The X-Men are back. Well, the Age of Apocalypse ones. X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha #1 brings back the fan favorite alternate universe, with writer Jeph Loeb (writer of original Age of Apocalypse series X-Man) in tow. The Age of Apocalypse was basically the end of the ’90s golden era of the X-Men that started with 1991’s X-Men (Vol. 2) #1. Fans have very fond memories of it and Marvel has been trying for years to recapture the heat of the original story, with very mixed results. X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha #1 has an uphill battle on its hands, and does a pretty good job of getting readers interested. It’s not perfect, but it’s not as bad some later day Jeph Loeb written comics, with artist Simone Di Meo’s work really doing a lot of heavy lifting.
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The Age of Apocalypse has a legacy with fans. A lot of them won’t see it as anything but perfect, and this first issue doesn’t really match that. Jeph Loeb’s later work hasn’t always been great, and there’s some of that there. I think one of the problems with this issue right off the bat is that it ignores a lot of what was established for The Age of Apocalypse timeline. The 2005 Age of Apocalypse miniseries, the aftermath of that established in “The Dark Angel Saga” — one of the best X-Men stories of the ’10s, and The Age of Apocalypse series that came out after “The Dark Angel Saga” are not canon; this is an entirely new version of the Age of Apocalypse universe, which can be pretty confusing when the issue starts with a fight against a character who should be dead. However, if you haven’t followed any of the sequel stories, that won’t really be a problem.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
| Pros | Cons |
| Does fan-favorite characters justice | Falls short of high bar set by the original series |
| Recaptures nostalgic X-Men artwork | Relation to X-Men canon can be confusing |
| Storyline is fun with a cool team |
Loeb does a pretty good job with everything in the issue. The continuity wonk inside of me is kind of mad that continuity for an alternate universe isn’t being followed, but the rest of the story works. Loeb captures the voices of the individual characters — Sabretooth and Blink definitely feel like they’ve stepped out of 1995 — and builds up a pretty interesting plot. Loeb does a great job of capturing the same kind of feel that X-Men Alpha #1 had as well; while we’re definitely more acquainted with this universe than we were the first time we ventured here, it’s still a whole new world. Loeb also picks a pretty cool team to send to the 616 universe — Gambit, Forge, Morph, Wild Child, Sabretooth, and Blink — each of them with their own need to be there, and the fact that at least two of them could be traitors makes it more interesting. It’s hard to get excited about X-Men events in 2025, but so far, I’m cautiously optimistic for this.
One of the things that every X-Men fan remembers about The Age of Apocalypse is the art, and X-Men of Apocalype Alpha #1 fits into that. Simone Di Meo’s art isn’t exactly like any of the original artists stylistically, but it’s definitely flashy and well done. One of the problems I’ve long had with Di Meo’s art, especially on Batman and Robin, was the lighting. When his art is colored darker, it’s hard to see the details or even tell what’s going on at times. Luckily, Di Meo seems to know that, and there are very few overly dark panels in this issue.
Di Meo’s character acting and detail are both on point. I really enjoy his renditions of Sabretooth and Blink; you can tell that these two have been friends for a very long time in the scenes that they share, and he does a great job of capturing who they are as characters. His Magneto has that sense of power and grandeur he should have. One of my favorite scenes in the entire book is between Rogue and Gambit, and the art will sells the emotion of the scene. His action penciling isn’t the best — his style isn’t very fluid, honestly — but it still looks like a cool snapshot of an action scene. I feel like Di Meo really brought his A game to this issue in a way that he doesn’t always and that really helped it.
The X-Men books are in a bit of a rut lately. We’re already getting a new Age of Apocalypse-esque story in the next few months with “Age of Revelation”, so X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha #1 can seem a little superfluous. However, this book does make a good argument for its own existence with its plot and has me pretty interested. Loeb brings that old school AoA feel to the book (it even has the original caption types, which isn’t Loeb’s responsibility, but is a great touch) and Di Meo gives it the kind of memorable imagery that an AoA book should have. This is a pretty standard alternate universe story, though, so its success is going to depend on whether Loeb can sell the few secrets this issue keeps from readers. So, while there’s a chance all of this could crash and burn, this is a pretty good issue.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha #1 is out now.
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