XMen - Age of Apocalypse...

[siraim]

So.. After years of denying my latent love for comic books, I picked up Watchmen about a month ago and loved it. There were things I'd like to have seen work out differently, but it was a good read.

I've always been an X-Men fan. I read a bunch of X-Men comics when I was a kid and distinctly remember having a set that gave an origin story about Wolverine. Hoping to pick up where my comic love left off, I decided to start out with the Whedon Astonishing XMen line. I've picked up volumes 1-3 and enjoyed them thoroughly. I still need to find Vol 4 at my local comic store.

Being the impatient type, I decided to pick up X-Men Age of Apocalypse: The Complete Epic Book 1. I've heard good things about the Apocalypse storyline, but I'm feeling a tad lost at the beginning of this series. Is there a backstory I should be hip to that I'm clearly missing? Xavier appears to be dead.. Wolverine seems to be introduced as if no one ever knew him. Magneto is looking very heroic in his art style. The mountain training facility seems to be eerily similar to Xaviers school.

I'm going to continue barrelling my way through the story hoping it will make some sense soon.. but a push in the right direction would be appreciated.

[rangervandanger]

I think it takes place in an alternate universe. Not the normal Earth-616. Now I know I don't want to read Age of Apocalypse. Something about certain comics with a billion alternate universes makes me appreciate The Walking Dead and Ex-Machina a lot more.:)

[kahunablair]

Age of Apocalypse is an alternate universe.
The story takes a look at what the earth would be like if Xavier was killed before he formed the X-Men.
If they weren't formed Apocalypse wouldn't have lost his first few battles. He in turn has taken over America. Europe tried to stop him with Nukes, but they failed and in turn most of Europe is a nuclear wasteland.
Without Xavier to argue with Magneto becomes a good guy and years later forms the X-Men.
Wolverine is a one handed hunter.
Cyclops and Havok work for Apocalypse.
Sabretooth is an awesome good guy.

Everything is loopy, and you get thrown into it. That was part of the fun. "You're joining the current program already in progress."

[siraim]

Thanks Kahuna.. Trying to get a handle on an alternate universe storyline without any point of reference is a bit jarring.

[poltah]

Two words: wikipedia potato.

[siraim]

Two words: wikipedia potato.


Yep.. and the wiki article I found before asking the TRS audience doesn't make any mention of the book I purchased. I found one mention of the book in an Amazon comment that made me wonder whether I started in the wrong place.

I tend to find that asking the great Google will provide plenty of ancillary information but the quality of the information is suspect. Asking about a comic book here, on the TRS forums, tends to provide more of an accurate gauge on the comic. Not to mention, I wasn't in a hurry to find an answer.

[kahunablair]

Thanks Kahuna.. Trying to get a handle on an alternate universe storyline without any point of reference is a bit jarring.

No problem.
Age of Apocalypse came out just when I was getting into books as a kid, and I was blown away by it. It can come off as being pretty rough, but I enjoyed it.
This is actually the storyline that got me interested in the What if... ?(Marvel) series, Elseworlds(DC), and finally The Exiles (Marvel).

I've checked out the story's wiki page, and you're right, it's not the most user friendly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_Of_Apocalypse

[jasonb]

So i totally misread the title and thought this was about the game X-men legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse cuz well that game sucked compared to the first one. To many characters for one ruined that game.