X-Men: Age of Apocalypse – The Complete Epic, Book 4

X-Men: The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic

by Scott Lobdell, Warren Ellis, Jeph Loeb

Collects Generation Next #4, X-Calibre #4, X-Man #4 & #53-54, Factor X #4, Gambit And The X-Ternals #4, Amazing X-Men (1995) #4, Weapon X (1995) #4, X-Universe #2, X-Men: Omega, Blink #4 and X-Men: Prime.

Learn who lives and who dies in either reality as the apocalyptic arc ends in treachery and tragedy! While certain heroic humans prove their mettle without armor or magic hammers, it's a race to see who the X-Men will destroy first: Apocalypse or themselves! But even with the crisis concluded, new allies and enemies emerge, guaranteeing that reality will still never be the same! Featuring the dawn of Gene Nation and a turning point for the Legacy Virus!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, X Men, Marvel, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

328 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

In many ways, it was the pinnacle and climax of the decades-long X-Men saga. I’m saying it here: Read all of the Chris Claremont issues from the 70s and 80s (Louise Simonson too), then read the various revivals and crossovers of the 90s, and finally just stop with the Age of Apocalypse. I mean it, at least for the 20th century, it was as good as it gets.

The ultimate payoff of knowing so many of these characters, to see them reimagined and be able to follow the whole thing. Also, superficial it may be but that was the time, it just looked cool. Like Sunfire in particular, and villains such as Holocaust. The brightly-colored Apocalypse himself. Only Storm was underutilized, but forgivable with so much else going on.

The finale, culminating in X-Men: Omega, didn’t fully live up to the promise and potential of the other stories. That’s ultimately okay, it was a high bar, but these things do have varying levels of quality.

There was an interconnected storyline about helping human refugees leading up to the big climatic battle. Jean Grey, for example, was with the one-armed Logan in Weapon X for a while and then switched to join Scott’s Factor X. Both of those were very well-written and illustrated, Larry Hama and Adam Kubert were always a great team; and John Francis Moore directing the more realistic Steve Epting was excellent (before his legendary Captain America run). Such Shakespearean family drama as evil Alex Summers fought brother against brother.

There was also Generation X, where Chris Bachalo helped to tell the weirdest and saddest story of them all. The writer Scott Lobdell had very different styles depending on the artist. In X-Men: Omega, Roger Cruz was a product of the time, focusing on the cool factor. Yet when scripting Joe Madureira’s Astonishing X-Men, the artist was in his peak and it absolutely holds up today among that writer-artist team’s best work ever.

There was also X-Calibre starring Nightcrawler, written by the great Warren Ellis in his early stages yet it wasn’t up to the usual quality. Another interesting title was X-Universe, which wasn’t a fully necessary read even if it was interesting to see the rest of the Marvel Universe show up in this world, with Tony Stark and Gwen Stacy among Ben Grimm and others. Overall, that superfluous spinoff only emphasized how much X-Men works best as its own universe. The art by the late Carlos Pacheco was awesome.

Even if the ending doesn’t quite live up to the potential, it was a hell of a ride. There’s also the longer legacy, with several characters escaping their doomed Earth to go to the standard 616. X-Man, a clone who was pretty much Cable, continued his title with # 5 although personally I never liked Jeph Loeb’s writing. Villains Sugarman and Dark Beast also escaped, with some more confusing time travel thrown in for good measure. In retrospect, funny how Dark Beast foreshadowed Beast’s recent turn.

And that was that. Next, Onslaught. Which I can’t recommend. Honestly, this was enough X-Men worth reading in the height of the 90s ambitions. Best to skip ahead to Grant’s New X-Men—

[Ｆｒａｎｋｈ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This was never our place, never our time, not really. And if Bishop did his job, we will be but memories by the time the bombs fall. Come to me, my wife, my son. Let me love you...before time slips away...I never would have believed until I met you, beloved, that hope would be so dear to me. But then, a good man once gave me faith that all things were possible. He preached a dream of harmony...and told me any dream worth having is a dream worth fighting for. He taught me well. Had I these long years to live over again, I might have made other choices. I might have done many things differently. But I would never have stopped fighting for the dream. That is your legacy, Charles Xavier. Now--as I hold my family to me before the end--I thank you for changing my life."

You gotta hand it to Erik Lehnsherr of the Age of Apocalypse story arc; he has been consistent in his Charles-loving, Charles-missing and Charles-monologuing for all the four volumes of this so-called fan-favorite alternate-universe storyline. It's the one thing that never fails to amuse and move me deeply. The soliloquy above definitely takes the Cherik cake and eats it too, honestly. I could not believe how much Magneto pined over Charles Xavier so goddamn hard for this story arc and it has made me immensely giddy as a shipper.

It would be an understatement to say that everything that Erik for this alternate universe has become is all because of the loss and sacrifice of his late friend. The moments in between when he just lavishes on the heartache of losing Charles are so telling; especially for a supposedly straight man married to a woman and has a damn kid--whom he, coincidentally, NAMED AFTER HIS DEAD BEST FRIEND.

Now I don't know if this was intentional or accidental but, in any case, I THANK Y'ALL PROFUSELY, Scott Lobdell and co., for writing Erik in such a magnificently angsty way every time he mentions Charles or contemplates about life with/without him. It's...unbelievably SHIPPY. It's like you guys did not even bother to be subtle about it, Jesus.

This volume collects the last roster composed of: GENERATION NEXT #4, X-CALIBRE #4, X-MAN #4 and #53-54, FACTOR X #4, GAMBIT AND THE X-TERNALS #4, AMAZING X-MEN #4, WEAPON X #4, X-UNIVERSE #2, X-MEN: OMEGA, BLINK #4, and X-MEN: PRIME

More on Cherik commentary later. Anyone who has been reading ANY of my X-Men comic book reviews should know by now I WILL ALWAYS TRY TO FIND A WAY TO TALK ABOUT XAVIER/MAGNETO PAIRING so just learn to deal with this quirk, will you? But I'll get back to it again because for now I have to talk about my general evaluation for everything that was grueling and otherwise only slightly enjoyable stories that comprised this landmark nineties saga, Age of Apocalypse.

To summarize all of my points from the previous three reviews, here are the important highlights which I hope can help for you to decide whether or not you want to read this for yourself.

* If you want something for posterity's sake then go on and pick this up. Be warned, however, that these four volumes of the "complete saga" IS NOT PUBLISHED IN A CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER in spite of what the blurbs might say. Fuck those lying pieces of shit. Reading AoA using these four books will get really annoying because their ordering is fucked. I suggest that you consult online fansites about the recommended reading order and follow that flow instead once you acquire these standard volumes or, better yet, the thousand-plus-paged omnibus. I'm not sure if the omnibus finally got the ordering right. If it didn't either, then srsly, FUCK WHOEVER DECIDED TO PUBLISH THEM OUT-OF-ORDER. That's the most crucial thing to remember about reading AoA. The goddamn out-of-order publication of the issues certainly affected my reading experience for the worst.

* In the first volume, it should already be giving me a glimpse of who is Apocalypse and what he is capable of; what he plans to do exactly, and why is he a threat to the world. But all I got are crumbs of these things and the villains who act in his name are at best vaguely represented and under-utilized while others are barely competent. I don't understand the alternate reality that AoA operates in. No amount of world-building is sufficiently spent for readers to imagine and comprehend without the narrative bubbles for that being reduced to eye-rolling purple prose. The only thing I know is the fact that Xavier died so he never founded the X-Men so it was Magneto who took his place instead and now he plays the role of this tortured good guy who laments the lost dream he shared with his late friend while also doing a 'will-they-won't-they' dance with Rogue.

* By the 2nd volume, I realized that though Age of Apocalypse is considered to be one of the landmark stories in the X-Men universe, I'm starting to think that it's mostly because it went on and on and on AND ON, spanning for fourteen separate titles over the course of what I assume are two to three years. Quality-wise, I'm not convinced it's a worthy classic. There are just so many stuff going on and most of them don't make sense as a unit. If solely viewed as issues belonging to their respective titles, I suppose they can be excusable but the problem is the references and callbacks about other events from other titles will force you to look back because you can't expect to remember everything clearly while reading through issue after issue of expanded expositions, action scenes that serve no purpose, and what little character and emotional developments that are squeezed in between the action. I can't bring myself to care about the supposedly major scenarios happening because the abruptness of scenes and the overall chopped way the stories are collected just distract me from fully immersing myself in this alternate world.

* There are plenty of things to love about the third volume, however, like the fact that certain character relationships were finally allowed to grow. I'm talking about the issues with mother and son, Raven and Kurt; Logan and Jean Grey's doomed yet easy-to-root-for love affair; Gambit's complicated yet intriguing dynamics with the Externals; and Sabretooth and Blink's surrogate father-daughter moments in between. Because that's what makes me read X-Men: THE RELATIONSHIPS in the context of the madness and discrimination, the deaths and the second chances that surround these rag-tag team of lovable freaks. In addition, three characters as individuals stood out for me the most for this volume and they have been performing rather impressively since the second volume began (aside from Magneto who, let's face it, spends a good seventy-percent of his page time pining over Charles): I'm talking about Rogue, Cyclops and Morph. GODDAMN MORPH who serves as a comic relief but who actually gives this fucking story arc an unmistakable heart in its messy core. Rogue here has been placed in stressful positions and yet she always comes up on top. That's my girl right there! Cyclops, on the other hand, actually plays the bad-guy role like a pro (EPIC FORESHADOWING, AMIRITE?) and Morph is so amazingly quirky and inappropriate sometimes but the fact that he always tries to make people laugh in spite of the bad timing of it all doesn't come off insensitive but rather sad and sympathetic.

* Also, AoA is the story arc where ERIK LEHNSHERR IS OBVIOUSLY HARBORING STRONG UNREQUITED FEELINGS FOR THE LATE CHARLES XAVIER.

My favorite part of Age of Apocalypse--when all is said and done--remains to be Magneto. This version of him is a noble, heroic mentor and founder of the X-Men, and he is quite simply breathtaking in so many ways. His courage, his clear sense of purpose, his vulnerability...everything about this version of Magneto is sympathetic and compelling. Unfortunately, he belongs to an alternate world that in the end had to be erased to prevent Apocalypse from dominating everything. And Erik knows this as well so he selflessly allowed Bishop to travel back in time to fix what has happened during the prelude, Legion Quest. This is very brave and altruistic of him, considering in his world he is considered a savior and a husband and father to Rogue and Baby Charles--but he will sacrifice that if it meant the survival of both human and mutant kind.

He believed in a dream worth fighting for but in the end, he also believed some dreams have to be given up and sacrificed in order for something better and long-term to take their place and that is probably the world where Charles Xavier lived to found the X-Men and changed history--even if it is also a world where he, Erik Lehnsherr, is the villain.

When nothing else about Age of Apocalypse made any sense for me, I decided to focus more on Magneto's character arc and I believe it's a redemption story for him too that comes full-circle after the painful strife during Fatal Attractions where he was a super-mega-douche asshole. That's the most recommended facet of this storyline for me.

Anyway, let's go back to Cherik. As I stated time and time again, Magneto consistently keeps talking about Charles, volunteering the information readily even when no one asked him to, and even when he's under duress while facing Apocalypse himself, or ready to watch the entire world as he knew it get wiped out in the end. What matters for him ultimately is the chance to TALK ABOUT GODDAMN XAVIER:




Overall, Age of Apocalypse was not as "epic" as I was led to believe. Some of it is entertaining while others continue to baffle but if you find a way to focus on a specific title or a character then perhaps you could appreciate it more. Either way, reading this has been very confusing at the very least, with some of the issues barely making sense together or having any unifying theme or flow. When they do find the right stride, my annoyance level has already reached its limit that I can't even care as much.

Still, this is a 'landmark' X-Men story from the nineties that you must read if you want to be a completeist and all that. Personally, I recommend it because of Magneto's characterization for this arc, especially his undying devotion to his shared dream with Charles Xavier.

RECOMMENDED: 7/10

DO READ MY REVIEWS AT:

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

And so the epic comes to an end… not with a bang, but not to shabby either. Like Secret Wars II, the creators ensure that the events in this alternate reality spill over into the Marvel Universe thus making an integral part of continuity :)
Collects X-Calibre #4, Generation Next #4, X-Man #4, Factor X #4, Amazing X-Men #4, Gambit & The Externals #4, X-Universe #2, X-Men: Omega and X-Men Prime.

[Wreade1872 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm tempted to give this two-stars. There are a lot of good moments, but for every good one, or at least for every 2 good ones there is a bad one. Inconsistent characterization, confusing artwork, bad plotting, pathetic attempts at shock value, unearned attempts at emotional moments, and poor action scenes.

Volume 3 is certainly the highmark for this event, mostly because the writers and reader had had enough time to get a handle on events while their was still false hope of continued improvement.

This whole event feels both far too short to allow you to actually care about these versions of the X-men, and far too long since it lasted 3 months, destroying any momentum in the real storylines.
Another bizarre choice was telegraphing from the first issues that this while thing was going to be undone with no serious consequences. I mean sure this is comics we knew such an event would be redone but to highlight from the start that this whole thing was going to be meaningless, AND to make that literally the main plotline seems a self-defeating strategy.

This final volume also suffers from the writers need to make it seem like an ending, by making it all feel BIG and MEANINGFUL. For example the first 3/4 issues all have narrators, a common trick to try to make an issue feel important. Doesn’t work so well when everyone is using it though.

Finally the Age of Apocalypse finishes about 100 pages from the end of this volume the rest is attempted clean-up and trying to put back together the real world continuity while also rewriting it a bit. However the very last couple of X-Man issues where fairly lame even given my penchants for the Summer’s clan.

Overall, it had its moments but glad to be done with it. Or i will be when the messy bits and pieces its left behind are finally erased.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The conclusion of the Age of Apocalypse Epic was more satisfying than the beginning, but as I wrote in my review of X-Men: The Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic Book 3 the whole endeavor was a mixed bag. With so many writers over so many titles, the plot line was a bit of a mess. The best bits were a meditation on the nature of sacrifice and heroism in the face of an unforgiving world. Good superhero comic fare, but not great works which comics occasionally rise to.

[Andrew Uys · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stunning conclusion to the Age of Apocalypse event, this GN also contains some of the "bleed-over" material as X-Man and other characters find their way to the 616 (main) Marvel Universe. Definitely a must read for fans of the X-Men and those interested in discovering more about Apocalypse ahead of the already planned followed up to the X-Men Days of Future Past movie!

[Alex E · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the pieces are in place for the downfall of Apocalypse.

Where the previous three volumes sometimes felt disconnected or fragmented at times, this one completely focuses all the titles to streamline towards the ending. All the teams meet up in the end, all have their final moves planned out, and the final battle begins. In a way, it was a little sad to watch it end. The alternate universe that the writers created was, while at times devastatingly dark, ripe with storytelling possibilities. They could have chose to linger in this world to tell the stories of the people living in it, but at the same time, it felt like a good amount of time had passed where the status quo returning felt right.

Part of what makes this storyline so great is the art. From Joe Mad, to the Kubert bros, to John Romita, and the others... everyone did such great work on bringing this world to life. They conveyed the right tone for the stories, and created and atmosphere where you felt the oppressive nature of Apocalypse's world. On the art side of things, this was some of my favorite artwork from the X-Men era in the 90's.

Overall, it's easy to see why this is one of the more acclaimed storylines from the X-Men's history. It is a "elseworlds" type tale done right. If you haven't read this, definitely start with Legion Quest and enjoy the ride.

[Asilef · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a letdown. The entire series, I mean. In this particular book, every story ended with, "To be concluded in X-Men Omega." So of course (stupidly), I thought X-Men Omega would be this grand moment I've been waiting to read, but...nah.
The entire X-Man and X-Calibre books were total wastes. They served no purpose whatsoever, except to get that $MarvelMoney$. I wish whoever put these books together had left out X-Man and X-Calibre, and included more of the stories that actually mattered. I may be being nitpicky, but The Greatest Telepath Ever Whom Magneto Desperately Needs To Find didn't really need to be found. The outcome didn't hinge on Nate's shoulders like it was made out to. The Greatest Seer Ever Who Desperately Needs To Be Found So She Can Read Bishop was so contrived it almost makes me angry. But like I said, $MarvelMoney$.

I feel like the entire AoA saga was a huge waste of time. I'm not glad I read it. It makes no impact on the X universe as it stands now. Just...bleehhh. I do not recommend.

[H. Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and satisfying end to such a complex story!

I don't like the aftermath issues, though -- the choice seems pretty random. Why not end with an epilogue issue back in the main continuity, and then start aftermath in a new volume? That would be way more effective and less confusing.

Still, nothing will make me stop loving this arc.

[Alli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to see all the missions and storylines come together in a way that makes sense (I was a little worried, I admit). I now understand why X-fans have gone nuts for this AU storyline! I also particularly loved how the human characters (Avengers, et al) fit into this installment.

[Robert Kirwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ending to the series!!! Really liked the artwork in every issue. The two chronicles issues were the weakest for me.

[Owen Watts · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth and final collection of the original Age of Apocalypse epic mirrors my feelings about the very first which I read what feels like centuries ago. The relentless commitment to keeping the collection chronologically ordered, but the lack of any sort of contextualising commentary makes the tangled postscript beyond the big finale seem tremendously messy and superfluous. It's a disappointing end but fits the central experience of reading this edition generally which is akin to being given a big pile of comics by a mate and being told to read them in that exact order but not exactly being told why. If so, towards the end here I'd be wondering if the "mate" actually hated me...

Generation Next #4 (Lobdell & Bachalo)
Undoubtedly one of the strongest titles in the whole saga, Generation Next has bags of 90s edge and feels dark and consequential. Bachalo & Buckingham's work is superlative and here doesn't suffer from the "lighter inks" misprint that plagued the previous volumes. The finale of the story is tremendously bleak and the characterisation of Colossus feels so tonally different from any of the other work. I really don't have the words for this, worth seeking out a solo series for the unitiated and I'm definitely hunting down more of the creator's output after this

X-Calibre #4 (Ellis & Lashley)
The finale of an arc concerning mainly Nightcrawler and his mum. It's not one of the stronger arcs but at least Lashley seems to have pulled it out for the finale somewhat after a spotty record so far. The whole issue is about an explosive confrontation with the Shadow King which is relatively twisty but suffers from some pacing issues. Middling.

X-Man #4 (Loeb & Skroce)
The Poochie of the AoA saga finally gets involved in the main plot and the climactic battle with Mister Sinister is actually pretty great. I'd been taken by surprise by how much I enjoyed Loeb's ludicrous soap opera melodrama here and Skroce's assuredly 90s art. This is the comic version of a contemporary power metal album. Cheesy, dated, gloriously addictive.

Factor X #4 (Moore, Epting & Dodson)
The New York Summers brothers run ends here and I was also rather fond of this one. It was the first proper AoA bit in Volume 1 and so the shadowy busy art and the functional n' focused little story work well together. It's not the most bombastic of the line-up but it moves along at a good pace and the final confrontation here feels cathartic. "GET OVER IT, ALEX!" Finally, yes.

Gambit and the X-Ternals #4 (Nicieza & Larroca)
The weakest part of the saga draws to a close and not only does it not really land but it manages the crime of making the big bad, Apocalypse himself, seem silly. I think a lot of the AoA saga has done well at keeping old Sabah Nur in the shadows but here he seems rather petty and childish which feels like a serious misstep. This issue just has the X-Ternals disbanded and squabbling in a load of tunnels. It's not fun and Larroca can only do his best with the material. Won't miss this one!

The Amazing X-Men #4 (Nicieza & Andy Kubert)
Nicieza seemed far more into the Amazing X-Men run and the finale of that is also pretty strong. Lots of plot points coming together and some good dark emotional bits with the return of Colossus from Generation Next, some great Banshee and Quicksilver bits and my less fave Kubert pulling out some stops throughout. Lots of brooding grimaces and only a vague confusion about the location of the top of Quicksilver's skull.

Weapon X #4 (Hama & Adam Kubert)
Yeah this whole run has been golden. Adam Kubert's work is actually complete perfection. Full dynamism, full drama and the action is always brilliantly pitched. It can be easy to overplay Wolvie's essential coolness but here it's always great. His claws shlook-schrippp-snikt'ing up through his stump is up there with the actual main AoA finale for whooping-out-loud-at-the-page energy. This. This is comics.

X-Universe #2 (Lobdell, Kavanagh, Pacheco & Dodson)
This "let's ram the rest of the non-X marvel universe into the AoA epic" 2 parter is baffling to me and following straight after Weapon X and roughly in the same geographic space feels depressing. There's a neat twist here and it definitely feels stronger than the first issue as things are drawn together but otherwise it's just as messy and overstuffed. Worst of all a second penciller, Terry Dodson from the Factor X run, dilutes the impact of the otherwise nicely modern Pacheco and some of it looks positively rushed. An afterthought.

X-Men Omega (Lobdell, Waid & Cruz)
The conclusion of AoA takes the form of a single big issue of X-Men and it's necessarily crowded but scattered with really strong moments. Magneto's speech to Apocalypse as he builds himself a metal scraps exoskeleton is truly timeless:

"Survival of the fittest, indeed. You preen and posture as if you were the first dictator to discover the concept... and stake the world's fate on its nonsense. As a child, I heard the very same babble from a Berlin house-painter... a madman whose aryan race tried to wipe out all it deemed dirty or impure. And do you remember who WON the war he began? The weak who rose in righteous triumph to overthrow the strong ONCE AND FOR ALL" *FWAM*

Glorious. The rest is a bit of a clutter of shocks and deaths, a final cathartic blowout for this nasty sub-reality as it all goes up in flames. Operatic. All this is piled on the shoulders of Roger Cruz who manages ably but the art is thick with all the 90s tropes you'd expected. Grimaces and massive arms and all that jazz.

Blink #4 Excerpt (Lobdell, Winick & McCarthy)

The little section of the book that deals with Blink being wrenched out of AoA and into the desert beyond space and time to start the Exiles with Nocturne. It's... an odd inclusion and I don't recall the rest of the fourth issue which appeared in an earlier volume. Let alone that it clearly had it's end trimmed off. Baffling.

X-Men Prime (Lobdell, Nicieza, Hitch, Matsuda, Frank, Mcone, Dodson, Herrera & Pelletier)

If that list of creators doesn't give somewhat of a clue, X-Men Prime is extremely overwhelming. A Special Presentation that weaves the sort of... psychic backlash of AoA into the morass of contemporary X titles. An impossible task and the overwhelming waves of unknown contemporary dramas that are also being touched upon here AS WELL AS everything else is insane. It's trying to balance Excalibur, X-Factor, X-Men (both Uncanny and regular flavour), Cable, Generation X, Wolvie and X-Man. It's way too much and I felt totally lost here. Again - this is where a volume like this is SCREAMING for some kind of contextualising commentary. The cavalcade of artists, only credited en masse at the start, vary from the strong to the wobbly but I'm not really sharp enough to pick out any beyond the great Bryan Hitch and the inkwork of Mark Farmer who makes every penciller look as talented as Alan Davis. The only thing that unites them all is some truly diabolical colouring - the AoA epic had mostly avoided this sort of oily dated mid 90's computer colouring but here it drenches the bad and the good artists alike with the plastic-wrap sheen and glaring textures. Shudder.

X-Man #53-54 (Kavanagh & Ross)
The final part of the volume is the real definition of a damp squib. Nate Gray, the X-Man, is back in 616 and hiking with his clone parents when the three of them encounter a bunch of AoA remnants. It'd been four years since the epic at this point so this really functions as bit of a two-issue nostalgia trip as the three of them bash through a bunch of Infinites. That's it. It's relentlessly linear and a real slog to get through - I hope this wasn't the standard of the book at large because it was so fillery it was genuinely really hard to read and felt only tangentially linked to the AoA at best. Luke Ross's work is functional but not remarkable and I think the only think I enjoyed was the Andrew Robinson covers for each part.

The fourth and last volume of the complete Age of Apocalypse certainly can't be argued with in terms of completeness and the thoroughness with which it presents the epic in narrative order. But it genuinely appears to be built for and aimed at people who were happily consuming all X-titles throughout the mid-90s and don't want to leaf through all their back issues in order to read the whole story. The lack of context, the lack of any kind of supporting information, is wild to me and makes this (much like the first volume) a very hard thing to recommend. That being said there are some serious bright spots here and a couple of glimpses of this era of comics in all it's melodramatic majesty.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure: as a child, I was a huge fan of the Age of Apocalypse story arc. Unfortunately, I was never able to read the entire arc, as I didn't have access to all of the comics. Now, almost 20 years later, I have finally finished the arc. I still appreciate it as much as I did when I was younger, maybe a bit more because I am old enough to grasp the concept of the various timelines and what is going on within each one. That being said, it does still get confusing at times.

SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED.

This is my least favorite of the books. Everything finally concludes here, but it takes forever for the story to reach its ending, there is no real climax, and I found myself flipping though the pages in an attempt to reach the conclusion. Each issue promised a conclusion if you kept reading, but it dragged on so much that by the time I reached the actual conclusion, I was more relieved than anything else. I was just glad that it was over. The end stories, which take place after the Age of Apocalypse ends, didn't need to be included. Unless you plan on finding the respective comics, there's really no need to read them. I should also point out that you will be very lost while reading this arc if you don't have at least a basic knowledge of X-Men/Marvel and the characters. Don't get me wrong, I like seeing characters in roles they wouldn't normally be in, but it's a little hard to understand and keep up with if you don't know anything.

This edition felt very convoluted and sloppy, as well. It felt less like an actual story with a purpose and more like a collection of different stories, all thrown in the same pot, leaving the reader to try and sort it out. I was a little disappointed. None of the volumes really tie in all that well, but this one is the worst in my opinion.

It was hard to keep up with what was going on sometimes, and the art work didn't really provide many answers. For example, we see Ben Grimm taking off with the baby that they rescued, seemingly getting to a safe place. The next time we see Ben, he is sitting in a chair on an airplane with the baby on his lap, blood splatter all over his clothes. He is dead. We are given no explanation as to how this happened, and it is glossed over quickly.

I did love the AoA, and I still do, but the conclusion was a bit disappointing.

[Michael Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

This kind of went both ways for me. On the upside, they actually managed to me care about the kids in Generation Next. And the rising action to the conclusion was pretty thrilling. The stories here were all finally going in one direction and there were a number of resolutions that you get to see. Even the art in a couple of issues started to impress me. Everything still looked pretty dated, but there were some nicely done pages and panels.

Personally, I took a little issue with the resolution of the story. Given that this was called the "complete" story, I was hoping to see everyone end up where they were in Uncanny X-Force when I met these characters. It didn't actually take you to that point. Besides that, it just didn't all make sense. I mean...the point of string theory is that you have a new reality for every different decision that could be made. Certain ones are insignificant but other times you end up with a truly separate reality. The death of Xavier is apparently something significant. Just because it didn't happen that time doesn't mean it didn't happen. It just doesn't really work for me. Unless they did something leading into this series that pointed out the 616 reality was changing over to a new one or something.

The main issue I had with the art style was that things were so unclear. You could never really see the progression of someone through a scene or something. And when things happened you had some issues really being able to tell what was going on.

Ok so overall, yeah this was an epic story, but there were huge chunks that didn't make sense and that just were barely fleshed out. It just expected you to take it at face value.

And then, the last two chapters had almost nothing to do with the rest of the story. I mean it involved X-Man but it didn't link up at all. It jumped from issue 4 to issue like 52. There's also a weird issue with the main universe after Bishop fixes AoA that just doesn't really fit either. I was just really disappointed with this whole thing. It's a part of comic history but it really kind of blows.

[Jason Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Age of Apocalypse was one of those crazy Marvel X-Men crossovers that basically took place every year and, in my opinion, I think it was the best one. It didn't necessarily have any universe altering events, outside of introducing a few characters into the regular Marvel universe, but most the books were well written. Despite the fact that there are something like 30-40 books total for the crossover, they all seemed to gel and flow together, providing interesting stories for the individual books, but also adding to the newly created universe as a whole. And it culminates into a final, fatal battle between the hero Magneto and the villian, Apocalypse, in one of my most memorable moments in comics.

[Blake Strother · Rating 3 out of 5]

After completing this series, I am giving this volume the lowest rating because I really expected a better ending. The ending of the alternate universe was not terrible but some of the issues included in the follow-up seemed a little out of place and uninteresting. However, I will simply conclude saying this was decent iconic series that I am glad I spent some time reading. For the average Marvel fan this is an enjoyable read. My only warning is that like most X-Men story lines, the complexity can be both a blessing a curse, leading to some entertaining twists and turns and ALSO very convoluted timelines.

[M.i. · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the upcoming x-men movie coming out, I thought this would be a great way to catch up on whats to come. I wasn't disappointed, but I felt the way the stories were arranged makes this somewhat hard to keep up with. Enjoyable though, and it depicts just how much of a threat Apocalypse is to the Marvel universe.

[Deirdre · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Age of Apocalypse saga draws to a close and people have to choose what side they are going to be on. More and more it looks like its going to be difficult to survive and a hope for a better world lives in the hearts of the x-men.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh thank God it's over. I haven't read too many recent X-Titles, but I know the art and writing can only go up from here.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story concludes, with a dramatic "well, that happened." Man, I do not miss the 90's.

[Lance Grabmiller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collects Generation Next #4, X-Calibre #4, Factor X #4, Gambit and the X-Ternals #4, Amazing X-Men #4, Weapon X #4, X-Universe #2, X-Men Omega, X-Men: Prime, Blink #4 (June 2001) and X-Man #4 and #53-54 (June 1995 and July - August 1999). All June and July 1995 unless otherwise mentioned.

There were so many threads happening through the previous volume that it seemed impossible they could wrap them all up in this one volume. Well, they did and it all seemed very rushed and haphazard. Just not as strong as the telling of the story up until this point. Also,this collection as it stands is a bit weaker organizationally and thematically (like the first volume). The X-Universe issue should have been pushed closer to the other issue in these collected editions (they happen independent of everything else going on and it's hard to keep track of them spread across two volumes for only two issues). The inclusion of only a few pages of Blink #4 seems a little useless and the last couple issues of X-Man issues are also not terribly related to the rest of the story here. Those inclusions tacked on near the end leaves one a bit cold after the Omega and Prime issues (which really concluded the Age of Apocalypse story and brought everything back to the standard reality). The Age of Apocalypse story line overall was bold and dark and I really liked it, but the conclusion is rushed and there is too much unnecessary material in this collection (much like the first volume).

[Zac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Li enquanto ia e voltava de ônibus pra escola e terminei a algumas semanas atrás. É muito legal você olhar versões alternativas em um universo alternativo dos personagens que você já conhece, tudo é novo, e a imersão com os personagens aumenta. Afinal, como é um universo paralelo, não necessita da regra extremamente chata de manter os status quo, não fazer os personagens evoluírem e não ter consequências na história.

A história têm tudo que x-men se propõe a ser, bem novelesca e tratando de temas como genocídio étnico, intolerância e muitas idas e vindas nas emoções de seus protagonistas.

Eu me diverti enquanto lia, foi um bom passatempo. Não achei tão legal quando resolveram trazer as coisas e personagens desse universo alternativo para o universo principal, por isso terminei de ler realmente no capítulo em que o universo acaba.

Ver o Magneto seguindo o sonho do Charles sempre é muito legal e as frases finais do Magneto na última página, pra mim, fecharam esse universo de uma forma muito boa:

"Ele me disse que um sonho de harmonia é uma luta digna por toda eternidade!

Eu aprendi a lição! Se pudesse reviver esses anos, talvez mudasse as minhas escolhas! Talvez agisse de maneira diferente... Mas nunca deixaria de lutar pelo sonho! Este é seu legado Charles Xavier.

Abraçado à minha família diante do fim, eu agradeço a você por ter mudado minha vida!".

[Lilli W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

RTC tomorrow, it's late right now and I'm going to sleep.

Okay, it's tomorrow.
2.5. Doesn't quite stick the landing. My favorite book in this series is probably the 2nd or 3rd. I liked some of the reimaginings (especially Sunfire and Sabretooth) and how characters' deaths were permanent.

Generation Next: I actually liked this one, it was weird, dark, and looked interesting. Plus the ending is depressing. 3.5/5
X-Calibre: This one was pretty useless, had no bearing on the overall plot and felt like a pointless side-quest. 2/5
X-Man: It was easy to read. That's the best thing I can say about this series. Also Nate Grey looked kinda cool. 2.5/5
Factor X: 3/5
Gambit and the X-Ternals: About as good as X-Calibre. 2/5
Amazing X-Men: I liked the team, and Abyss looked cool. 3.5/5
Astonishing X-Men: My favorite series. I loved Shiro, Morph, Blink, and Sabretooth. Also the art was fun. 4/5
Weapon X: I didn't really like Logan and Jean together. 3/5
X-Universe: I'm still not entirely sure what was going on here. Didn't really end up mattering anyway. 2/5
X-Men: Alpha/X-Men: Omega: The beginning was better than the end, but he end was okay. Some shocking moments. 3/5
Blink: This miniseries was so strange. I kind of hate the amnesia trope. 2/5
X-Men: Prime: I thought some of the art in the main story was bad, but man, the art here was god-awful. Good Lord. 1/5

[Jon Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

AoA will always be great, but not really what came after.

All the Age of Apocalypse stuff is still gold, but this book also includes Xmen Prime and a couple later issues X-Man... and i read Prime back in the day, but i didn't recall how much of a step down in quality it was, despite a cool cover effect with solid art on the cover , the art within is bizarre and inconsistent and the story is meh.

Then we have the later issues of X-Man (i never read X-Man past like issue 20ish, around the time on Onslaught? And these issues are in the 50s), about the AOA reality bleeding in, merging with a mountain, which was ok story, i guess, but again, the art is a major step down and the story does a lot of tell rather than showing.

I think it would have been better to include the first couple issues of The Exiles, instead, since they show the lead in to that with Blink.

So a half a star off for wrapping up the AoA saga in this set this way. A real shame that we didn't get a collection of the issues that end in the MKraan crystalization and the issues picking up from that (that I've seen), i would have liked to revisit those issues in a targeted collection.

[TR Naus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was perhaps one of my favorite crossover events. The X-Men are completely reimagined in a dystopian world ruled by mutants. Professor X is killed in the past by his son allowing Apocalypse to conquer North America and start a global genetic war. Magento eventually forms the X-Men to protect humans and bring an end to the reign of terror. Every X-Men series was stopped in 1995 for four months and replaced with an Age of Apocalypse title. Yes, it was incredibly gimmicky, but it was also completely immersive.

Each of the X-Men teams and their allies completes their various missions to discover the truth about their reality and find the pieces needed to return it to "normal". It culminates in a final showdown with Apocalypse in a final desperate gambit to save humanity.

This collects Generation Next #4, X-Calibre #4, X-Man #4, Factor X #4, Gambit And The X-Ternals #4, Amazing X-Men #4, Weapon X #4, X-Universe #2, and X-Men: Omega.

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly, the final collection in the Age Of Apocalypse series is the best. There are very few dangling threads as the various art teams round up the dozens of characters and move them all towards a conclusion that's not extremely satisfying nor paced well but it's a definitive ending to the story that follows the mission statement laid out in the first few issues.

The collection also has a preview of a couple of series which follow characters out of this series and a special X-Men issue where they remind you where all the characters were before the Age Of Apocalypse event started, and sets them all up for new storylines.

[Jose Sandoval · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending, although Omega should have been at least a 2 parter if not 4. I feel like Omega had barely time to touch on all loose threads by giving everyone a single panel or a page at most if anything, focusing mostly on Magneto and Apocalypse. The climaxes to all the subplots and character arcs felt flat and hollow. Prime was interesting but not what I expected. It barely deserves to be included. X-man 53-54 is a bit random (and so were the pages from Blink #4) that I would just leave them out and instead include them in a companion book.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the 4 volumes go along they become more and more coherent. That definitely benefits this final collection. It's not perfect and I think it's clear the industry as a whole has learned a lot about how to do these events. I'm a little disappointed in the actual mechanics of how Apocalypse is finally taken down, but thematically and character-wise all the major actions land fairly well.

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wrapped up really well. I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. The earlier volumes felt a little disconnected a little all over the place. But it all wraps up nicely here and I really enjoyed the finality of it all. This was a great read and I can see why an iconic arc

[Steve Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this, but I probably needed to read more of the series to know who the characters are and what was going on.