Christopher Yost and Tony S. Daniel is bringing us a new Post-Armageddon title, MaXimum X-Men, yes, with the X in Maximum emphasized. Storm is leading Bishop, Iceman, Colossus, Psylocke, though the image makes me think it is actually Betsy Braddock, Logan, and Firestar and Justice. A pretty great cast actually. I like how the cast isn’t gutting any of the current lineups, and I’m pretty sure this is only Logan’s second team since we relaunched with From the Ashes.
Justice is finally an X-Man, and I’m sure he’s going to be whining to Firestar all of the time, but at least she has her amazing friend, Iceman. Iceman being reunited with former Marauders Storm and Bishop.
A pretty great cast.
I keep wanting to type “MaXimum Carnage” as I love that storyline, but I’ll work on that.
So rare for a modern comic to reach issue 25! Though Uncanny will be doing it with its next issue. Just to get it out of the way, here is your Fenris trigger warning. I treated myself to the Luciano Vecchio variant cover. We weren’t given this theme cover for Exceptional X-Men, which I would have gladly bough the Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, and Melee covers. Actually, I probably would have gotten all of them, as I do love the format. Maybe with X-Men United we’ll finally get them? I’m still waiting for the Russell Dauterman Kitty Pryde costume gallery cover.
Issue opens with Cyclops telling the team about the Age of Revelation. I do like the idea that you can just skip AoR, and what you really need to know, you’ll be told through X-MEN dialogue. Future bad because of Doug Ramsey, and 3K (more about them later).
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Scott’s new goal in life? Fix the Present, Save the Future. Such a good team shot here.
Arizona, three miles from Rio Verde. Which is three and a half hours away from Yuma. When I was growing up, there was a popular blue shirt that had, “Yuma, four hours from everywhere else” that is burned into my mind.
We catch up to Fenris, who are eternally gross. Now, they’re super prideful of being white mutants, so they have a new lower level to their grossness.
I do love how out Jed MacKay is with calling the Strucker twins and Fenris (the name of their hate group) Nazis. Why hide behind code words? Also a good time to mention I was wrong about 3K being a clever way of not writing KKK, which makes sense now that we know Krakoa Beast is the Chairman of the Board.
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Then. Cyclops really needs to find Doug.
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Now. Cyclops sends Magik and Psylocke to join the fight. Once we’re done with the Psylocke retro series (which apparently is selling quite well), I would love to get a Magik & Psylocke miniseries.
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These two are great together!
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Then. I love the X-Men sharing a meal together, this team is very close.
Cyclops reveals that AoR had never heard of R-LDS. 70s Beast let’s out a “retrocausality” which sounds very fun to say aloud. I wonder what that would have looked like as a Mortal Kombat finisher?
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Magik telling Psylocke that her sword is sharper, and Kwannon calling Magik a brat. These two are the best.
Again, I just love Juggernaut and Magik being besties. This series has been great with showing Illyana being actual friends with people. I love to see it.
Juggernaut throws a car at Fenris, he’s so upset that they blasted Magik. Taking her out of the fight for the rest of the issue, which one has to do as she can end a fight rather easily.
Psylocke fights Andreas, and Oya fights Andrea.
Quenten Quire, who also can end a fight easily, has been holding back, as he really doesn’t want to enter a white supremacist’s mind – completely understandable.
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Juggernaut helping Magik up, they’re the best!
We finally learn who the mutant is who is in charge of O*N*E* . . . The Crimson Commando, who I barely remember. He’s on the cover of Uncanny X-Men 215, with Stonewall and Super Sabre. I mostly only remember Stonewall because of the historical event, and the cool flight helmet. He’s a WWII veteran, with the mutant power of peach physical health. I own his first appearance, so that’s cool. He is a Claremont / Davis creation.
The Crimson Commando arrived with a crew, and a press conference, announcing O*N*E*, and Cyclops’ X-Men are working together, then immediately has them stop recording, so mutants everywhere should have some distrust of Cyclops now. Which seems silly, as all it’ll take is for him to reach out to Rogue and Emma, and clear the whole thing up – he’ll probably do that in-between issues.
Cyclops references how the last time he fight Crimson Commando, he died, in Uncanny X-Men 529. Which was the issue Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost with Fantomex were searching for Sebastian Shaw, so I only remember that plot from the issue, but I owned his first and last appearance (until this issue, which I also own, so that’s nice).
We do get a reference to how Cyclops hadn’t realized Crimson Commando was resurrected on Krakoa, so that’s nice that era exists so any mutant can be brought back with ease. As long as they didn’t die in Fall of X (or Rise of X).
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Crimson Commando leaves, knowing he’ll win the long battle.
We get a back up where 70s Beast chats with Animalia, who likes the codename, another legacy of AoR.
70s Beast figures out 3K is actually 3000, otherwise written in Latin, MMM, Make More Mutants, and learns the Chairman of 3K is . . . Krakoa Beast! So, everyone knows what they are up against.
I do love a Villian issue! We see that 3K’s alliance is on very shaky grounds. Chairman Beast of Krakoa has been gone a week, giving Cassandra Nova and Astra (with Joseph) time to plot the other’s death. Cassandra Nova has her own Pixie, Myraid. Wyre and his X-Men just want to see who wants leadership more. Cassandra Nova puts the leadership to a vote. Joseph dons his helmet, but Myraid takes off the helmet, and Cassandra Nova is on the verge of winning, when Beast shows up! He is full Beast mode, but all white to match his Age of Revelation body. He was in a synthetic body, which I still feel like wasn’t fair for the home audience’s guessing game. He reveals the plot of Age of Revelation. We get one splash page of the events, so if anyone is interested, they can check out Amazing X-Men V3 for Cyclops’ journey, The Last Wolverine for Logan Death, and Laura Kinney Sabretooth for her adventure. We get this page, and earlier, we get a few panels of him and Animalia .
They are going to use a virus to turn all humans into mutants, succeed where Doug got the job mostly done.
Beast also knows one other thing, that Schwarzschild will eventually join Cyclops, so he has Wyre’s X-Men kill him, and they don’t even hesitate, so we have successfully splintered from the AoR future.
Issue ends with us seeing their base, which is a cool looking flying saucer above a nice mountain range. Are they near Alaska?
No Magik, but I’m getting the Clayton Crain variant cover, so this issue is a keeper.
It also feels like a big step in the direction this series is going in. Maybe not the franchise as I don’t see X-Men United dealing with this, but maybe? They have Armageddon to hopefully dodge, and whatever the 2026 Comic Giveaway issue is. (so silly of a name)
Future Scott swaps minds with Present Day Scott. He does optic blast Doug, BUT! Doesn’t even cause him a concussion. He figures out pretty quickly that Future Beast didn’t swap with him. I guess the plan was that Future Beast was supposed to deliver the death blow? Seems not like Cyclops to train for X years, just to fail at this crucial moment. I do like how he had a plan to attack the X-Men, and he succeeds at that rather well. He takes out Quentin Quire first, then Psylocke, who he was most concern about.
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He dodges Juggernaut, realizes how he must succeed, optic blasts Magik, takes her soulsword, rude!,
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He knocks down Glob Herman, and Beast tackles Future Scott.
In prison, and I like how this was teased in Age of Revelation Finale, so we think this is the end of the story, Future Scott is in The Brig. He explains the situation, but no one wants to kill Doug, as there must be a better way.
I really love that Doug and Bei the Blood Moon are creating their own sign language, that’s very cute. Oya reminds Doug of her time on Krakoa, which I appreciate that we haven’t forgotten she was a prisoner during that time.
Future Scott breaks out, and chats with Magneto, who sticks to his story that he is powerless, so which is it? Is he faking it? Is Age of Revelation already a splintered timeline that will be shredded from memory?
Psylocke shows up, and Future Scott is back in The Brig. Doug goes to talk to him, and dumb Future Scott just tells Doug how he’s going to take over the world by simply telling people to obey him, and geez Scott, just give him the directions to rule? This isn’t the Scott I know, which of all of the AoR characters, he is the one character we don’t know.
Issue ends with Doug, Bei, and Warlock simply leaving.
I like how Magik clearly had the thought that she wasn’t going to fight Scott, and after his attack, she grabs her soulsword, and leaves the issue. My head cannon is that she got attacked by him, and decided to go hang out with her brother, Colossus.
I also really like how this issue doesn’t try to sell you on the Age of Revelation crossover. There’s not even an editor box to tell you to read the crossover. Are you interested in where this Future Scott is from? Go check out Age of Revelation. He’s simply a Cyclops from the FUTURE! If you are interested, you can look it up. That is very new reader friendly.
Shadow and Flame with Magik 