Writers: Ed Brisson, Matthew Rosenberg, & Kelly Thompson // Artist: Pere Pérez // Publisher: Marvel
“Disassembled” Part IV
Every megalomaniac prophecies a hypothetical peace in the aftermath of their planned destruction. X-Man, the beyond Omega level mutant born Nate Grey is no different. In Uncanny X-Men #4, Nate Grey, the most powerful “timeline refugee” from the Age of Apocalypse, reveals himself as the architect for a a new era on Earth. After he orchestrated the kidnapping of Apocalypse, Kitty Pryde, and a generic all-purpose Senator, Nate unleashes his Horseman of Salvation to destroy the hatred and destruction of mankind. The only person who has any idea what is going on and can possibly stop Nate Grey is the schizophrenic son of Charles Xavier, Legion. What can possibly go wrong, right?
An Apocalypse of Peace
In order to escape from an even bigger altercation with the Horseman of Salvation, the X-Men literally play dead. In a great move of teamwork, Jean Grey and Psylocke amplify Armor’s ability to create a psionic exoskeleton by creating an illusive bubble that shows them fallen under the wrath of Magneto, Blob, Angel, and Omega Red. When they finally have a chance to regroup, internal tension reach a boiling point as the younger X-men, led by Hisako (Armor) questions the leadership of Jean. They feel as though they are sidelined, and even worse, put on “garbage duty” every time an emergency occurs. Hisako believes that they should be listening to Legion instead of letting the Horseman go, but keeping Legion as hostage. Audaciously, she refers to the younger X-Men as her team. Even when Storm steps in to put the children in their place, Hisako goes against team assignments and decides to stay at the mansion with her team.
Meanwhile, Nate Grey, sporting a new messianic robe and swagger, instructs his new horsemen to begin Phase Three of his burgeoning utopia. Spread across the globe, his Horsemen go to work in disarming occupying militaries in Chernaya and shutting down oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The X-Men react, intervening to make sure no civilians are hurt. In this case, though, are they actually helping or just getting in the way? Legion, insane as he may be, could actually be right. Left to their own devices, the X-students decide to hear Legion out, only for him to teach them about the Age of Apocalypse and how only he can prevent a major cataclysm with the help of Madrox.
Nate Grey ≠ Nathan Dayspring Summers
Nate Grey ranks as the most powerful mutant alive. Created by Mr. Sinister in the Age of Apocalypse timeline through the combination of Jean Grey and Cyclops’ genetic material, he is Cable except without having to syphon a portion of his powers to control the technorganic virus. After Nate Grey telepathically transmits a message to every human on the planet, Jean Grey speculates he is even more power than Xavier at his peak. In the spirit of Yoda, begun the Psionic Wars have . . .
Legion and Nate Grey are about to collide in a major way. That is a terrible omen for the stability of reality, good people.
The best issue of the new arc so far features a much more streamlined script that allows for the internal tensions of the X-Men to rise to the surface. The older X-Men know from experience that Legion cannot be trust, but the the students may also have a point that as the only person who knows what he is happening, his opinion is valid. If this dissention in the ranks continues, the the students themselves could be responsible for accidentally trigger a major reality cataclysm. Additionally, Legion brings a much needed mad humor to the book that makes for a pretty trippy read as he tries to explain how he is actually the father of Nate Grey since Legion himself created the Age of Apocalypse. Pere Pérez, unchained from the trainwreck that was X-Men Blue, creates dynamic action panels and clean character renderings.His work was one of the bright spots in the previous X-Men series, but was overshadowed by lackluster stories. For this new era in Uncanny X-Men, his work shines and he feels comfortable and excited to rendering both classic and new characters.
Picking up steam four issues into the run, “Disassembled” is starting to shed its fat and lean into some both internal and existential conflicts amongst the X-Men ranks. Meanwhile, Gambit and Rogue are still in space with the daughter of Xavier and Lilandra in their series Mr. & Mrs. X. Will these two storylines collide into a full family affair? Six more chapters to go . . .I’m here for it.
7 out of 10
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