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Extraordinary X-Men
Extraordinary X-Men, Vol. 2: Apocalypse Wars
Extraordinary adventures demand Extraordinary X-Men - and no frontier is too wild for this crew! While one team of X-Men stages a daring rescue mission in Weirdworld, another delves deep into the psyche of their own teammate! Weird is nothing new for hardened mutants like Old Man Logan, Colossus, Iceman and Magik - but can Storm and Jean Grey ever be prepared for what lies in the mind of Nightcrawler? Then, it's an All-New take on a good old-fashioned X-Men adventure in time. The fate of mutantkind is more fragile than ever, and now it rests in the hands of one of the X-Men's most formidable adversaries - the immortal Apocalypse. To save the present, the X-Men race into a perilous future. But can they outrun Apocalypse and his new Horsemen?
Collecting: Extraordinary X-Men 6-12
Collecting: Extraordinary X-Men 6-12
168 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 2016
13 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Lemire
1,399 books3,868 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
September 24, 2023
A very weak 6 out of 12 for this, yet another Apocalypse in the future story! The truth about Kurt's condition is revealed. Colossus and the time displaced X-Men kids have to seek out 600 new mutants!! A lot going on, maybe too much, plus another time travel / Apocalypse tale is not really needed. Three Star read.
2019 and 2017 read
2019 and 2017 read
March 14, 2017
Time Travel + Mutants + Terrigen Mist = Flaming Garbage
The whole plot is a big bag of I-Don't-Care. I mean, if you've read any X-man story in the last 5 years, then you've read this.
The End.
I will say they did a good job making the female characters (Storm, Jean, and Magik) strong leaders without any fuss. They knew what they were doing, they were the most capable person for the job, and nobody was questioning their authority.
Boom. Done.
It would be nice to see more of that in the future. Of course, if we're talking about the X-men, Extraordinary or otherwise, they'll definitely be in the future...mucking it up somehow.
*gags*
Not unreadable, just uninteresting.
The whole plot is a big bag of I-Don't-Care. I mean, if you've read any X-man story in the last 5 years, then you've read this.
The End.
I will say they did a good job making the female characters (Storm, Jean, and Magik) strong leaders without any fuss. They knew what they were doing, they were the most capable person for the job, and nobody was questioning their authority.
Boom. Done.
It would be nice to see more of that in the future. Of course, if we're talking about the X-men, Extraordinary or otherwise, they'll definitely be in the future...mucking it up somehow.
*gags*
Not unreadable, just uninteresting.
August 14, 2016
The future of mutantkind is in danger. No new mutants are being born due to the terrigen mists, but then suddenly hundreds appeared in the same location. The X-Men investigate only to find Sugarman from Age of Apocalypse with 600 mutant embryos.
As they attempt to rescue the embryos, Colossus and some of the young X-Men are teleported to the future.
A future where Apocalypse has taken over and mutants are extinct.
Have you ever made a colossal mess? I mean like breaking a shelf full of glasses that sends shards all over the place. So far in fact that you know regardless of what you do, some won't get cleaned up or found until someone steps on it. That is the Extraordinary X-Men's Apocalypse Wars.
First off Sugarman shows up, no it seriously was Sugarman, with mutant embryos...um what was that. Yeah mutant embryos because you know that's totally a thing now. For some reason he wants to smuggle them to the future to play nurse to 600 mutant babies I guess. He must not have seen Jack Jack Attack in the Incredibles because that's a terrible idea.
Anyway so if that's not random enough when they reach the future Apocalypse is alive and running things. It was just bad, bad all over.
Extraordinary X-Men: Apocalypse Wars was a disappointing and confusing mess.
As they attempt to rescue the embryos, Colossus and some of the young X-Men are teleported to the future.
A future where Apocalypse has taken over and mutants are extinct.
Have you ever made a colossal mess? I mean like breaking a shelf full of glasses that sends shards all over the place. So far in fact that you know regardless of what you do, some won't get cleaned up or found until someone steps on it. That is the Extraordinary X-Men's Apocalypse Wars.
First off Sugarman shows up, no it seriously was Sugarman, with mutant embryos...um what was that. Yeah mutant embryos because you know that's totally a thing now. For some reason he wants to smuggle them to the future to play nurse to 600 mutant babies I guess. He must not have seen Jack Jack Attack in the Incredibles because that's a terrible idea.
Anyway so if that's not random enough when they reach the future Apocalypse is alive and running things. It was just bad, bad all over.
Extraordinary X-Men: Apocalypse Wars was a disappointing and confusing mess.
December 2, 2021
This was so good!
The story is pretty much the X-Men on rescue missions like the one they are on weirdworld and then Jean and Ororo on a quest in Kurt's mind to witness the horror their friend has suffered and its heartbreaking and so well told and tells the plight of mutants atm.
And then a story in the future where Glob and others get sent to and the coming of Age of Apocalypse and we follow them as they are trying to escape this nightmare world and then the X-Men come in and fighting some interesting choice of the horsemen and what not and the drama there and its interesting and whatnot. Plus the big battle and Colossus and Logan get good moments and the concept while nothing new is executed really well and gives a lot of character moments complimented by really great art. And great ending!
Also buildup to a story to come maybe in next arc is here already so yeah read it for sure!
The story is pretty much the X-Men on rescue missions like the one they are on weirdworld and then Jean and Ororo on a quest in Kurt's mind to witness the horror their friend has suffered and its heartbreaking and so well told and tells the plight of mutants atm.
And then a story in the future where Glob and others get sent to and the coming of Age of Apocalypse and we follow them as they are trying to escape this nightmare world and then the X-Men come in and fighting some interesting choice of the horsemen and what not and the drama there and its interesting and whatnot. Plus the big battle and Colossus and Logan get good moments and the concept while nothing new is executed really well and gives a lot of character moments complimented by really great art. And great ending!
Also buildup to a story to come maybe in next arc is here already so yeah read it for sure!
October 12, 2016
[Read as single issues]
Apocalypse Wars Disclaimer: Apocalypse Wars is really...not very good. Let's get that out of the way right now. The idea was to have the three X-series have three separate Apocalypse-related stories at the same time, that don't crossover, and are...not very good. Well done Marvel. It's not a reflection on the book's creative teams, and they mostly do what they can with what they're given, but it's just not great.
Anyway!
Ugggghhhhhh. This storyline is so terrible. Jeff Lemire's Extraordinary X-Men has kind of just been 'there'; instead of being the flagship X-title, it's been kind of a yawn of a book. It's not particularly offensive, it's just not very interesting. There are glimmers of good stuff, like the Old Man Logan/Jean Grey relationship, and then it just gets buried under boredom.
Combine that with the already snooze-inducing Apocalypse Wars storyline, and this volume is really not very good at all. It has time-travel, Apocalypse, Four Horsemen, Venom, Deadpool, some of the older New X-Men characters, and yet it's just so sluggish and uninteresting.
Like the All-New X-Men tie-in, the best parts of this volume are those that aren't tied into Apocalypse Wars; the first two issues focus on Magik and Nightcrawler, giving us some flashback stuff and bringing new character Sapna to the fore.
Humberto Ramos suffers in this arc too, trying to pack too much into his issues and rushing it. His art is usually out of proportion and kinetic, but this is sludgy and unclear at times. Victor Ibanez's fill-in issues are much clearer.
Snore. Of the three current X-Men ongoings, Extraordinary X-Men is easily my least favourite. It has the most potential, but it just all falls apart in the execution.
Apocalypse Wars Disclaimer: Apocalypse Wars is really...not very good. Let's get that out of the way right now. The idea was to have the three X-series have three separate Apocalypse-related stories at the same time, that don't crossover, and are...not very good. Well done Marvel. It's not a reflection on the book's creative teams, and they mostly do what they can with what they're given, but it's just not great.
Anyway!
Ugggghhhhhh. This storyline is so terrible. Jeff Lemire's Extraordinary X-Men has kind of just been 'there'; instead of being the flagship X-title, it's been kind of a yawn of a book. It's not particularly offensive, it's just not very interesting. There are glimmers of good stuff, like the Old Man Logan/Jean Grey relationship, and then it just gets buried under boredom.
Combine that with the already snooze-inducing Apocalypse Wars storyline, and this volume is really not very good at all. It has time-travel, Apocalypse, Four Horsemen, Venom, Deadpool, some of the older New X-Men characters, and yet it's just so sluggish and uninteresting.
Like the All-New X-Men tie-in, the best parts of this volume are those that aren't tied into Apocalypse Wars; the first two issues focus on Magik and Nightcrawler, giving us some flashback stuff and bringing new character Sapna to the fore.
Humberto Ramos suffers in this arc too, trying to pack too much into his issues and rushing it. His art is usually out of proportion and kinetic, but this is sludgy and unclear at times. Victor Ibanez's fill-in issues are much clearer.
Snore. Of the three current X-Men ongoings, Extraordinary X-Men is easily my least favourite. It has the most potential, but it just all falls apart in the execution.
January 28, 2017
I've just got to accept that not only is Lemire's Extraordinary run not very good, it constantly makes me feel like I'm missing something by not collecting the other X-Men titles running concurrently with this one. Several internet searches make it clear that I am not missing anything -- that in fact, that unfinished, slapdash quality running through these stories is just that. There's no larger continuity to get caught up with. It's just Lemire running naked through the forest and weeping.
There are two issues in this volume that are actually really good. They follow up the storyline Lemire started developing in Vol 1, in which Something Bad Has Happened to the X-Men and the Extraordinary squad needs to figure out what it is. There's no central conspiracy, though -- it's just that the X-Men, on the brink of extinction once again, are damaged goods in need of one another. The task of uniting them has fallen on Storm, who isn't written with a clear inner narrative, but instead seems to have a dogged, guilt-fueled selflessness that's sort of an intriguing slow boil. Around this emotional core, lots of weirdfuckingshit happens, and for a few pages I got a glimmer of what Lemire could be capable of on an X-Men book.
Then the title story starts, and everything falls apart again. Normally crossovers are expected to wreak havoc on the books they cut through, and the fact that the X-titles cross over about once a year is just one of the many obstacles that face those brave souls who write them. But this particular storyline, Apocalypse Wars, is a crossover in name only -- basically all the X-titles published separate Apocalypse stories around the same time in order to tie in with the AWESOMEST X-MEN MOVIE EVER, but aside from that, Lemire isn't really beholden to a larger continuity.
Even so, he manages to take on way more than he can chew, creating a time-travel/multiverse storyline that has no real set-up and makes about as much sense as your average book of Axe Cop, except those comics are written by a hyperactive six year old (literally) and Jeff Lemire should, in theory, know how to write a friggin' comic.
There's a shadow here of the book Lemire would like to write, if all the demands of superhero comics would just leave him alone, but the fact that he's fighting so hard against the machinations of the Marvel superconstruct, instead of grooving on the fact that he could just go with it and write some friggin' X-Men just makes me kind of sad.
Mostly I just wanted Humberto Ramos to draw me an awesome Apocalypse story instead of a sorta sucky one, but I dunno.
Not like I'm gonna stop reading. Let's get real.
There are two issues in this volume that are actually really good. They follow up the storyline Lemire started developing in Vol 1, in which Something Bad Has Happened to the X-Men and the Extraordinary squad needs to figure out what it is. There's no central conspiracy, though -- it's just that the X-Men, on the brink of extinction once again, are damaged goods in need of one another. The task of uniting them has fallen on Storm, who isn't written with a clear inner narrative, but instead seems to have a dogged, guilt-fueled selflessness that's sort of an intriguing slow boil. Around this emotional core, lots of weirdfuckingshit happens, and for a few pages I got a glimmer of what Lemire could be capable of on an X-Men book.
Then the title story starts, and everything falls apart again. Normally crossovers are expected to wreak havoc on the books they cut through, and the fact that the X-titles cross over about once a year is just one of the many obstacles that face those brave souls who write them. But this particular storyline, Apocalypse Wars, is a crossover in name only -- basically all the X-titles published separate Apocalypse stories around the same time in order to tie in with the AWESOMEST X-MEN MOVIE EVER, but aside from that, Lemire isn't really beholden to a larger continuity.
Even so, he manages to take on way more than he can chew, creating a time-travel/multiverse storyline that has no real set-up and makes about as much sense as your average book of Axe Cop, except those comics are written by a hyperactive six year old (literally) and Jeff Lemire should, in theory, know how to write a friggin' comic.
There's a shadow here of the book Lemire would like to write, if all the demands of superhero comics would just leave him alone, but the fact that he's fighting so hard against the machinations of the Marvel superconstruct, instead of grooving on the fact that he could just go with it and write some friggin' X-Men just makes me kind of sad.
Mostly I just wanted Humberto Ramos to draw me an awesome Apocalypse story instead of a sorta sucky one, but I dunno.
Not like I'm gonna stop reading. Let's get real.
March 6, 2017
There are some great moments in this volume, mainly involving the younger members of the team learning to work on their own. There's also a brilliant twist in which Magik, traditionally a loner, finds herself mentoring a young mutant with powers that seem connected to her own legacy. Unfortunately, the rest of the volume is a mish-mash of disjointed fights, and the characters are written poorly. Have the experienced X-Men genuinely forgotten how to communicate, and work together that poorly after all the things they have been through over the years? It doesn't help that the team can teleport and time-travel almost at will, which only makes things seem even more haphazard. I will not be continuing to read this series, and hope that the X-Men will end up in the hands of better writers again in the near future.
February 15, 2017
Now that's more like it, Jeffy my boy! I think I need new X-Men writers to rough it out first before I can warm up to them. These characters are too near and dear to my heart so I get defensive. What they need to do is give a fresh voice to underdeveloped characters first. Mad props for FINALLY getting Anole a new body!!!
April 7, 2019
Apocalypse Wars collects issues 6-12 of Jeff Lemire’s Extraordinary X-Men series, which ran from 2016-2017. The first two issues revolve around Jean Grey’s attempt to help Nightcrawler mentally recover from the psychic toll suffered in prior issues, while Ilyana trains her protege, Sepna, in the mystic arts. After that, it’s on to the meat of this collection with the titular Apocalypse Wars storyline.
After Cerebra detects the sudden appearance of 600 new mutants, the X-Men head off to recover them. Easy right? Unfortunately, they stumble into a villain’s larger plan and end up getting sucked a thousand years into the future where Earth is a desolate wasteland ruled by Apocalypse.
Apocalypse Wars is a pretty standard time travel story arc, but Lemire’s got a knack for introducing some neat wrinkles along the way. I dug the various territories Earth has been carved into, and Apocalypse’s Horsemen were a neat bunch of recognizable faces. Along the way, Lemire continues to develop the relationship between Ilyana and Sepna, setting the stage for a larger story that promises to be pretty interesting, even if I’m a bit too jaded to expect any long-term ramifications given the short run Extraordinary X-Men enjoyed.
After Cerebra detects the sudden appearance of 600 new mutants, the X-Men head off to recover them. Easy right? Unfortunately, they stumble into a villain’s larger plan and end up getting sucked a thousand years into the future where Earth is a desolate wasteland ruled by Apocalypse.
Apocalypse Wars is a pretty standard time travel story arc, but Lemire’s got a knack for introducing some neat wrinkles along the way. I dug the various territories Earth has been carved into, and Apocalypse’s Horsemen were a neat bunch of recognizable faces. Along the way, Lemire continues to develop the relationship between Ilyana and Sepna, setting the stage for a larger story that promises to be pretty interesting, even if I’m a bit too jaded to expect any long-term ramifications given the short run Extraordinary X-Men enjoyed.
April 28, 2017
The flagship X-Men title continues. The X-Folks go to Weirdworld, poke around inside Nightcrawler's head, attempt a rescue mission a thousand years into the future, encounter time travel weirdness, discover that Apocalypse reigns in yet another alternate future, and generally try to survive as they lose one of their own to his Horsemen.
Based on the average rating (3.05) and the top reviews (negative), I feel like maybe I'm just getting more easily entertained as I get older. This was a fun volume, fast-paced and easy to follow despite the addition of some X-Kids that I'm less familiar with. Much like with the post-Secret Wars "All-New, All Different" Avengers, it's easy to see that this is designed for new readers. I didn't find it all that confusing, though I'm not a huge fan of Humberto Ramos's art. I like the team lineup quite a bit, and Lemire creates some nice character scenes from almost every one of them.
Based on the average rating (3.05) and the top reviews (negative), I feel like maybe I'm just getting more easily entertained as I get older. This was a fun volume, fast-paced and easy to follow despite the addition of some X-Kids that I'm less familiar with. Much like with the post-Secret Wars "All-New, All Different" Avengers, it's easy to see that this is designed for new readers. I didn't find it all that confusing, though I'm not a huge fan of Humberto Ramos's art. I like the team lineup quite a bit, and Lemire creates some nice character scenes from almost every one of them.
October 10, 2016
It's a sad state of affairs to say that this is actually the Best X-Men book being published currently. It looks fairly decent. The story is alright. It's all AW cross-over in the volume. Not a spectacular crossover by any means.
I suppose the stage is being set for the Inhumans vs X-men showdown. Hopefully it will recapture the fun of Avengers vs X-men. X-men have been stumbling around since then I think.
I suppose the stage is being set for the Inhumans vs X-men showdown. Hopefully it will recapture the fun of Avengers vs X-men. X-men have been stumbling around since then I think.
December 9, 2016
This was an action-packed volume. So action-packed that it was almost hard to tell what was going on - note to author: your characters need time to breathe, and, like, have conversations. I liked the setting of the far future world - divided up into a set of bubbled-off biomes inhabited by different factions. Would have liked to see more of that.
July 4, 2017
Durante un reconocimiento de nuevos mutantes los X-Men se dan cuenta que el demente Sugar-Man ha creado 600 clones de mutantes listos para ser creados y mandados a un futuro alternativo (nuevamente otro futuro ...) donde Apocalypsis es dueño de la tierra, los mutantes han sido masacrados y sólo pocos sobreviven. En el camino Coloso sufre un gran revés y los demás tratarán de ayudarlos.
También nos sigue trabajando la relación de Magik con su nueva "aprendiz" Sapna, una profecía terrible también envuelve a ésta última.
Me pareció una serie regular sin muchos altibajos pero poco interesante.
También nos sigue trabajando la relación de Magik con su nueva "aprendiz" Sapna, una profecía terrible también envuelve a ésta última.
Me pareció una serie regular sin muchos altibajos pero poco interesante.
February 19, 2023
i love glob. i wish glob was real and was also my friend
January 19, 2018
This is not a crossover! I read this alongside Uncanny X-Men and All-New X-Men, but all that did was break up the narrative unnecessarily.
This was my second favorite of the three books. First, the title already includes a team that I like better than All-New X-Men, and second it managed to focus on more than two characters throughout the arc. That said, it does rely, yet again, on time travel to create any drama. It seems like we've lost some of the slow burn that used to happen with some of these titles. Though there is a long-game subplot happening with Sapna and Magik, I just don't know how long that will actually go. I feel it more in the Uncanny X-Men book, but that could be because it had payoff for things that happened multiple runs ago. There are also seeds planted with Colossus.
I guess my issue is that this plot seemed to come out of no where. I did like that Sugarman was involved, even though I don't really like the character. It was a nice nod to his connections with Age of Apocalypse.
I really enjoyed the first two issues, more the second (Issue 7). It dove deep into what had been happening with Nightcrawler, and even as a one-shot had a really resonant story with some heavy impact on the character. It did a good job of establishing more of the status quo for mutants in the current climate. Of course, it also continues to highlight the ridiculousness of people hating mutants but being fine with Inhumans. How can you ever tell them apart? Maybe there's something to be said about trying to lump in bad examples of a minority group with a much larger segment of that group (or the group as a whole), but that would require mutants to all be bad, which isn't the case. Eh, whatever, I liked the story, it had some emotional weight, that's enough for me.
The rest of the story was mediocre. I liked seeing Anole come to the fore a little bit, but I have almost no interest in his companions. Glob is a typical oaf type character that Lemire is trying to do something with eventually (but without any real effort yet), Ernst does almost nothing and is entirely uninteresting, and No-Girl is almost more of a prop in this story than anything else (until she is given a robot body to fight with, instead of her psychic powers...). Jean and Logan still creep me out a bit because they are trying SO HARD to look after each other. I get that they are supposed to have a rapport from those couple of panels they spent together before joining the team, but it just seems creepy for the most part instead. Storm is going through some stuff about how all of this is pointless. Which...is interesting, but it almost instead calls attention to the fact that comics as a whole are pointless because characters never get a happy ending, instead relying on more and increasing threats to their wellbeing (and, in this case, the wellbeing of all mutantkind). If it wasn't quite so obvious, it may be an interesting subtle commentary on the state of comics. Instead, with Lemire doing a run on a longstanding corporate property, it feels a little heavy handed.
Then there's the (lack of) worldbuilding that goes on. We explore some of it with the young mutant group, but don't get to understand how or why it came to be. Every now and then there are alternate futures that spark interest (like Earth-13729), but they aren't all winners. This one is just boring, like most futures that focus on an incursion of our 616 heroes into another timeline.
Victor Ibanez and Humberto Ramos still do a solid job with the art. I don't like some of the character designs (Storm, Nightcrawler, pre-Apocalypse Colossus), but they're consistent and easy enough to get along with.
Overall, I had a fine time with the book, I was just really let down that the story falsely sold a crossover event (never thought I'd be complaining about a LACK of crossover...).
This was my second favorite of the three books. First, the title already includes a team that I like better than All-New X-Men, and second it managed to focus on more than two characters throughout the arc. That said, it does rely, yet again, on time travel to create any drama. It seems like we've lost some of the slow burn that used to happen with some of these titles. Though there is a long-game subplot happening with Sapna and Magik, I just don't know how long that will actually go. I feel it more in the Uncanny X-Men book, but that could be because it had payoff for things that happened multiple runs ago. There are also seeds planted with Colossus.
I guess my issue is that this plot seemed to come out of no where. I did like that Sugarman was involved, even though I don't really like the character. It was a nice nod to his connections with Age of Apocalypse.
I really enjoyed the first two issues, more the second (Issue 7). It dove deep into what had been happening with Nightcrawler, and even as a one-shot had a really resonant story with some heavy impact on the character. It did a good job of establishing more of the status quo for mutants in the current climate. Of course, it also continues to highlight the ridiculousness of people hating mutants but being fine with Inhumans. How can you ever tell them apart? Maybe there's something to be said about trying to lump in bad examples of a minority group with a much larger segment of that group (or the group as a whole), but that would require mutants to all be bad, which isn't the case. Eh, whatever, I liked the story, it had some emotional weight, that's enough for me.
The rest of the story was mediocre. I liked seeing Anole come to the fore a little bit, but I have almost no interest in his companions. Glob is a typical oaf type character that Lemire is trying to do something with eventually (but without any real effort yet), Ernst does almost nothing and is entirely uninteresting, and No-Girl is almost more of a prop in this story than anything else (until she is given a robot body to fight with, instead of her psychic powers...). Jean and Logan still creep me out a bit because they are trying SO HARD to look after each other. I get that they are supposed to have a rapport from those couple of panels they spent together before joining the team, but it just seems creepy for the most part instead. Storm is going through some stuff about how all of this is pointless. Which...is interesting, but it almost instead calls attention to the fact that comics as a whole are pointless because characters never get a happy ending, instead relying on more and increasing threats to their wellbeing (and, in this case, the wellbeing of all mutantkind). If it wasn't quite so obvious, it may be an interesting subtle commentary on the state of comics. Instead, with Lemire doing a run on a longstanding corporate property, it feels a little heavy handed.
Then there's the (lack of) worldbuilding that goes on. We explore some of it with the young mutant group, but don't get to understand how or why it came to be. Every now and then there are alternate futures that spark interest (like Earth-13729), but they aren't all winners. This one is just boring, like most futures that focus on an incursion of our 616 heroes into another timeline.
Victor Ibanez and Humberto Ramos still do a solid job with the art. I don't like some of the character designs (Storm, Nightcrawler, pre-Apocalypse Colossus), but they're consistent and easy enough to get along with.
Overall, I had a fine time with the book, I was just really let down that the story falsely sold a crossover event (never thought I'd be complaining about a LACK of crossover...).
April 17, 2017
After a so-so 1st volume, EX-M gets better if still not great.
The first two issues are centered on Illyana and Sapna-the latter promising to get some importance in the future and then Kurt with a traumatizing discovery on what made him lost his mind earlier in the series.
Then it's Ororo's team turn to endure the trials of the Apocalypse Wars. Nothing exceptional (a future where Apocalypse has had his way and no mutants exist anymore, can't say the guy looses tracks of his goal in life) but good action and some fun here and there (Glob forever!) decently managed.
All in all I'd say this run is enjoyable but one issue too long and would have gained to be more tightened up.
Artwise, Victor Ibanez wins the day with flying colours before Humberto Ramos. The former draws nice characters-with a special award for Illyana- and displays a good storytelling when the latter is totally underperforming and drown in more confused action.
This is the first volume out of the 5 I've read so far that actually convinced me all's not lost for my favorite mutants.
The first two issues are centered on Illyana and Sapna-the latter promising to get some importance in the future and then Kurt with a traumatizing discovery on what made him lost his mind earlier in the series.
Then it's Ororo's team turn to endure the trials of the Apocalypse Wars. Nothing exceptional (a future where Apocalypse has had his way and no mutants exist anymore, can't say the guy looses tracks of his goal in life) but good action and some fun here and there (Glob forever!) decently managed.
All in all I'd say this run is enjoyable but one issue too long and would have gained to be more tightened up.
Artwise, Victor Ibanez wins the day with flying colours before Humberto Ramos. The former draws nice characters-with a special award for Illyana- and displays a good storytelling when the latter is totally underperforming and drown in more confused action.
This is the first volume out of the 5 I've read so far that actually convinced me all's not lost for my favorite mutants.
February 15, 2017
Lemire's second volume of the X-Men has many nice elements in it, including a visit to Weirdworld, an exploration of Kurt Wagner's mind, and a journey into (yet another) Apolyptic future. They're nice reflections of X-Men history, though some elements are grossly overdone (like the transformation of yet another X-Man into a horseman). There are also some good character moments, though they're a bit fewer than I'd like. On the down side, this book continues to be shallow, like many of this era of X-writing, in large part due to excessive fighting, which fizzles this book out a little in its final issues.
Still, this is at least a 3.5 stars, which amounts to a good book for the underwhelming All-New All-Different era of X-writing.
Still, this is at least a 3.5 stars, which amounts to a good book for the underwhelming All-New All-Different era of X-writing.
April 11, 2017
Victor Ibanez's art is awful. I'm not sure how he got to be the secondary artist on this book. Everyone looks like they've been living in a Russian Gulag. The first 2 issues are pretty depressing. I still don't get the threat of the terrigenesis cloud. Just watch the weather report and leave if it's coming. Problem solved.
Colossus and his new team get teleported to the far future where Apocalypse rules. I like how the story allows some of the teenage X-Men to amp up their powers. Anole and Glob are fun characters and need to be used more. Humberto Ramos art is even sloppier than usual in this volume. Maybe it's the new inker but the art isn't as sharp and suffers from it.
Colossus and his new team get teleported to the far future where Apocalypse rules. I like how the story allows some of the teenage X-Men to amp up their powers. Anole and Glob are fun characters and need to be used more. Humberto Ramos art is even sloppier than usual in this volume. Maybe it's the new inker but the art isn't as sharp and suffers from it.
March 16, 2017
*lies down on the floor* Like half this book is about 4 characters with whom I am barely familiar, in an alternate future world? And I just...had trouble caring.
I DID like Illyana and Sapna, and also Old Man Logan's interactions with Kurt, Ororo, and Jean though. I hope this series can get back to like...a present day...normal...ish...something? I mean, you know, X-Men normal? This is just like, too much for me.
I DID like Illyana and Sapna, and also Old Man Logan's interactions with Kurt, Ororo, and Jean though. I hope this series can get back to like...a present day...normal...ish...something? I mean, you know, X-Men normal? This is just like, too much for me.
July 5, 2018
This was a clear mess from the start. I didn't like the changeover in art style this quickly either. How is it that it's so easy to time travel now, when in the last run of All-New X-Men it was a conundrum that Hank McCoy could not even solve for over 6 volumes? This was good in certain points, but became to complicated and messy. It'll be interesting to see how the next volume plays out.
Also, my questions from volume 1 still haven't been touched on here.
Also, my questions from volume 1 still haven't been touched on here.
December 31, 2016
One of the loosely (very loosely) tied together X-men books entitled Apocalypse Wars, but really has nothing to do with anything, and even though the story kinda moves along we end up with nothing resolved by the end of this trade, ok art and ok storytelling.
November 19, 2016
This volume continues to be just as forced and uninspired as the previous one. You could point out tons of things that make no sense whatsoever, sometimes it is as if the writers never even read a Wikipedia page, but listing all of them would be too much.
One of the more noteworthy dumb things is the entire "Iceman is now gay" garbage that they put in here and that some think is so great and all. I say BS!!!! This "he just buried it deep down" that they have here is not how that works. If he would have done that it would have shown in possiby unhealthy ways. But everything presented clearly showed that he was straight. This is just a marketing trick. Which is especially dumb considered that they have several gay and bisexual characters already that they could have developed, instead they just rewrote an existing character slightly (just like teenage Jean Grey is suddenly far more powerful than she should be).
Another example of how lazy this is, is the fact that in Nightcrawler's head we had Winzeldorf again and unlike in the Nightcrawler series it is no longer crossed by a river. Inconsistencies aside, they are standard at this point, the two were first introduced in 1975, and quite frankly this made-up town was the only "german" place of importance for Nightcrawler apparently. Or in other words: In more than 40 years, these dumbass writers did not manage to give him any other German place of significance!!!!
And come to think of it, why would Winzeldorf and it's mob be so significant for Nightcrawler? He had been discriminated before and despite what this suggests they hunted him because they thought he had killed his brother and several children. However, none of this is in here, so the message is totally screwed. And it still makes no sense why he didn't teleport away. In fact this version shows him teleporting through town, so why not escape? Furthermore, ignoring the to be expected spelling errors of even the simplest German phrases, apparently in this dream the Bamfs are there... so they still exist? Then where are they? Where were they all this time? Did I miss something?
And if this weren't enough, when they try to show something from the "M-Pox riots" in Germany they have 3 guys with guns (1 bald, 2 yellow haired ones) kidnapping 2 mutant kids out on the street. They say this is during the time when the M-Pox riots hit Europe, but this looks nothing like a riot. Apart from that, there were 2 more provlems with this:
1) This "Germany is under Nightcrawler's protection" crap doesn't work, because based on what was written in the last 41 years, this guy never gave two shits about his alleged home country.
2) Letting that one guy scream "the devil knows what we did", makes no sense. If he is Christian, he would clearly belief that what he does is sanctioned by God. If he thinks it isn't, why do it then if he believes in the devil as an antagonistic force.
And the first time we see a massgrave, it is in Germany… can't say I am surprised about that.
However, while I am sure this is here to shock and enforce stereotypes, it does not work for me because:
This must be at least 60 people, how did they get them were? And why? Where in Germany is this? If there were riots, why not kill them were they find them? How long was this going on with the two kids from before knew?
And on the chance of being seen as cold: Why does this make them suffer so much? Years ago Sentinels killed 16 million mutants and there have been lots of riots, so why does this affect Nightcrawler so much? Also, the main mutants have tons of defensive and offensive powers, so how come so many mutants can suddenly be killed by normal humans so easily?
And since we are at things that really make no sense: If the Terrigen Mist cloud is so dangerous, why is it still around? The Marvel universe has tons of magicians, telekinetics, weather makers and inventors and none cleaned this up?
And the whole reason as to why the younger X-Men are sent into the future was Sugar Man's plan to take the 600 mutant embryos and send them to the future? He wanted them save from the terrigen mist? By sending them to the future? That is such garbage (after all who says it's gone in the future?) that it clearly screams of a bad excuse to set up this "Apocalypse war."
First Sinister, then M-Day+Legacy Virus 2.0 and now apparently Sugar Man's "save place" was a future where for some reason Apocalypse rules.... And in that future the "Mystical realm" is ruled by "the Scarlet Queen" and at one place the "Werewolf by Nights" live? They survived but mutants did not? Plus, this is a 1000 years into the future… whatever, who knows what dumb ideas the writers came up with.
And they clearly did come up with crap as this Omega World of Apocalypse has nothing to do with Evolution or the Survival of the Fittest. He is just one of many assholes who wanted to shape the world according to their ideas and would destroy anyone in their way. In fact considered who survived (Wakandans, Mystics, Inhumans, Atlanteans and Moloids) are rather fancy by the writers and even though they call this natural selection, it is the direct opposite.
And during all of this Apocalypse had just somehow decided that the kids and the ark being in his time means mutants should get a second chance but the X-Men coming via exactly the same means, means they have broken the rules and so all mutants have to die… could it be anymore obvious that all of this only happens because the plot says so?
And all of this "mutant kind will go extinct" might have been dramatic if this wasn't the 4-6th time within the 20 years or so that we had that topic.
Plus, if they want more mutants, get Sugarman to create new embryos for them. The X-Men apparently have no problems with the already existing 600 so why not?
And to just show how completely uninspired and editorial driven this crap is, in the story the symbiot absorbed Logan right away and next issue was "Old Man Venom".... great, that makes so much sense. Call me crazy, but if it were me would have thrown the thing at the man of Ice, the powerful psychic or the weather lady, all much more powerful than the old guy with claws.
And if all of this weren't enough, they did not just kill the goddamn motherfucker. If this were Adolf Hitler on the ground I am sure the writers would not hesitate killing him, but somehow Apocalypse needs to live so Colossus can be changed back, as if any of the X-Men under Apocalypse's control ever needed him to release them. Plus, I would say it's more important to put an end to Apocalypse then to change Colossus back right away. And just to proof me right Apocalypse sent Colossus right to Clan Akaba who apparently were expecting him already. Great work, Storm was told three times, sort of, that she should kill Apocalypse, but noooooo she had to have your way and everybody agreed. Maybe we should get Cyclops back.
What a dumb storyline.
PS. In the Nightcrawler dream Kurt says "eine Freundin" when referring to Storm. Apart from the fact that it should be spelled "meine Freundin", this is another word usage that is atypical for German and so in the German translation he refers to Storm and Jean as "meine Damen", meaning "my ladies" which in fact is a correct usage of German.
One of the more noteworthy dumb things is the entire "Iceman is now gay" garbage that they put in here and that some think is so great and all. I say BS!!!! This "he just buried it deep down" that they have here is not how that works. If he would have done that it would have shown in possiby unhealthy ways. But everything presented clearly showed that he was straight. This is just a marketing trick. Which is especially dumb considered that they have several gay and bisexual characters already that they could have developed, instead they just rewrote an existing character slightly (just like teenage Jean Grey is suddenly far more powerful than she should be).
Another example of how lazy this is, is the fact that in Nightcrawler's head we had Winzeldorf again and unlike in the Nightcrawler series it is no longer crossed by a river. Inconsistencies aside, they are standard at this point, the two were first introduced in 1975, and quite frankly this made-up town was the only "german" place of importance for Nightcrawler apparently. Or in other words: In more than 40 years, these dumbass writers did not manage to give him any other German place of significance!!!!
And come to think of it, why would Winzeldorf and it's mob be so significant for Nightcrawler? He had been discriminated before and despite what this suggests they hunted him because they thought he had killed his brother and several children. However, none of this is in here, so the message is totally screwed. And it still makes no sense why he didn't teleport away. In fact this version shows him teleporting through town, so why not escape? Furthermore, ignoring the to be expected spelling errors of even the simplest German phrases, apparently in this dream the Bamfs are there... so they still exist? Then where are they? Where were they all this time? Did I miss something?
And if this weren't enough, when they try to show something from the "M-Pox riots" in Germany they have 3 guys with guns (1 bald, 2 yellow haired ones) kidnapping 2 mutant kids out on the street. They say this is during the time when the M-Pox riots hit Europe, but this looks nothing like a riot. Apart from that, there were 2 more provlems with this:
1) This "Germany is under Nightcrawler's protection" crap doesn't work, because based on what was written in the last 41 years, this guy never gave two shits about his alleged home country.
2) Letting that one guy scream "the devil knows what we did", makes no sense. If he is Christian, he would clearly belief that what he does is sanctioned by God. If he thinks it isn't, why do it then if he believes in the devil as an antagonistic force.
And the first time we see a massgrave, it is in Germany… can't say I am surprised about that.
However, while I am sure this is here to shock and enforce stereotypes, it does not work for me because:
This must be at least 60 people, how did they get them were? And why? Where in Germany is this? If there were riots, why not kill them were they find them? How long was this going on with the two kids from before knew?
And on the chance of being seen as cold: Why does this make them suffer so much? Years ago Sentinels killed 16 million mutants and there have been lots of riots, so why does this affect Nightcrawler so much? Also, the main mutants have tons of defensive and offensive powers, so how come so many mutants can suddenly be killed by normal humans so easily?
And since we are at things that really make no sense: If the Terrigen Mist cloud is so dangerous, why is it still around? The Marvel universe has tons of magicians, telekinetics, weather makers and inventors and none cleaned this up?
And the whole reason as to why the younger X-Men are sent into the future was Sugar Man's plan to take the 600 mutant embryos and send them to the future? He wanted them save from the terrigen mist? By sending them to the future? That is such garbage (after all who says it's gone in the future?) that it clearly screams of a bad excuse to set up this "Apocalypse war."
First Sinister, then M-Day+Legacy Virus 2.0 and now apparently Sugar Man's "save place" was a future where for some reason Apocalypse rules.... And in that future the "Mystical realm" is ruled by "the Scarlet Queen" and at one place the "Werewolf by Nights" live? They survived but mutants did not? Plus, this is a 1000 years into the future… whatever, who knows what dumb ideas the writers came up with.
And they clearly did come up with crap as this Omega World of Apocalypse has nothing to do with Evolution or the Survival of the Fittest. He is just one of many assholes who wanted to shape the world according to their ideas and would destroy anyone in their way. In fact considered who survived (Wakandans, Mystics, Inhumans, Atlanteans and Moloids) are rather fancy by the writers and even though they call this natural selection, it is the direct opposite.
And during all of this Apocalypse had just somehow decided that the kids and the ark being in his time means mutants should get a second chance but the X-Men coming via exactly the same means, means they have broken the rules and so all mutants have to die… could it be anymore obvious that all of this only happens because the plot says so?
And all of this "mutant kind will go extinct" might have been dramatic if this wasn't the 4-6th time within the 20 years or so that we had that topic.
Plus, if they want more mutants, get Sugarman to create new embryos for them. The X-Men apparently have no problems with the already existing 600 so why not?
And to just show how completely uninspired and editorial driven this crap is, in the story the symbiot absorbed Logan right away and next issue was "Old Man Venom".... great, that makes so much sense. Call me crazy, but if it were me would have thrown the thing at the man of Ice, the powerful psychic or the weather lady, all much more powerful than the old guy with claws.
And if all of this weren't enough, they did not just kill the goddamn motherfucker. If this were Adolf Hitler on the ground I am sure the writers would not hesitate killing him, but somehow Apocalypse needs to live so Colossus can be changed back, as if any of the X-Men under Apocalypse's control ever needed him to release them. Plus, I would say it's more important to put an end to Apocalypse then to change Colossus back right away. And just to proof me right Apocalypse sent Colossus right to Clan Akaba who apparently were expecting him already. Great work, Storm was told three times, sort of, that she should kill Apocalypse, but noooooo she had to have your way and everybody agreed. Maybe we should get Cyclops back.
What a dumb storyline.
PS. In the Nightcrawler dream Kurt says "eine Freundin" when referring to Storm. Apart from the fact that it should be spelled "meine Freundin", this is another word usage that is atypical for German and so in the German translation he refers to Storm and Jean as "meine Damen", meaning "my ladies" which in fact is a correct usage of German.
October 1, 2020
I legitimately dislike the X-Men being based in Limbo. Can’t wait until that’s over with.
This was the ok. The story didn’t really grab me too much. The characterizations were fine, the art was adequate. I think Colossus with a beard looks stupid.
Nothing really groundbreaking here.
This was the ok. The story didn’t really grab me too much. The characterizations were fine, the art was adequate. I think Colossus with a beard looks stupid.
Nothing really groundbreaking here.
November 17, 2017
Nice flashy art - and I like one artist (Ibanez) more than the other (Ramos) - but these stories emphasize explosive plot over character.
Your mileage may vary.
Your mileage may vary.
May 6, 2018
3.5.
September 19, 2023
Liking the Old Man Logan stuff, but not so much the Apocalypse angle.
May 4, 2017
As a general rule, it’s a pretty safe bet that the following equation holds true:
X-Men + Apocalypse + Multipart Epic Storyline = Happy Sean
(Unrelated: you can derive the same result from the following equation as well: Cookies + Scotch – Work x 10)
Apparently, however, the collective group of creators responsible for the Apocalypse Wars storyline isn’t very good at math.
Of the three X-books through which the story ran, this was the best of the bunch, but that’s a little bit like saying someone is the best ethics lawyer in the Trump administration.
Time travel and alternate universes have become de rigueur for X-people stories these days, and while some of that is fine (Age of Apocalypse remains one of the gold standards by which I judge superhero comic crossovers), it gets a little tiresome after a while—when you have no idea what the current state of continuity is, why does it matter if the time line gets mucked with, right? It’s hard to invest in characters when their future self or past self or alternate earth self or Bill Self (that’s a college basketball joke, people) is replacing their self self in a continuous cycle of self-deimprovement.
Further, a storyline called “Apocalypse Wars” needs more than just a cameo from the Big Blue Gumby himself—I think Dame Judi Dench had more screen time in Shakespeare in Love than Apocalypse had here (a college hoops joke AND an Oscar joke in the same review?! Someone get this guy a gig writing for the Chevy Chase late night show!).
In short, this wanted to be epic and meaningful and dramatic. It wasn’t. The X-franchise has been limping along for a while now, and conspiracy theorists would suggest that movie rights have played a major role (I hope that’s not the case, but certainly wouldn’t discount it). Regardless of the reason, it’s past time for an X-Men resurgence that places them firmly back in the heart of the Marvel U fighting both bad guys and injustice with equal aplomb and finding the ideal balance between big screen action and quiet character-driven moments—I’m not sure we’ve had that since the Whedon run on Astonishing.
So, Marvel…if you’re looking for a writer to take that on, I know a guy who’s looking for work because the Chevy Chase show ended 24 years ago after he got about as much exposure as Apocalypse did here. (Hey-oh!)
(We'll round up from 2.5 Stars.)
X-Men + Apocalypse + Multipart Epic Storyline = Happy Sean
(Unrelated: you can derive the same result from the following equation as well: Cookies + Scotch – Work x 10)
Apparently, however, the collective group of creators responsible for the Apocalypse Wars storyline isn’t very good at math.
Of the three X-books through which the story ran, this was the best of the bunch, but that’s a little bit like saying someone is the best ethics lawyer in the Trump administration.
Time travel and alternate universes have become de rigueur for X-people stories these days, and while some of that is fine (Age of Apocalypse remains one of the gold standards by which I judge superhero comic crossovers), it gets a little tiresome after a while—when you have no idea what the current state of continuity is, why does it matter if the time line gets mucked with, right? It’s hard to invest in characters when their future self or past self or alternate earth self or Bill Self (that’s a college basketball joke, people) is replacing their self self in a continuous cycle of self-deimprovement.
Further, a storyline called “Apocalypse Wars” needs more than just a cameo from the Big Blue Gumby himself—I think Dame Judi Dench had more screen time in Shakespeare in Love than Apocalypse had here (a college hoops joke AND an Oscar joke in the same review?! Someone get this guy a gig writing for the Chevy Chase late night show!).
In short, this wanted to be epic and meaningful and dramatic. It wasn’t. The X-franchise has been limping along for a while now, and conspiracy theorists would suggest that movie rights have played a major role (I hope that’s not the case, but certainly wouldn’t discount it). Regardless of the reason, it’s past time for an X-Men resurgence that places them firmly back in the heart of the Marvel U fighting both bad guys and injustice with equal aplomb and finding the ideal balance between big screen action and quiet character-driven moments—I’m not sure we’ve had that since the Whedon run on Astonishing.
So, Marvel…if you’re looking for a writer to take that on, I know a guy who’s looking for work because the Chevy Chase show ended 24 years ago after he got about as much exposure as Apocalypse did here. (Hey-oh!)
(We'll round up from 2.5 Stars.)
July 17, 2021
A little less sucky than the last volume. But only a little.
First a two-part story which is mostly about establishing character. What's going on with Nightcrawler? Magik makes a new friend. Colossus is looking for a purpose. This is what I've been missing from the X-Men books for awhile now: character.
Then a five-part story returns to nonsense. The X-Men travel to the far future, because all X-Men stories involve time travel now, where Apocalypse has taken over the world. (Not Cable's future, but a different one.) There's fighting. There might be a plot?
Humberto Ramos and Jeff Lemire are fine on their own, but they don't work together. Lemire lets the artwork speak for itself, but Ramos's art can be hard to parse. Like, at one point, there's a big reveal, but I couldn't tell who it was supposed to be. And there are action sequences where I have no idea what's going on. I could use some dialogue explaining what's happening.
First a two-part story which is mostly about establishing character. What's going on with Nightcrawler? Magik makes a new friend. Colossus is looking for a purpose. This is what I've been missing from the X-Men books for awhile now: character.
Then a five-part story returns to nonsense. The X-Men travel to the far future, because all X-Men stories involve time travel now, where Apocalypse has taken over the world. (Not Cable's future, but a different one.) There's fighting. There might be a plot?
Humberto Ramos and Jeff Lemire are fine on their own, but they don't work together. Lemire lets the artwork speak for itself, but Ramos's art can be hard to parse. Like, at one point, there's a big reveal, but I couldn't tell who it was supposed to be. And there are action sequences where I have no idea what's going on. I could use some dialogue explaining what's happening.
January 9, 2017
Many say this is the best of the non-crossover crossover.
But it's 7 issues in the collection and there are more unanswered questions than conclusion...so I am not overly pleased as it sets up at least 3 storylines and really only 1 storyline finished early in this volume.
But it's 7 issues in the collection and there are more unanswered questions than conclusion...so I am not overly pleased as it sets up at least 3 storylines and really only 1 storyline finished early in this volume.
August 11, 2017
I somehow managed to like this second volume of Lemire's run, while having a metric ton of problems with it. The name 'Apocalypse Wars' led me to expect something not quite as gimmicky as yet another time travel story.
The best parts of this volume were easily the more quiet moments with Illyana; and I have to say, while I'm not thrilled by the direction Lemire's taking, plot-wise, his characterization of Illyana is perfect, and a great continuation of what Bendis did with the character--for the most part.
I've always been sweet on Illyana Rasputin, I'll admit it, and seeing her bond with a new mutant that is very much reminiscent of the way Illyana used to be, back in the day was a thrill to read. Add a Doctor Strange cameo, and you've got some fun moments that add to a few characters.
Young Jean Grey was great, and Storm's problematic leadership was touched upon once again.
Storm's a bit of a mixed bag -- her continued problems leading the X-Men in recent times (the adjectiveless 25-issue run of X-Men from 2013 to 2015 first examined that, but only in terms of a single, small team.) Now that she is de-facto 'Queen of Mutants,' things are a bit tougher. Interesting enough.
Nightcrawler's back to being less 'bible nut' and more 'teleporting bamf,' which works far better for me. He gives Storm a nice pep talk, as well.
Young Jean Grey is badass. I really enjoy her character. Oh, she's also in this.
Old Man Logan...boy, is that guy old.
Iceman takes up Kurt's role as 'guy-who-is-hopeful-and-inspires-others' for a few moments there, somewhere. Bobby Drake is just a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to checking out his solo series once I catch up with Inhumans vs X-Men.
The art by Ibanez isn't bad, but I much prefer Ramos's pencil skills-- they're a joy to behold, trust me on that. Some really nice two-page spreads, and a few good battle scenes. I actually bought this because of how the art looked, and-- honestly, I do not regret it for a second. Ramos has this sharp, comix-y style that is one of my absolute favorites, whenever he works on X-Men books. Delgado's colors are vibrant, stunning and I absolutely love them.
The presentation is great, I only wish that we didn't get yet another time-travel clusterfuck of a story, if you'll pardon the language.
The best parts of this volume were easily the more quiet moments with Illyana; and I have to say, while I'm not thrilled by the direction Lemire's taking, plot-wise, his characterization of Illyana is perfect, and a great continuation of what Bendis did with the character--for the most part.
I've always been sweet on Illyana Rasputin, I'll admit it, and seeing her bond with a new mutant that is very much reminiscent of the way Illyana used to be, back in the day was a thrill to read. Add a Doctor Strange cameo, and you've got some fun moments that add to a few characters.
Young Jean Grey was great, and Storm's problematic leadership was touched upon once again.
Storm's a bit of a mixed bag -- her continued problems leading the X-Men in recent times (the adjectiveless 25-issue run of X-Men from 2013 to 2015 first examined that, but only in terms of a single, small team.) Now that she is de-facto 'Queen of Mutants,' things are a bit tougher. Interesting enough.
Nightcrawler's back to being less 'bible nut' and more 'teleporting bamf,' which works far better for me. He gives Storm a nice pep talk, as well.
Young Jean Grey is badass. I really enjoy her character. Oh, she's also in this.
Old Man Logan...boy, is that guy old.
Iceman takes up Kurt's role as 'guy-who-is-hopeful-and-inspires-others' for a few moments there, somewhere. Bobby Drake is just a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to checking out his solo series once I catch up with Inhumans vs X-Men.
The art by Ibanez isn't bad, but I much prefer Ramos's pencil skills-- they're a joy to behold, trust me on that. Some really nice two-page spreads, and a few good battle scenes. I actually bought this because of how the art looked, and-- honestly, I do not regret it for a second. Ramos has this sharp, comix-y style that is one of my absolute favorites, whenever he works on X-Men books. Delgado's colors are vibrant, stunning and I absolutely love them.
The presentation is great, I only wish that we didn't get yet another time-travel clusterfuck of a story, if you'll pardon the language.
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