As a seasoned comic book aficionado with over three decades of reading under my belt, I must say that the latest development in the X-Men saga has left me utterly intrigued and slightly bewildered. The introduction of Vacuna, the time-eating mutant, has certainly added a new layer of complexity to the already convoluted timelines of our favorite mutants.
The clock is ticking for the X-Men, as we learn this week in issue #1 of Timeslide, written by Steve Foxe (Spider-Woman) and illustrated by Ivan Fiorelli (Fantastic Four). This new Marvel Universe storyline presents a peek into the near future, featuring time-jumping mutants Bishop and Cable. In this narrative, the time traveler Tempus sends Bishop to the year 3077 to locate Cable (prior to the events of Cable: Love and Chrome, set for release in January). The mission is urgent as they must warn of an imminent danger to mutants across all eras: a time-traveling entity named Vacuna. Developed by the Children of the Vault, Vacuna’s purpose is to halt the evolution of the X-Gene, the genetic marker that triggers mutant abilities. By moving freely through the timestream, Vacuna consumes significant moments in time that could shape the course of the mutant species.
In those instances, time gets entirely eliminated from the flow, causing a rip in the fabric of time. As time strives to mend itself, Tempus clarified that Vacuna needs to swallow crucial events enough to reach a critical mass — a point where the timeline can no longer adjust for mutants’ presence throughout history. If Bishop and Cable don’t intervene, Tempus warned, mutants will cease to exist.
As a follower, I’ve uncovered fragments of a fragile timeline that hint at events yet to unfold – Doctor Doom enforcing submission upon heroes in “One World Under Doom”, the future Luke Cage in “Power Man: Timeless”, and the demise of the X-Men under Revelation, led by Apocalypse’s heir. These occurrences were uncertain to Tempus – whether they originate from futures that may or will transpire. Armed with timesliders, I entrusted Bishop and Cable with the mission to precisely identify crucial moments in mutant history and intercept Vacuna, a time-devouring entity, as he threatened the timeline’s integrity.
For the first occasion, they traveled back in time to the X-Men’s fight against Dark Phoenix (in X-Men #136), but something was off: the new mutant Kamala Khan was already part of the team long before she would earn the title Ms. Marvel. While Vacuna digested this distorted moment, their second leap took them forward through time.
There they met an older version of Trista Marshall, the Exceptional X-Men’s Bronze, one of the last-surviving X-Men along with Sofia Yong/Jitter of the Outliers. Bronze revealed that Doug Ramsey, now the heir of Apocalypse called Revelation, did what Apocalypse could not: end the X-Men. She then presented a list of the events that led to this possible future, including XVX (X-Men versus Uncanny X-Men) and the 3K gene bomb (from the pages of Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman’s X-Men).
Subsequently, Bishop and Cable journeyed to ancient Egypt during En Sabah Nur’s reign (Apocalypse), and later to Genosha as it was on the brink of destruction by Cassandra Nova and her Wild Sentinels (in New X-Men #115). They then found themselves in Detroit, decades ahead, where Bishop safeguarded his sister Shard from the XSE. Fast forward to the 3800s, and again to the past in Chile during the collapse of X, where they initially defeated the Children of Tomorrow (in Children of the Vault #4).
Upon arrival of Vacuna, it was also Time (Tempus) who showed up with a strategy to ensnare Vacuna within a time trap. Accompanied by Bishop, Cable, and Time, they teleported themselves and Vacuna into an ancient nursery (Crèche) from the past where Mother (Madre) tended to children whose growth was hastened in time. By compelling him to ingest the instant of his own creation, Vacuna vanished, and the consumed moments were reinstated back into the timeline.
Tempus remarked, ‘Mutantkind may never realize how precariously they skirted oblivion.’ He then suggested that Bishop and Cable should make an effort to erase the visions of what lies ahead. ‘The future can be a confounding puzzle when it feels like a part of one’s past,’ he added.
The end… and the beginning. Cable’s story continues in:
Cable: Love & Chrome #1
MARVEL’S MOST EXTREME MUTANT RETURNS! He’s been a soldier. An X-Man. A protector of the timestream. But even from his earliest days, the mutant known as Cable has been living on borrowed time, waging a lonely war against the ravages of the Techno-Organic Virus. Yet when a high-stakes mission in the future goes catastrophically awry, Cable is left stranded in the dystopian city of Salvation Bay – and will find himself caught in the midst of a civil war that will change his life forever. Get ready for big action, bigger threats and the biggest guns in the Marvel Universe, in this epic new series from Ringo Award-winning writer David Pepose (PUNISHER, SAVAGE AVENGERS) and superstar artist Mike Henderson (DAREDEVIL, DEADPOOL VS. OLD MAN LOGAN)!
On sale: Jan. 1, 2025
Weapon X-Men #1
Unite with Wolverine, Deadpool, Cable, Chamber, Thunderbird, and more in their debut X-team adventure – a special expanded first issue! When a critical mission to save mutants takes them to the world’s most dangerous hotspots, they uncover a formidable foe that might be lurking within. A brand-new team of action heroes are now forged by fire, and their policy is clear: no compassion shown! Written by returning X-scribe Joe Casey, and illustrated by ChrisCross, don’t settle for imitations – this is the long-awaited series you didn’t realize you needed yet! This is the genuine article!
On sale: Feb. 19, 2025
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2024-12-26 07:39