The actual "story" of this issue is only three pages long. One of the Madri sneaks into Apocalypse's lair to find out if he is considered chosen or forgotten. The rest of the issue is devoted to character profiles told from Apocalypse's perspective. While you might think these would provide some new information about this world's back story we haven't seen, in fact it just sums up what we've already seen so far in the previous issues. And yet this was priced at $2.50 when the normal issues were $1.95.
Suffice to say I'm not going to bother recapping the profiles. What may be slightly surprising is that "chosen" does not equal "fighting for Apocalypse." He chooses who he truly thinks is the fittest to survive rather than who agrees with him. That is pretty consistent for his character.
Chosen: Magneto and Rogue, Cyclops, Sinister, Storm, Quicksilver, Four Horsemen, Weapon X and Jean Grey, Colossus, Angel, Sabretooth and Wildchild, Bishop, Madri*
Forgotten: X-man, Havok, Northstar and Aurora, Beast, X-calibre, Human High Council, Gambit and the X-ternals, Charles Xavier
* The Madri are chosen but then quickly switched to forgotten on the last page when Apocalypse kills the idiot for snooping. Really I don't know what else he expected.
Obviously this issue is not much more than an art gallery, though nearly all the art is stuff we've seen previously. It's a cash grab, nothing more. I was one of the suckers who fell for it back in the day, probably hoping to get more details like some of the previous guidebooks I had purchased had contained, but instead was left with nothing but a recap of stuff I already knew. It's the risk you often take as a comic book fan. However as a reader of this blog you don't have to feel so cheated, as I will be covering another issue later on this afternoon.
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteI didn't buy or try to borrow this one back in the day, and I don't remember it at all!
Apocalypse's dividing the world into the Chosen and the Forgotten does sound consistent with his character. But does this story also give us the reasoning behind each decision so we see exactly how everyone measures up?
The excerpts do explain his reasoning, though it's usually not much more than "I have to admit this one is strong, despite his choice to defy me" or "he is too distracted by his jealousy of his brother to measure up." They're about a paragraph long, and are phrased with Apocalypse's trademark dramatic vocabulary which says so little in so many words. :)
DeleteI've always had a certain fondness for handbook-type comics. They give you insight into the characters without requiring you to read lots of comics. Sometimes, they help me gauge whether or not I'm interested in reading more about the characters before I spend any more money on a comic/storyline.
ReplyDeleteI can see how this would feel superfluous if you were following Age of Apocalypse as it was published, or if you were trying to collect the series afterwards. But if I came across it in a discount bin, I'd definitely grab it just to add to my collection of 1990s and 2000s handbooks.