justinsayne
Cody Rhodes is an excellant
I'm trying something new here, instead of doing an event that has happened in the past and is already available in tpb, I'm going to spotlight one that is currently going, I beleive as of this post Marvel is right in the middle of this arc
Age of X
From Wikipedia
Quick Summery
"Age of X" is a comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics which features an alternate reality of the X-Men. The first issue of the storyline, Age of X: Alpha, was published in January 2011. Publication continued in February, March, and April 2011. The storyline is similar in name to the Age of Apocalypse crossover and was purposefully patterned "AoX" after "AoA".
Plot Summery
Characters
Heroes
* Brotherhood of X - The Brotherhood of X was formed by Magneto to protect the remaining mutants from Graydon Creed and his mutant hunters.
o Cannonball - Labeled as a traitor by his sister Husk when he convinced her that there was not time to avenge the murder of their family. He is one of the leaders of the forces assigned to Fortress X protection.
o Cyclops - Cyclops goes by the name of Basilisk. He was forced by Prison Warden Arcade to kill his brother and used as an execution method for dozens of others mutants. After escaping from prison, Basilisk killed Arcade. Basilisk then joined up with Magneto. He is married to Joanna Cargill. Together with Wolverine he has decided to investigate the unusual events happening inside Fortress X mostly seeking redemption for his past as a forced executioner.
o Force Warriors - Five psionically-powered mutants that protect the walls of Fortess X by channeling their powers to create the Force Walls. The Force Warriors are never included in battle. They are purely a strategic defensive force. The Force Walls that they psionically create after every battle slow the human forces down. The humans must then waste time breaking down the Force Walls, which denies them the element of surprise.
+ Hellion - Similar to Second Coming event, this reality's Hellion is handicapped, but instead of missing his hands, he is missing both his entire arms and uses his telekinisis to levitate gauntlets to act as hands.
+ Revenant - The phoenix force of this age, nothing is known whether she is Jean Grey (presumably dead after the Albany incident) or a totally new incarnation. She states she got lost on her way home and she does not look like herself.
+ Legion - In this reality he shows no sign of instability nor multiple powers. He only display telekinesis, a power belonging to his sub-persona Jack Wayne. In order to protect his step-mother Moira, he is determined to prevent the fall of Fortress X following the actions of Legacy and Magneto.
+ Psylocke - In this reality Betsy never switched bodies with Kwannon and is in her original Caucasian body. She possesses telekinetic abilities. Psylocke and Iceman are romantically involved.
+ Carmella Unuscione - Code-named Stand-Off in this reality.
o Frenzy - Frenzy was captured after various attacks and incarcerated on Ryker's Island. She is married to this reality's Cyclops.
o Gambit - Same mentality as its Earth-616 counterpart. Uses a long rifle in place of the usual stick.
o Husk - Along with her brother Cannonball, she tried to save her family who had been arrested, only to become outraged to find her family murdered and the disrespect shown to their corpses which were lying in the back of a garbage truck. She moved to murder all the remaining guards, but Cannonball convinced her that there was not time for vengeance. They helped the liberated mutants escape before the Exonims arrived, yet Husk swore she would not return to flesh and blood until her brother cried for his crimes against their family's honor that day.
o Iceman - Iceman and Psylocke are romantically involved.
o Madison Jeffries - He spends most of his time in the obeservatory inside Fortress X. He's trying to measuring the starlight with no success. His theory are directly related to the box containing the universe found later by Gambit and Legacy.
o Magneto - Leader of the Brotherhood of X. When mutantkind was on the verge of extinction, Magneto used his abilities to fly twenty-two Manhattan skycrapers, and the mutants cornered inside them, to safety. Later he used those same buildings to build Fortress X in order for it to be a safe haven for mutants who will help him on mutantkind's last stand. As Fortress X's creator and mutant's leader, he has set a strict code of rules to keep everyone in safety. Later on, though, he decided ignore those rules in order to investigate on his own the many oddities around Fortress X, the outside world and X.
o Martinique Jason and Lady Mastermind - Are members of Magneto's group before Fortress X was built.
o Moonstar's Cadre - They are the hunters of Fortress X. When Legacy escapes from the brig, and again when Magneto is suspected of betrayal they are the designated team for the mission.
+ Cypher - Cypher was easily captured and imprisoned in a prison somewhere on the Pacific Coast. Cypher later escaped and joined up with Magneto. Going by the name Warlock, he is shown to possess techno-organic powers similar to him.
+ Dust
+ Karma - Her leg is mechanical as after the Second Coming arc.
+ Magma
+ Danielle Moonstar - The leader and the tracker of the team, nothing is known about her mutant powers in this reality.
+ Sunspot - Goes by the name of Eclipse.
o Mystique - In one of Tempo's memories, it is revealed that she was part of Magneto's group, until she was captured and held captive by the Sapiens League.
o Namor - Chose to leave the oceans and to live inside Fortress X to follow Storm, his love interest in this reality.
o Pixie - Pixie goes by the name of Nightmare following the "Bleeker Street Massacre." She lost her butterfly-like wings, but gained bat-like wings. She made her way to Fortress X where she joined up with Magneto.
o Rogue - In this reality, Rogue goes by the name of Legacy. Given the nature of her powers she's chosen by Magneto to be the living memory of the mutant race by absorbing all the memories of dying mutants, therefore gaining the nickname Reaper.
o Storm - She's in a relationship with Namor.
o Tempo - Died defending Fortress X against a human attack. It is implied that she was in a same-sex relationship with Feral who is also deceased.
o Warpath - Warpath goes by the name of Berserker. He has sided with Magneto in his cause.
o Wolverine - Seen in flashback to have been depowered after Kavita Rao injects him with multiple doses of a serum designed to cure the mutant gene, counting on his healing factor to destroy the cure itself. As a result of this he is very weak and therefore unable to fight since his remaining mutant powers are entirely focused on keeping him alive from his poisonous bones. He is now the bartender in Fortress X. He is aware of the odd events happening inside Fortress X and after helping Legacy escaping from the New Mutants squad, he decides to investigate.
o Other X-Men characters can be seen in the event with only marginal roles and as inhabitants of Fortress X. Among them Angel, Anole, Avalanche, Bling, Chamber, Colossus, Dazzler, Domino, Jubilee, Loa, Northstar, Rockslide, Surge, Trance, and Vertigo.
X-Brig
A number of mutants are kept locked up in Fortress X as they are deemed too dangerous to mix with the other mutants. Most of the prisoners are mutants with powers connected with telepathy. It is later revealed that X used the Brig to imprison Professor X, who knew X true nature, he then convinced the other mutants that telepathic powers can't exist and if so they would be very dangerous to them. By Magneto's orders, Danger is the only warden of the Brig and runs it through a number of drone copies of herself. Among the inmates are:
* Blindfold - Apparently the Earth-616 Blindfold. She knows that this reality should not exist.
* Professor X - Professor X is initially shown in a comatose state. After being freed by Shadowcat and Magneto while coming out of a coma, Xavier still retains knowledge of the 616 reality probably because X couldn't create false memories on telepaths.
* Shadowcat - Shadowcat snuck outside Fortress X and took 247 blank pictures of the outside world. After being interrogated by Legacy, Shadowcat was left in the brig. She was later rescued by Magneto.
* Emma Frost, Martha Johansson, Magik, Stepford Cuckoos - All of them can be spotted during Magneto's first visit to the detention facility. They all wear helmets to inhibit their powers.
Villains
* Arcade - Arcade was the prison governor of the mutant prison. He was responsible for making Basilisk kill his brother Havok. Basilisk later escaped and killed Arcade.
* General Frank Castle - The pluridecorated chief of the Avengers. He gives the order to kill all the occupants of Fortress X.
* Avengers - The Avengers were tasked into hunting mutants. The team was formed 1000 days before the story when General Frank Castle summoned the soon to be members of the Avengers (some of them already mutant hunters) to sedate a riot at Camp Gorge, an exclusion zone inside the Grand Canyon. The team's first mission was to locate and kill all the mutants Magneto saved and gathered after his escape from Manhattan.
o Captain America - Leader of the Avengers. Captain America is struggling to control his team. He appears to have died and been absorbed by Legacy at some point after the events of Age of X: Universe. He shows a strong position against the murder of mutants.
o Ghost Rider - He is apparently killed by Chamber on his first mission.
o Hulk - Dr. Bruce Banner was involved in experiments on mutants for the government. During an experiment to sterilize mutants, one of the prisoners panicked and caused the device to explode. This incident transformed him into the Hulk. Right after his transformation he killed his collegues and his fiancee and that has caused him to harbor an extreme hatred of mutants.
o Invisible Woman - After her son Franklin Richards was nearly attacked by Wolfsbane, she ratted her out to the mutant hunters and the rest of the Fantastic Four were arrested for harboring a mutant. She later joined up with the Avengers. She's determined to stop her fellows Avengers from killing mutants apparently feeling remorse for what she did to the rest of the Fantastic Four.
o Iron Man - Tony Stark was infected with some sort of virus as result of a confrontatation with Madison Jefferies and fused permanently with his suit. Slowly being digested by the suit, he is essentially a corpse animated by machinery and jokingly calls himself the "Steel Corpse".
o Spider-Woman - In this reality, Spider-Woman is known as Redback. A silent cold blooded killer who doesn't speak, she is simply a 'following orders' person and was responsible for killing Mr. Sinister.
* Dr. Richard Palance - Dr. Palance is shown working alongside Dr. Kavita Rao on a mutant cure before Kavita kills him during a confrontation with Wolverine.
* Exonim - A robotic strike force team that functions as mutant hunters under Graydon Creed's orders. They are this world's version of the Sentinels.
* Graydon Creed - Graydon Creed is a colonel who led the mutant hunters in an attempt to exterminate all mutants.
* X - X is the main, and the only real, villain of the AoX reality, he is both the voice controlling Fortress X and the creator of the army the mutants have to fight daily. Born as a brand new and unknown personality, he's a reaction to Dr. Nemesis work on Legion's mind, who was trying to restore his sanity by isolating and then purging all his personalities. Apparently this new one killed the imprisoned personalities and decided to use all the personalities inside Legion, and all the minds in Utopia, creating a new environment in which Legion would be happy and known as a hero. Xavier suspected Legion mind was trying to rebel and tried to fight X inside Legion's mind. To fight Xavier, X took the appearance of Moira MacTaggert to confuse him and thus having the opening to imprison everyone inside Fortress X. X then became the guardian voice of Fortress X while still using the appearance of Moira to help and control Legion. X revealed he kept the old universe safe for sentimental affection.
Other characters
* Aurora - Mentioned by Northstar as having been killed by soldiers.
* Beast - Dr. Hank McCoy was beaten to death by anti-mutant protesters during the "March of Purity" event.
* Camp Gorge's Mutants - The following were seen in Camp Gorge during a prison riot:
o Blob
o Maggott - Killed by Iron Man.
o Mammomax
o Marrow - Marrow participated in the prison riots and she would be strangled by Ghost Rider if not for the arrival of Chamber who killed Ghost Rider.
o Omega Red
o Pyro
o Riptide
* Debrii - During a memory experience by Tempo, it was revealed that Debrii had been captured by the Sapien League and paraded down the streets as dangerous mutants.
* Doctor Nemesis - He is seen in a hidden room built unknown to Magneto himself at the center of the fortress. He is frozen and distorted as he is not completely in this reality. Gambit notices he's looking at some brain scans, probably Legion's.
* Elixir - During a memory experience by Tempo, it was revealed that Elixir had been captured by the Sapien League and paraded down the streets as dangerous mutants.
* Fantastic Four - The group (Mister Fantastic, Human Torch, and Thing) was arrested by the mutant hunters when they were tipped off by Invisible Woman about them harboring Wolfsbane.
* Feral - Mentioned briefly by Rogue and Tempo as having passed away.
* Guthrie Family - Revealed to having been killed when a trigger happy guard accidentally caused a massacre when the Guthrie Family was arrested, but no one was prosecuted as it was public knowledge that two mutants had been born into the family.
* Havok - Mentioned to have been forcefully killed by his brother Basilisk.
* Jean Grey - Jean Grey's Phoenix Force ability manifested causing a tremendous amount a destruction and death in Albany. Though she was presumed deceased when the air force bombed the area, a new phoenix shape emerged from the rubble.
* Kavita Rao - Kavita Rao became a traitor to humanity when she sided with the mutants. She currently lives in Fortress X.
* Mary Jane Watson - Spider-Man's wife in this reality, she's pregnant of a baby girl, therefore she's on the run. Spider-Man sends her to Paris to avoid being captured for being pregnant.
* Mister Sinister - A flashback reveals that he was killed by Redback.
* Moira MacTaggert - One of the few humans that's allowed to live in Fortress X, because she's a friend to the mutant cause who's done a lot, to help mutants come into and control their powers. Also because she's the step-mother of Legion, who as one of the Force Warriors is a hero in his own right has earned Moira her place in the Fortress, but there is more to Moira than the eyes can see as she was eventually revealed to be actually X, the voice controlling Fortress X and the creator of this alternate reality.
* Multiple Man - Mentioned briefly by Rogue as having passed away.
* Nightcrawler - Mentioned briefly by Rogue as having passed away.
* Quicksilver - Quicksilver was among those killed by Exonim during the "Red Hot" campaign.
* Sabretooth - During a memory experience by Tempo, it was revealed that Sabretooth has been captured by the Sapiens League and paraded down the streets as a dangerous mutant as shown in Tempo's memory.
* Scarlet Witch - Scarlet Witch was among those killed by Exonim during "The Decimation".
* Siryn - A flashback reveals her as a test subject in one of Dr. Banner's experiments and the cause of the accident that turned him into the Hulk. She and the other prisoners were killed in the resulting explosion.
* Spider-Man - In this reality, Spider-Man is still married to Mary Jane. Spider-Man is hunted down by the Human Coalition after they found out about Nick Fury's Secret Warriors. Since they were all powered daughters and sons of known superhumans, the Human Coalition assumed they were mutants as well. Therefore the government decided to extend their aim to "Post-Muties" (people with abilities whose offsprings were going to be mutants according to their convictions). He gets captured by the human coalition.
* Wild Child - Wild Child is seen working as a tracker for the Avengers in exchange for his freedom. He is referred by the Avengers as Weapon-S, his jaw was replaced with two metal tusks. He holds a grudge on Wolverine and he uses his scent to track down Fortress X. He is ultimately killed by Bruce Banner when the Avengers find the location of Fortress X.
* Wolfsbane - Wolfsbane was harbored by the Fantastic Four until she almost harmed Franklin Richards causing Invisible Woman to rat her out to the mutant hunters. Her status after being captured is unknown.
Bibliography
* Age of X: Alpha
* X-Men: Legacy #245-247
* New Mutants #22-24
* Age of X: Universe #1-2
Justin's Thoughts
This is an event I first discovered on one of my light weeks, I think I only had one new book come out that week that I buy regularly, so I figured I'd look into some new stuff, a I saw Age of X Universe #1 sitting on the shelf so I figured I'd pick it up and check it out, and got hooked on the story, as soon as AoX Universe #2 comes out I'll be picking that up (it seems as though the two universe books give a good summery of what ehas happened in this series while still moving the story forward to the next chapter) and then the second this is released as a tpb I'm jumping all over it, I can't wait to read the whole story! I just find this to be a nice fun twist on the Marvel universe, & would recommend any fan of the Marvel Universe or the X-books specifically to check this out
Question
-I'm only doing one question this time around, adn it's a pretty simple question, are you currently reading this storyline or plan to read it when it hits tpb?
If I had known how good this was going to be back in Jan. I would have started reading this back then picking up every issue as it comes out, unfortunately I didn't discover this gem until the arc was about half over, adn really don't feel like hunting down all the issues I have already missed (assuming I could even still find them all or afford to buy them all at once), so instead I'll just have to wait until the tpb comes out and enjoy the story in it's entirety then
Age of X
From Wikipedia
Quick Summery
"Age of X" is a comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics which features an alternate reality of the X-Men. The first issue of the storyline, Age of X: Alpha, was published in January 2011. Publication continued in February, March, and April 2011. The storyline is similar in name to the Age of Apocalypse crossover and was purposefully patterned "AoX" after "AoA".
Plot Summery
Historical Logs
Fictional History
After the official announce of this new event, starting on December 2010 Marvel added QR codes on selected comics. Those codes linked to five different historical logs, each of them providing a background to the upcoming AoX event.
* Log 1A: "Anti-mutant protestors beat mutant rights advocate Henry McCoy to death during "The march for purity" in Washington, D.C."
* Log 2B: "The mutant abilities of a young mutant named Jean Grey manifested in the form of an explosive, fiery phoenix that immolates everything in its path. The city of Albany, New York is decimated, leaving 600,000 dead."
* Log 3C: After the Phoenix demolished Albany, New York, the United States government sponsors the mass production of Exonim Sentinels - Technologically-advanced combat vehicles designed to subdue mutants. In the months that follows, the mutant population drastically declines. This period of time becomes known as "The Decimation." The log shows a dead Scarlet Witch while Quicksilver is fighting against an Exonim.
* Log4D: "As anti-mutants hysteria spreads, legislation is passed that requires all mutants to be imprisoned and, in most cases, executed. When a fugitive mutant Reed Richards is harboring in the Baxter Building (despite wife Sue Storm's protests) accidentally injures her son, Franklin, Sue reports Richards to the authorities. To demonstrate no one is above the law, the Fantastic Four are publicly arrested and marched out of the Baxter Building in handcuffs." The log shows that the harbored mutant is Wolfsbane.
* Log5E: "In the aftermath of the decimation, only a fraction of the worldwide mutant population remains at large. These fugitive mutants are believed to be the most poweful... and the most dangerous. To track down, and eliminate these threats, the United States assembles a group of human super heroes. They are called The Avengers." The log shows the team members: Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider, Susan Storm, and Redback.
* Log 1A: "Anti-mutant protestors beat mutant rights advocate Henry McCoy to death during "The march for purity" in Washington, D.C."
* Log 2B: "The mutant abilities of a young mutant named Jean Grey manifested in the form of an explosive, fiery phoenix that immolates everything in its path. The city of Albany, New York is decimated, leaving 600,000 dead."
* Log 3C: After the Phoenix demolished Albany, New York, the United States government sponsors the mass production of Exonim Sentinels - Technologically-advanced combat vehicles designed to subdue mutants. In the months that follows, the mutant population drastically declines. This period of time becomes known as "The Decimation." The log shows a dead Scarlet Witch while Quicksilver is fighting against an Exonim.
* Log4D: "As anti-mutants hysteria spreads, legislation is passed that requires all mutants to be imprisoned and, in most cases, executed. When a fugitive mutant Reed Richards is harboring in the Baxter Building (despite wife Sue Storm's protests) accidentally injures her son, Franklin, Sue reports Richards to the authorities. To demonstrate no one is above the law, the Fantastic Four are publicly arrested and marched out of the Baxter Building in handcuffs." The log shows that the harbored mutant is Wolfsbane.
* Log5E: "In the aftermath of the decimation, only a fraction of the worldwide mutant population remains at large. These fugitive mutants are believed to be the most poweful... and the most dangerous. To track down, and eliminate these threats, the United States assembles a group of human super heroes. They are called The Avengers." The log shows the team members: Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider, Susan Storm, and Redback.
Fictional History
In this reality, mutants are almost extinct and tortured by a strike force led by Colonel Graydon Creed. The first signs of the Age of X appeared in X-Men: Legacy #244 as the events are immediately removed from Earth-616 mainstream continuity with no memories of those alternate lives.
The main event takes place 1000 days after Magneto moved most of the mutants to Fortress X, the last bastion for all mutantkind. Every day human forces from the outside try to make their way to the citadel. As of the day of the story, humans have always failed but the mutant side suffered many casualties. Legacy, acts as a 'Reaper', storing the dead's thoughts as they are killed in battle. After one of her reaper duties, Legacy witnesses the capture of Shadowcat who was coming back from a mission in the outside world. Rogue finds the camera Shadowcat is trying to hide and starts investigating. She finds out that all the pictures inside the camera are blank. Using Madison Jeffries's absorbed powers, Legacy infiltrates the Brig (Fortress X detention facility) in the attempt to question Shadowcat. In the brig, she's suddenly spotted by Earth-616 Blindfold that hints this reality is wrong and asks her to ask Professor X about the "scar tissue." As she speaks with Shadowcat and touches a comatose Xavier, Legacy starts an uncontrolled mental attack on every mutant inside the fortress and is spotted by Danger, becoming a wanted criminal. Hunted down by the New Mutants squad, she's saved by Gambit but the two are attacked by Magneto who fakes their deaths and explains that he was the person who sent Shadowcat on the outside to investigate and he is convinced there is something wrong. As Magneto goes back to the brig to set Shadowcat and Xavier free, X (the voice controlling all of Fortress X) sends the New Mutants squad to pursue Magneto while Gambit and Legacy (who are in the room at the center of Fortress X) discover that someone has stolen their whole universe and keeps it in a box. Once Professor X is set free he's able to show telepathically to his pursuers, and to a reluctant Legion, the truth about himself and the reality they think they're living in. Age of X reality was created when Legion's mind reacted to Doctor Nemesis's attempt to restore its sanity. A new persona, with new powers, was born creating the new reality in order to protect Legion's many personalities. This new manifestation of Legion's power took the appearance of Moira MacTaggert, in order to confuse Xavier and protect Legion. In the meantime, Moira confronted Legacy and Gambit, revealing she's also X. Cornered by Xavier, X launch a last offensive to the fortress.
The main event takes place 1000 days after Magneto moved most of the mutants to Fortress X, the last bastion for all mutantkind. Every day human forces from the outside try to make their way to the citadel. As of the day of the story, humans have always failed but the mutant side suffered many casualties. Legacy, acts as a 'Reaper', storing the dead's thoughts as they are killed in battle. After one of her reaper duties, Legacy witnesses the capture of Shadowcat who was coming back from a mission in the outside world. Rogue finds the camera Shadowcat is trying to hide and starts investigating. She finds out that all the pictures inside the camera are blank. Using Madison Jeffries's absorbed powers, Legacy infiltrates the Brig (Fortress X detention facility) in the attempt to question Shadowcat. In the brig, she's suddenly spotted by Earth-616 Blindfold that hints this reality is wrong and asks her to ask Professor X about the "scar tissue." As she speaks with Shadowcat and touches a comatose Xavier, Legacy starts an uncontrolled mental attack on every mutant inside the fortress and is spotted by Danger, becoming a wanted criminal. Hunted down by the New Mutants squad, she's saved by Gambit but the two are attacked by Magneto who fakes their deaths and explains that he was the person who sent Shadowcat on the outside to investigate and he is convinced there is something wrong. As Magneto goes back to the brig to set Shadowcat and Xavier free, X (the voice controlling all of Fortress X) sends the New Mutants squad to pursue Magneto while Gambit and Legacy (who are in the room at the center of Fortress X) discover that someone has stolen their whole universe and keeps it in a box. Once Professor X is set free he's able to show telepathically to his pursuers, and to a reluctant Legion, the truth about himself and the reality they think they're living in. Age of X reality was created when Legion's mind reacted to Doctor Nemesis's attempt to restore its sanity. A new persona, with new powers, was born creating the new reality in order to protect Legion's many personalities. This new manifestation of Legion's power took the appearance of Moira MacTaggert, in order to confuse Xavier and protect Legion. In the meantime, Moira confronted Legacy and Gambit, revealing she's also X. Cornered by Xavier, X launch a last offensive to the fortress.
Characters
Heroes
* Brotherhood of X - The Brotherhood of X was formed by Magneto to protect the remaining mutants from Graydon Creed and his mutant hunters.
o Cannonball - Labeled as a traitor by his sister Husk when he convinced her that there was not time to avenge the murder of their family. He is one of the leaders of the forces assigned to Fortress X protection.
o Cyclops - Cyclops goes by the name of Basilisk. He was forced by Prison Warden Arcade to kill his brother and used as an execution method for dozens of others mutants. After escaping from prison, Basilisk killed Arcade. Basilisk then joined up with Magneto. He is married to Joanna Cargill. Together with Wolverine he has decided to investigate the unusual events happening inside Fortress X mostly seeking redemption for his past as a forced executioner.
o Force Warriors - Five psionically-powered mutants that protect the walls of Fortess X by channeling their powers to create the Force Walls. The Force Warriors are never included in battle. They are purely a strategic defensive force. The Force Walls that they psionically create after every battle slow the human forces down. The humans must then waste time breaking down the Force Walls, which denies them the element of surprise.
+ Hellion - Similar to Second Coming event, this reality's Hellion is handicapped, but instead of missing his hands, he is missing both his entire arms and uses his telekinisis to levitate gauntlets to act as hands.
+ Revenant - The phoenix force of this age, nothing is known whether she is Jean Grey (presumably dead after the Albany incident) or a totally new incarnation. She states she got lost on her way home and she does not look like herself.
+ Legion - In this reality he shows no sign of instability nor multiple powers. He only display telekinesis, a power belonging to his sub-persona Jack Wayne. In order to protect his step-mother Moira, he is determined to prevent the fall of Fortress X following the actions of Legacy and Magneto.
+ Psylocke - In this reality Betsy never switched bodies with Kwannon and is in her original Caucasian body. She possesses telekinetic abilities. Psylocke and Iceman are romantically involved.
+ Carmella Unuscione - Code-named Stand-Off in this reality.
o Frenzy - Frenzy was captured after various attacks and incarcerated on Ryker's Island. She is married to this reality's Cyclops.
o Gambit - Same mentality as its Earth-616 counterpart. Uses a long rifle in place of the usual stick.
o Husk - Along with her brother Cannonball, she tried to save her family who had been arrested, only to become outraged to find her family murdered and the disrespect shown to their corpses which were lying in the back of a garbage truck. She moved to murder all the remaining guards, but Cannonball convinced her that there was not time for vengeance. They helped the liberated mutants escape before the Exonims arrived, yet Husk swore she would not return to flesh and blood until her brother cried for his crimes against their family's honor that day.
o Iceman - Iceman and Psylocke are romantically involved.
o Madison Jeffries - He spends most of his time in the obeservatory inside Fortress X. He's trying to measuring the starlight with no success. His theory are directly related to the box containing the universe found later by Gambit and Legacy.
o Magneto - Leader of the Brotherhood of X. When mutantkind was on the verge of extinction, Magneto used his abilities to fly twenty-two Manhattan skycrapers, and the mutants cornered inside them, to safety. Later he used those same buildings to build Fortress X in order for it to be a safe haven for mutants who will help him on mutantkind's last stand. As Fortress X's creator and mutant's leader, he has set a strict code of rules to keep everyone in safety. Later on, though, he decided ignore those rules in order to investigate on his own the many oddities around Fortress X, the outside world and X.
o Martinique Jason and Lady Mastermind - Are members of Magneto's group before Fortress X was built.
o Moonstar's Cadre - They are the hunters of Fortress X. When Legacy escapes from the brig, and again when Magneto is suspected of betrayal they are the designated team for the mission.
+ Cypher - Cypher was easily captured and imprisoned in a prison somewhere on the Pacific Coast. Cypher later escaped and joined up with Magneto. Going by the name Warlock, he is shown to possess techno-organic powers similar to him.
+ Dust
+ Karma - Her leg is mechanical as after the Second Coming arc.
+ Magma
+ Danielle Moonstar - The leader and the tracker of the team, nothing is known about her mutant powers in this reality.
+ Sunspot - Goes by the name of Eclipse.
o Mystique - In one of Tempo's memories, it is revealed that she was part of Magneto's group, until she was captured and held captive by the Sapiens League.
o Namor - Chose to leave the oceans and to live inside Fortress X to follow Storm, his love interest in this reality.
o Pixie - Pixie goes by the name of Nightmare following the "Bleeker Street Massacre." She lost her butterfly-like wings, but gained bat-like wings. She made her way to Fortress X where she joined up with Magneto.
o Rogue - In this reality, Rogue goes by the name of Legacy. Given the nature of her powers she's chosen by Magneto to be the living memory of the mutant race by absorbing all the memories of dying mutants, therefore gaining the nickname Reaper.
o Storm - She's in a relationship with Namor.
o Tempo - Died defending Fortress X against a human attack. It is implied that she was in a same-sex relationship with Feral who is also deceased.
o Warpath - Warpath goes by the name of Berserker. He has sided with Magneto in his cause.
o Wolverine - Seen in flashback to have been depowered after Kavita Rao injects him with multiple doses of a serum designed to cure the mutant gene, counting on his healing factor to destroy the cure itself. As a result of this he is very weak and therefore unable to fight since his remaining mutant powers are entirely focused on keeping him alive from his poisonous bones. He is now the bartender in Fortress X. He is aware of the odd events happening inside Fortress X and after helping Legacy escaping from the New Mutants squad, he decides to investigate.
o Other X-Men characters can be seen in the event with only marginal roles and as inhabitants of Fortress X. Among them Angel, Anole, Avalanche, Bling, Chamber, Colossus, Dazzler, Domino, Jubilee, Loa, Northstar, Rockslide, Surge, Trance, and Vertigo.
X-Brig
A number of mutants are kept locked up in Fortress X as they are deemed too dangerous to mix with the other mutants. Most of the prisoners are mutants with powers connected with telepathy. It is later revealed that X used the Brig to imprison Professor X, who knew X true nature, he then convinced the other mutants that telepathic powers can't exist and if so they would be very dangerous to them. By Magneto's orders, Danger is the only warden of the Brig and runs it through a number of drone copies of herself. Among the inmates are:
* Blindfold - Apparently the Earth-616 Blindfold. She knows that this reality should not exist.
* Professor X - Professor X is initially shown in a comatose state. After being freed by Shadowcat and Magneto while coming out of a coma, Xavier still retains knowledge of the 616 reality probably because X couldn't create false memories on telepaths.
* Shadowcat - Shadowcat snuck outside Fortress X and took 247 blank pictures of the outside world. After being interrogated by Legacy, Shadowcat was left in the brig. She was later rescued by Magneto.
* Emma Frost, Martha Johansson, Magik, Stepford Cuckoos - All of them can be spotted during Magneto's first visit to the detention facility. They all wear helmets to inhibit their powers.
Villains
* Arcade - Arcade was the prison governor of the mutant prison. He was responsible for making Basilisk kill his brother Havok. Basilisk later escaped and killed Arcade.
* General Frank Castle - The pluridecorated chief of the Avengers. He gives the order to kill all the occupants of Fortress X.
* Avengers - The Avengers were tasked into hunting mutants. The team was formed 1000 days before the story when General Frank Castle summoned the soon to be members of the Avengers (some of them already mutant hunters) to sedate a riot at Camp Gorge, an exclusion zone inside the Grand Canyon. The team's first mission was to locate and kill all the mutants Magneto saved and gathered after his escape from Manhattan.
o Captain America - Leader of the Avengers. Captain America is struggling to control his team. He appears to have died and been absorbed by Legacy at some point after the events of Age of X: Universe. He shows a strong position against the murder of mutants.
o Ghost Rider - He is apparently killed by Chamber on his first mission.
o Hulk - Dr. Bruce Banner was involved in experiments on mutants for the government. During an experiment to sterilize mutants, one of the prisoners panicked and caused the device to explode. This incident transformed him into the Hulk. Right after his transformation he killed his collegues and his fiancee and that has caused him to harbor an extreme hatred of mutants.
o Invisible Woman - After her son Franklin Richards was nearly attacked by Wolfsbane, she ratted her out to the mutant hunters and the rest of the Fantastic Four were arrested for harboring a mutant. She later joined up with the Avengers. She's determined to stop her fellows Avengers from killing mutants apparently feeling remorse for what she did to the rest of the Fantastic Four.
o Iron Man - Tony Stark was infected with some sort of virus as result of a confrontatation with Madison Jefferies and fused permanently with his suit. Slowly being digested by the suit, he is essentially a corpse animated by machinery and jokingly calls himself the "Steel Corpse".
o Spider-Woman - In this reality, Spider-Woman is known as Redback. A silent cold blooded killer who doesn't speak, she is simply a 'following orders' person and was responsible for killing Mr. Sinister.
* Dr. Richard Palance - Dr. Palance is shown working alongside Dr. Kavita Rao on a mutant cure before Kavita kills him during a confrontation with Wolverine.
* Exonim - A robotic strike force team that functions as mutant hunters under Graydon Creed's orders. They are this world's version of the Sentinels.
* Graydon Creed - Graydon Creed is a colonel who led the mutant hunters in an attempt to exterminate all mutants.
* X - X is the main, and the only real, villain of the AoX reality, he is both the voice controlling Fortress X and the creator of the army the mutants have to fight daily. Born as a brand new and unknown personality, he's a reaction to Dr. Nemesis work on Legion's mind, who was trying to restore his sanity by isolating and then purging all his personalities. Apparently this new one killed the imprisoned personalities and decided to use all the personalities inside Legion, and all the minds in Utopia, creating a new environment in which Legion would be happy and known as a hero. Xavier suspected Legion mind was trying to rebel and tried to fight X inside Legion's mind. To fight Xavier, X took the appearance of Moira MacTaggert to confuse him and thus having the opening to imprison everyone inside Fortress X. X then became the guardian voice of Fortress X while still using the appearance of Moira to help and control Legion. X revealed he kept the old universe safe for sentimental affection.
Other characters
* Aurora - Mentioned by Northstar as having been killed by soldiers.
* Beast - Dr. Hank McCoy was beaten to death by anti-mutant protesters during the "March of Purity" event.
* Camp Gorge's Mutants - The following were seen in Camp Gorge during a prison riot:
o Blob
o Maggott - Killed by Iron Man.
o Mammomax
o Marrow - Marrow participated in the prison riots and she would be strangled by Ghost Rider if not for the arrival of Chamber who killed Ghost Rider.
o Omega Red
o Pyro
o Riptide
* Debrii - During a memory experience by Tempo, it was revealed that Debrii had been captured by the Sapien League and paraded down the streets as dangerous mutants.
* Doctor Nemesis - He is seen in a hidden room built unknown to Magneto himself at the center of the fortress. He is frozen and distorted as he is not completely in this reality. Gambit notices he's looking at some brain scans, probably Legion's.
* Elixir - During a memory experience by Tempo, it was revealed that Elixir had been captured by the Sapien League and paraded down the streets as dangerous mutants.
* Fantastic Four - The group (Mister Fantastic, Human Torch, and Thing) was arrested by the mutant hunters when they were tipped off by Invisible Woman about them harboring Wolfsbane.
* Feral - Mentioned briefly by Rogue and Tempo as having passed away.
* Guthrie Family - Revealed to having been killed when a trigger happy guard accidentally caused a massacre when the Guthrie Family was arrested, but no one was prosecuted as it was public knowledge that two mutants had been born into the family.
* Havok - Mentioned to have been forcefully killed by his brother Basilisk.
* Jean Grey - Jean Grey's Phoenix Force ability manifested causing a tremendous amount a destruction and death in Albany. Though she was presumed deceased when the air force bombed the area, a new phoenix shape emerged from the rubble.
* Kavita Rao - Kavita Rao became a traitor to humanity when she sided with the mutants. She currently lives in Fortress X.
* Mary Jane Watson - Spider-Man's wife in this reality, she's pregnant of a baby girl, therefore she's on the run. Spider-Man sends her to Paris to avoid being captured for being pregnant.
* Mister Sinister - A flashback reveals that he was killed by Redback.
* Moira MacTaggert - One of the few humans that's allowed to live in Fortress X, because she's a friend to the mutant cause who's done a lot, to help mutants come into and control their powers. Also because she's the step-mother of Legion, who as one of the Force Warriors is a hero in his own right has earned Moira her place in the Fortress, but there is more to Moira than the eyes can see as she was eventually revealed to be actually X, the voice controlling Fortress X and the creator of this alternate reality.
* Multiple Man - Mentioned briefly by Rogue as having passed away.
* Nightcrawler - Mentioned briefly by Rogue as having passed away.
* Quicksilver - Quicksilver was among those killed by Exonim during the "Red Hot" campaign.
* Sabretooth - During a memory experience by Tempo, it was revealed that Sabretooth has been captured by the Sapiens League and paraded down the streets as a dangerous mutant as shown in Tempo's memory.
* Scarlet Witch - Scarlet Witch was among those killed by Exonim during "The Decimation".
* Siryn - A flashback reveals her as a test subject in one of Dr. Banner's experiments and the cause of the accident that turned him into the Hulk. She and the other prisoners were killed in the resulting explosion.
* Spider-Man - In this reality, Spider-Man is still married to Mary Jane. Spider-Man is hunted down by the Human Coalition after they found out about Nick Fury's Secret Warriors. Since they were all powered daughters and sons of known superhumans, the Human Coalition assumed they were mutants as well. Therefore the government decided to extend their aim to "Post-Muties" (people with abilities whose offsprings were going to be mutants according to their convictions). He gets captured by the human coalition.
* Wild Child - Wild Child is seen working as a tracker for the Avengers in exchange for his freedom. He is referred by the Avengers as Weapon-S, his jaw was replaced with two metal tusks. He holds a grudge on Wolverine and he uses his scent to track down Fortress X. He is ultimately killed by Bruce Banner when the Avengers find the location of Fortress X.
* Wolfsbane - Wolfsbane was harbored by the Fantastic Four until she almost harmed Franklin Richards causing Invisible Woman to rat her out to the mutant hunters. Her status after being captured is unknown.
Bibliography
* Age of X: Alpha
* X-Men: Legacy #245-247
* New Mutants #22-24
* Age of X: Universe #1-2
Justin's Thoughts
This is an event I first discovered on one of my light weeks, I think I only had one new book come out that week that I buy regularly, so I figured I'd look into some new stuff, a I saw Age of X Universe #1 sitting on the shelf so I figured I'd pick it up and check it out, and got hooked on the story, as soon as AoX Universe #2 comes out I'll be picking that up (it seems as though the two universe books give a good summery of what ehas happened in this series while still moving the story forward to the next chapter) and then the second this is released as a tpb I'm jumping all over it, I can't wait to read the whole story! I just find this to be a nice fun twist on the Marvel universe, & would recommend any fan of the Marvel Universe or the X-books specifically to check this out
Question
-I'm only doing one question this time around, adn it's a pretty simple question, are you currently reading this storyline or plan to read it when it hits tpb?
If I had known how good this was going to be back in Jan. I would have started reading this back then picking up every issue as it comes out, unfortunately I didn't discover this gem until the arc was about half over, adn really don't feel like hunting down all the issues I have already missed (assuming I could even still find them all or afford to buy them all at once), so instead I'll just have to wait until the tpb comes out and enjoy the story in it's entirety then
