I don't think I had the gold-covered reprint of the first four issues at that point, since I think I bought this new. I couldn't be positive, but I'm almost sure I had seen The Man Who Fell to Earth before reading this issue; I wonder if it occurred to me what kind of balls it would take to use that title? From 1995, X-Man #5, "The Man Who Fell to Earth" Written by Jeph Loeb, pencils by Steve Skroce, inks by Bud LaRosa.
X-Man had been the alternate version of Cable for the Age of Apocalypse crossover, in which all of the X-titles had been replaced with darker versions like Gambit and the X-Ternals or Generation Next, but it would be the only one to continue afterwards. The titular X-Man, Nate Grey, was created by Mr. Sinister from genetic material from Cyclops and Jean Grey, I believe in the hopes of creating a weapon to destroy his master Apocalypse. With the help of that universe's Forge, Nate rebelled, and during the final battle (that may or may not have destroyed the AoA earth, depending on when you ask...) he was caught in an explosion that launched him into the mainstream Marvel universe. (He was fighting Holocaust at the time, but that villain wouldn't turn up for a while.) Finding himself in the Swiss Alps, Nate has no idea where he is or what happened, but his telekinetic/telepathic powers still make him incredibly dangerous.
A local helps him, after perhaps a slight telepathic nudge, which also gives Nate the ability to speak the local language. But when he wakes up, he's greeted by...Madelyne Pryor! This would've been Maddy's first appearance in...a good six years, since dying during Inferno in X-Factor #38. Thematically her appearance makes sense; she was created by (this universe's) Mr. Sinister, and was a clone of Nate's "mom," but I don't know how exactly she would've found him. Also, that very much sets the title up as "for" hardcore X-Men fans: if you hadn't been reading the X-books for years, this reveal would mean little. Still, I had been, so I know I stuck with the book for a couple years. (It helps that comics were cheaper then, right?) I know I left eventually since it was taking Nate forever to accept the nicer Marvel U, but looking at it now, he was from a crapsack universe with very little kindness or compassion; so it probably would take him a long time to adjust.
I initially liked Nate but man did that shit get old quick, not to mention how dumb and redundant it was to have two Nates running around. Then they eventually killed him off after Ellis had made him the most interesting he was ever going to get, and then they brought him back. Still no Marvel Legends figure either.
ReplyDelete