X-Men Alpha 1 NM Age of Apocalypse Part 1! Jean Grey Emma Frost Movie

Description

X-Men Alpha (1995) #1

Age of Apocalypse (part 1)
Published Feb 1995 by Marvel.

The Age of Apocalypse starts here! Witness the birth of a whole new era for the X-Men. ALPHA kicks off Astonishing and Amazing X-Men and sets the stage for everything that is to come!

1st appearance of X-Man. 1st appearance of Dark Beast. “Age of Apocalypse storyline”. This is the first printing with a $3.95 cover price and a chromium cover. Written by Scott Lobdell, art by Cruz.

“Does it matter? What care I for the fate of the masses? Whether four or four billion fall in the days and weeks to come… the strongest – and the fittest – will survive.” — Mister Sinister

Featured Characters:

The X-Men (First appearance)
Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr) (First appearance)
Rogue (Anna Marie Lensherr) (First appearance)
Iceman (Robert Drake) (First appearance)
Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) (First appearance)
Sabretooth (Victor Creed) (First appearance)
Wild Child (Kyle Gibney) (First appearance)
Blink (Clarice Ferguson) (First appearance)
Morph (Kevin Sidney) (First appearance)
Storm (Ororo Munroe) (First appearance)
Nightcrawler (Kurt Darkholme) (First appearance)
Gambit (Remy LeBeau) (First appearance)
Jean Grey (First appearance)
Weapon X (Logan) (First appearance)

Supporting Characters:

Bishop (First appearance)
Nanny (First appearance)
Charles Lehnsherr (First appearance)
Angel (Warren Worthington III) (First appearance)
Karma (Xi’an Coy Manh) (First appearance)
Scarlett McKenzie (First appearance)
Sebastian Shaw (First appearance)
Blob (Fred Dukes) (First appearance)
The Human High Council (First appearance)
Brian Braddock (First appearance)
Moira Trask (First appearance)
Bolivar Trask (Appears in shadow only) (First appearance)
Emma Frost (First appearance)
Mariko Yashida (First appearance)

Villains:

Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) (First appearance)
The Horsemen of Apocalypse (First appearance)
Holocaust (Nemesis) (First appearance)
Mister Sinister (Nathaniel Essex) (First appearance)
Abyss (Nils Styger) (First appearance)
Mikhail (Mentioned)
Elite Mutant Force (First appearance)
Cyclops (Scott Summers) (First appearance)
Dark Beast (Henry McCoy) (First appearance)
Havok (Alex Summers) (First appearance)
Unus (Gunther Bain) (Only appearance; dies)
The Infinites (First appearance)
Sentinels

“Age of Apocalypse” is one of the most famous comic book events of the 90s and is notable for using every single X-family series to tell the story of an alternative timeline where the evil mutant Apocalypse ruled, Charles Xavier was dead, and Magneto had taken his former adversary’s place as the head of the X-Men. Bookending the event were two one-shots, X-Men: Alpha and X-Men: Omega, which, in typical mid-90s fashion, each featured chromium embossed wraparound covers.

Years later, what’s so amazing about X-Men: Alpha is how it expertly engages the reader with this very dramatic shift in the status quo. With so many comic book series going through similar upheavals during the same timeframe, Alpha stands head and shoulder above the pack for the way it exudes confidence in its brave new concept.

Drawing clear inspiration from its time traveling predecessor, “Days of Future Past,” Alpha drops the reader into a dystopian alternative timeline without a huge amount of exposition. The net result is an incredibly unnerving and disturbing opening sequence where the reader sees a young girl running for her life only to fall into the hands of some of Apocalypse’s henchmen. Just when it looks like the girl is about to be murdered, the X-Men show up – except this is not the X-Men anyone was likely expecting when this story was first published. Instead of Professor X leading the group, it’s Magneto. And instead of it being the usual team of uncanny mutants (i.e. Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, etc.), it’s a mish mash of heroes and villains such as Sabretooth, Nightcrawler and Quicksilver, standing side-by-side.

The way the creative team pulls the curtain away on this new band of X-Men is the first of many shocking moments in Alpha and “Age of Apocalypse.” Again, it’s easy to look back at these images now and take it all for granted. I can only imagine the number of jaws that dropped when people first read this in 1995 (and I was one of them!)

Of course, it’s one thing just to shock people, but Alpha also goes ahead and sells its new concept. All of these characters, who are now apparently aligned against Apocalypse, still maintain traces of their core characteristics. There’s a pompousness to Magneto and Sabretooth is still anxious to rip his advesaries to shreds.

We also see the flipside of this with some of the characters who were once regarded as “heroes” now working for Apocalypse. Hank McCoy’s Beast still has a passion and aptitude for science, but he’s using his knowledge to torture the opposition. Cyclops exhibits his trademark leadership, but with a twinge of melancholy and regret. These characters are recognizable, while also being very, very different.

There is also a host of new character dynamics to create intrigue in this storyline. Magneto and Rogue are together and have a child, while Gambit pines for Rogue. Wolverine and Jean Grey are a couple but operating as part of another group dubbed the Human High Council.

And just to make sure the reader isn’t totally lost, the creative team brings in Bishop as an omniscient character to announce to the audience that there’s something extraordinarily screwy about this timeline. While the next four months of X-Men comics would all operate as if this alternative timelines was the new normal, Bishop’s role in Alpha is to provide readers with the inkling hope that order will eventually be restored to the franchise.

Near mint, 1st print. Bag&Board, Been sitting boxed for 30 years, one owner!