Age of X: Alpha (Marvel – Carey / Pierfederiei / Davidson / Walta / Tolibao / Barberi)

Mutantkind’s final war starts here. If you don’t know which side you’re on, check your DNA.

Aren’t Alternate Universes great? Taking familiar characters and messing with their histories? And nobody does alternate universes better than the X-men. From Days of Future Past to Age of Apocalypse, the children of the Atom rarely disappoint when they throw continuity to the wind.

Alpha serves as an excellent lead in to the Age of X event unfolding in the pages of X-men Legacy and New Mutants. There’s no set up and no explanation short of “In a world where the X-Men never existed and mutantkind has been hunted to extinction, the few remaining mutants band together to make their last stand.” This book pulled me in right from the get go. The art and writing is done well enough that you’ll immediately recognize Cyclops (Basilisk), Cannonball, Gambit, etc. The campfire is a great way to frame the four stories that give you a small taste of whats been happening in this universe. That small taste (while an exceptional read well worth the price of admission) has left me hungry for more. I eagerly await the next installment of this story.

Overall Rating A