A seismic ending of one X-Men era leads into the beginning of another, at the pinnacle of X-Men mania! The original team, now called X-Factor, takes center stage when Proteus returns from the grave. But when Apocalypse strikes - infecting Cyclops' son, Nathan, with a deadly virus - Cyclops must make a bitter sacrifice! And the current X-Men return to Earth to find that Professor X's old foe the Shadow King has risen - and taken over Muir Island! It will take the combined strength of X-Factor and the X-Men to triumph - and when the dust clears, the two teams will become one! An uncanny new status quo is introduced as the reunited X-Men go back to basics, beginning with a deadly confrontation with Magneto and his fanatical Acolytes! Collecting: X-Men Annual (1970) 15, X-Factor (1986) 65-70, Uncanny X-Men (1981) 278-280, X-Men (1991) 1-3; material from New Mutants Annual (1984) 7, X-Factor Annual (1986) 6
Industry legend
Chris Claremont is best known for his epic sixteen-year run on Uncanny X-Men. Claremont's focus on the themes of prejudice and tolerance struck at the hearts of comics fans, and he built an unparalleled following during the next three decades. Under his pen, the X-Men franchise spawned a vast array of spin-offs, many of them written by Claremont himself. His other credits include Iron Fist, Ms. Marvel, Power Man and Spider-Woman. Claremont has returned to the X-Men universe in New Exiles, GeNext, X-Men Forever, Chaos War: X-Men and Nightcrawler.
Jim Lee is perhaps today's hottest comic-book artist. Since the late '80s, his work for Marvel, DC and Image -- the company he helped found -- has set trends that survive to this day. After honing his skills with memorable runs on Alpha Flight and Punisher War Journal, Lee rose to prominence on Uncanny X-Men. Lee then revamped the mutant team's look and helped launch the second X-Men series, whose first issue remains one of the best-selling comic books of all time. In 1992, he and other artists formed Image Comics. Lee's group of titles, published under the Wildstorm Productions imprint, included the mega-popular WildC.A.T.s, Stormwatch and Gen13. Under Wildstorm's sub-imprint Homage Comics, he published Kurt Busiek's Astro City and Strangers in Paradise, both of which became major fan favorites. Lee returned to Marvel in 1996, relaunching Fantastic Four as part of the "Heroes Reborn" event. Subsequently selling Wildstorm to DC Comics, Lee went on to pencil Batman, Superman and WildC.A.T.s. Later, as DC Comics' co-publisher, he helped revamp and reconceptualize the company's entire lineup.
An alumnus of the Joe Kubert School, artist
Tom Raney gained prominence at Marvel with short runs on Uncanny X-Men and Warlock Chronicles; Wildstorm, where he helped introduce the Stormwatch characters who became the Authority; and DC, where he helped revamp the Outsiders. His notable Marvel credits include Mutant X (a series he helped launch), a second Uncanny X-Men run, X-Men: The Search for Cyclops, Thor, District X and Ultimate X-Men. Since bringing to life the stunningly crafted Annihilation: Conquest crossover, he has illustrated the Secret Invasion: Inhumans, Dark Reign: Hawkeye and Black Widow: Deadly Origin miniseries.
A founding member of the star-studded Image team,
Whilce Portacio became a star thanks to his work on late-'80s Marvel titles like Punisher, Uncanny X-Men and X-Factor. After time at Image during the early '90s, he returned to Marvel with writer Jeph Loeb on Iron Man. A long illness kept him from the drawing boards until his return on Wildstorm's Wetworks. His subsequent credits include Batman Confidential, and his first Marvel work in nearly a decade on Uncanny X-Men and Loeb's Hulk.
