An End and a Beginning
Being a completist, I have been searching for this comic since 1992. I finally found it for 25 cents in 2010. Shortly thereafter, I began finding it in every comic store I've visited - strange how that happens. The issue serves its purpose well, and the writing, though defamed by some, is aptly written as the writings of the deluded and maniacal Stryfe. It's challenging to view the X-world through the eyes of the recently-arrived crazy man. The first appearance of Holocaust is here; perhaps more notable is Stryfe's comment that he isn't supposed to be in this timeline - two years before the Age of Apocalypse occurs. Similarly, Threnody's first appearance is here, almost a year before she appears in X-Men 27. Before Colossus becomes an Acolyte, Stryfe says it's coming. It's odd to think of Bishop and Wolverine as lesser players than they think they are, especially considering Wolverine's stratospheric popularity. Too bad Stryfe could not see Scarlet Witch's future destruction of the X-Universe a decade in the future. His comments about Cannonball are perhaps the kindest things ever said about Sam Guthrie. The frame story of Professor X reading through these files is a nice narrative device, but it's more impressive that, despite his desire to know what Stryfe knew, he purges the files - the X-Men will face the future, together, without the perspective and machinations of madmen like Stryfe.
