X-Factor is finally getting good with this Apocalypse storyline. Before this, the only good Apocalypse storyline I had ever read was in Uncanny Avengers (which was a sequel to Uncanny X-Force which I haven’t read). From what I can tell, that whole storyline was sort of a rehash of this one, with Apocalypse mutilating a bunch of people to become his horsemen, and making plans to take over the world. That’s pretty much the only time Apocalypse works as a villain I guess, considering he’s pretty much invincible and you can’t have him directly fighting heroes because he shouldn’t really ever lose to them. This is basically why the Apocalypse movie was so ill conceived. The whole premise of Apocalypse only works if he’s tearing apart and brainwashing characters that you’ve grown to love over a very long time. Angel was one of the original X-Men. He’s been around since 1963. There’s a huge amount of weight attached to killing him, amputating his wings, bringing him back to life, and then grafting metal wings to his body. The continuity of the movies is so fucked up that there is no tension involved in Apocalypse creating his horsemen. All of the characters were brand new, so who cares if they turn evil? And then you have to fight Apocalypse and beat him before the movie is over. It’s boiling down the basic premise of a good Apocalypse story to the absolute bare necessities, from source material that barely works in the first place only when it’s set up properly. Sigh. I wonder if that Dark Phoenix movie is going to be a giant piece of shit. (X-Factor #25 – Feb 1988)