Story by
Mike Carey
Art by
Mirco Pierfederici, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Carlo Barberi, Walden Wong, Paco Diaz, Paul Davidson
Colors by
Mirco Pierfederici, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Antonio Fabela, Matt Milla, Brian Reber
Letters by
Joe Caramagna
Cover by
Chris Bachalo, Olivier Coipel
Publisher
Marvel Comics
“Mutantkind’s final war starts here. If you don’t know which side you’re on, check your DNA.”
The Age of Apocalypse event that rocked the Marvel Universe in the 90s is one of the most ambitious displays of storytelling to ever grace the panel. Many fans who were able to follow the X-Men franchise in that time look back on it fondly. For four months we experienced an alternate world in which Charles Xavier dies before ever realizing his dream, Magneto becomes the patriarch of the X-Men, and Apocalypse conquers North America, rounds up homo sapiens, and puts them in slave pens. It was a culture shock to the Marvel Universe we knew, and many of us loved every second of it.
Age of X: Alpha #1 introduces us to a world that is, conceptually, very similar to Age of Apocalypse. Magneto is once again in charge of the the X-Men in a war torn world that is nothing like the one we know. Unlike AoA however, the enemy isn’t a mutant overlord, but mankind itself. We don’t know how things got this bad, or why this reality’s X-Men were not able to check the power of the mutant-haters of the world. There is no Legion Quest to ease us into the transition. Writer Mike Carey (Hellblazer, Lucifer), explains in the afterward that this is the way it’s supposed to be.
Our story opens up on the eve of battle. Our heroes are sitting around the campfire, talking about who they are and where they come from. It’s a tradition that they’ve fallen into to help themselves cope and reaffirm their own identities. It’s also a nifty way to give readers a little insight. Mirco Pierfederici does all of the art work for the “present” scenes, and he has an obsession with dramatic contrast coloring that I think works very well. The ethereal quality of the scenes he depicts are fitting for the reader and the surreal world we are thrust into, as well as enhancing the drama of what is happening: the X-Men are in the the thick of it and shits about to get real.
Age of X: Alpha gives us a glimpse of 5 characters and their origins in this twisted world: Basilisk, Cannonball and Husk, Wolverine, and Magneto. Each “memory” is penciled in a different artistic style by Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Carlo Barberi, Paco Diaz and Paul Davidson respectively.
Carey’s writing is solid throughout these short episodes, but the strongest origin is Basilisk’s. Of all the characters in this alternate reality, the one that is most radically altered is Scott Summers. No longer Cyclops, he goes by the name Basilisk in this story, and it’s a fitting name-change. As a prisoner on Alcatraz, which has been re-purposed as a detention center for mutants, Arcade cut off Scott’s eyelids and has turned him into an unwilling executioner of mutants. I didn’t think it was possible to make a moodier version of Cyclops than AoA, but Carey did it, and this time around it makes a lot more sense. The art in this scene is not my favorite. Gabriel Hernandez Walta has an artistic style that is similar to Frank Miller which fits the grit and brutality of Basilisk’s origins. Rough edges and washed out colors (except when depicting optic blasts and blood spatter) are the highlights of this vignette. Like I said, not my favorite, but I can understand why they went with Walta’s style for the scene.
The rest of the vignettes are pretty much standard fare. The Wolverine episode tells about an earlier point when he and Dr. Rao struggle to figure out how to destroy a serum that will cure mutants of the X-gene. The Magneto story pretty much tells us what we already know: that Magneto is a mutant in a class all his own. It’s pretty cool when he picks up half the skyscrapers in NYC and moves them to a new location to start his base of operations. The art by Paco Diaz and Paul Davidson is of a quality that one would expect from Marvel.
Probably the weakest of the episodes is about Cannonball and Husk participating in an early resistance mission. Any emotional reaction this vignette contains is drowned out by Paige’s almost irrational hostility, particularly toward Sam. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, and it’s distracting. At the end of the scene, Cannonball is determined to take the displaced mutants under his wing. The art of this episode is fantastic, however; I love Carlo Barberi’s and Walden Wong’s styles. It almost seems “jaunty” which puts it at odds with the drama, but it works as a device depicting the world as it was before everything goes to hell.
All in all, Age of X: Alpha #1 is a good start to what I think will be a fantastic story. Mike Carey is a great writer. Not only have I enjoyed Lucifer and his run on Hellblazer, his Felix Castor novels are some of the best paranormal fantasy I’ve ever read. And to be honest, I never liked Professor X leading the X-Men after Age of Apocalypse. I loved that world’s version of Magneto and it’s nice to see a similar incarnation come about again.
I give Age of X: Alpha #1 Four out of Five Stars.
