X-Men Legacy Annual #1 - Marvel

I'm not really sure where to start with this issue. There's a whole lot of stuff going on here. Which really . . is the point. This is an exciting time in the X-Men's lives, and there's a whole lot of change and transition going on. I guess I'll start with the island. Maybe it just slipped past me, but I never realized that this chunk of land that Scott has risen from the bottom of the ocean was actually what was left of Asteroid M. You know Magneto's base is space. I guess this is what was left of it after it crashed. That never even occurred to me. Scott is busy on the island trying to get everything up and running, and also trying to figure out the social dynamics. He asks Rogue to use her experience to help the new kids, 'A counselor. Maybe a therapist and a trouble-shooter. They need someone who's been there.' Also this issue . . Emplate is back. You remember, from Generation X . . the brother of Monet. It looks like he was unearthed during some construction going on at the previous site of the school in Westchester. However, it's not long before he makes his presence known on the island. Scott's guessing that he's after them because he's looking for food. He lives off the bone-marrow of mutants. He was feeding on Penance's diamond form until she escaped from his dimension. So Scott's guessing that he's after another food source. I'm thinking it's probably not a good time for Emma to be stuck in her diamond form . . she's got a trace of the Void stuck inside of her. By the end of this story, Emplate has brought his Light-house to the coast of the island and he's captured Roxy and taken her back to his dimension with him. It looks like she's going to be his first victim. This is chapter 1 of Devil at the Crossroads story-line. It was brought to us by Mike Carey and Daniel Acuna. In the second story, also by Mike and Mirco Pierfederici, another loose end of the previous Utopia story-line is wrapped up . . what's to become of the Omega Machine? At the end of the Utopia story-line Norman retreated and took with him his device for torturing mutants. So Scott sends Remy in to tie up the loose-end. But the important part of this story is this mutant that Remy fights . . he's protecting it. He's got telepathic powers, and as he's fighting Remy he senses . .'You've got something growing in your hind-brain. Doesn't look altogether . . human. A little cluster of retooled cells. Autonomous. Asleep and dreaming in the dark down there. About someone named . . Apocalypse? Wonder what it would take to wake it up.' Which he does, and Remy becomes the Horseman Death. With that power it's easy for him to take this guy out, and blow up the machine. This story is titled . . 'Something like an Afterward . . . Something like a Prologue'. It looks like there's a whole lot more coming down the pike for Remy. I thought this was a great Annual. We get 2 new story-lines, plus some wrap-up on the previous one. On top of that the painted art on both stories looked fantastic. This one was definitely worth the $3.99 cover price . . well . . maybe not completely. But more than most.