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The image on the left is our first combatant, Apocalypse, while the image on the right is our second fighter, Charles Xavier.
Ultimate X-Men #92 is by Rober Kirkman and Salvador Larroca.
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A map of Kamandi’s post-apocalyptic world, courtesy of Jack Kirby and Kamandi Archives, Volume 1.
I tried to superimpose an actual map of North America (or at least the United States) over the image, but Kirby is using such an uncommon map projection that it was impossible to achieve a map that was not grossly distorted. Near as I can tell, I’m living at the point where the Gorilla Communes, the Tiger Empire, and the unnamed area just south of the Monster Lake all converge. Gives new meaning to the term “Gateway City.”
Kirby’s story doesn’t follow the map all the precisely anyway. In the comic, he has the Las Vegas area populated by members of the Gorilla Commune when the map shows it should be firmly in the area of the Lion Tribes.
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Nate Grey was one of the few who survived the Age of Apocalypse and somehow ended up in the regular Marvel Universe (the others being Sugarman, the “Dark” Beast, and sometimes — via the Exiles — Blink)
In this scene, he is thinking back over the events that led to the collapse of the Age of Apocalypse and he ends up losing control of his powers and destroying a tanker truck. (The line down the middle is from the page seam; this is two-page spread. Now that I’m looking though it, you really didn’t get your money’s worth out of this comic. In a mere 22-pages, there are three two-page spreads and two full-page panels. And it’s not like the other pages had much either, most just had 3 or panels. Some quick math tells me that X-Man #5 delivered an average of just 2.7 panels per page.)
All previous Psychic Nosebleed Zen posts
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 Nate Grey is the Nathan Summers (a.k.a. Cable) of the Age of Apocalypse. Only, he’s supposed to be more powerful than Cable because he doesn’t have to squander some of his power keeping a techno-organic virus in check. (Though Nate always seemed to get the short end of the stick whenever he encountered Cable, so maybe he’s really not more powerful after all — or maybe just less experienced.) In this scene from X-Man #2 (words by Jeph Loeb, art by Steve Skroce), Nate has just used his power of telekinesis to fly for first time. All previous Psychic Nosebleed Zen posts |
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This example of the psychic nosebleed comes from Factor X #4, one of the comic book “re-imaginings” that took place during the Age of Apocalypse back in 1995. (For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, the Age of Apocalypse was a glimpse at what the Marvel Universe would have looked like if Charles Xavier had died before he could start the X-Men. For four months in the summer of 1995, all the X-books were renamed and together told the story of this alternate world. On a recent rereading, the stories held up surprisingly well, but the art — with all its ’90s excesses of shoulder pads, pouches, and facial tattoos — did not.)
Anyway, here is the Age of Apocalypse’s Jean Grey giving it everything she’s got. There’s a nose bleed, an eye bleed, and what appears to be a forehead bleed. I have no idea where that last one comes from — she didn’t have it in the previous panels and suffered no head trauma in the meantime. Maybe it’s just miscolored sweat.
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I finally had a chance to sit down and read the House of M (and most of its offshoots) this weekend, and I enjoyed it more than I expected. It got off to a incredibly slow start with House of M #1, but the subsequent issues really picked up the pace. The various offshoot title were mostly enjoyable as well, though I was underwhelmed by the art on Iron Man: House of M.
The main problem with the title is a problem shared by almost all “alternate reality” titles: it lacks permanency. As readers, we know that the storyline is only a temporary one and we are reluctant to invest in the characters and storylines. Sure, there may be some ramification when it goes back to “normal” , but we all know that soon the status quo will return.
The Elseworlds stories avoid this problem by telling stories that are set in their own world, not one that is a perversion of the normal one. Unfortunately most Elseworlds stories are too short for the reader to really care much for the characters. The Ultimate Universe is another example of an alternate world in and of itself, not simply a change in the regular world. Unlike the Elseworlds, the Ultimate Universe has been around long enough to develop some good character depth. Some of DC’s “Fifth Week” events were also able to create alternate universes with a sense of permanancy. You knew the Tangent Universe existed before we read about it and would continue afterwards. The Amalgam Universe pulled this off particularly well with editor’s notes referring to supposedly previously published Amalgam comics.
The Best Alternate Universe Stories* (in my humble opinion):
The Worst?
Anything involving Kulan Gath is bad, but the absolute worst? Without a doubt that would be the year that was Heroes Reborn.
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Given that the majority of comic books exist in fictional worlds, it can be difficult to define what constitutes an alternate history and what doesn’t.
I define alternate history as a deliberate retelling of established historical fact, not counting retcons.
There are two important variables in comic book alternate histories. First, what history does the story deviate from? Second, is it part of continuity?
Alternate history can exist as a deviation from actual historical fact or as a divergence from the history of that particular comic universe.
In Ex Machina, only one of the twin towers was destroyed on September 11, so it is an example of an alteration of actual history. On the other hand, in the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, history diverged when Charles Xavier was killed. This was a change in the historical facts of the Marvel Universe, but not a change in actual history.
Secondly, alternate histories can occur as part of continuity or outside of it. When the Sphinx remade the world in the image of Ancient Egypt in New Warriors #47-50, that was a retelling within continuity. Rarely, events in these alternate histories can effect continuity in the originating universe but usually “time resets itself”. In contrast, the Elseworlds and What If ? comics occur outside of continuity.
Examples:
I’ll admit this system of defining alternate histories is far from perfect. Many questions still remain.
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The Polite-wide and I had a nice time in St. Louis with my parents. It was their anniversary, so we took them out to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, The Blue Water Grill, and had an excellent meal. My mother and wife split this enormous chocolate-sampler dessert, and both reported that they could not eat another bite of chocolate (which is one of the signs of the Apocalypse, I believe). We returned to my folk’s house after dinner and caught the end of the NASCAR Pepsi-Cola 400. It was a surprisingly good race. I’ve never been a fan of the restrictor plate races (Daytona, Talladega), because the tracks seem to favor pure chance over skill. The new aero packages and smaller gas tanks seemed have allowed skill and strategy to return, and the race was exciting to watch (plus Bobby Labonte finished in the top 10, keeping him near the top overall).
Managed to stop into a comic shop near my parents yesterday. I was pleased and disappointed. I was pleased that they were plainly offering the FCBD comics (well, the gold ones) — plus what seemed to be some left over from last year. I was disappointed by their selection of comics overall. They had Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image. Not much else. Their idea of an independant was Thundercats. I asked for Demo #7, because I didn’t see it on the shelves. I had to patiently explain what it was and who published it. And no, they didn’t have it, because (and I quote here): “Those artsy books don’t sell.” Well, if you don’t offer them, they won’t sell! Buying comics off the internet doesn’t seem so bad now.
This morning, I got up before the crack of dawn and drove to the St. Louis waterfront to run a 10K (6.2 mile) race. It was the fourth 10K I’ve run in downtown St. Louis, and every one has followed a different route. I was pleased with my effort, and my (nearly) daily runs seem to be paying off. Not once during this race did I my usual “Now why did I think this was a good idea?” thought cross my mind. All participants received a commemorative medal too, which was a nice touch.
We drove back to central Illinois tonight, and have been watching the city foreworks from our porch for the last 45 minutes. I can hear them outside the window and they’re still going on now. Pretty good fireworks for such a small town.
Sunday Blog-o-Bits:
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