One of the best AoA storylines When the Legion Quest storyline ended, an alternate universe was created due to the fact that Legion went back in time to kill Magneto but accidently killed Charles Xavier. Since Xavier died, there was no X-Men to stop Apocalypse from taking over America and most of the world. This alternate reality, The Age of Apocalypse, put all the regular X-books on hold for four issues and replaced them with they're AoA versions. Generation Next (Generation X) is a storyline revolving around Magneto (the X-Men's founder and leader in this alternate universe) sending husband and wife Colossus and Shadowcat on a mission to save Colossus' long thought dead sister from a human slave colony. Accompanying them is the AoA version of Generation X; consisting of Chamber, Husk, Skin, Mondo, and Vincent. The gritty art brings the emotional impact of the story out even more than it should, and the emotionally charged tragic ending really makes this TPB of Generation Next excell more than it should. All in all, a great read for older fans of the X-Men or Generation X comics.
Second best AoA TPB This is a pretty good story, set in the Age of Apocalypse - where the evil immortal mutant Apocalypse rules North America. His kingdom only lives by one rule: Survivial of the fittest. Humans are regarded as the lower class and even not all mutants will be survive in this world. This all happened because Professor Charles Xavier never existed. Thus he never got to form the X-Men to appose Apocalypse.
This book is about the Generation X in that altered timeline. Chamber et al are lead by their teacher Colossus and his wife Shadowcat to find his little sister, Illyana Natalyanovna, who appears to be captured by the Sugar Man.
The characters get introduced pretty well in this one. it has great art and excellent narration by Illyana. I don't wanna tell too much - otherwise I'll spoil the story. Which is a pretty good one as a stand alone and is one of the best of the Age of Apocalypse storyline. The ending is sad, but great.
These stories won't mean much if you haven't read this AoA storyline from the start though. If you get this, I recommend you get all the other AoA TPBs too. For a complete reading list of it, see my X-Men: LegionQuest review.
From The Top Dear Evree Won,
Out of all the AGE OF APOCALYPSE stories this has to been the most emotionaly charged. It shows the hardship of this new world without Charles Xavier and that death is far from taken lightly. My favorite characters in this story are Jonathan "Chamber" Starsmore and Paige "Husk" Guthrie because their personalities are the furthest away from the "real" reality.
The least you could do is smile, PaulQ
Not your fathers comic book Told in a fast paced well thought out storyline. I felt an actual emotional connection with the group. To see favorite characters changed when faced with a lifetime of death and destruction, is a triumph to the scriptwriters of this idea "Age of Apocolypse." Colossus and Shadowcat are now Peter and Kate husband and wife charged with the training of the Generation Next cast. Their bitterness exudes in every frame as they try to mold the students to be hardened and cynical fighting machines. The plight of the humans and those on the business end of Apocolypses boot seem especially tragic here. The ending still haunts me everytime I read it. If you truly enjoy the alternate reality of Age of Apocolypse this particular story is not to be missed.
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