"X-Men: Onslaught"

 

            The following is a review of the Marvel Comics event “X-Men: Onslaught” as presented on Marvel Unlimited. While the title attached to the event is “X-Men,” it also starred the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man, the Punisher, Iron Man, Thor, and many other Marvel mainstays. This review will give several spoilers, but these occur early on in the event, so it’s not going to ruin all the surprises.

            Okay, let’s start by talking about the creature called “Onslaught” and the focus of the foe over the course of the titular event. Onslaught is a powerful psionic entity. It has been hiding in the shadows, but when it reveals itself, it appears in a BIG way. It starts off by attacking the X-Men. The X-Men is a team of mutants, people with powers that most ordinary humans do not have due to a genetic mutation. They were gathered by the cripple telepathic mutant named Charles Xavier to establish peace between mutants and regular humans. Their main adversary is Magneto, a mutant who can control metal who wants to establish mutant superiority over regular humans. In a heated battle, Xavier believed the only way to stop Magneto was to telepathically shut off Magneto’s mind. Magneto later emerged amnesiac as a younger man calling himself “Joseph.” During the battle, however, Xavier’s dark side emerged, his psychic powers mixed with Magneto’s magnetic powers and created the evil psionic entity that went on to call itself Onslaught. Onslaught first destroyed the X-Men’s base of operations the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, then attacked the City of New York with an electromagnetic pulse that blacked out the entire city, also preventing entrance or exit. It built a citadel in Central Park to coordinate its assault on the populace both humans and super humans and seeked to establish ultimate domination. In its efforts, it abducted Franklin Richards, son of Reed and Susan Richards (Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman of the superhero team the Fantastic Four), a young mutant with reality warping powers, and Nate Grey (X-Man), a young telepathic/telekinetic mutant, giving Onslaught even greater power.

            The power of Onslaught threatened the entire world, and several other mutants engaged Onslaught, such as the mutant Cable; the British mutant team Excalibur; Wolverine; the government sponsored mutant team X-Factor; and mutant team X-Force. Also in the battle, the mutants are joined by the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and other popular superheroes, and even several super villains like Doctor Doom, the Green Goblin, and the vigilante known as the Punisher, who both took the battle directly to Onslaught or protected the New Yorkers trapped in Onslaught’s siege of New York City.

            And that is my summary of the story with as few spoilers as possible in case you read this review and decide to give this story a shot. But, of course, you want to know if (in my opinion) this IS worth reading, so you want my tradition review. For you who have never read a review I wrote, I tell you my personal thoughts, the level of accessibility for new or casual readers, and of course, my numeric score.

            Okay, my thoughts. This story truly kept me riveted, making me want to keep reading this. The threat of Onslaught, possibly the most powerful foe in all the Marvel Universe, was an excellent villain. It’s manipulation of Franklin, Nate and Charles to increase its power was well written. The appearance of nearly every Marvel hero was greatly appreciated. It had a major impact on me. It’s always great to read a comic book and not knowing how the heroes can possibly defeat their foe, and this did it in spades. My only true complaint is that the event on Marvel Unlimited did not have every issue in chronological order, which became a little wonky, but if I read it in full chronological order, I’d find very few flaws.

            Okay, this is perhaps the key point to any of my reviews: accessibility to non-fans or casual fans. Honestly, I think starting at X-Men #53 was an easy jump-on point, and the background knowledge was very well self-contained. I found picking it up to be relatively simple, so non-fans could easily get into it, casual fans would have no problems following the story, and die-hard fans would totally devour the story.

            Now, the whole point of reading this review: my numeric score. Regular readers know I am very hard to please, I’m very nitpicky, and often stingy. For those of you who can count from one to ten, you can tell my scale. One being why did I read this to ten being I’m going to be talking about it nonstop for three days. I’ll rate it at an eight. Now, I know those of you who have been really reading this review and expecting to see a ten wonder why I gave it a lower score. This is because I felt Onslaught was WAY too powerful. A villain that can do just about anything is just too much for me to accept. There were points that seemed superfluous. And the ending, while very much unexpected, was too costly. BUT! All said, it was a very well-composed event and well-coordinated effort. The inclusion of every Marvel hero at the time in one event was very rewarding. And the artwork! I know I hardly talk about the artwork. But ‘90s artwork typically had a great presentation. I found it at the head of the class (if anyone says that anymore. If not, and you have no idea what that means, it’s superb). Now, would I recommend it? Yes! If you read this review, totally look on Marvel Unlimited or find the graphic novels, because I think it is worth it. Marvel fans should definitely not miss this one.

            And so, we’ve reached the finish. If you read this far, you are THE BEST! I’m so happy you heard me out! Keep your eyes peeled for more from me, because I have PLENTY of content. I would appreciate it if you checked out more of my work. I write short stories, poetry, reviews, editorials and essays, so you’ll find a nice assortment of pieces. Share this with your comic book reading friends. And until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!