The Astonishing X-Men (The Age of Apocalypse)

Rating:
Summary: The best AoA TPB
Review: ... North America is ruled by an evil mutant called Apocalypse. His kingdom only lives by one rule: Survivial of the fittest. Humans are regarded as the lower class and even not all mutants will be survive in this world. This all happened because Professor Charles Xavier never existed. Thus he never got to form the X-Men to appose Apocalypse.

Instead, Erik Lehnsherr (aka Magneto) leads his X-Men with his wife Rogue, to save the world and their son from this terrifying world. They've come in contact with a time-lost mutant called Bishop, who claims this is not the real world - not the way the world is supposed to be. That there is another reality. One with Charles Xavier. They need the prophet mutant Destiny to help them out with this and sent Nightcrawler out to do it (see Ultimate X-Calibre TPB).

In the meantime, they have to get the innocent civilians to safety. The characters in this one are portrayed very good - especially Blink, who rules this story. She was saved by Sabretooth once and is forever grateful for that.

The art is good and there are a lot of action sequences in this one. And some humour from Morph as well, which works at times and other times... Well, he can be very annoying :o)

These stories won't mean much if you haven't read this AoA storyline from the start. If you get this, I recommend you get all the other AoA TPBs too. For a complete reading list of it, see my X-Men: LegionQuest review.

If you liked this, I'd recommend the graphic novel "Tales from the Age of Apocalypse", which tells how Blink joined the X-Men in this alterred timeline.

Rating:
Summary: The Holocaust is upon them!
Review: I initially got into X-MEN by watching the TV series. This inspired me to read more and more X-Comics and I got to say, this has been one of the very best! This story occurs in a timeline where Professor X is no more and America is being ruled by the evil mutant Apocalypse. Humans are being destroyed in countless thousands by his ruthless infinites and there isn't a living soul to stop this genocide. The only hope for this world are the X-Men. Led by Magneto the X-Men fight for a better tommorrow to rid themselves of this nightmare their world has become. This features: - Half of the X-Men lead by Rogue, followed by Sunfire, Sabretooth, Blink and Morph. They go to Seattle to stop the human cullings and while they do so, they encounter's Apocalypse's first horseman "HOLOCAUST". If you are are definitely going to buy this, I recommend you to get all the other Age of Apocalypse ones as well. They are absolutely brilliant!

I would recommend to read or buy them in this order. 1)LEGIONQUEST - This kick starts Age of Apocalypse. 2)DAWN OF THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE. 3)GENERATION NEXT 4)ASTONISHING X-MEN 5)X-CALIBRE 6)GAMBIT & THE EXTERNALS 7)AMAZING X-MEN 8)WEAPON-X 9)FACTOR-X 10)X-MAN 11)TWILIGHT OF THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Age of Apocalypse book
Review: In January of 1995, the writers, artists and editors of Marvel's X-men-related books embarked on the Age of Apocalypse storyline, in which, due to a catastrophic time-travel venture of the psychotic mutant, Legion, Professor Xavier is killed several years before he forms the X-men. In the twenty years following Xavier's death, North America, bereft of Xavier's X-men's protection, is conquered by the nefarious super-mutant, Apocalypse, who turns the country into a breeding ground of genetic warfare and survival of the fittest. The resulting comics were some of the most interesting X-books of the 1990s. Readers were given a chance to see how some of their favorite characters would behave under an entire different set of circumstance. Relationships that were once impossible blossomed; characters that were once combative lightweights reached their full potential and the apparent omnipotence of an ultimate evil caused some heroes to succumb to the dark side (Havok, Beast, Cannonball) while it caused some villains to realize the merit of valor and justice (Magneto, Sabretooth, Juggernaut).

One of the best series of the Age of Apocalypse was Astonishing X-men, a book featuring the alternate reality's ragtag version of the superhero team, lead by Magneto and his wife, Rogue. A group of X-men, consisting of Rogue, Morph, Blink, Sunfire, Sabretooth and Wild Child discover that Apocalypse's son, Holocaust is planning a massive slaughter of homo sapiens in Indianapolis (apparently all the more important cities had already been eradicated). Scott Lobdell writes a truly touching and harrowing story of heroes embarking on a mission from which they doubt they will return. He surprises readers by displaying novel, but utterly convincing, sides of well-known characters, portraying the prideful Sunfire as a tormented and hateful wildcard, the unstable Rogue as a calm and confident leader and the murderous Sabretooth as a gruff, yet caring and protective, father figure to the teenage Blink. When the books were returned to their usual status, readers were so effected by the AOA versions of these characters that Marvel was besieged with fanmail, pleading that the writers alter characters, such as Rogue and Sabretooth, to better resemble their AOA versions and somehow return characters, such as Morph and Blink, whose regular reality counterparts were deceased. The Age of Apocalypse was an epic, moving and enthralling story arch. Astonishing X-men is one of its very best parts.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Age of Apocalypse book
Review: In January of 1995, the writers, artists and editors of Marvel�s X-men-related books embarked on the Age of Apocalypse storyline, in which, due to a catastrophic time-travel venture of the psychotic mutant, Legion, Professor Xavier is killed several years before he forms the X-men. In the twenty years following Xavier�s death, North America, bereft of Xavier�s X-men�s protection, is conquered by the nefarious super-mutant, Apocalypse, who turns the country into a breeding ground of genetic warfare and survival of the fittest. The resulting comics were some of the most interesting X-books of the 1990s. Readers were given a chance to see how some of their favorite characters would behave under an entire different set of circumstance. Relationships that were once impossible blossomed; characters that were once combative lightweights reached their full potential and the apparent omnipotence of an ultimate evil caused some heroes to succumb to the dark side (Havok, Beast, Cannonball) while it caused some villains to realize the merit of valor and justice (Magneto, Sabretooth, Juggernaut).

One of the best series of the Age of Apocalypse was Astonishing X-men, a book featuring the alternate reality�s ragtag version of the superhero team, lead by Magneto and his wife, Rogue. A group of X-men, consisting of Rogue, Morph, Blink, Sunfire, Sabretooth and Wild Child discover that Apocalypse's son, Holocaust is planning a massive slaughter of homo sapiens in Indianapolis (apparently all the more important cities had already been eradicated). Scott Lobdell writes a truly touching and harrowing story of heroes embarking on a mission from which they doubt they will return. He surprises readers by displaying novel, but utterly convincing, sides of well-known characters, portraying the prideful Sunfire as a tormented and hateful wildcard, the unstable Rogue as a calm and confident leader and the murderous Sabretooth as a gruff, yet caring and protective, father figure to the teenage Blink. When the books were returned to their usual status, readers were so effected by the AOA versions of these characters that Marvel was besieged with fanmail, pleading that the writers alter characters, such as Rogue and Sabretooth, to better resemble their AOA versions and somehow return characters, such as Morph and Blink, whose regular reality counterparts were deceased. The Age of Apocalypse was an epic, moving and enthralling story arch. Astonishing X-men is one of its very best parts.

Rating:
Summary: IN THE "AGE OF APOCALYPSE" WORLD, THE X-MEN FACE HOLOCAUST.
Review: THE GOOD: WRITER SCOTT LOBDELL IS IN RARE FORM BOTH DRAMA & ACTION WISE. THE BLINK vs. HOLOCAUST BATTLE IS THE COOLEST I'VE SEEN IN YEARS, AND JOE MADUREIRA'S ARTWORK KICKS ATOMIC @$$!!
THE BAD: UMM... THAT THE REGULAR X-MEN SERIES ISN"T THIS COOL!

Rating:
Summary: Astonishing Art, Astonishing Story, Astonishing X-Men!
Review: This is hands down the finest piece of comic art I have ever read. I can remember sitting with issues of this arc and being mesmerized by Joe Maduereira's amalgamation of Eastern/Western art styles. The coloring is brilliant, the characters are given interesting new personalities and pasts, and the costumes designs are fantastic. I would recommend this to anyone who considers themself a serious appreciator of comic art. Storywise I'd have to say the cake goes to "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns", but the art in the Age of Apocalypse's "Astonishing X-Men" arc is bar none the finest example of visuals that the medium has ever produced.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful. No other word can describe it.
Review: When I opened the cover to this, and started reading, I was dazzled. Right from the beginning, the storyline was fascinating. I was very impressed with how Sabretooth in particular was portrayed in this. I'm used to reading about the henchman- what I got was a gruff, but intruiging person. I thought that his relationships with Blink and Wild Child in particular were fascinating.

The same goes for Magneto. The scene between him and Bishop while he was holding his son- well, to be honest it touched me. I know that there's some great writing involved when a comic book can touch my heart!

I loved Morph in this- He was definately the (excuse the pun) "comic" relief. What probably amused me the most about this story though, was how even though Rogue was married to Magneto, she and Gambit were STILL having a little romantic interlude-- not that I'm complaining about that, hehehe.

This is a wonderful comic. A must read for any fans of the Age of Apocolypse story line.

Rating:
Summary: The best AoA storyline, bar none
Review: When the Legion Quest storyline ended, an alternate universe was created due to the fact that Legion went back in time to kill Magneto but accidently killed Charles Xavier. Since Xavier died, there was no X-Men to stop Apocalypse from taking over America and most of the world. This alternate reality, The Age of Apocalypse, put all the regular X-books on hold for four issues and replaced them with they're AoA versions. Astonishing X-Men (Uncanny X-Men) introduces us to Magneto's team of X-Men (the one shot X-Men: Alpha introduced most of the main characters) which consists of his wife Rogue, Quicksilver, Sabretooth, Wild Child, Blink, Iceman, Banshee, Nightcrawler, Sunfire, Morph, and Storm. The beginning of this TPB is Magneto gathering up his troops and preparing them for the upcoming showdown with Apocalypse and his forces, while with the assistance of Bishop (the only remaining part of the regular X-universe) tries to make reality right. Later on, Rogue, Sabretooth, Wild Child, Blink, Sunfire, and Morph try to stop Holocaust (Apocalypse's son) from slaughtering a number of humans in whats left of Indianapolis. The storytelling is superb, and seeing Sabretooth as a hero may sound a bit weird, it surprisingly works and you'll come to love him more as a hero than as the murderous villian he is the regular X-universe. We also get to see some great interaction between Magneto and Bishop over what they believe must be done. All in all, of all the Age of Apocalypse storylines, Astonishing X-Men is undoubtadly the best.