash...but all is not what it seems! Can the X-Men solve the mystery before Synraith's victory is complete? COLLECTING: X-MEN/CLANDESTINE 1-2; UNCANNY X-MEN (1963) 327-328, ANNUAL '95; X-MEN (1991) 46-49; X-MEN UNLIMITED (1993) 9; SABRETOOTH (1995) 1
440 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 2014
10 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Alan Davis
1,026 books68 followersAlan Davis is an English writer and artist of comic books, known for his work on titles such as Captain Britain, The Uncanny X-Men, ClanDestine, Excalibur, JLA: The Nail and JLA: Another Nail and others.
Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 5, 2021
2018 read: This classic phase of the X-Men mythos centres around the attempted rehabilitation of Sabretooth! This volume collects: X-Men/Clandestine #1-2; Uncanny X-Men #327-328, Annual '1995; X-Men #46-49; X-Men Unlimited # 9; Sabretooth # 1
June 26, 2017
No through story here. Just a semi-random collection, some that make a little sense and some that don't make any. The bit at the end with Bishop and apparently Onslaught was definitely the worst - didn't make sense and really wasn't interesting. Even the X-Babies story was better and that's saying something. The Lee Forrester, Bloodstream, Belasco semi-Bermuda Triangle was almost as bad and having Psylocke along certainly didn't help. Sabretooth escaping had some moments of interest. Actually the Guthrie's going home to check on one of their siblings was the only decent story. Basically this book was a waste of time.
May 2, 2019
A little bit better than the last one, but not by much. There were some cool stories and some dumb ones. The X-Babies?? GTFO!!!
The ominous “Onslaught” foreshadowing was exciting. Sabertooth fucking up Psylocke was intense. Dark Beast and Sugar Man were fun to see. I love anything that reminds me of age of apocalypse.
I haven’t read actual Onslaught yet, so it’s hard to tell what is leadup and what is filler... but most of these stories seemed very ancillary. The return of Belascos and those pirates was pretty underwhelming and, to be honest, kinda boring.
I look forward to where this goes, but this book felt a bit sloggish.
The ominous “Onslaught” foreshadowing was exciting. Sabertooth fucking up Psylocke was intense. Dark Beast and Sugar Man were fun to see. I love anything that reminds me of age of apocalypse.
I haven’t read actual Onslaught yet, so it’s hard to tell what is leadup and what is filler... but most of these stories seemed very ancillary. The return of Belascos and those pirates was pretty underwhelming and, to be honest, kinda boring.
I look forward to where this goes, but this book felt a bit sloggish.
January 18, 2015
Clandestine / X-Men. I suppose it's nice to get all the X-Men stories from this era, but this one seems totally irrelevant to the ongoing plotlines and not really tied to continuity. Davis' Clandestine are neat, and the first half of the story is fun if slow, but then it badly deteriorates when Davis plays with laws of reality so much that it results in a team-up that really isn't [5/10].
Uncanny X-Men '95. Although Terry K. isn't a regular X-Men writer, he does a good job of continuing the race issues of Vol. 1, and also puts a nice spotlight on Sam and Paige [7/10].
X-Babies (XM 46-47). This starts off as a rather nice character piece focusing on great issues like the X-Traitor and Bobby's powers, but then the X-Babies appear and it turns into an issue and a half of mindless mayhem and stupid cuteness. Bleh. [4/10].
Joseph (UXM 327). I found Joseph an intriguing addition to the X-Men mythology, but this is nonetheless a very slow story. [6/10].
Bloodscream (XMU 9). This should have been a great story, with its Claremont continuity, starting with Lee Forrester. Unfortunately, as more and more Claremont elements return, they start to become farcical. Meanwhile, we have terrible dialogue and a plot that just isn't that interesting [3/10].
(And by this point, between Clandestine, X-Babies, Joseph, and Bloodscream, I feel like we've had the ongoing plots of the previous volume pretty horribly derailed.)
Sabretooth (UXM328, S1). This short arc has a nice start, as we bring a close to the long-running Sabertooth story, and see some of the X-Men's reaction to it. Unfortunately, it then turns into a long-running fight in the Sabertooth mega-issue. Though the point that he can take on many of the X-Men is a good one it's way too long and drawn out [6/10].
Characters (XM 48-49). The last two issues are nice characters pieces, giving good highlights to Cannonball and Bishop while also doing a great job of advancing Age of Apocalypse plots and also touching on the upcoming Onslaught [6+/10].
Unfortunately as a whole this volume is an incoherent mess, thanks in large part to the extraneous issues dumped in here (and in small part to the X-Babies digression). It's a pity, because at its best this volume does a good job of mimicking the character-driven stories of Claremont. However, this volume also includes the '90s at its worst, as exemplified by the Bloodscream issue of X-Men Unlimited, which is a mishmash including a stupid '90s villain.
Uncanny X-Men '95. Although Terry K. isn't a regular X-Men writer, he does a good job of continuing the race issues of Vol. 1, and also puts a nice spotlight on Sam and Paige [7/10].
X-Babies (XM 46-47). This starts off as a rather nice character piece focusing on great issues like the X-Traitor and Bobby's powers, but then the X-Babies appear and it turns into an issue and a half of mindless mayhem and stupid cuteness. Bleh. [4/10].
Joseph (UXM 327). I found Joseph an intriguing addition to the X-Men mythology, but this is nonetheless a very slow story. [6/10].
Bloodscream (XMU 9). This should have been a great story, with its Claremont continuity, starting with Lee Forrester. Unfortunately, as more and more Claremont elements return, they start to become farcical. Meanwhile, we have terrible dialogue and a plot that just isn't that interesting [3/10].
(And by this point, between Clandestine, X-Babies, Joseph, and Bloodscream, I feel like we've had the ongoing plots of the previous volume pretty horribly derailed.)
Sabretooth (UXM328, S1). This short arc has a nice start, as we bring a close to the long-running Sabertooth story, and see some of the X-Men's reaction to it. Unfortunately, it then turns into a long-running fight in the Sabertooth mega-issue. Though the point that he can take on many of the X-Men is a good one it's way too long and drawn out [6/10].
Characters (XM 48-49). The last two issues are nice characters pieces, giving good highlights to Cannonball and Bishop while also doing a great job of advancing Age of Apocalypse plots and also touching on the upcoming Onslaught [6+/10].
Unfortunately as a whole this volume is an incoherent mess, thanks in large part to the extraneous issues dumped in here (and in small part to the X-Babies digression). It's a pity, because at its best this volume does a good job of mimicking the character-driven stories of Claremont. However, this volume also includes the '90s at its worst, as exemplified by the Bloodscream issue of X-Men Unlimited, which is a mishmash including a stupid '90s villain.
January 28, 2016
This collection was decent, but it had a bit too much filler. Let's hope that the final volume has more content.
March 24, 2017
Love this period of the X-Men. It's what drew me back into reading comics again after years of not. Great stories. Terrific art. I'd really love to see all three of these Road To Onslaughts collected into one big Omnibus. It's wonderful, classic material. Can't beat it. Peak period X-Men. Must reading for all X-Men fans.
November 13, 2024
Part two of a series that is just a collection of random stories sort of leading up to a major event sets a pretty low bar for enjoyment. I really expected to find myself flipping through this while rolling my eyes. I found myself, instead, enjoying several short X-Men stories that share little more than the publication dates and a few characters.
A better name for this trade would be X-Men vs. The 90s X-book continuity. Most of these stories seem to be trying to end the weird, disappointing storylines that preceded it. In some ways by merely bringing stories to their conclusions: Sabretooth's rehabilitation, Longshot & Dazzler having been shunted back to the Mojoverse, Bishop's mistrust of Gambit, some Age Of Apocalypse nonsense.. In some ways by throwing very weird new storylines: the introduction of Joseph, a crossover with ClanDestine, expanding the mythos around the Guthrie family. Most of them work in this volume. For me, they work because they aren't dwelled on long enough to be excruciating, which is one of the most frequent causes of a bad X-story: going on for too long.
The X-Babies? Two issues and you can forget about them for years. ClanDestine? Two issues and you're never going to see them again. Sabretooth? Two issues to move his story in a completely different direction. The Guthrie clan's family problem? One long issue. Wolverine is even used judiciously in these volumes.
This volume won't be for everybody. But if you really liked the weird end of the 90s X-books, this book has just what you're looking for.
A better name for this trade would be X-Men vs. The 90s X-book continuity. Most of these stories seem to be trying to end the weird, disappointing storylines that preceded it. In some ways by merely bringing stories to their conclusions: Sabretooth's rehabilitation, Longshot & Dazzler having been shunted back to the Mojoverse, Bishop's mistrust of Gambit, some Age Of Apocalypse nonsense.. In some ways by throwing very weird new storylines: the introduction of Joseph, a crossover with ClanDestine, expanding the mythos around the Guthrie family. Most of them work in this volume. For me, they work because they aren't dwelled on long enough to be excruciating, which is one of the most frequent causes of a bad X-story: going on for too long.
The X-Babies? Two issues and you can forget about them for years. ClanDestine? Two issues and you're never going to see them again. Sabretooth? Two issues to move his story in a completely different direction. The Guthrie clan's family problem? One long issue. Wolverine is even used judiciously in these volumes.
This volume won't be for everybody. But if you really liked the weird end of the 90s X-books, this book has just what you're looking for.
April 10, 2021
This book continues on from X-Men: The Road to Onslaught, Vol. 1 and we get a number of different X-titles (adjectiveless, Uncanny and Unlimited) as befits the popularity of the X-books at this time.
The collection opens up with a solid Alan Davis 2-parter, featuring his creations ClanDestine. It fits in nice continuity wise and is a good 2-parter, introducing his team, having the obligatory battle and a good resolution. After that there's a reasonable Annual by Kavanagh and Hitch.
The book derails a bit with the X-babies plot (a concept I find a bit silly) but there is some fun in seeing Gambit and Bishop work together. There are further throwaway issues of Joseph/ Magneto and Bloodscream. The book then gets back on track at the back-end, finally resolving the Sabretooth storyline, although seemingly a bit too casually in Uncanny - but the following Sabretooth Special is a fun issue featuring the original 5 X-Men and at least doesn't feature Wolverine for once. The collection closes with some AoA fallout, which I like, as someone who really enjoyed that crossover.
Overall, another mixed bag of issues. Your interest will again depend on your nostalgia or completist mentality for this kind of thing.
The collection opens up with a solid Alan Davis 2-parter, featuring his creations ClanDestine. It fits in nice continuity wise and is a good 2-parter, introducing his team, having the obligatory battle and a good resolution. After that there's a reasonable Annual by Kavanagh and Hitch.
The book derails a bit with the X-babies plot (a concept I find a bit silly) but there is some fun in seeing Gambit and Bishop work together. There are further throwaway issues of Joseph/ Magneto and Bloodscream. The book then gets back on track at the back-end, finally resolving the Sabretooth storyline, although seemingly a bit too casually in Uncanny - but the following Sabretooth Special is a fun issue featuring the original 5 X-Men and at least doesn't feature Wolverine for once. The collection closes with some AoA fallout, which I like, as someone who really enjoyed that crossover.
Overall, another mixed bag of issues. Your interest will again depend on your nostalgia or completist mentality for this kind of thing.
July 19, 2017
Just when I thought a compilation couldn't get much more "90s" than Road to Onslaught 1, here comes: Clan Destine (who?)! X-Babies! Amnesiac Chibi Magneto! Evil Beast from another timeline? dimension? does it even matter?
The art is loud and colourful, at least, so one can enjoy that (as long as the ridiculous Barbie-esque proportions of basically every single female character, even the ones in the background, don't bother you too much) and goofy one-offs like the X-People playing poker with The Thing. Perhaps the only redeeming story is the original 5 X-Men hunting down the escaped Sabretooth in Manhattan. But that was maybe 30 pages out of 440. Overall, a grim reminder of the worst of the 90s X-cess.
The art is loud and colourful, at least, so one can enjoy that (as long as the ridiculous Barbie-esque proportions of basically every single female character, even the ones in the background, don't bother you too much) and goofy one-offs like the X-People playing poker with The Thing. Perhaps the only redeeming story is the original 5 X-Men hunting down the escaped Sabretooth in Manhattan. But that was maybe 30 pages out of 440. Overall, a grim reminder of the worst of the 90s X-cess.
July 8, 2017
Many stand alone stories, varying in quality.
X-Babies? Eh, sure, whatever. I didn't hate this as much as I thought I would, haha.
Clan Destine was a basic story of two heroic groups fighting and a few powerful psychics having to close a portal so a destructive entity doesn't destroy Earth. You know. But thankfully Alan Davis drew it, so I liked pushing my eyes over the story!
The best part of this trade was the Sabretooth storyline. Interesting to see Xavier's thought process and emotions running high.
X-Babies? Eh, sure, whatever. I didn't hate this as much as I thought I would, haha.
Clan Destine was a basic story of two heroic groups fighting and a few powerful psychics having to close a portal so a destructive entity doesn't destroy Earth. You know. But thankfully Alan Davis drew it, so I liked pushing my eyes over the story!
The best part of this trade was the Sabretooth storyline. Interesting to see Xavier's thought process and emotions running high.
March 8, 2016
Slightly uneven both as art and storywise.
August 20, 2017
There's some fun comics in here (Alan Davis' ClanDestine), but to say this is the road to Onslaught seems somewhat untrue....there's very little to set the stage for that crossover here.
September 5, 2017
The Kubert, Cruz and Madureira artwork is nice and the Lobdell stories have a fun soap attraction. But there are a few filler stories (Alan Davis) i could have done without.
April 5, 2023
Gems include the Guthries try to infiltrate Humanity's Last Stand, another round of Betsy v. Victor, Remy v. Sam at Ben Grimm's poker game, & Bishop v. Hank
August 17, 2018
Great read we concentrate on 2 storys with 2 villains Magneto & Saberthooth bringing up questions like second chances , religion, faith and if every one is redeemable . Magneto is a good person that does terrible things but had he lead a different life his actions would be different and Saberthooth who is a lost cause no matter what . i give this a 7.5/10
October 30, 2022
Honestly don't have a clue what's happening half the time but that's par fir the course with me and X-men comics and yet I still come back for more time and time again.
I didn't read the Sabretooth #1 because the art was really not to my liking.
I didn't read the Hotshots issue because it's not on Marvel Unlimited.
I didn't read the Sabretooth #1 because the art was really not to my liking.
I didn't read the Hotshots issue because it's not on Marvel Unlimited.
June 8, 2021
Really felt the 90's in this one
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews