21 years ago, Marvel Comics launched the ambitious Age of Apocalypse crossover event which thrust the X-Men into an alternate world in which the team was formed by Magneto in the wake of Charles Xavier’s death. Later this month, former X-Men writers Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza will reunite in a special Age of Apocalypse panel at Long Beach Comic Expo!
On Saturday, February 20th at 10:30am, CraveOnline’s Comic Channel Editor Blair Marnell (that’s me!) will moderate an Age of Apocalypse panel with Lobdell and Nicieza as they discuss the genesis of the event, share some of the behind-the-scenes details, and look back at one of the greatest X-Men stories ever told!
In several ways, Age of Apocalypse redefined the boundaries of the comic book crossover. Even Marvel’s recent Secret Wars revival owes a lot to Age of Apocalypse. Some aspects of the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse movie also appear to be borrowed from that storyline.
Related: Apocalypse Returns In X-Men: Apocalypse Wars Crossover
The setup for the story began when Charles Xavier’s son, David Heller, used his mutant powers to change history. Although he had intended to kill Magneto, David accidentally murdered his own father and inspired Apocalypse to strike several years earlier than he had planned. Without the X-Men to stop him, Apocalypse overran the world while Magneto assembled a team to stop his agenda.
On this crossover event, Lobdell and Nicieza were joined by writers Mark Waid, John Francis Moore, Larry Hama, Warren Ellis, Jeph Loeb, Howard Mackie, and Terry Kavanagh. The contributing artists was a murderer’s row of some of comics’ biggest names, including Joe Madureira, Adam Kubert, Andy Kubert, Roger Cruz, Steve Epting, Ian Churchill, Carlos Pacheco, Terry Dodson, Steve Skroce, Chris Bachalo, and Tony Daniel.
If you have any questions for Lobdell and Nicieza at the upcoming Age of Apocalypse panel, leave a comment below or hit me up on twitter @BlairMarnell. For more information about the two-day Long Beach Comic Expo, click here!
