a brutal start, nearly finished.
this volumes a great judge of character. i know i definitely want the next 2 volumes, if only to recall some mid-90s nostalgia. i had to take some advice of angry shoppers on how inappropriate the 1st vol was with establishing the AoA universe. if i recall it was populated with mini series, not so crucial to the core storyline. but in this volume, ive found all the #1 issues that launches me into a dark and sinister world where Prof X died prematurely. this was a big deal to me back when it landed in my hands.
all the prominent titles under the X-banner ceased to print for 4 straight months - with these otherworldly titles in their place. Legion Quest was a great lead in to the total brand upset too, if only i could find it reprinted somewhere. aside from exploring the new/skewed setting, lorded over by Apocalypse and cronies, every hero youre familiar with is recast to mirror the world in question. some heroes arent heroes anymore and each of those that still are, have been twisted by the dire fates. even after all this time though, im not sure this world is a matter of Xavier lost, as it might of been Magnetos leadership through guilt. fighting for a fallen friend, is charasmatic enough to hold things together, but only as idealistic as the memory of Xaviers loss.
still a great epic here, with alotta artistic interpretation - both artwise, and script wise. Bishop has kinda fallen out with the current XU, but hes a great shadowy figure in the AoA. theres some weird cuts in the material here though. break pages featuring a miser-y looking Apocalypse..when you might expect him at the end of a chapter. midway into some issues it re-emerges. there might have been additional material locked into the middle of the original issues. i kinda remember thin cardboard foldouts that re-capped and summed up character beats - ah, the mid 90s boom!
that aside, AoA was the X-Mens concept album. and theres alot of re-imagining to go around. the artists and authors really broke out of the norm and presented something especially dark. highly recommended to anyone wanting some history that no longer exists. its sorta like stepping into the folds of a retcon, and finding a pocket universe filled with horrific casualty rates.