1982
Apokolips... Now.
By Chris Claremont, Walt Simonson, Terry Austin
This story breaks down nicely into several scenes. Here's what how I broke it down.
1: Darkseid and Metron - Omega Phase Helmet, Source Wall
Darkseid helps Metron penetrate the Source Wall but the ruler of Apokolips is up to something.
2: The X-Men
The X-Men are all bothered by nightmares of Phoenix. It seems that Darkseid was there stealing their memories of her, but why? Scott hears a knock at the front door to the X-Mansion. When he opens the door he sees Jean Grey before him but she quickly evaporates.
3: New Teen Titans
Raven awakens from a nightmare of Phoenix, dark and deadly, in Titans Tower. Kory tries to comfort her. Changeling uses his shape shifting abilities to transform into a phoenix but Kory instinctively attacks him. She lets go once he transforms back to human. Gar summons the other Titans who are away from the Tower at the moment.
Robin is chasing down a lead that leads him into a fight with the Deathstroke. The mercenary gets the upper hand and knocks out the Boy Wonder. The other Titans find him unconsc
4: X-Men
The X-Men visit Jean Grey’s parents who were also visited by visions of their daughter. They want answers. Professor X uses Cerebro to search for clues.
5: Teen Titans
The team finds Robin unconscious. He tells them about what happened and they tell him about Raven’s visions. Starfire tells them about how she first heard of Phoenix when she was still a slave aboard the Q’st’r, before she came to Earth and joined them.
6: Terminator, Ravok, Darkseid
7: The Teen Titans & Prof X
The New Teen Titans infiltrate the X-Mansion. Starfire launches herself at Prof X. He cuts her down but her teammates overwhelm him. Raven scans the Professor and quickly discovers that he is no villain. A boom tube opens and three para demons attack. It quickly becomes clear that they think they are dealing with the X-Men. The Titans are overwhelmed. Most of the Titans (Cyborg, Starfire, Kid Flash) are-taken prisoner as the para demons retreat through the boom tube.
Changeling makes himself look like a para demon and follows them through the boom tube. This is very similar to what he did in New Teen Titans 25 when he disguised himself as a Gordanian. I wonder which came first, because one of them looks like a swipe.
8: X-Men vs. Deathstroke
The X-Men catch up to Deathstroke and a gang of para demons in New Mexico. The X-Men destroy the machinery that the bad guys had set up. The X-Men are defeated and taken prisoner.
Deathstroke vs. Wolverine? Quite awesome I just wished it had lasted longer.
9: Deathstroke, Darkseid, and Ravok
Deathstroke delivers the X-Men to Darkseid. Ravok has already returned with the New Teen Titans. Deathstroke breaks the bad news to Ravok. He captured the wrong heroes. Darkseid turns his omega beams on Ravok.
10: Dark Phoenix Lives
The X-Men and Teen Titans awake to find themselves secured to a very large machine. Darkseid uses the machine, which he obtained thanks to Metron, to suck up the memories the X-Men have of their former teammate. Using their memories he brings Dark Phoenix back to life. The heroes helplessly watch as the villains leave through a boom tube.
11: Heroes Escape
The two teams quickly free themselves once the villains have departed. They join forces. They are stuck on an asteroid that is quickly losing its atmosphere.
Various members of the two teams pair off and talk or state one another down. The funniest pairing is Gar and Kitty.
12: Return to Earth
The two teams return to Earth, to NYC, using the Mobius Chair. Darkseid is putting his plan into action: to remake Earth so that it is just like Apokolips. The heroes fight their way through hordes of para-demons and take on Deathstroke, Darkseid, and Dark Phoenix.
Wolverine gets a rematch with Deathstroke. The heroes are running late. Phoenix uses her energy to bore into the center of the Earth. Darkseid’s plan might have worked but for the combined assault of Professor Xavier and Raven. They strip Dark Phoenix of the hate in her soul and replace it with love. Phoenix is feeling weak and pulls back the energy she shot into the center of the Earth but it isn’t enough. While all this is going on the others continue the battle with Darkseid. Phoenix final mistake is trying to take over Cyclops body. She launches herself at Darkseid and takes him back to the Wall with her.
Epilogue 1: the two teams watch the firework display at the end of the performance by the NY Philharmonic’s rendition of the 1812 Overture.
Epilogue 2: Phoenix returns from where she cane and Darkseid becomes part of the wall.
The ending didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I understood part of it but there’s a good chunk that went over my head. I think I enjoyed the buildup to the end more than I did the end itself.
Overall this was a fun read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys either or both of these teams books from this era.
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