Marvel Comics may be coming off a time-hopping adventure with Age of Revelation, but that didn’t stop them from celebrating the 30th anniversary of another time-hopping X-Men tale: X-Men of Apocalypse. This series explores various eras of the X-Men, and in the first issue, it all starts with Age of Apocalypse characters fighting the original X-Men on the day Jean Grey joined the team. Written by the originator of Age of Apocalypse, Jeph Loeb, the second issue is a huge improvement on the first issue.
It’s safe to say Simone di Meo is a powerhouse of a comics artist, with a sense of dynamic, blockbuster visuals like no other. Characters can be just standing around, as they are on the first page of this second issue, and it somehow feels cinematic and dramatic in a way only comics can deliver. Partly it’s the use of blur and light, but Di Meo will have your mouth agape more than once while reading this issue. The extra-wide gutters also add a kind of dreamlike quality to the narrative, which dovetails nicely with the various mind-powered characters doing their thing in this issue.
Carrying on from the last issue, the Age of Apocalypse characters are seeking the aid of Jean Grey. Their team consists of Gambit, Forge, Sabretooth, Wildchild, Morph, and Blink. They face the original X-Men, who have yet to have the many adventures we know and love.
Time to have a little fun.
Credit: Marvel
Loeb plays with this dynamic, as Gambit and the others know these heroes, while Cyclops and the rest don’t. In one scene, Beast reflects on the beastly nature of Sabretooth and Wildchild, and in another, Iceman faces off against Morph in a reminder that Morph has far more power than we might remember. The creativity in the fights, layered with character nuances, elevates the right scenes compared to the last issue.
Thrown into the mix is the use of Jean Grey, who may not have served a day at Xavier’s school yet, but has a dark secret unveiled in the last third of the issue. Fans of hers will adore the visuals, but also the implication of what is revealed by Nate Grey.
Closing things out is a teaser for two different eras of X-Men, and while both are fairly predictable, it’ll be a blast to see DiMeo crush on the visuals.
X-Men of Apocalypse #2 is a major step up, pairing Simone Di Meo’s powerhouse art with sharper character interplay and more inventive action. By leaning into the tension of mismatched timelines and spotlighting Jean Grey’s untapped potential, the issue finds a confident rhythm that the debut lacked. It’s a visually stunning reminder of how thrilling time-hopping X-Men stories can be when craft and creativity align.
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