When it comes to memorable eras in the X-Men‘s history, you can’t get much better than the ’90s. This is the decade that brought us the launch of Jim Lee and Chris Claremont’s X-Men and Rob Liefeld’s X-Force, as well as other monumental storylines. One of those events was the Age of Apocalypse, an alternate timeline where Charles Xavier was killed and Magneto formed the X-Men in his wake. Marvel has revisited the Age of Apocalypse on several occasions, but the publisher has something major planned for the Age of Apocalypse‘s 30th anniversary. And those plans involve one of the most popular heroes to come out of the event.
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Marvel released the covers for X-Men of Apocalypse #1 by Jeph Loeb, a writer behind the original event, and Eisner-nominated artist Simone Di Meo. The six-issue event will have Alpha and Omega one-shots to bookend it. Di Meo draws the main cover and is joined by Arthur Adams, Fanyang, and Joe Madureira. It’s the Di Meo cover that we want to draw your attention to since it features the return of Nate Grey, aka X-Man, the Age of Apocalypse version of Cable.
The Cable Variant Makes His Long-Awaited Return
Created by Jeph Loeb and Steve Skroce, Nate Grey debuted in 1995’s X-Man #1, one of the four Age of Apocalypse series to take over the main X-Men line of comics. In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, Nate was created by Mister Sinister from the DNA of Cyclops and Jean Grey, whereas Cable’s mother is Jean’s clone, Madelyne Pryor. A lot of cloning going on here, right?
X-Man was one of the few survivors of the Age of Apocalypse alternate reality and joined the main Marvel Universe. His popularity kept his solo series going, but even after it was canceled, he still made sporadic appearances in X-Men comics. Over time, Nate Grey took on a “Shaman” persona and created another alternate reality called Age of X-Man after taking control of Legion’s body.
Simone Di Meo’s cover of X-Men of Apocalypse #1 shows Nate Grey locked in battle with Sabretooth, who has a chain wrapped around Nate’s neck and body. The Arthur Adams cover features the steamy X-Men love triangle of Rogue, Magneto, and Gambit. Fanyang’s cover highlights Age of Apocalypse breakout star Blink, and the Joe Madureira cover ends with Storm. Madureira was one of the creators behind the original Age of Apocalypse, and is providing variant covers for each issue of X-Men of Apocalypse. Madureira’s covers will also be available as alternate virgin versions.
“I’ve been a big fan of Jeph’s for years,” Di Meo told AIPT, who also had an unlettered preview of X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha. “I read a lot of his books with amazing artists like Joe Madureira. I’m really lucky to work on this project — but sometimes, I also feel under pressure for this reason, because a lot of people know Jeph’s work and I need to do my best to create something special with him.”
“An Age of Apocalypse celebration wouldn’t be complete without X-MAN!” Loeb said about bringing back Nate Grey. “I’m thrilled to return to mutantkind’s greatest psychic powerhouse, who’s caught between two worlds as his home universe collides with his current one—with disastrous results! The X-Men of Apocalypse have arrived, but the Uncanny X-Men aren’t going to be the most welcoming…”
If that wasn’t exciting enough for fans, X-Men of Apocalypse #1 will also feature a showdown between the X-Men of Apocalypse and the Uncanny X-Men. X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha #1 goes on sale September 3rd, followed by X-Men of Apocalypse #1 on November 5th.
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