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X-Men: The Road to Onslaught #3
X-Men: The Road to Onslaught, Vol. 3
Onslaught is coming! But first, the X-Men must survive his herald, the punishing and powerful Post! Archangel and Wolverine join Dr. Strange on a quest for a mystical cure to Psylocke's grievous, Sabretooth-inflicted injuries - but Warren, too, has wounds, both physical and psychological. Meanwhile, the Brood return, the Age of Apocalypse's Dark Beast targets his Marvel Universe doppelganger, Wolverine succumbs to his animal side - literally - and the X-Men race to save a trainful of commuters from Mr. Sinister's explosive experiments! The X-Men have reached the end of the road to Onslaught, but have all their trials been enough to prepare them for the mysterious villain's imminent assault?
Collects Uncanny X-Men (1963) 329-332, Archangel 1, X-Men/Brood 1-2, X-Men Unlimited (1993) 10, X-Men (1991) 50-52, Wolverine (1988) 101, Xavier Institute Alumni Yearbook.
Collects Uncanny X-Men (1963) 329-332, Archangel 1, X-Men/Brood 1-2, X-Men Unlimited (1993) 10, X-Men (1991) 50-52, Wolverine (1988) 101, Xavier Institute Alumni Yearbook.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2015
9 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Scott Lobdell
1,625 books230 followersScott Lobdell (born 1960) is an American comic book writer.
He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.
He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
July 30, 2023
Jeepers creepers --- a bestial Wolverine, Psylocke on her death bed, the Brood's back... and enter the Dark Beast! And to add to all this Onslaught sets his herald after the key X-Men! Collects Uncanny X-Men #329-332, Archangel #1, X-Men/Brood #1-2, X-Men Unlimited #10, X-Men #50-52, Wolverine #101, Xavier Institute Alumni Yearbook.
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2018 read
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2018 read
February 2, 2015
Crimson Dawn (UXM 329-330). This arc would have had more impact if the tenuousness of Betsy's survival had been more prominent in previous issues. Nonetheless, it's a nice link to Betsy and Logan's own Japanese "heritage", and also a nice spotlight on Warren's relationship with Betsy [7/10].
Archangel. A haunting story, and a nice character piece for Warren, but ultimately a somewhat shallow story, and one that's not helped by the sketchy black-and-white art, which feels very unfinished [6/10].
Brood: Day of Wrath. I wasn't a fan of all the interruptions to the core plot line in the previous volume, and that's continuing on here. Still, this was a nice sequel to the second Brood saga, way back in Claremont's days. The fights went on too long, particularly in the second issue, but otherwise this is a great human story and a nice look at the Brood [6+/10]. Sadly, it looks like the unresolved ending to this story was never closed.
Beast (XMU 10). I've mostly hated these X-Men Unlimiteds, which have been stretched-out stories of no importance to the rest of the X-verse. This one was the exception. Waid is a good writer and it shows here as we get great background on McCoy, a sinister villain, and a shocking ending. And, it even ties in to the main X-Men comics. Yay! [7+/10].
Onslaught (XM50). Given that it's a big fight against Post, this is a fairly interesting issue. That's probably in part due to seeing the interactions of the small team of Scott, Ororo, Bobby, and Logan, and in part due to having the mystery of Onslaught front and forward [6+/10].
Iceman (UXM 331). Another nice character issue. There were a shocking number of these in the pre-Onslaught days! This one puts a good spotlight on Bobby (and Emma) [7+/10].
No-Nose (UXM332,W101). To start with, this story began in Wolverine #100, which isn't collected, so we get an incomplete view of things. Then, "feral Wolveirne" was one of the most incredibly stupid ideas of the '90s, not least because he looks like his parody self from UXM #153 (Fiend-With-No-Name). And finally, most of these two issues are pointless fight. There are some neat hints about Apocalypse, but it's not nearly enough to carry this story [3/10].
Death Train (XM51-52). The last few issues include a boring fight aboard a "death train", a ridiculously complex method to resolve the problem, and some fun interaction with Mr. Sinister. I'd hoped for a bit more with Mark Waid coming aboard, but this is nonetheless an OK story [6/10].
On the whole, this is better than vol. 2 of Road to Onslaught because it's a less fractured story (despite the Brood and noseless Wolverine digressions) that's full of lots of nice character bits, which is what X-Men excelled at in the '80s. However too many of the stories wobble towards mediocrity for it quite to reach the heights of vol. 1. Still, it's not nearly as bad as you hear X-Men of the '90s was!
Archangel. A haunting story, and a nice character piece for Warren, but ultimately a somewhat shallow story, and one that's not helped by the sketchy black-and-white art, which feels very unfinished [6/10].
Brood: Day of Wrath. I wasn't a fan of all the interruptions to the core plot line in the previous volume, and that's continuing on here. Still, this was a nice sequel to the second Brood saga, way back in Claremont's days. The fights went on too long, particularly in the second issue, but otherwise this is a great human story and a nice look at the Brood [6+/10]. Sadly, it looks like the unresolved ending to this story was never closed.
Beast (XMU 10). I've mostly hated these X-Men Unlimiteds, which have been stretched-out stories of no importance to the rest of the X-verse. This one was the exception. Waid is a good writer and it shows here as we get great background on McCoy, a sinister villain, and a shocking ending. And, it even ties in to the main X-Men comics. Yay! [7+/10].
Onslaught (XM50). Given that it's a big fight against Post, this is a fairly interesting issue. That's probably in part due to seeing the interactions of the small team of Scott, Ororo, Bobby, and Logan, and in part due to having the mystery of Onslaught front and forward [6+/10].
Iceman (UXM 331). Another nice character issue. There were a shocking number of these in the pre-Onslaught days! This one puts a good spotlight on Bobby (and Emma) [7+/10].
No-Nose (UXM332,W101). To start with, this story began in Wolverine #100, which isn't collected, so we get an incomplete view of things. Then, "feral Wolveirne" was one of the most incredibly stupid ideas of the '90s, not least because he looks like his parody self from UXM #153 (Fiend-With-No-Name). And finally, most of these two issues are pointless fight. There are some neat hints about Apocalypse, but it's not nearly enough to carry this story [3/10].
Death Train (XM51-52). The last few issues include a boring fight aboard a "death train", a ridiculously complex method to resolve the problem, and some fun interaction with Mr. Sinister. I'd hoped for a bit more with Mark Waid coming aboard, but this is nonetheless an OK story [6/10].
On the whole, this is better than vol. 2 of Road to Onslaught because it's a less fractured story (despite the Brood and noseless Wolverine digressions) that's full of lots of nice character bits, which is what X-Men excelled at in the '80s. However too many of the stories wobble towards mediocrity for it quite to reach the heights of vol. 1. Still, it's not nearly as bad as you hear X-Men of the '90s was!
July 11, 2017
Closest to an Onslaught prelude of the three volumes. Things actually start building. Not amazing, but a couple things that are good.
The Beast vs Dark Beast stuff I enjoyed. Archangel's one shot wasn't great.
After reading all three before the omnibus, I would just skip the Road to books.
The Beast vs Dark Beast stuff I enjoyed. Archangel's one shot wasn't great.
After reading all three before the omnibus, I would just skip the Road to books.
July 19, 2017
Teenaged me was right to stop buying these comics. That sucked.
I confess to just skimming great swathes of this one.
Why waste words? It was terrible, and the black and white Archangel comic they reproduced represented, for me, the absolute nadir of the 3 volumes in this series so far.
One, and only one, unlooked for moment of pleasure, was Beast inexplicably wearing a Blue Jays sweatshirt throughout an entire issue. Some Canuck on the art team, I imagine?
Apart from that, nearly a complete waste of time.
I confess to just skimming great swathes of this one.
Why waste words? It was terrible, and the black and white Archangel comic they reproduced represented, for me, the absolute nadir of the 3 volumes in this series so far.
One, and only one, unlooked for moment of pleasure, was Beast inexplicably wearing a Blue Jays sweatshirt throughout an entire issue. Some Canuck on the art team, I imagine?
Apart from that, nearly a complete waste of time.
December 9, 2018
This was the weakest out of the 3 volumes of road to onslaught. You get a story line about the brood which are usually all action with out any real purpose then the rest is just tie in up loose ends left in the previous volume or asking new questions with no anweres just to set up the next book . i wouldnt recommend this unless u have the previous volume or u plan on buying the following volume which would be prelude to onslaught or onslaught volume 1. This is not a good book if u plan on reading it on its own i give it 4/10
January 30, 2016
Some good stories in this volume, especially the one featuring an alternate version of Beast and the one about the Brood, the latter of which portrayed a preacher in a positive light. However, the final section--a yearbook? seriously?--was mere filler, and didn't make for a pleasing conclusion.
August 27, 2015
The '90s were a dark, dark time.
December 17, 2015
This holds up better than I thought it would. Plus some art from back when Joe Madiera actually drew comic books.
April 16, 2021
This is the 3rd of 3 Road to Onslaught trades and it feels like the only one that could be legitimately called that. The 2nd half of this collection has some proper set-up towards the Onslaught crossover, most of which had really minor hints until this point. But in X-Men #50 we get the villain Post, a representative on behalf of Onslaught, testing the X-Men.
The highlight of the collection, however, is X-Men Unlimited #10, which finally addresses the Dark Beast character from AoA making the biggest move of his plans to date. It also gives some backstory to 616 Hank but it more importantly, really shakes up the book a bit going forwards. Apart from that, it is another mixed bag of stories - an excuse for Joe Mad to draw some Japan-inspired costumes and characters; a moody black-and-white Archangel 1-shot that while having some interesting ideas, has nothing of any consequence; an extended Brood 2-parter that detracts from the ongoing narrative but is well-written and drawn, with a nice human element; a long awaited resolution to that dangling Iceman-Emma Frost plotline; a nonsensical Ozymandias story - I still don't understand how Wolverine stumbled into this lair, and; a Bishop-Gambit-Beast runaway train story.
The stories themselves are pretty uneven, some stronger than others. The main storylines aren't particularly noteworthy, of more important note are the little plot points that continue ticking along in the background - what is Gambit continually trying to hide; the new status quo of the Beast; why is Xavier acting creepy around Zoe Culloden, and; Onslaught, Onslaught, ONSLAUGHT!!! So not new reader friendly but it's very much in the vein of X-Men at this time.
The highlight of the collection, however, is X-Men Unlimited #10, which finally addresses the Dark Beast character from AoA making the biggest move of his plans to date. It also gives some backstory to 616 Hank but it more importantly, really shakes up the book a bit going forwards. Apart from that, it is another mixed bag of stories - an excuse for Joe Mad to draw some Japan-inspired costumes and characters; a moody black-and-white Archangel 1-shot that while having some interesting ideas, has nothing of any consequence; an extended Brood 2-parter that detracts from the ongoing narrative but is well-written and drawn, with a nice human element; a long awaited resolution to that dangling Iceman-Emma Frost plotline; a nonsensical Ozymandias story - I still don't understand how Wolverine stumbled into this lair, and; a Bishop-Gambit-Beast runaway train story.
The stories themselves are pretty uneven, some stronger than others. The main storylines aren't particularly noteworthy, of more important note are the little plot points that continue ticking along in the background - what is Gambit continually trying to hide; the new status quo of the Beast; why is Xavier acting creepy around Zoe Culloden, and; Onslaught, Onslaught, ONSLAUGHT!!! So not new reader friendly but it's very much in the vein of X-Men at this time.
May 7, 2019
Quite good! A major step up from the previous two volumes. I enjoyed the Dr Strange cameo, the various twists, the connivings of Dark Beast, and a Mister Sinister appearance.
Still have no clue who Onslaught is, but I’m intrigued.
Remmy and Bishop have some great chemistry. I enjoy their scenes. And man... Wolvie is fucked up these days! So feral.
This is cool. It’s not the best thing I’ve ever read (not even close), but there’s the unmistakable, jazzy vibe of that thing.... that IT factor that’s always made X-Men the “cool” book. It’s with it. It’s hip. It feels new, even though it’s from 1996.
The 90s were a very good decade for X-Men. I can’t wait to read some more!
Still have no clue who Onslaught is, but I’m intrigued.
Remmy and Bishop have some great chemistry. I enjoy their scenes. And man... Wolvie is fucked up these days! So feral.
This is cool. It’s not the best thing I’ve ever read (not even close), but there’s the unmistakable, jazzy vibe of that thing.... that IT factor that’s always made X-Men the “cool” book. It’s with it. It’s hip. It feels new, even though it’s from 1996.
The 90s were a very good decade for X-Men. I can’t wait to read some more!
January 18, 2026
Most of these stories are mediocre, but the Archangel one in black and white is the real weight. The Xavier Yearbook was a nice way to review the history of the X-Men circa 1996. Overall a nice diversion.
June 16, 2017
Great X-men reading from one of my favorite eras. Collects some familiar issues with supporting material that was new to me. Very fun. But oddly didn't collect everything from this particular span.
August 20, 2017
Good grief, the road to Onslaught is so long!
June 9, 2021
Enjoyed the Brood story-line.
Would have liked it if they included Wolverine #100.
Would have liked it if they included Wolverine #100.
October 8, 2021
Gems include Logan & Warren v. a ghost ninja, Logan stabs Stephen Strange's astral form, X-Men v. Brood, Bobby v. Emma, & the 2parter of Lucas, Remy, & Hank riding Sinister's death train
November 4, 2022
Also read Wolverine 100 in this this run.
What is Remy's secret?
Will anyone discover the Truth about Beast?
Where did Apocalypse go?
I love Bobby in these.
What is Remy's secret?
Will anyone discover the Truth about Beast?
Where did Apocalypse go?
I love Bobby in these.
February 6, 2024
just keeps getting better. some issues not needed for storylines but theyre there.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews