Anyone who knows me, knows that I have been promoting the "Age of X" storyline passionately. Of course I recognize the similarities to "Age of Apocalypse", but AoX has enough distinguishing features to make me disregard any similarities that exist.
Chapter 5 continues to take our mutant friends further down the rabbit hole. Only now, there seems to be light showing from the end of the tunnel. This is not to say that all the mysteries are now clear. But it would be accurate to say that the picture is becoming a little clearer. Strangely enough, my only beef with the series comes from this very point. Unfortunately, I made a prediction a while back with regards to whom I thought was responsible for this alternate reality fiasco. And equally as unfortunate is the fact that I was right. Make no mistake however, this is no fault of the creative team. Rather, it is my own fault for trying to figure out the mystery that is Age of X before the books are even published. But it did ruin some of the thunder for me.
With Xavier released from his cell, he begins to try and enlighten all his former students with regards to what is happening. A difficult task to say the least. Some key figures however, are showing willingness to take that leap of faith. Cyclops; or Basilisk as he is known in this story, for one.
I think what intrigues me the most about this story is the cool factor given to characters who I previously laughed at. Legion for instance, is portrayed with this omega powered punk look that just pushes all the right buttons for me. In fact the whole idea of the Force Squad (a team made up of all telekinetics and telepaths) is an amazing idea. I would love to see them stick around maybe even as villains.
Mike Carey needs to be given a lot of credit for this series. He really pulled the X-verse out of the fire here. Likewise, Clay Mann's simple but effective art style really helps keep the story moving.
I will be interested to see how the creative team wraps this series up. It is my hope that it has a lasting effect on the X-verse as we know it!