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X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus
X-Men: Legion Quest
The epic story that ushered in the Age of Apocalypse! Legion's once-shattered psyche is finally united, with a singular purpose: to make up for all the misery he has visited on his father, Charles Xavier. And to do it, he plans to make Xavier's dream a reality — by traveling back in time to kill its greatest obstacle, Magneto! The X-Men scramble to stop him from altering history — but, lost in the past, can they thwart Legion's misguided mission before the entire Marvel Universe is wiped away? Plus: Mystique seeks revenge against Legion, even as her shocking connection to Nightcrawler is revealed! And Storm returns to Cairo to face her past, but will she join the all-new Hellfire Club?
Collects Uncanny X-Men (1981) #318-321, X-Men (1991) #38-41, X-Men Unlimited (1993) #4-7, X-Men Annual (1992) #3, X-Factor (1986) #107-109, Cable (1993) #20
Collects Uncanny X-Men (1981) #318-321, X-Men (1991) #38-41, X-Men Unlimited (1993) #4-7, X-Men Annual (1992) #3, X-Factor (1986) #107-109, Cable (1993) #20
551 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 4, 2018
112 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Scott Lobdell
1,627 books232 followersScott Lobdell (born 1960) is an American comic book writer.
He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.
He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 13, 2019
Of all the X-Men collections of recent years, this is probably the most scattered. Oh, it's important to fill the gap between X-Men: Phalanx Covenant and X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus, but ":egionQuest" only manages to do so by throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the wall. There's one X-Men issue (UXM #318) that should have been in the Phalanx hardcover and the eponymous Legion arc (UXM #320-321, XM #40-41) that already is in the Age of Apocalypse omnibus, then the comic is mostly filled out with X-Men Unlimiteds.
So, don't expect cohesion. But are the stories in this volume any good?
The first half of this book is mostly jumbo-sized comics.
The X-Men Unlimiteds of this era use extra-long page counts to tell special stories with unique, small casts of X-Men. And they do a pretty good job, even if they run too long and actually aren't that great on the characterization despite the cast (and issue) size.
"Theories of Relativity" (#4) is the monumental story of Rogue and Nightcrawler that reveals half of Nightcrawler's true heritage. It's pretty great for the relationship it sets up between them (alas, which has almost never been explored in recent years) and it really reinvents Nightcrawler (and Mystique).
"Hard Promises" (#5) similarly does a great job exploring the Lilandra and Charles relationship, which it puts at a crossroads. Meanwhile, we get the intriguing story of the Shi'ar and the Kree.
"Primal Scream" (#6) is a second Unlimited in a row by John Moore, and he does a nice job of combining characters from X-Factor and X-Men, which is a great use of the comic. And Alex + Lorna + Scott + Jean is a great group to bring together. The actual story is all about Sauron in the Savage Land. It's a decent character study of him with a nicely conclusive finish to his story (which of course has since been reversed).
Finally, "Memories" (#7). has a great premise, since it's about Ororo returning to Cairo to see the dying master thief who took her in as a child. And, it's got great Romita art. Unfortunately, the greatness ends with the plot, which is mostly about fighting the external Candra, and there's no references to Candra plotting against Ororo in the X-Men Annual from earlier in the year, also collected herein ...
"Heart & Soul" (in X-Men Annual #3) is another long story that could just as easily have been an Unlimited. It's an interesting story of the new Hellfire Club (including Shinobi and Candra) trying to seduce Ororo, or drug her at least, and it has very little meat given its length.
Meanwhile, the interstitial X-Men comics (XM#38-39, UXM#318-319) are probably the best part of this collection, especially the two adjectiveless issues, by Fabien Nicieza. They really bridge the gap between Phalanx Covenant and LegionQuest (meanwhile, revealing that these poor comics had almost no time to breathe between the two mega-events), spinning off Generation X, then touching upon the rising threat of Legion. But they also have great stories about the characters, particularly X-Men #38, which is laid out as short stories about several characters. We also get a rather nice story about Adam X in X-Men #39 that makes it so blatantly obvious that he was supposed to be the third Summers brother. (Sigh! Alas, for lost plots!)
The X-Factor issues (#107-109) finally get into the LegionQuest. Well, eventually. The first issue is written fully by Todd DeZego, and it's an entirely horrible issue-long fight between Strong Guy and Blob. I guess it was included because it connects up to the Phalanx Covenant hardcover and it has some very faint connections to the rest of the crossover. But it's really when John Moore comes back that things come into focus, as Mystique tries to kill a comatose Legion. It's not a very dense story either, but it's exciting to finally get the big crossover underway.
The actual LegionQuest (XM#40-41, UXM#320-321) suffers from the usual problems of event issues: It spends too much time on action, and not enough on character. Still, we do get some nice historic interactions between Charles and Magnus and the very ending is touching (by Nicieza, of course). Cable #20 then repeats some of this same ground, but is touching too.
Overall, this collection runs right down the middle-ground of '90s X-Men, but it would have been a lot better with just X-Men and Uncanny X-Men issues.
So, don't expect cohesion. But are the stories in this volume any good?
The first half of this book is mostly jumbo-sized comics.
The X-Men Unlimiteds of this era use extra-long page counts to tell special stories with unique, small casts of X-Men. And they do a pretty good job, even if they run too long and actually aren't that great on the characterization despite the cast (and issue) size.
"Theories of Relativity" (#4) is the monumental story of Rogue and Nightcrawler that reveals half of Nightcrawler's true heritage. It's pretty great for the relationship it sets up between them (alas, which has almost never been explored in recent years) and it really reinvents Nightcrawler (and Mystique).
"Hard Promises" (#5) similarly does a great job exploring the Lilandra and Charles relationship, which it puts at a crossroads. Meanwhile, we get the intriguing story of the Shi'ar and the Kree.
"Primal Scream" (#6) is a second Unlimited in a row by John Moore, and he does a nice job of combining characters from X-Factor and X-Men, which is a great use of the comic. And Alex + Lorna + Scott + Jean is a great group to bring together. The actual story is all about Sauron in the Savage Land. It's a decent character study of him with a nicely conclusive finish to his story (which of course has since been reversed).
Finally, "Memories" (#7). has a great premise, since it's about Ororo returning to Cairo to see the dying master thief who took her in as a child. And, it's got great Romita art. Unfortunately, the greatness ends with the plot, which is mostly about fighting the external Candra, and there's no references to Candra plotting against Ororo in the X-Men Annual from earlier in the year, also collected herein ...
"Heart & Soul" (in X-Men Annual #3) is another long story that could just as easily have been an Unlimited. It's an interesting story of the new Hellfire Club (including Shinobi and Candra) trying to seduce Ororo, or drug her at least, and it has very little meat given its length.
Meanwhile, the interstitial X-Men comics (XM#38-39, UXM#318-319) are probably the best part of this collection, especially the two adjectiveless issues, by Fabien Nicieza. They really bridge the gap between Phalanx Covenant and LegionQuest (meanwhile, revealing that these poor comics had almost no time to breathe between the two mega-events), spinning off Generation X, then touching upon the rising threat of Legion. But they also have great stories about the characters, particularly X-Men #38, which is laid out as short stories about several characters. We also get a rather nice story about Adam X in X-Men #39 that makes it so blatantly obvious that he was supposed to be the third Summers brother. (Sigh! Alas, for lost plots!)
The X-Factor issues (#107-109) finally get into the LegionQuest. Well, eventually. The first issue is written fully by Todd DeZego, and it's an entirely horrible issue-long fight between Strong Guy and Blob. I guess it was included because it connects up to the Phalanx Covenant hardcover and it has some very faint connections to the rest of the crossover. But it's really when John Moore comes back that things come into focus, as Mystique tries to kill a comatose Legion. It's not a very dense story either, but it's exciting to finally get the big crossover underway.
The actual LegionQuest (XM#40-41, UXM#320-321) suffers from the usual problems of event issues: It spends too much time on action, and not enough on character. Still, we do get some nice historic interactions between Charles and Magnus and the very ending is touching (by Nicieza, of course). Cable #20 then repeats some of this same ground, but is touching too.
Overall, this collection runs right down the middle-ground of '90s X-Men, but it would have been a lot better with just X-Men and Uncanny X-Men issues.
August 18, 2019
Okay, I have no idea how to describe how I feel about this one, further than this:
Half of the one shots could probably have been left out, or replaced with the backstory for Legion and Mystique, and Legion could have been in it a LOT more than he was.
He literally turned up 65% of the way through. He wasn't even mentioned beforehand. Same with Magneto, who David is trying to kill. To me, that made no sense.
Then, on top of that, the author describes David as autistic (there's no symptoms I can see of this condition, and I should know, as I'm on the spectrum myself) has characters say some ableist things, and then also says David is schizophrenic, to then describe symptoms of Disassociative Identity Disorder. I get that it was the 90's, but it still angered me a bit.
But, that being said, I'll probably carry on to Age Of Apocalypse, because that story sounds really interesting, and this kept me reasonably entertained throughout.
Half of the one shots could probably have been left out, or replaced with the backstory for Legion and Mystique, and Legion could have been in it a LOT more than he was.
He literally turned up 65% of the way through. He wasn't even mentioned beforehand. Same with Magneto, who David is trying to kill. To me, that made no sense.
Then, on top of that, the author describes David as autistic (there's no symptoms I can see of this condition, and I should know, as I'm on the spectrum myself) has characters say some ableist things, and then also says David is schizophrenic, to then describe symptoms of Disassociative Identity Disorder. I get that it was the 90's, but it still angered me a bit.
But, that being said, I'll probably carry on to Age Of Apocalypse, because that story sounds really interesting, and this kept me reasonably entertained throughout.
February 12, 2021
Legion goes back in time to achieve and attain the dreams of his father, Charles Xavier.
His plan is to kill his fathers then-best friend: Erik Magnus. Yep, the person who will eventually become the foremost villain in the world of the X-Men, Magneto. But Legion's plan goes horribly wrong. Pretty crazy comic book stuff.
To their credit, the fact that they actually went through with this in the X-books is a testament in itself. They all ended with this "crystalization" and changed into the Age of Apocalypse storyline. The story did seem like it might have had an happy ending, because the alternative just seemed impossible. But they went through with it, and we were treated to the fan favorite AOA. On top of that, it helped get a clean slate for the X universe overall. No more legacy virus, which has been going on and on, no more brain dead Magneto, etc...
I think the main storyline was pretty good. It was something that at times seemed disjointed or fractured, but being that we are dealing with Legion, that is to be expected. The problem I had with the volume is that it is huge when the main storyline is only 4 issues. There is a lot of filler towards the beginning of the book that is either very loosely related, to really didn't need to be there. I guess that's more on me for picking up this particular collected edition, but still, I think Marvel should've done a better job of just giving us what we need for this one.
I would recommend this to X-Men fans. It is an interesting story in itself, and sets up one of the best X-Men storylines of the 90's. However, get the smaller collected edition instead of this one.
His plan is to kill his fathers then-best friend: Erik Magnus. Yep, the person who will eventually become the foremost villain in the world of the X-Men, Magneto. But Legion's plan goes horribly wrong. Pretty crazy comic book stuff.
To their credit, the fact that they actually went through with this in the X-books is a testament in itself. They all ended with this "crystalization" and changed into the Age of Apocalypse storyline. The story did seem like it might have had an happy ending, because the alternative just seemed impossible. But they went through with it, and we were treated to the fan favorite AOA. On top of that, it helped get a clean slate for the X universe overall. No more legacy virus, which has been going on and on, no more brain dead Magneto, etc...
I think the main storyline was pretty good. It was something that at times seemed disjointed or fractured, but being that we are dealing with Legion, that is to be expected. The problem I had with the volume is that it is huge when the main storyline is only 4 issues. There is a lot of filler towards the beginning of the book that is either very loosely related, to really didn't need to be there. I guess that's more on me for picking up this particular collected edition, but still, I think Marvel should've done a better job of just giving us what we need for this one.
I would recommend this to X-Men fans. It is an interesting story in itself, and sets up one of the best X-Men storylines of the 90's. However, get the smaller collected edition instead of this one.
August 23, 2020
Collects Uncanny X-Men #318-321 (November 1994 - February 1995), X-Men #38-41 (November 1994 - February 1995), X-Men Unlimited #4-7 (March - December 1994), X-Men Annual #3 (October 1994), X-Factor #107-109 (October - December 1994) and Cable #20 (February 1995).
About 8 years ago, I thought it might be fun to go back and read some of the X-men comics I collected as a child. I didn't get around to doing this in earnest until about 2017. Though my childhood collection ran from about 1981 - 1987, I thought I'd start off with Giant Size X-Men #1 (May 1975) in the enormous X-Men Omnibus Vol. 1. My original intention was to stop around where my childhood collection stopped, but as I neared the end I was having too much fun and decided to read at least through the end of the Chris Claremont era (which would have dropped me off sometime in 1991). As it happened, I just kept going and going but this finally feels like a good place to end it... with the end of the world.
The stories where never quite as great as Claremont at the peak of his powers (which I peg as The Dark Phoenix Saga (1980) through Mutant Massacre (1986)), but it was a fun ride. In fact, I had a bit of a tear in my eye by the end of this one. Ends on a fantastic note. But my low rating comes from the rest of what is here and what has been plaguing the X-Men titles since they splintered into two, then three, then six and then even more separate titles. ... just too many cooks in the kitchen, too many plots and characters, little cohesion and the books just seem to be constantly crashing into each other without allowing much to fully develop.
This has been a fun ride though and I still plan to fill in some gaps among the other X-Titles. Currently reading through the early Excalibur books and plan to start on some pre-1975 X-Men when I get the chance.
About 8 years ago, I thought it might be fun to go back and read some of the X-men comics I collected as a child. I didn't get around to doing this in earnest until about 2017. Though my childhood collection ran from about 1981 - 1987, I thought I'd start off with Giant Size X-Men #1 (May 1975) in the enormous X-Men Omnibus Vol. 1. My original intention was to stop around where my childhood collection stopped, but as I neared the end I was having too much fun and decided to read at least through the end of the Chris Claremont era (which would have dropped me off sometime in 1991). As it happened, I just kept going and going but this finally feels like a good place to end it... with the end of the world.
The stories where never quite as great as Claremont at the peak of his powers (which I peg as The Dark Phoenix Saga (1980) through Mutant Massacre (1986)), but it was a fun ride. In fact, I had a bit of a tear in my eye by the end of this one. Ends on a fantastic note. But my low rating comes from the rest of what is here and what has been plaguing the X-Men titles since they splintered into two, then three, then six and then even more separate titles. ... just too many cooks in the kitchen, too many plots and characters, little cohesion and the books just seem to be constantly crashing into each other without allowing much to fully develop.
This has been a fun ride though and I still plan to fill in some gaps among the other X-Titles. Currently reading through the early Excalibur books and plan to start on some pre-1975 X-Men when I get the chance.
October 12, 2023
Olha, é ruim.
Mas é ruim naquele jeito noventeiro; é uma história ruim gostosinha; tipo, ela tem cara de problema, mas é bonitinha.
É um coleção de histórias explorando as árvores genealógicas dos X-Men; tem historinha sobre a Mística, a Vampira, o Noturno e um outro cara qualquer; tem historinha sobre o Scott, a Jean e o Cable e um outro cara que eu acho que é o Adam X; tem historinha sobre o Professor X, o Magneto, o Legião e a Gabrielle Heller; o que não tem é uma história boa e que faça sentido do início ao fim, tudo tem aquele exagero cafona dos anos 90, todo mundo tem uma entrada triunfal, todas as falas são definitivas e parecem coisa de coach neo-quântico e, claro, o Charles "Pau no Cu" Xavier pau-no-cuzeando todo mundo, até quando ele era novo.
Como todo mundo sabe a melhor coisa desse encadernado é a próxima história; a Era do Apocalipse, o ápice do noventismo.
O que pouca gente sabe é a segunda melhor coisa desse encadernado; o Guido e o Blob saindo no braço num aeroporto.
Mas é ruim naquele jeito noventeiro; é uma história ruim gostosinha; tipo, ela tem cara de problema, mas é bonitinha.
É um coleção de histórias explorando as árvores genealógicas dos X-Men; tem historinha sobre a Mística, a Vampira, o Noturno e um outro cara qualquer; tem historinha sobre o Scott, a Jean e o Cable e um outro cara que eu acho que é o Adam X; tem historinha sobre o Professor X, o Magneto, o Legião e a Gabrielle Heller; o que não tem é uma história boa e que faça sentido do início ao fim, tudo tem aquele exagero cafona dos anos 90, todo mundo tem uma entrada triunfal, todas as falas são definitivas e parecem coisa de coach neo-quântico e, claro, o Charles "Pau no Cu" Xavier pau-no-cuzeando todo mundo, até quando ele era novo.
Como todo mundo sabe a melhor coisa desse encadernado é a próxima história; a Era do Apocalipse, o ápice do noventismo.
O que pouca gente sabe é a segunda melhor coisa desse encadernado; o Guido e o Blob saindo no braço num aeroporto.
September 11, 2025
Half of this book is misplaced
As a completionist collector, I would love this HC in my shelf. The first half includes issues that are orphan and never before reprinted in an oversized collection. Where else would I find the annual, for example? However, there’s no denying that the title chosen implies a focus on the particular storyline that is only explored in the second half. Again, I personally don’t mind the first half issues, but someone that only wants to read Legion Quest will not appreciate them. They would be better off with the trade paperback Age of Apocalypse Prelude, although the printing quality is poor in that collection. I especially appreciate X-men Unlimited #4 and Uncanny #317 as they’re both great standalones that also support later storylines.
The Legion Quest stuff that’s the second half is great! Highly recommend it all as a required reading for any X-fan.
As a completionist collector, I would love this HC in my shelf. The first half includes issues that are orphan and never before reprinted in an oversized collection. Where else would I find the annual, for example? However, there’s no denying that the title chosen implies a focus on the particular storyline that is only explored in the second half. Again, I personally don’t mind the first half issues, but someone that only wants to read Legion Quest will not appreciate them. They would be better off with the trade paperback Age of Apocalypse Prelude, although the printing quality is poor in that collection. I especially appreciate X-men Unlimited #4 and Uncanny #317 as they’re both great standalones that also support later storylines.
The Legion Quest stuff that’s the second half is great! Highly recommend it all as a required reading for any X-fan.
September 8, 2019
I read this because I like the Legion TV series, so I was a bit disappointed that the first 300+ pages had nothing to do with Legion (but not completely disappointed, because it was a bunch of X-men stories from 1994, a year that I really loved the X-Men). The Legionquest story was really good and I was going to give it 4 stars, until the ending: They don't stop Legion and don't fix what he's done, and the whole story ends up being just a prequel to an alternate reality story that comes after this.
It was too long (550 pages!) and had a bad ending. I would not recommend this to anyone, unless you read it for free on Comixology Unlimited, like I did.
It was too long (550 pages!) and had a bad ending. I would not recommend this to anyone, unless you read it for free on Comixology Unlimited, like I did.
April 14, 2018
Two thirds of this book isn't even the Legion quest story, but rather various x group stories in the aftermath of the shadow king story. The end is either the end of the world or unresolved if the world is not in fact destroyed. The reader would be well served to consult a reading list to see what books are required reading to make sense of the story line and where it goes after the lackluster conclusion.
April 13, 2025
This nineties story of the end of all X-Men time (which I realize was just the set up for the Age of Apocalypse) is probably my favorite X-Men crossover in years. Centering on Legion, a fascinating character and his attempt to make the universe right by eliminating Magneto in the past, sets up all kinds of interesting pieces and ties the knot on several dangling storylines, before Marvel blew it all up. Great writing! Great art! A really dramatic and fun book.
February 19, 2023
Read this to get more context for the character Legion…not the right book for the job. David may as well not exist in this 500+ page book for the first 50% and when he finally shows up, he continues to be primarily a background character. On top of that, the wider X-Men stories being told in this book are barely cohesive either. This was a slog and very disappointing.
May 19, 2018
I’m still shocked that the comics industry survived the 90s, and this book exemplifies why the 90s was so awful for comics. It is awful, garish and overdone on every conceivable level.
July 9, 2018
Finally read the prequel to Age of Apocalypse!
August 28, 2020
After so long, the kiss at the end feels so earned. That’s how you write the long game.
April 5, 2021
Fun set up for the Age of Apocalypse
January 23, 2023
It was really enjoyable. The art was out of this world. And even though it's not the end. I was still moved by the story.
January 13, 2026
90’s X-Men goodness!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews