retro-the-best....: [New post] X-Men - Greatest Hits

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

[New post] X-Men - Greatest Hits - part two

X-Men - Greatest Hits - part two

dailypop | June 7, 2011 at 10:18 am | Tags: days of future past, x-men marvel comics sentinels byrne claremont | Categories: X-Men | URL: http://wp.me/p4kUt-2HV

Days of Future Past

Kitty Pryde, the last hope of a desolate apocalyptic future travels back in time to prevent an inescapable fate where mutants are rounded up like animals by massive robotic Sentinels. Standing guard over her departure are the last of the X-Men, the once proud and vibrant family of heroes, reduced to a scant few.

As a kid, reading this comic left an indelible mark on my subconscious. It's the same way with most X-Men fans who yearn for the appearance of the Sentinels on the big screen. Created in the 1960's the mutant-hunting robots were nothing new in 1981, but creating a story based in a possible future ruled by Sentinels was something else entirely, and forever changed the way that readers viewed them.

At this point in their collaboration, Chris Claremont and John Byrne were in good stride. Their mutual interest in science fiction no doubt infused Days of Future past with the seed of potential. In the 80's, filmgoers were familiar with dark apocalyptic worlds, usually filled with leather-clad loners and crazed gangs of rebellious youth. But to set such a story in the Marvel Universe was something new. In Days of Future Past, mutant hysteria was building to an all time high with Senator Robert Kelly was running for the Presidency on a ticket built on that fear. In the alternate future, he was assassinated by a mutant, lighting the fuse that exploded in a mass hunt for all mutants. The problem lay in the police state born from this movement, and the over-reliance on the Sentinels' flawed programming that eventually led to the rounding up of all super powered individuals and in many cases, their deaths.

The first part of this two part epic featured the timeless image of Wolverine bravely defending Kitty Pryde, his claws popped through a pair of worn-through leather gloves. Behind them both was a tattered poster that told the fate of the other mutants, either captured or slain. At a time when the Cold War loomed over the heads of children, this was a haunting message. Not even comic book characters were safe from an apocalyptic future. The tension was so thick that it was palpable and the risks extraordinary. Against impossible odds, time itself, the X-Men bared their teeth in defiance. It was awesome.

Half of the story is set in a grim future where the X-Men are old and haggard denizens of a police state, riding horse-drawn buses through Manhattan to internment camps. The inhabitants are forced to mark themselves as human or mutant at all times. Of course the only one to somehow escape capture is Wolverine. Coming to Kitty Pryde's aid, he fights off a gang of killers who attempt to jump Kitty in a back alley. Leading her back to the camp where the remainder of the X-Men are gathered, Wolverine takes his leave, but his days are numbered. Kitty's entrance to the camp forces her past a mass graveyard where all of her past friends and allies are buried. Not just X-Men, but Avengers, Defenders and more are represented by simple tombstones. With Magneto's help (an ironic twist placed the otherwise villainous Magnus as the leader of the X-Men, filling in for his departed friend Charles Xavier), a plan was hatched using Rachel Summers, a powerful telepath, to connect Kitty to her former teenage psyche and prevent the death of Senator Kelly.

While Kitty traveled to the past, Wolverine, Colossus and Storm led a final attack on the Sentinel's base in the Fantastic Four's former headquarters, the Baxter Building. The issue featuring this cataclysmic battle bore the phrase 'this issue, everybody dies!' and it came through on the threat. Even though it was set in a possible future, not the definite present, the grisly deaths of the three X-Men were haunting and all too believable. Month to month these characters dared death in the face, escaping by the narrowest of margins. That luck would run out sometime.

One of the all time finest X-Men stories of all time, Days of Future Past also introduced the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants led by Mystique, a villainess seen in the pages of Ms. Marvel. Her new team consisted of Avalanche, Pyro, the seer Destiny and the only member of the original Brotherhood, the Blob. It was a good first appearance and also laid the first hints regarding Nightcrawler's lineage, a story that would be revisited much much later.

In the early 80's, the X-Men topped the charts and was a hit with critics as well. There are better storylines during this time, but for my money Days of Future Past is one of the best.