40 Years Ago, An Original X-Men Member’s Darkest Chapter Began With a Brutal Attack

The X-Men have experienced some horrific events throughout their existence, but for one original member, the worst moment came 40 years ago. Since the mutants made their big Marvel Comics debut, they have faced persecution and worse, and it seems that Marvel creative teams feel the team is at its best when someone is trying to slaughter them all. From “Days of Future Past” and “Age of Apocalypse” to M-Day and the genocide on Genosha, mutants have faced down death and destruction and have come back stronger than ever. While there are plenty of multiverse examples, events like Genosha and M-Day have proven the main timeline is just as deadly, and the tragedy that started it all was “The Mutant Massacre.”

On August 12, 1986, Marvel Comics released X-Factor #10 by Louise Simonson and Walter Simonson. In this issue, Angel lost his wings, which set him on a downward spiral that led to an unexpected transformation.

40 Years Ago, “The Mutant Massacre” Cost Angel His Wings

X-Factor #10 was an early issue in “The Mutant Massacre” storyline, which saw the Marauders attack the Morlocks in the tunnels under New York City and begin a slaughter that decimated the mutant outcasts. This resulted in the death of hundreds to thousands of Morlocks in those tunnels, and only a small few survived the slaughter. Not even the assistance of the X-Men, Thor, X-Factor, and more could help save these mutants from their fate. However, in the crossover event, one original X-Men member suffered a terrible fate as well.

At that time, X-Factor was the original X-Men, who formed when Jean Grey returned from the dead and demanded that they help mutants in danger. They pretended to be an organization hunting down mutants to protect humans, but their main goal was to get these young mutants to safety. They trained these young mutants to help them learn to control their powers to stay safe. Angel funded this with his immense wealth, and he hired Cameron Hodge to help run the organization as the public face of the company. However, in this one issue, everything changed, and it ruined Angel’s life from that moment on.

First, Mystique was running a team called Freedom Force, which was actually the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. They had agreed to become a government-sanctioned strike team under Val Cooper in exchange for pardons. She then leaked that Angel was funding X-Factor in order to destroy the team’s reputation. After that, his girlfriend Candy Southern walked in while Angel was comforting Jean Grey, and she left him on the spot, blaming Jean for “destroying” the men she makes fall in love with her. That was all bad, but what happened in the tunnels during “The Mutant Massacre” was catastrophic.

Angel and Jean showed up to help the rest of X-Factor, only for Jean to realize there were so many dead mutants in the tunnels. What happened next changed everything. Angel was stuck in the tunnels along with the Marauders, and that is when the unthinkable happened. Blockbuster got his hands on Angel and began to break his wings. Harpoon then used his energy-charged weapons and pinned Angel to the wall by his wings.

Angel’s Trauma Led to His Transformation Into Archangel and the Rise of Apocalypse

While “The Mutant Massacre” was taking place, Apocalypse was gathering his Four Horsemen. In this exact issue, Apocalypse found the Morlock known as Plague and offered her the spot of Pestilence in the Horsemen. This was a story being built behind the scenes for a bigger event to come. No one could have realized that the plans Apocalypse set in motion here would end up directly involving Angel.

X-Factor #11 showed that Angel had gangrene, and the doctors had to amputate his wings. This led to a long depression for Angel, who had lost everything. His reputation was destroyed thanks to Mystique. He had lost the love of his life thanks to a misunderstanding, and he had now lost his wings thanks to the Marauders’ attack. This led to one of the most controversial moments in Angel’s history when he seemed to actually plan a suicide attempt on an exploding private jet. However, there was more to it than that. Angel didn’t attempt suicide, as it was a murder attempt by his own partner, Cameron Hodge, who had been working to betray the mutant team all along.

But Angel didn’t die on that jet. Apocalypse saved him at the last second and offered to give him his wings back if he became the newest Horseman, the Angel of Death. Apocalypse brainwashed Angel and used him as Death, which turned Angel’s skin blue and gave him razor-sharp wings that could fire dart blades. As Archangel, he became faster than ever, and he had no problem killing. “The Mutant Massacre” decimated the mutants 40 years ago, but it also turned Angel into something dark and disturbing, forever changing the original X-Men.

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