'Messiah Complex' was the biggest storyline to hit the X-Men franchise since the 'House of M'. It's one of those "must read" story arcs if you intend to follow the adventures of any of the X-Men teams from 2008 onward. Messiah Complex is told over 13 chapters, beginning with the X-Men: Messiah Complex one-shot, and then continuing in four of the X-Men monthlys, Uncanny X-Men #492-494, X-Factor #25-27, New X-Men #44-46 and X-Men #205-207. Following on from Messiah Complex, all four 'X-Books' underwent a relaunch, based upon the outcome of Messiah Complex.
To follow the events in Messiah Complex I'd recommend reading 'The House of M' arc as well as the X-Men 'Supernovas' and 'Blinded by the Lights' collections.
The Messiah Complex story really began at the conclusion of the House of M, and the event known as 'M-Day', in which a vast majority of the mutant population was de-powered. The X-Gene itself has all but disappeared, and there have been no new mutant births since M-Day. With mutants bordering on extinction, Messiah Complex begins with the explosive birth, literally, of a mutant. This sparks a race between the X-Men, Mr Sinister and the Marauders, the Acolytes, the Reavers, the Purifiers, and Predator X to see who will get to the child first. Clearly each group has it's own motivations, and the line between good and evil begins to blur in some cases.
The Messiah Complex plot is... complex, and it's hard to write much about it without giving away some of the surprises, which I found... surprising.
One thing I can say is that by the end of the Messiah Complex event, the world the X-Men inhabit has changed significantly, with each of the X-Teams undergoing some big changes, and some key characters taking vastly different paths as to those you may have expected.
The story i fast paced and kept me turning the pages. The artwork in this collection was all strong. While Chris Bachalo and Humberto Ramos may be maligned in some circles, I love their highly stylized illustrations.
The aftermath of Messiah Complex continues under the "Divided We Stand" banner. Basically, the conclusion of Messiah Complex resulted in the following:
- X-Men was renamed X-Men: Legacy as of #208
- New X-Men was relaunched as Young X-Men
- Cable & Deadpool was canceled
- A new Cable ongoing series began
- A new X-Force series began
- A new Deadpool series was planned
What did I learn?
You just can't trust anyone these days. Simple as that. The hardcover Messiah Complex collection is a must own edition for any fan of the X-Men, new or old.
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