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X-Men: The Road to Onslaught #1

X-Men: The Road To Onslaught Vol. 1

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Collects X-Men Prime #1 ; Uncanny X-Men (1963) #322-326; X-Men (1991) #42-45, Annual '95; X-Men Unlimited (1993) #8. The X-Men have just averted the Age of Apocalypse, but the threat of Onslaught is right around the corner - a villain so powerful he put the unstoppable Juggernaut into a coma! But before the X-Men can learn more about this shadowy foe, they must face Gene Nation, led by the vicious Marrow, and help Magneto's Acolytes battle Apocalypse's son Holocaust, who escaped the AoA into the Marvel Universe! Plus, how will the world react when the Legacy virus is made public? Can Rogue handle learning Gambit's greatest secret? And did Sabretooth's brain damage truly change his personality, or is he a time bomb waiting to go off? All this, and the Xavier Institute enrolls a new student!

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2014

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About the author

Scott Lobdell

1,620 books230 followers
Scott 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.

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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Baba.
4,069 reviews1,514 followers
November 5, 2021
2018 read: Classic 90s X-Men; as post the Age of Apocalypse we get Gene Nation, Sugarman, Holocaust, Mr Sinister, Genesis and the fates of Avalon, Magneto and Exodus! Not to mention the 'who is the traitor' mystery deepens, as Rogue goes on the road! Volume collects: X-Men Prime; Uncanny X-Men #322-326; X-Men # 42-45, Annual '1995; X-Men Unlimited #8.
Profile Image for Ray.
Author 19 books433 followers
July 8, 2023
Onslaught was not a successful X-Men event, especially with the benefit of hindsight, but this first volume unfortunately titled "The Road to Onslaught" is not so much a prelude to the corporate-sanctioned crossover but more of an introduction to the new X status quo following the Age of Apocalypse.

It began with X-Men: Prime, with art by Bryan Hitch before his much better 2000s work the Authority and then Ultimates. That one-shot wasn't great but succeeded in setting up the various pieces so that more fulfilling stories could be told in their own titles. And then there was the obligatory sad tale of a mutant persecuted to death who was thereafter never mentioned again.

Uncanny X-Men began with a plotline about Gene Nation, new interdimensional Morlock villains who killed people by the dozens. It was a bit tryhard at being edgy, such was the time, and it did culminate in the excellent Uncanny # 325 with art by Joe Madureira at the top of his game. Marrow was introduced, as a dark foil for Storm, who somehow becomes an X-Man later even though she is quite the irredeemable murderer here.

Adjectiveless X-Men also began with a solid arc about the Acolytes' space base exploding and Colossus falling back down to earth. This would lead to him joining Excalibur for an awkward reunion with Kitty, but that was for another book. In issue # 45, Gambit confronted Rogue who was on the run after kissing him and absorbing his memories. The couple had issues, and she went away for a while. This kind of soap opera was always what made X-Men great.

Post-Age of Apocalypse, there were a lot of villains from that universe who showed up to cause damage and hide in the shadows. With some time travel elements thrown in, it was revealed that Sugar Man was in Genosha all along, while Dark Beast created the Morlocks. The aforementioned Acolytes had battled Apocalypse's very evil son Holocaust.

These were all great ideas, and it's unfortunate they had to make a bigger deal out of the mysterious threat of Onslaught. Upon rereading, it didn't seem that the writers knew yet about the surprise revelation concerning Professor X, but I shan't say more in case someone doesn't want spoilers thirty years later. Anyhow, that was the problem with forced big crossovers. The regular issues that the writers wanted to write were better. In conclusion, a nice start just not great overall if you know how it ends.
Profile Image for Wreade1872.
813 reviews230 followers
January 27, 2022
Wasn't going to review this one but a few notes. I'm reading all x-men titles and i'm pretty sure there are some Onslaught related issues not in here, although its hard to be entirely sure as they tend to blur together a bit.

There's definitely a lot of stuff in here unrelated to Onslaught. The inclusion of the pinpup issues was just sad.

Main problem here is that absolutely nothing gets resolved, every plot line ends in more questions than you had to start with.

Gene-Nation seemed interesting but are wasted. Their big finale even if they had pulled it off, doesn't look like it would have done near as much damage as their first attacks.
Also it makes no sense, even though its a cheap knockoff of an earlier storyline. It ends with a repeat of the that moment is the central pivot of the terrorists life... and she now claims Storm won't kill... wtf? I mean thats some serious cognitive dissonance she has going.
The best part (by that i mean worst part), is that this isn't a knife fight, instead Storm... oh god i've started laughing... this is so hard to write down... it is so dumb... ok get a grip.. Storm :lol omg... i mean just wtf was that!

Anyway, the rogue/iceman road-trip here has some interest for a while but is ruined because like everything else we get no real answers. There's plenty more fuel if you want to justify Iceman turning out to be gay later.
Stuff like Rogue saying, 'you know most guys would kill to be stuck in middle of nowhere with me'. Iceman saying he's been living all his life in denial, him having bits of a Female personality in his head etc.

One final thought... Rogue actually leaves at the end of these pointless, closure-less issues... and i have no idea when she'll be back.
And you know what the worst part is... NOBODY cares! No seriously, think about all the x-men and which ones have been given a connection to Rogue... none, the writers never gave her any connection to other heros except for Gambit. How sad.
Profile Image for Shannon Appelcline.
Author 30 books169 followers
February 2, 2015
X-Men from the '90s, post-Claremont, gets a lot of grief. And I must admit that I stopped reading it originally in that era. Still, this isn't bad at all. You could certainly argue that Lobdell and Nicieza don't have any original voice. They're mimicking Claremont's storytelling, and they're not as good at it. Nonetheless, this volume shows off why Claremont's X-Men was good. It's got more characterization and down-time than fighting and super heroics. It flirts with continuity while introducing new ideas as well. In general, it's well worth reading, even if it's not directly comparable to the very high-quality writing of more recent authors like Brubaker, Carey, and Fraction.

Intros (Prime, UXM 322). The Prime issue is a somewhat delightful walk through the entire X-Men universe circa 1995, while Uncanny X-Men #322 is classic X-Men, full of subplots and characters. I was surprised to see Onslaught make his first appearance immediately after the Age of Apocalypse [7/10].

Avalon (XM 42-44). I like this continued movement of the Acolytes plot, with the only deficit being the mindless fighting that fills the middle issue. Still, it's a nice spotlight for Cyclops and Phoenix, and a nice end for Avalon [6+/10].

Gene Nation (UXM 323-325). In the early issues of this sequence, I liked the appearance of a new villain for the X-Men. Then in the final issue I really liked the connections to old continuity (even if the climax is a bit repetitive). It made it very appropriate for an anniversary issue. The subplot involving Bobby and Rogue that runs through these issues is also quite good [7/10].

Annual '95. The main story, focusing on Mr. Sinister and the Heir of Apocalypse is a nice character bit for Sinister that also nicely builds on continuity, but it also makes you realize why some people feel the X-mythos is impenetrable [6+/10]. The short story about the romance between Psylocke and Angel is overwritten at times, but overall is a nice view into their lives [6+/10].

Rogue & Gambit (XM 45). This other anniversary issue is a great look at two of the '90s most popular X-Men characters. We get strong characterization for both of them and delightful new mysteries about Gambit [7+/10].

Sabretooth (UXM 326). This issue is great not just for how it demonstrates Sabretooth's potentially changing nature, but also for how it shows the darkness within Gambit, in a way much more visceral than the hints of recent issues [7+/10].

X-Men Unlimited (8). The final story is a nice little look at the X-Men from the outside, but also a little bit After-School Special.
Profile Image for Richard Dominguez.
958 reviews124 followers
March 23, 2022
At over 400 pages this TPB was a great read. The Onslaught story line was enjoyable and filled with some surprises. Also very enjoyable were some of the side stories, my favorite "Words".
This is classic X-men, not just in looks (artwork, coloring, etc), but classic reading as well. With more than a few deluxe and special edition issues making up for the over 400 pages.
Well worth reading and skipping through memory lane.
Profile Image for Jarkkkk.
15 reviews1 follower
October 16, 2017
Unfocused and dragging. Apparently something bad is about to happen, because we're reminded of it every two or three issues. Then it's back to something unrelated and uninteresting.
Profile Image for Sandra.
670 reviews25 followers
December 1, 2021
When my eldest son was in late grade school or early middle school, I typed out all the descriptions of all the X-Men at the time and their characteristics onto the new Macintosh Classic computer I had recently won, so that Jacob could use the excerpts in zines or stories or however he wanted. Since that time, the X-Men have been my favorite Marvel characters and movies. I only just recently picked up this compilation of comics (from the '90s, I think), and Jacob informs me that they were written during a time where the stories got impossibly complicated. Yes, I'll say for sure, that is true. I think about three characters were introduced on almost every page for the first half. It did get a bit tiring, and I actually started writing a list of characters on my Macbook Air (since we need to establish that once I drank the Apple-flavored Kool-aid, I've never gone back). That helped, so the last third made more sense.

Overall, I really did enjoy it. The artwork is often hard for me to even interpret -- the use of different colors for characters means that sometimes I didn't know whether I was looking at Gambit or Wolverine (well, maybe not that exact combination, but in general), and I will probably never get accustomed to that style of comic-book artwork, but I felt like reading it cover to cover to see how it went. Now I need to read Volumes 2 and 3 and sell them back to recoup my investment (not insignificant for the second and third volumes).

The same son Jacob also told me I should read Watchmen, which has probably spoiled me, so that no comic will ever be as good, but I'll be glad if I ever find out I'm wrong, and that there are other graphic/comic book style books that approach the artistry of Watchmen.
Profile Image for Fez Vaccaro.
85 reviews
April 5, 2021
This book picks up straight after Age of Apocalypse with the opener being X-Men: Prime, which occurred after reality had come back together. This collection's title is "Road to Onslaught". What both these things mean is that this collection is caught between 2 crossovers.

The plot threads are a whole mish mash of different things, some relating to pre-AoA, some current. We get a resolution of sorts to Avalon from an even earlier crossover called Fatal Attractions. There's repercussions for Rogue and Gambit kissing before reality broke apart when Legion killed Professor Xavier. Bobby is having some confidence issues after Emma Frost previously controlled him. There's also a Morlocks/ Gene Nation story which picked up threads from an earlier era I wasn't familiar with.

When these stories came out in the 90s, I was collecting these X-books when I could but I wasn't able to get all, so I have some nostalgia for this era. But the large cast of both the Blue and Gold teams, who both seem to jump between the books - means characters have a prominent arc before disappearing for the next batch of issues.

The writing is ok, I enjoyed the quieter moments like Betsy's letter to Brian in X-Men 95 and the tale of a new mutant in X-Men Unlimited #8. In terms of art, there's peak (for me) Andy Kubert and Joe Madureira, both of whom came to define 90s X-Men for me. There's some early Bryan Hitch and Terry Dodson also, who both turn in some solid work

If you're a completist or have nostalgia, you'll read these regardless. For everyone else, it is 90s X-Men, endless crossovers and somewhat filler and little plot points to keep the book going until the next big crossover.
Profile Image for Judah Radd.
1,098 reviews14 followers
April 27, 2019
The story was all over the place. There were some really good issues. The entire discovery of Holocaust part with the acolytes in space was pretty awesome.

The parts with Iceman and Rogue were repetitive and boring... but not quite as mundane as the parts with Gambit and Rogue. It was just a whole lot of Rogue bitching, Bobby being a pussy, and Gambit dropping painful cliches. The writing kept hinting that he had a big secret, but wouldn’t reveal the secret. To make matters worse, there was very little effort put towards making me care about what the secret was.

Eventually, I just stopped giving a shit.

I’m excited for this Onslaught story. I was intrigued by Juggernaught’s ass being kicked. I’m getting the feeling that these books are padding the interesting stories with filler to make it all last longer. It’s annoying. I hope this gets better.

And yeah, the art was really good.
Profile Image for David.
2,565 reviews88 followers
November 27, 2016
I really LOVE this period of the X-Men. It's a personal favorite. It drew me back into reading comic books* after abandoning them in my high school/college years. Not sure quite what to call this wonderful period. It starts sometime before AoA kicks off and runs through the cure of the Legacy Virus.

This collection in particular shines very bright. I love the Joe Mad / Andy Kubert art on the main pair o' titles. They look great. The stories are terrific. Just X-men perfection.

*It was actually a Carlos Pacheco Fantastic Four issue that first grabbed my eye at the corner store, next to the Eagle in Seattle. But about a week later I did find an X-man comic at the same store and I was hooked all over again.
Profile Image for Will Cooper.
1,895 reviews5 followers
July 8, 2017
I read this because it was the first trade on the road to Onslaught, but I feel like the only reason it's called that is because every two or three issues someone will say the word Onslaught. It doesn't really feel like something terrible is coming, just normal X-Men stories.

That being said, the stories are fine. Kinda predictable and I didn't need a whole comic about how much Angel loves Psylocke. Nothing offensive, just boring.
Profile Image for Erik Dudek.
19 reviews
June 6, 2021
*** This comic references the events in Wolverine #90 quite a bit but doesn't contain that comic ***

3.5 Stars
After just reading Age of Apocalypse, this comes off as very linear (a good thing). It does a good job telling individual stories while slowly building up towards the Onslaught story line.

I loved their choice of comic to end on.

I wasn't a fan of Beast's dialogue in some of these comics, his jovial attitude seemed a little forced and some of it was dated as well.


Profile Image for Adam Stone.
2,040 reviews33 followers
November 9, 2024
An inconsistent but fun read that partially bridges X-Men: The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic, Book 1 and X-Men: Onslaught - The Complete Epic, Book 1. There's some solid character work as we reset from the massive alternate universe story and have to set everybody up for a battle with the latest, biggest, evilest enemy.

I think if you enjoy X-Men lore, this is a fun but unnecessary romp. We get a Rogue/Iceman road trip, Wolverine still being feral on the grounds of the Xavier school, Storm and Gambit bonding, various members in comas, Bishop sort of remembering The Age Of Apocalypse, which nobody else does, Colossus and the Acolytes coming back into play, Callisto and the Morlocks coming back into play. It's a lot but it's mostly fun.
Profile Image for Lillian Francis.
Author 15 books101 followers
October 14, 2022
Read as issues on MU. Only issue I couldn't find was Swimsuit edition.
Enjoyed it but wasn't always sure where the story was going. The female form and outfits were always dodgy in the 90s, here is no different (why is Jean playing baseball in a crotch splitting leotard).
Like how it played with concept of pure good/evil. Juggernaut coming to warn the X-men. Sabretooth vs Gambit. It's all shades of grey. Although it was weird hearing that from Beast considering how far down the morally dubious path he's gone in recent years.
Plenty of my boy Bobby. And a Bobby I liked reading (unlike early 2000s Bobby, who was regularly an arsehole).
Profile Image for Jan Geerling.
266 reviews4 followers
August 17, 2017
I loved reading X-men during the 90's. But somehow they never fully recovered from this story-arc. Since then they have reformed or had new beginnings over and over again. Onslaught was to me the end to a great era of X-men tales that I grew up with, including the cartoon.
Profile Image for Jay Rox.
58 reviews1 follower
August 30, 2018
FOR VIDEO REVIEW CLICK HERE -- https://youtu.be/2v821--7raM -- this has 2 storys goin on & intertwined as most X-Men titles do . We really dip into Gambits mysterious past & fined out theres a few skeletons there but we dont quite now what they are but we know Saberthooth & Mr. Sinister are envolved. The other story focused on Storm one time leader of the Morlocks neglection of them might have been part of the reason they got massacred. We really focus on choices in life & how were not always sure we made the right ones , also how the villains are not always wrong & sometimes have a legit beef. while enjoyable on its own you get more if you read that Mutant Massacre first . i give this a 8/ 10
Profile Image for Bob.
618 reviews
October 8, 2021
Gems include Onslaught stops the Juggernaut; the 3part fall of Avalon; X-Men v. Gen X in baseball; Rogue, Remy, & Bobby in Seattle; & Remy v. a captive Victor
Profile Image for Ric Santos.
46 reviews
July 4, 2024
A collection of stories that I’ve no idea how they relate to Onslaught. I’m sure the main Onslaught story may touch on some things, but I don’t feel this is fully required reading.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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