#william rolfson

[heckcareoxytwit]

The Chosen Mutants VS Genocide

Dani Moonstar, Exodus, Lin Li, Rictor, Monet St Croix, Cypher, Laura Kinney, Emma Frost, Forge, Cable, Gorgon and even Mister Sinister are assembled and ready to fight Genocide, the son of Apocalypse. Mister Sinister looks at Lin Li and muses that the rough-and-tumble types need an altercation so he pats her back and goads her into attacking Genocide. However, as Lin Li charges in blindly, she feels that something weird is happening to her until she gets blasted point-blank by Genocide, apparently killing her. Then, Mister Sinister notices the building is ready to collapse and says a callous sarcastic remark. While Laura works on evacuating the people from the building, Emma yells at Exodus that he needs to act quickly. Thus, Exodus telekinetically picks up Genocide and throws him into the empty collapsing building. Below the building, Cypher manages to catch the little girl on time but he wasn't fast enough to run away from the falling debris above him. Fortunately, they are saved by Monet who punches the debris away from Cypher and the little girl. Then, both Cypher and the little girl are saved by Rictor who uses his earth powers to evacuate him and the civilians away from danger.

Since Cypher and the civilians are evacuated, Rictor tries to bury Genocide under a pile of rocks and earth but he gets blasted by the powerful mutant. Cable, Forge and Dani Moonstar are pissed-off at the seemingly-senseless death of Rictor and they attack Genocide all at once. Meanwhile, Exodus works on evacuating the civilians with his telekinesis since Rictor is out of commission. While Cable, Forge and Dani are still pouring their attacks on Genocide, Gorgon does a sneak attack on Genocide by striking him from behind with his sword. Then, the other X-Women - Emma Frost, Laura Kinney and Monet St Croix, jump down to crack Genocide's helmet, allowing Gorgon to hit him again with a sword. Unfortunately, their physical attacks did much worse when Genocide tells them that his shell contains bio-plasma and if he unleashes it, he would kill everyone else in his vicinity. However, Monet turns into Penance and charges at Genocide head-on to distract him while Exodus flies in to use his telekinesis to contain Genocide from exploding. Unfortunately, Monet is too busy in tangling with Genocide that she doesn't get out of the way so both Monet and Genocide disappear when the explosion occurs. Emma and others are upset with Exodus for callously allowing Monet to die. Exodus gives a halfhearted claim that Monet knew the risks of the tournament and she died a hero. Mister Sinister congratulates Exodus by giving him a pat on his back with a mysterious item which makes him collapse and seemingly-killing him. Now the remaining mutants are upset with Mister Sinister for his callous attitude and his backstabbing act.

X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse #2, 2024

Welp, there goes Lin Li, Rictor, Monet and Exodus....I hope that these deaths would be fake-outs. If they don't return on the next or final issue, I would be pissed-off.

[gotham-at-nightfall]

X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse #2

[heirofapocalypse]

The cover art in question from the previous ask:

I kind of feel sorry for him the way everyone is ganging up on him. Maybe in-story he deserves it, but still. And hey, fact that he's able to fend off Sinister's blast is pretty neat!

His suit has a much more angular design this time around. No idea if that carries into the actual issue or if it was simply a stylistic choice.

Looking forward to the actual full issue when it releases. :)

[heckcareoxytwit]

A preview of X-Men: Heir of Apocalypse #2

X-MEN: HEIR OF APOCALYPSE #2

Cable, Exodus, Mirage, Wolverine, and more — Apocalypse saw great potential in twelve hand-picked mutants. But when a thirteenth contender crashes the tournament, endangering the lives of thousands in the process, will any survive to carry on in Apocalypse’s footsteps? Not if MISTER SINISTER has anything to say about it! Written by: Steve Foxe Art by: Netho Diaz Cover by: Adedotun Akande Page Count: 28 Pages Release Date: June 26, 2024

Looks like Lin Li is gonna die soon....

[heirofapocalypse]

William Rolfson Retrospective Bonus: Comic Covers

Uncanny X-Force Vol 1 Issue 14

Uncanny X-Force Vol 1 Issue 15

Uncanny X-Men Vol 4 Issue 9

[heirofapocalypse]

William Rolfson Retrospective Epilogue: Danger Room Addition (X-Men Prime Vol 2 Issue 1)

This issue had several scenes in which the time displaced Young X-Men trained in the Danger Room and among the many enemy constructs was a familiar face (which the Young X-Men in this scene also turned out to be constructs, having left a prerecorded message as they were no longer on the premises).

Closeup of William Construct:

Commentary: The fact that a construct of Billy was created for training implies that he was considered a powerful enemy for the team to face off against. I also think it’s a nice touch for him to be placed close to the construct of his father. It’s entirely possible that the X-Men thought it wise to include a construct of Billy in case they might need to face off against him again someday (because we all know by now that death is just a minor inconvenience in superhero comics).

[heirofapocalypse]

William Rolfson Retrospective Finale: William’s Death And The True Ending Of The Dark Angel Saga (Uncanny X-Men Vol 4 Issue 10)

William continued to rant as the Death Flight descended on the town. Psylocke tried to psychically communicate with the main Archangel clone and through him to Angel, who soon began to regrow his biological wings. Magneto attacked William in a rage, twisting and crushing his suit and body, with William’s dying words calling out Magneto’s own hypocrisy with regard to mutant supremacy. As William’s broken corpse began to leak radiation, Mystique suggested escaping, while Angel expressed his remorse for his part in the current situation. Magneto destroyed a metal wall and lifted the trio outside, where he and Mystique soon joined Psylocke and Fantomex in fighting off the Death Flight. Angel realized that Archangel was a part of him and that the two halves must become whole if any peace was to be had. The two beings melded into a new, more neutral Archangel, while also absorbing all of the clones. Psylocke, Magneto and the new Archangel returned to the X-Men base in the Savage Land, where Psylocke commented that Archangel had sworn off violence. Within this collective being’s mind, Angel preached to his new congregation about the rejection of labels and the importance of free will.

Commentary: Billy’s ranting really doesn’t even sound like it’s coming from him at this point. He’s using phrasing and words that no teenager would know without having been taught them in some advanced English class. Billy’s slow death is really nasty and torturous. Yes, he did terrible things, but did he really deserve THAT? And he’s absolutely right about Magneto being a hypocrite: he’s been shown in the past to kill humans without a second thought and his treatment of Billy isn’t that much better. Particularly when he adds insult to injury by bringing part of the wall down on top of his corpse during the escape. He could’ve done that in any part of the room: he just chose to be a petty asshole. I realize that the group are busy stopping the end of the world, but not once does anyone express any sorrow or pity that a teenage boy was brainwashed into becoming a monster, nor the role that Angel/Archangel had in leading him down that path. Angel preaches about the importance of choices at the end, while seemingly having no truly meaningful reflections on the lives destroyed by the darker aspects of himself. Magneto is far from the only hypocrite in this story.

[heirofapocalypse]

William Rolfson Retrospective Part 13: The Death Flight Takes Flight (Uncanny X-Men Vol 4 Issue 9)

As Angel spoke with the imprisoned Magento, his visage soon revealed that it was Mystique in disguise. She freed Magneto as they discussed caution when facing William. They ran across Akkaba surgeons extracting bits of Angel’s flesh to create more Archangel clones. As they attacked the surgeons, William arrived to pontificate about how the clones would be used to cleanse the Earth. A battle broke out once more until Mystque threatened to kill Angel. This gave William momentary pause until he realized that the main Archangel clone had been summoned by Psylocke as some of the other clones had awoken and begun attacking her. The main Archangel clone then lead an army of clones (dubbed the Death Flight) to attack the population of Green Ridge. The citizens, who have been brainwashed by the cult, assumed this was the End Of Days and did not try to resist the incoming onslaught.

Commentary: William is in full on supervillain rant mode here, but I guess he has every right to do so since his plan seems to be going as expected? Still, it’s a far cry from the uncertain teenager just doing as he was told earlier in the story. Getting the town to be lambs to the slaughter via the cult was a nice bit of plant and payoff. I wonder if in-universe William came up with that idea himself or if someone suggested it to him, given that he would still need advice at this point to pull something like that off. I also just noticed that Billy has unique colored dialogue balloons (white on black), so that’s kind of neat as well.