X-MEN #96: The Gathering

Apocalypse tries to collect all Twelve!

Written and drawn by Alan Davis and nobody else, nope, no siree bob

Originally Published January 2000

We begin on Magneto's Isle, aka Genosha, which he was recently awarded after successfully holding the world hostage. As he monologues to himself -- in his sleep no less -- about the burden of leadership, he is visited by an old friend.

Agreeing to meet with Charles on neutral ground, he gets a charge from his live-in servant Fabian Cortez before heading out.

A bit like bringing breakfast to my wife at her WFH desk

Meanwhile back at the Mansion where it's, I suppose, early evening, after some florid narration that could have been written by anyone I'm sure, Cyclops and Storm engage in some As You Know dialogue about what all has been happening in X-Men comics lately.

As they test the limitz of Fiz's powerz, they wonder whether, as a Skrull, a member of the race that is currently trying to secretly invade Earth, they can trust him. And they say racism is just for humans!

Meanwhile, Phoenix uses Cerebro to seek out the other members of The Twelve, finding Iceman locked in battle with an apparent other member of Apocalypse's Horsemen.

T'aint going well.

As it turns out, his foe is none other than Deathbird, who bests him handily and pips him away while Jean can only watch helplessly from afar.

Meanwhile, on the rocky plinth that houses the remains of the Leningrad -- which Magneto sunk some seventeen years earlier by our time -- Magnus and Charles chat, partly about next steps now that there is a mutant homeland.

Oh Burn

Charles reveals to Magneto through a mindlink (thus sparing us x-obsessives yet more redundant exposition) that he's been named one of The Twelve, and we don't know what that means but it's got something to do with Apocalypse and he wants all of them alive. Magneto's like "Hm, well, what if I just kill the other eleven of you?" And Charles is like, "Well, don't, please."

 

"Maybe later. For now I'll play along." 

Back at the Mansion, a well-rested and demon-free Mikhail is getting fitted for a skintight catsuit when Death -- or as he's known to squeamish Gen Zs, Bad Ending -- teleports right in like he lives there or something.

 

Death, who in his former life as Wolverine knows a lot about his foes, is able to best them all quickly, including Gun-Totin' Moira.

Storm and Cyclops, who combined are nearly as powerful as an armed Moira, are also unable to stop Death from tossing Mikhail through a transmat portal and clawing his way into the Mansion walls to continue his rampage.

Also in Japan, the new Famine pops up to get Sunfire.

The X-Men, and Fiz, manage to corner Death, but he cannily escapes by cutting the single load-bearing pillar that keeps the entire mansion upright.

The team escapes with Fiz uses his Giant Man powers to shield all of them.

Jean gets a fix on the location of Apocalypse, who at some point we all stopped pretending we didn't know was the big bad here, and it's -- shock of shocks -- Australia Egypt! Unable to resist barging in heedlessly, the X-Men barge in heedlessly. This includes Jubilee, who is wrapped up in this somehow and wants to save her mentor Logan, and Fiz, who I guess everyone just understands now.

But Apocalypse has a surprise of his own waiting for them -- namely that he, Apocalypse, will be waiting for them, just as they expect!

Also, he's kidnapped Cable and... some other guy

To Be Continued!

Further Thoughts:

This is certainly an issue of X-Men continuing to build toward the climax of The Twelve storyline, and about that there's not much else to be said. But the real news is what's going on under the surface. Though the credits name only Alan Davis as the storyteller, Marvel Unlimited spills the beans that it was in fact ghost-scripted by a returning Chris Claremont, who had been writing Fantastic Four and serving a nebulous role as Editorial Director by this time. Though the plot seems to still be under Davis' direction, knowing Claremont was responsible for the words on the page sheds some light on the abrupt shift toward wordiness -- although nobody does anything "body and soul" and Deathbird doesn't tell Iceman "Bang, you're dead." It's a somewhat inauspicious return for the man who spent 16 years building this world, but this little story needs all the credibility it can get to puff it into the world-shattering saga it wants to be.