A fan favorite of the 90s that doesn't hold up as well as one would hope. Although part of my problem is that the some (but not all) of the art hasn't aged well. Following the storyline is a bit problematic as well, which shouldn't surprise in these multi-author crossover events.

I mean...at least it was better than the first volume. But I'm not seeing what the real hype about the Age of Apocalypse event is. It's pretty confusing unless you've read pretty much every issue of X-Men before it. And it just has too much going on to follow the story easily. It's all just kind of strange to me. But I will say that the art looks great and the concept of a mass genocide of human beings by mutants is terrifying! I will eventually get to Volumes 3 and 4, but for now my brain needs...

This second volume of the four volume Age of Apocalypse is better than book 1 because the stories collected have more of a loosely connected narrative. Set in dystopian alternative timeline where Apocalypse, a mad powerful mutant, takes over the world with social-Darwinian agenda after the death of Professor Xavier leading to new roles for all of the characters in the mutant pantheon of Marvel comics. While still not brilliant it is fascinating how writers and artists have reimagined a world wit...

tried reading this, and found out that while I like the concept of it..over all I just didn't care enough about the concept to slog through art and writing ranging from good to poor.

The only thing that saved this from being a single star was context. I realize it's from the 90's or whatever, so the style and the story and everything are very different from what I am used to, but good god this was painful. I think the worst part is how LONG it all is. I get that there's a lot of content. I get the stage needs to be set and all that. The thing is, there's been hardly any setting of the stage. They repeat the same crappy lines about how terrible the world is in every one of th...

I've been trudging though the kind of terrible Spider-Man "Clone Saga" and to be honest, I tend to be leery of these crossovers because they usually sound like good ideas, but their execution is usually shitty. I did have issues with the previous volume, as the stories were presented in chronological story order and not in publication order, but the stories themselves were fine, and this volume gives context to those stories that make them more enjoyable.Essentially the "Age of Apocalypse" is a

According to this helpful site , everyone should start reading the collected epic editions of Age of Apocalypse starting with this second volume because it turns out that the first one should be the last one to read. So, by following that recommended order, does it also guarantee that readers can follow the storylines chronologically? HELL TO THE NO. The simple, inescapable reality (much like the alternate world everyone in this goddamn story is forced to live in) is that the published volume...

Alternate 'mainstream' reality genius! Words cannot express just how comprehensive and well imagined this alternate reality is, from completely new comic books to some (brilliant) random protagonists and antagonists. One of Marvel's big event high points! 8 out of 12.Collects X-Men: Alpha, Age of Apocalypse: The Chosen, Generation Next #1, Astonishing X-Men Volume 1 #1, X-Calibre #1, Gambit and the X-Ternals #1-2, Weapon X Volume 1 #1-2, Amazing X-Men #1-2, Factor X #1-2, and X-Man #1.

While the first volume is a lot of setup, this volume definitely gets the wheels moving towards the end game. What I think really works well in this storyline is that even though it is a new setup with a new background, the core of who the characters are - are still there. Even Cyclops who is part of Apocalypse's elite team, has a nobleness that he cant escape - as we see in some issues in this volume. The familiarity of the characters anchor us while the world around them completely changes. It...

The second of four books which make the complete Age of Apocalypse saga.So far I have found this series has got progressively better and has covered a lot of ground in its pages. It would seem that despite the formidable Apocalypses hard rule he has traitors in his own forces (you will have to read to find out who).Magneto begins to lose his cool as a stranger from the future ruffles his feathers with tales of this other universe by which Xavier had not died and how much more balanced that place...

No its still bad. Kinda assumed it might be good after getting the messy vol 1 out of the way, which clearly should have been vol 4.But while it makes much more structural sense its not much better writing wise. Really not a lot of characterization. I think Quicksilver gets the most indepth stuff and he doesn't mean diddly to me as an X-men fan. Almost every issue has bad art and some bad text somewhere. I hate Apocalypse's stupid tower which appears in almost every issue. Too mny characters and...

This is getting good! I really admire the dedication involved in giving so much time and space to this event. Plus, whoever edited this collection managed to get into a good groove, where even though the issues aren't all one sequential story, you really get the feeling and the atmosphere of being on Apocalypse's Earth. The original comic writers put together a compelling set of alternate characters, so I really do doubt along with them -- I KNOW the "real" universe is a better one, but I still

This wasn't as enjoyable overall as the first volume to me. Several high points narratively, but a lot of instances mediocre and downright sloppy storytelling. After how well the back matter was generally handled, this uneven start to the main narrative was something of t a disappointment.

Before you pick this up, I hope you read the reviews of the first book and decided to go with this one instead. That being said, even this book is far from perfect. You're given the first two issues of the many story lines that contain the Age of Apocalypse and there are a lot. Each of these "individual" stories refer to one another constantly, making it seem as I'm having to go back and forth just to get the context of it all. So, even after avoiding the first book, I feel as though one has to

The 90's punk slang made me laugh. Although I'm pretty sure in another twenty years or so we'll be saying the same thing about things like 'Come at me bro'.

This volume of the AoA collection highlights how different writers can write the same characters in very different ways. The characters are written so differently and the transition between the different series' is so jarring that they seem like different characters altogether. At least this forms a cohesive story unlike that nonsense that DC has been cranking out recently.

There’s the thread of a great story in this book. The X-Men are all about what you’re willing to do to build a better world from the terribly flawed one we live in. Charles Xavier, who was relatively kindly raised, thinks he can do it with kindness. Eric Lehnsherr, who survived the Nazi death camps, thinks it will take fire. Their competition and cooperation shape their world. One misguided foot soldier decides the world would have been a better place if Lensherr wasn’t in it, and goes back in t...

Vol. 1 of this series set the stage for the entire Age of Apocalypse event and also had a nice concise story in the form of the Blink miniseries. Vol. 2 of the series, on the other hand, gives you the first one or two issues of each of the relevant comics. As such, it starts a bunch of stories that don't manage to progress very far because you're too busy jumping between teams and characters. This is not to say that it's bad, though. A number of the stories have potential. It just doesn't work g...

I'm not sure what to say about this one.. it was sort of all over the place and it felt a little hard to track at some points, including introducing a "new team" near the end of this book. Had a lot of questions I had to ask my husband during this one. Will continue on with the next book but hoping it's a little better organized.

Ay yi yi. That's all I can really say about this. Volume 2 was at least better, exponentially better, than volume 1, but I still wasn't impressed.Trades were actually in order in this book, so it wasn't confusing. Plus, my loves of the Marvel universe, The Starjammers!!! showed up, so I'm gonna have to continue on to volume 3.