310: X-Men: Legacy #245 -248, New Mutants V3 #22 - 24 (Age of X)
- Jun 28
- 8 min read
What’s Covered?
Roster Watch
Synopsis
Age of X
Writer - Mike Carey
Pencils - Mirco Pierfederici, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Carlo Barberi, Paco Diaz, Paul Davidson, Clay Mann, Steve Kurth, Khoi Pham, Jorge Molina
I'm going to start with an overview, but I can't wait to get into the analysis because there is a SHITLOAD to talk about.
Age of X Alpha #1 drops us into a brutal alternate reality where mutants have been hunted nearly to extinction. Instead of the X-Men we know, the survivors live inside Fortress X, a militarized last stand where every day is basically another round of humans trying to wipe them out.
There is a powerful prequel story with Scott Summers being held in a jail, they cut off his eyelids, and force him to kill mutants. He eventually escapes and becomes the Basilisk, a completely different version of Scott than we've ever seen.
Another prequel story shows Wolverine agreeing to ingest a mutant cure as the only method of stopping the mutant race from being wiped out. He'll spend the rest of the event de-powered, slowly dying from adamantium poisoning. Frequently cutting himself, hoping that he'll start healing again. It's pretty powerful, and sad.
The issue gives quick looks at how twisted this world has become, with familiar mutants reshaped by trauma, propaganda, and constant warfare. It does a strong job selling the mood before the main story really gets moving, even if it is mostly table-setting for the insanity to come.
X-Men: Legacy #245 opens with Fortress X under attack, and things immediately feel miserable in the best way. Tempo dies during the battle, and Rogue, now going by Legacy (although the other characters call her Reaper), absorbs the last pieces of her consciousness as she passes. Cannonball and Basilisk clash with the leadership structure, while the Force Warriors (Rachel Summers, Legion, Hellion, Psylocke, Unuscione) show up to rebuild the protective walls around the fortress. Legacy starts feeling like something is off, which is dangerous in a world where asking questions is treated like betrayal.
New Mutants Vol. 3 #22 keeps Legacy digging into the weird cracks in this reality. She wants to talk to Kate Pryde, but Magneto refuses, which only makes the whole thing feel more suspicious. Legacy then goes to Madison Jeffries with a camera connected to Kate, and when she does not get the answers she wants, she borrows his technopathy with a kiss. The more she investigates, the more Fortress X starts feeling less like a sanctuary and more like a very angry prison.
X-Men: Legacy #246 has Moonstar and her Cadre hunting Legacy after she goes on the run. Legacy finds refuge with Wolverine, while Moira MacTaggert pressures Magneto for answers about what Legacy did to everyone. Moira offers Legion and the Force Warriors as tools to track Legacy, which is a giant red flag considering this entire reality already feels built out of bad decisions. This chapter leans hard into paranoia, with Legacy slowly realizing that the truth may be worse than the war outside.
New Mutants Vol. 3 #23 turns the story inward as the suspicion inside Fortress X starts spreading. Legacy’s questions are no longer just her own problem, because others are beginning to see that their memories and surroundings do not quite line up. The fortress is supposed to be mutantkind’s final refuge, but everyone is starting to act like pieces on a board controlled by someone else. It is a tense middle chapter because the action is less about punching through walls and more about realizing the walls should not exist in the first place.
X-Men: Legacy #247 brings the whole mystery closer to collapsing. The world of Fortress X starts unraveling as the truth about Moira and Legion becomes impossible to ignore. This is where the event really starts cashing in on all the paranoia, with the characters realizing their entire lives in this reality may have been built on psychic manipulation. It is a pretty strong payoff because the story does not just say, “alternate reality nonsense,” it makes the lie feel personal to everyone trapped inside it.
New Mutants Vol. 3 #24 brings the main Age of X conflict to its big finish. “Moira” finds the box containing the rest of the universe and tries to destroy it, but Kate Pryde saves it before everything is lost. Magneto, Xavier, and Legion confront her, revealing that Moira is actually one of Legion’s personas. Legion absorbs her back into himself, the attacking armies vanish, and the real universe comes rushing back over everyone. It is a wild ending, but honestly, for a Legion story, “one of his personalities created a whole nightmare reality” feels pretty on-brand.
X-Men: Legacy #248 deals with the fallout, which is almost more interesting than the event itself. The X-Men gather to discuss the seven days everyone spent trapped in a world created by one of Legion’s personalities. Emma Frost and the Stepford Cuckoos offer to erase the memories of anyone who wants to forget the experience, and plenty of people line up right away. Cannonball and Pixie are among the first, which makes sense because living through Fortress X seems like the kind of thing that would leave scars even if it technically “didn’t happen.”
The arc is a fun, grim little alternate reality event that works because it is not just about new costumes and dystopian redesigns. Carey uses the familiar X-Men cast to explore how fear, trauma, and survival can twist people into versions of themselves they barely recognize. It is not as iconic as Age of Apocalypse, but it has a nasty psychological hook that makes it stand out.
My Connections and Creators
Boring or Great?
Since this was an alternate reality event, I almost considered skipping it. I am so glad that I didn't. I'm giving this a 10/10. I am writing this blog before I go and look to see what the internet has to say about it because I'm worried the takeaway will be "this sucks" and I don't care what the internet says, I loved every second of this.
If you've been following me from the beginning, then you know this entire blogging experience (now 326 deep) started with Krakoa. I had really only read a handful of comics but wanted to read Krakoa. I loved it, but quickly realized that there were far too many references to things that happened in the past, which I didn't understand. That was 6 years ago. Damn. I've been reading every X-Men comic in publication order since. The reason why this is worth bringing up is because Krakoa found a way to do something truly unique, for the first time in 40 years, that respected the source material but changed everything. I feel like this is similar. The creative team did an amazing job of exploring stories that are truly believable leading me to think "What if?" I applaud Mike Carey because while everything was so different, everything also had a hint of truth to it.
Character Studies
What better place to start than Scott Summers. Scott is the character who is probably the furthest from his natural persona, but somehow it feels the most possible. He's filled with trauma and as uptight as can be, so I'm sure if he got tortured repeatedly for years he would totally turn into a raving maniac. I'm not exactly sure what to say about him and Frenzy. Frenzy is a terribly under developed character, therefore there is absolutely NOTHING that this pulls from. I'm not saying it's a bad decision, it's just kind of random. It works and I really like how it played out at the end. Looks like Frenzy is going to choose to hold onto the memories and I wonder if we'll see her in the future continuing to carry feelings for Scott. It kind of reminds me of how Kitty and Piotr were married in Days of Future Past, and then they started to date (ish) when they got back to the prime reality. Those are fond memories.
Storm and Namor are together. This is another relationship that doesn't seem to be built on anything real, however they are both egomaniacs (Storm in the best way,) so I could totally see this relationship happening. I wonder if it ever will.
The New Mutants series has definitely been trying to show Sam as the ideal leader, so it's unsurprising that this event shows that in a realized fashion. I totally buy it, so Carey did well.
Magneto as a benevolent dictator. Haven't we seen this before? Hell, haven't we seen Legion fuck with reality before too? I enjoyed this, but in hindsight they could've maybe tried someone else. Although...maybe that's his character...he's such a natural leader that any number of alternate paths all lead him to becoming the leader of the mutant race.
Pixie is shown as a badass, Nightmare. I thought this was fun. She's also missing part of her heart (Magik stole it,) so maybe this is foreshadowing!?
The Force Warriors were Rachel Summers, Legion, Hellion, Psylocke, and Unuscione. Celebrities who hold the defensive shield together. This must be inspiration for "The Five" in Krakoa. It was cool to see Legion and Hellion in the spotlight. Psylocke seemed out of place. Unuscione was very random. It was fun seeing Rachel being identified at the end (I thought she was Jean and I think we were all supposed to think that,) but it could have been more fun if we learned that earlier.
Remember philosopher Logan!? He was kind of back. Logan as a pacifist. I loved it. I wonder if this is inspiration for Old Man Logan at all, but I trust don't know because I've never read a single one of those comics (yet.)
Thoughts on Art
The art across Age of X does a strong job making Fortress X feel oppressive, militarized, and constantly under siege. Clay Mann’s chapters are probably the cleanest and strongest of the bunch, giving the story the right balance of superhero polish and dystopian dread. Khoi Pham’s work on Age of X: Universe #1 also helps sell the Avengers as a broken, uncomfortable reflection of heroism in a world where everyone has already lost too much.
Larger Impacts & Things to keep an eye on
I always have this section, but this section was MADE for Age of X.
Is Pixie going to continue to have a badass side!?
Hellion still has complete control over his hands. Will he keep the memories and further expand his ego?
Legion has control over his powers (given a wrist device that allows him to modulate and utilize his powers without losing control.)
Chamber has gone back to factory settings. Not surprising, that was such a cool design that it would be a shame not to see it again.
Frenzy is going to keep those memories. Will we see her again being sweet on Scott. I hope so! I hope it happens soon too!
Rogue is choosing to keep all the memories of the dead from the other reality. It should be fun to see how that plays out. She also seems to be choosing between Magneto and Gambit. Don't take too long to make this choice, sweetheart!
I also thought it was pretty awesome that Gambit finally came out and said "I love you, and I always will, but until you make up your mind, don't talk to me woman." Pretty cool. Maybe my favorite moment ever from Gambit. I'll need to think about that.
I'm surprised they didn't use this as a cop out way to stop Jubilee from being a vampire or give people like Dani their powers back. I think the X office is pretty serious about not giving everyone their powers back.
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