What If? Event Horizon

What If? (Publication Order) #176-180

by David Hine, Jeff Parker, Jimmie Robinson

Marvel once again poses the question, "What If...?" What if Peter Parker had been completely consumed by his inner, bestial impulses and became more spider than man in "The Other?" What if the greatest threat in Avengers history had gone undetected in "Disassembled?" What if Wolverine, the world's deadliest killing machine, was never de-programmed in "Enemy of the State"? Professor X's secret squad of young mutants had survived its ill-fated attempt to rescue the original X-Men in "Deadly Genesis?" But what if Legion killed both Magneto and Xavier, leaving no leader to create any incarnation of X-Men to resist the "Age of Apocalypse?" Collects What If? Avengers Disassembled, Spider-Man the Other, Wolverine Enemy of the State, X-Men Age of Apocalypse, X-Men Deadly Genesis.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Fantasy

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2007

Reviews

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A What If collection typical of the era, focused on alternate versions of mostly recent Marvel storylines:
- X-Men: Deadly Genesis: Vulcan's team of X-Men become the world's greatest heroes. Fairly well done, with a solid twist.
- Avengers Disassembled: Scarlet Witch had a secret ally. Too much time is spent recapping the event, and the reveal doesn't make a lot of sense (despite justifications), making for an unsatisfying read.
- Wolverine: Enemy of the State: Wolverine remains an assassin for Hydra and the Hand. Wolverine is wearing some serious plot armor here (why is Magneto worried?), yet it's more compelling than it should be.
- Spider-Man: The Other: An unforeseen element interferes with Spidey's revival from the dead. Pretty effectively creepy, the definite highlight of the volume.
- Age of Apocalypse: Legion kills both Xavier and Magneto. Some decent ideas for an even worse world than the original, but still feels a little underdeveloped. (B)

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven, but even with the gems there is a distance that comes with unfamiliarity. A branching story taking the path less traveled means more when you are invested in the initial trip, here the gulf of experiential literary interaction, devolves the portends of great change to flickers of feigned disinterest. But Peter David can write a story, his contributions shine out.
10/25 Except the Peter David (a shining quality) little of worth.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolverine: While mostly violent, I could get behind it because it was just Wolverine killing a lot of folks in ways I think he could.

Deadly Genesis: I really liked this one.

Apocalypse: Eh, forgettable.

Disassembled: A hero acts like a villain so I'm not TOO hot on this one, but it's fine if you can get on board with that decision.

Spider-Man: Bad. Boring. And to be nit picky, when he stabs Luke Cage...no, Luke Cage has unbreakable skin, not "rock" skin. You can't stab his skin, Venom.

[Zach Teachout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Missing pages

Not intended for people who don't know the original stories, but still pretty good reads. Would have given it a higher rating, but the last comic is missing about 6 pages for some reason.

[Louis Skye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of X-Men here so I enjoyed it more. The Vulcan story was a strong start but the collection doesn’t do it justice. The Disassembled story takes Wanda’s agency away (what’s new). The Spidey story was meh. Nothing happened in it. Same with the Wolvie story. I did like the Apocalypse one.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Marvel "What If?" stories, when well written, show how things in the Marvel Comics universe could go dramatically differently due to one small change or twist. When done badly, they are just an excuse for writers to have Wolverine stab lots of people. One of the stories here is explicitly about Wolverine stabbing a lot of people; most of the other are in a similar vein, with heroes turned villains for plot's sake, and unnecessarily high body counts. Throw in a few continuity errors (like Cyclops telling Spider Woman that he has no idea who she is or what she does) and this gets painful despite the occasional moments of cool.

[Jp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Some good ass stomping in this one. Didnt really care for the spider man on though.

[Gary Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great Marvel Readthrough, pt 45

Like everything associated with What If..., these stories are fun and kinda interesting, but overall: pointless and inessential.