Retro Review: The Amazing X-Men #4 by Fabian Nicieza and Adam Kubert

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Retro Review 4:  The Amazing X-Men #4

Published by Marvel Comics

Written by Fabian Nicieza

Art by Adam Kubert

This series was a real doozy.  I remember my head spinning at all of the changes.  This didn’t feel like just another alternate universe or a What If? Story because the entire line of X-books were temporarily replaced.  Exciting times! Charles Xavier was murdered in the past by Legion who meant for Magneto to be his target.  Magneto gathers a team of mutants called the X-Men in remembrance of his old friend in order to battle Apocalypse who saw an opening after Xavier’s death.  It is the Age of Apocalypse.

The Plot

This issue begins with the Madri preparing to sacrifice Bishop because he possesses knowledge that could threaten Apocalypse’s rein.  However, before they can complete their task Storm makes the save while Quicksilver and Banshee are sneaking into the “Consecrated Temple,” which is located in Quebec.  They find the individual responsible for the Madri and it is Jamie Madrox, the drooling, diaper wearing Multiple Man.  In the meantime, Rogue, Morph, Blink, Iceman, Sabretooth, and Wildchild are in Westchester County looking for any trace of her child.  They find Colossus, Shadowcat, and Illyana instead who tell them that they were able to find Illyana, but at the cost of their students (from the book Generation Next).  Blink then endures some survivor’s guilt and then Rogue and a couple others go to the old Morlock tunnels to find Gambit, Jubilee, Dazzler, Exodus and someone else (Lila Cheney perhaps?) who do not have Charles with them (in issue #3 Nanny was originally charged with protecting him when Apocalypse approached).  Back in Quebec, Bishop and Storm are struggling against the Madri.  At the same time, Quicksilver and Banshee are attacked by Abyss.  Banshee confronts his fears and violently attacks Abyss and sacrifices his life in the process (a way cooler death than the one in the regular X-verse).  Immediately afterwards Jamie asks if they need Bishop to complete their task of defeating Apocalypse.  Quicksilver replies yay thus leaving Jamie to say nay to living (they didn’t actually use these words).  Much to the dismay of Quicksilver, Jamie sacrifices himself in order to shut down the Madri and to get back at Apocalypse for abusing him so badly.  Back at the Xavier Estate, Rogue has just finished beating up on Gambit for letting Guido (Strong Guy) take her son even though he tells her that it was the only way (I believe this happened in Gambit and the X-ternals).  Nightcrawler then appears with Destiny and Quicksilver and co. arrive right afterwards.  All of them are together and state that they need to regain a piece of the M’Kraan Crystal, rescue Charles and Magneto, and then defeat Apocalypse.

The Breakdown

I remember liking Adam Kubert’s art during this series, but at the time I was really into the art in Astonishing X-Men (Joe Madureira).  Re-reading this I have gained more appreciation for Kubert’s art in this comic.  I really enjoyed the relationship between Quicksilver and Banshee.  Actually maybe the word friendship would’ve been better to describe it.  These two characters had virtually no interaction in the regular X-verse, but they were close friends here.  This is one example of why this series was so intriguing because they really took advantage of using a clean slate.  Yes, they had heroes turned villains and vice versa, but they also let different characters have the spotlight and forged different relationships.  All of it seemed so fresh.  The image of Jamie in all of his…the opposite of glory…was startling at the time and was still weird to see because he has more of a prominent role today.  I liked the effect of Shadowcat phasing when Rogue was trying to console her about her students.  She was so cold and battle-hardened in this reality.  It was also weird seeing Morph being so serious when he was tending to Blink after finding out her classmates died (in Astonishing he was a one-liner machine).  I really enjoyed how Banshee cut loose on Abyss because he was so afraid of him.  It was established in the second issue that Banshee was relieved he didn’t have to face Abyss when Quicksilver went to confront him.  It was refreshing to see some of the heroes not being or acting completely “heroic” in the face or chaos.  Often characters remain brave or they show courage in the worst of circumstances, but here we see Colossus unhinged, Shadowcat emotionally dead, and Banshee almost cowardly in his thinking.  Holy crap, the ads brought back some serious memories, Heroes Unlimited (rpg), X-Men Chef Boyardee, and X-Men Nerds! The ‘90s weren’t always that bad.  I remember wanting the Age of Apocalypse titles to run for six issues instead of just four.  This was such a good series.

BUT…

As per usual with the ‘90s, the art was flashy, which came at the expense of consistency sometimes.  One problem I had with Bishop was that he didn’t really look like an older version of himself in this reality.  He was bald now and that was about it.  I actually don’t mind the PG era of comics with relation to language (they didn’t use the “a” word in comics, etc.); however, when Quicksilver was verbally attacking Abyss he called him one of “Apocalypse’s boot-lickers.”  He is staring at the face of uncertainty and possibly death and he uses that to insult Abyss.  He didn’t necessarily have to swear at him, but even calling him a loser would’ve been more effective.  At least he didn’t refer to himself as a hero and Abyss as a zero I guess.

Rating:  8/10 (at time when originally read 10/10)

The Age of Apocalypse was indeed something unique for its time and the ending of the entire series was perfect.  I’m so glad that Marvel respected the material and did not mess around with such a memorable story.  They resisted the temptation of a cash grab and therefore, did not tarnish this story and ruin it by unnecessarily revisiting it.  Thank god they didn’t go all Marvel on it and repeatedly beat the horse until it was not only dead, but so that it reincarnated itself multiple times only to be beaten to death after each rebirth…only then to become pounded into horse meat to be served at a greasy fast food restaurant and then crapped out afterwards.  Yeah, thankfully we didn’t have to endure that.

I have been both an avid and casual comic reader over the years (depending on the quality of books). I have been reading Comics Nexus even prior to it becoming Comics Nexus and am glad to be a columnist. In addition, feel free to leave comments whether you agree or disagree because it always leads to discussions.