OK, let me see if I’ve got this right. The X-Men of the future pay a visit to the
X-Men of the present to stop the X-men of the past from returning to the past
because if they do the present and future X-Men may cease to exist as we know
them.
But considering the fact that X-Men of the past shouldn’t be
here anyway and the X-Men of the future may be only a possible future version
if the X-Men of the present don’t make the correct decision.
Whew! My head hurts!
That scene sums up the last few panels of Issue #1 of the X-Men
Battle Of The Atom from Marvel Comics series. The story
started out simple enough: the X-Men of the past, tutored and lead by Kitty
Pryde, manage to stumble upon some carnage created by a new evil mutant.
When things turn from bad to worse the X-Men of the present
step in and save their bacon.
During the entire process Cyclops of the past is killed (but
revived). But when he dies the Cyclops of
the present disappears because he never would have existed in the first place
if the Cyclops of the past was killed. Have
you got this yet?
The decision is made to send the X-Men of the past back to
the past where Professor X (who is still alive in the past) will wipe their memories
so they don’t remember their trip to the present.
Just as they are about to leave a ragtag group of mutants appear
demanding that the X-Men of the present stop the X-men of the past from leaving. If they do it will result in disaster.
Leave it writer Brian Michael Bendis to screw with readers’
heads in what promises to be the X-Men hit of the year. Throw in the fantastic art of Frank Cho,
Stuart Immonen and Wade Von Grawbadger and you’re guaranteed a classic.
So forget what you know the X-Men’s past, focus on the
present and get ready for the future!