It has been a while since I was able to take the time to d a Flashback Friday comic review, so I figured while I was on winter break that I would restart this fan favorite. Usually I go back in the day, you know ’70’s and ’80’s for the reviews, but today I figured I would focus on the events from Battle of the Atom. I know that some of the comics out there today are dealing with the aftermath of Battle of the Atom, so I thought it would be a could time to reflect on what happened.
For those of you who do not follow, Battle of the Atom is a story arc that took place in most of the X-titles for the past few months. What exactly was the battle? Well, X-men from different timelines converged in one moment of time to try to save their individual futures. I warn you, if you do not read each chapter of the main Battle of the Atom story you will easily get lost.
The story really begins when the Beast goes back in the past to bring the original X-men to the present to try to talk some since into Cyclops after killing Professor Xavier (Avengers Vs. X-men story arc). Since the time stream has been altered so many times in the world of comics, you got to imagine their is some kind of ripple effect. The result if this “ripple effect” is the Battle of the Atom. Wolverine wants to send them back, but some of the originals do not wish to leave. The longer they stay, the larger the ripple. Well, eventually “it” hits the fan and the X-men are visited by their future selves. At first, all seems legit but as always in the world of comics, nothing is as it seems.
Further into the story, we are introduced to another team of “X-men” as well as a “Brotherhood” from the future. Some of the members of these teams are not only older versions of the X-men, but some are offspring as well. Well, their presence leads to an all out war that eventually gets S.H.I.E.L.D. involved. What is the war about? Well, it turns out the humans still distrust mutants and have stockpiled weapons. Of course this pisses them off, especially since some of these mutants are now Avengers. Anyway, long story short people die and the battle ends. When the battle is over, some X-men return to their timeline and others choose to stay to find those who have gotten away in the mix of battle. It appears that this story is far from over.
I could go into more detail, but I do not want to ruin the shocking moments for those of you who want to read it. I suggest you go to your local bookstore and buy the back issues or buy the trade when it comes out. This is an essential story arc if you are a reading current issues from Marvel. Hell, it’s worth reading just to see how your favorite mutants look in the future. My favorite is Ice Man in terms of his future appearance.
I give the Battle of the Atom a strong rating of 9 out of 10. Now, I look forward to reading the Amazing X-men comics. I have already read issues #1 and 2, but that is a review for another day.
