Retro Vision: The Hope Saga Pt. 1


Welcome ladies & gentleman to the triumphant return of Retro Vision, bringing you back to the good ole days of geek-related comics, T.V. shows, and movies of yesteryear.  Every Saturday right here on Unleash The Fanboy.

Before Hope Summers, the “Mutant Messiah”, was born, before the Avengers & X-Men fought over her fate, the Mutant race was closer to extinction than it had ever been before.

Still picking up the pieces after “House of M”, where Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, uttered the words “No More Mutants“, the mutant race took a nosedive from thousands, possibly millions, to a mere 198.

Scott Summers AKA Cyclops was just beginning to feel the burn of being the reluctant leader of the entire Mutant race.

He believed all was lost, until Cerebro, the X-Men’s mutant detection device, identified the birth of a new mutant in a small Alaskan town.

In today’s episode of Retro Vision we take a look at her birth, and the waves she would create that would ripple through the X-Men’s Universe for years to come. THIS is Messiah Complex.

The biggest event to hit the X-Men in ten years is here! Just when it looked like there was no possibility of a future for mutants, hope arrives. But the X-Men aren’t there to meet it – the Marauders and Purifiers beat them to it. Now the race is on to get the first new mutant since House of M!

The stage was pretty much set for anything to go either way right, or way wrong for the world’s favorite mutants, having their numbers decimated by one of their own kind didn’t exactly help the situation either. So the discovery of this baby was actually the first sign of good news the X-Men, and mutants in general, had heard in

a while. Too bad others had their sights on baby Hope as well. The X-Men arrive in the town to find it completely decimated, all it’s inhabitants either killed or injured, and the baby gone. Also, just to make matters worse, the team encounters Blockbuster, a member of Mr. Sinister’s Marauder’s group, who want to capture the baby for their own ends, and a member of the Purifiers, a group of Mutant hating extremists who want to kill the baby. Both of them are dead adding only more questions, the most important one being “Where is the baby?”

The hunt for the baby turns into a 5-way dance between the X-Men, who want to protect her, the Marauders, who want to use her to rule, The Purifiers, who want to kill her to safeguard humanity, the mysterious lifeform called Predator X who feeds on the bone marrow of mutants, and Bishop, who wants to kill her so his future never comes to pass.

The epic hunt crosses over 13 issues of blood, betrayal, death, destruction, and revelations. The story coming to a climax when it is revealed that Cable, Cyclops and Jean Grey’s son, had the baby all along.

Evading all of the warring factions in order to avoid Bishop and find a way to the future to raise and train the baby so she can accept her responsibility and save her race. He succeeds with the help of Professor Xavier but before Cable slides to the future, Bishop attempts one more time to take the baby’s life by shooting her, the bullet is intercepted by Charles, but at the cost of his mind being fragmented. Cable makes it to the future with Hope, but in the present the X-Men mourn the loss of their mentor.

This is the book that got me back into X-Men, after being a fan of the TV show, even though I didn’t read the comics much. This event changed all of that. Each scribe, Ed Brubaker (Uncanny X-Men), Mike Carey (X-Men), Peter David (X-Factor), & Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost (New X-Men). Blend their stories well together, each fitting seamlessly into the overall narrative, never skipping a beat.

The art also varies in the event as well depending on the chapter, rotating between the legendary Marc Silvestri (Messiah Complex One-Shot), Billy Tan (Uncanny X-Men), Scot Eaton (X-Factor), Humberto Ramos (New X-Men), & Chris Bachalo (X-Men) flowing their pencil strokes into the story, giving each a book a unique look, but also allowing it to follow the story as well.

Overall, this is one of the best X-Men events in recent memory. Great action, great drama, great characters, and a great story. Nothing is forced or rushed, everything has a place and is explained. If your an X-Men fan and haven’t read this yet, this should be a top priority. HIGHLY Recommended read.

4.5/5

S#!T Talking Central

  • http://www.facebook.com/kristynicholesmith Kristy Nichole Smith-Brumfield

    Good job