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Onslaught 1: The Awakening
by Mark Waid, Scott Lobdell & Larry Hama
(Art by Andy Kubert, Cam Smith, John Dell, Joe Madureira, Tim Townsend, Dan Panosian, Dan Green, Pascual Ferry, Art Thibert, Val Semeiks and Chad Hunt)
The Juggernaut rushes to find the X-Men to seek their aid against the mysterious and powerful foe who has been operating in the shadows for months; Onslaught. However, when Phoenix finally helps Juggernaut to unlock the secret of Onslaught's identity, betrayal from within their own ranks leads the X-Men's most devastating defeat.
Up to this point Marvel had just been dropping hints of Onslaught (usually just his name) for some time but, unlike J. J. Abrams' awful 'Mystery Box' model of storytelling, Marvel eventually revealed the terrifying threat behind the hints. The first half of this book is largely just a continued building of the sense of 'something's coming' and, unfortunately, feels a little jumbled and unfocused. It's because there are a lot of B-plots all vying for space whilst the A-plot is being held back and, ultimately, doesn't make for terribly gripping reading. I did like the way that the 'unstoppable' Juggernaut is used as the one to showcase just how dangerous Onslaught is, and Cain Marko's fear of the true villain is convincingly portrayed.
The story kicks up a gear when Onslaught's identity (well, sort of) is finally revealed in the chapter that was originally released as a one-shot special 'Onslaught: X-Men' (which I very proudly used to have as part of my comic collection, alongside 'Onslaught: Marvel Universe'). Here we see the X-Men put on the back foot by the surprise of who their enemy is and the emotional repercussions of that, before they're given a thorough beating by Onslaught's power directly. It's a nice one-two punch of emotional and literal damage, that really sets the stakes for the crossover event.
A shaky start, but one which is totally paid-off at the end.
4 out of 5
Onslaught 2: To The Victor
by Terry Kavanagh & Jeph Loeb
(Art by Steve Skroce, Bud LaRosa, Rob Hunter, Anthony Castrillo and Mark Morales)
When it becomes clear that the newly-revealed Onslaught has designs on the vast power of X-Man (AKA Nate Grey), X-Force step in to protect the young man. However, they are taken by surprise by Mister Sinister instead.
This is very much a subsidiary story, giving a sense of what's going on with the mutants in the periphery of the main Onslaught crossover. However, it's interesting to see X-Force trying to bond with Nate, who is understandably jaded by the post-apocalyptic alternate world he grew up on. It was also interesting to see how Onslaught uses his unique knowledge of them to manipulate their subconscious minds.
The highlight of the book for me was the complexity of its primary antagonist; Mister Sinister. Sinister is absolutely and undeniably a villain but here we see that he is motivated by the knowledge that Apocalypse has awoken once more and he intends to use Nate to prevent that other villain from taking over the world. His plans are further accelerated by the advent of Onslaught and I liked the idea of a villain, powerful in their own right, scheming to prevent the ascendancy of either Apocalypse or Onslaught.
Despite those interesting elements, however, this book never feels more than a sideshow and you could genuinely skip it and the Onslaught event would more or less still read the same.
3 out of 5
Onslaught 3: Comrades In Arms
by Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid & Tom DeFalco
(Art by Joe Madureira, Tim Townsend, Mike Deodato, Tom Palmer, Carlos Pacheco, Bob Wiacek, Andy Kubert and Dan Panosian)
As the threat of Onslaught is revealed, the still-reeling X-Men ally themselves with the Avengers and the Fantastic Four in an attempt to stave-off the monster's plans. As the heroes gather allies, Onslaught too is preparing for their final confrontation by setting his sights on the reality-warping powers of young Franklin Richards.
First, another criticism of the absolutely terrible editing done with this series of six graphic novels. It is greatly irritating and was eminently avoidable that events in this book take place before those featured in book 2, 'To the Victor'. There's no reasonable justification of why this story has been edited together so badly (it's most egregious in book 5) and it sours the entire reading experience.
That said, however, the actual content of this book is really good. We get to see the emotional fallout of the X-Men's first battle with Onslaught, which leaves them unsure and short on trust, as well as seeing how groups such as the Avengers and Fantastic Four come to understand the threat Onslaught poses. It was particularly telling in the scenes where the FF shrug off the threat since they've defeated the likes of Doctor Doom and Galactus, only to be rapidly taught just how dangerous this new enemy is.
Also, seeing the X-Men, Avengers and FF teaming-up for the first time (well, of this event storyline, anyway) gives a nice preview of what's to come in the climax of the Onslaught epic.
4 out of 5
Onslaught 4: Eye Of The Storm
by Jeph Loeb & Peter David
(Art by Ian Churchill, Scott Hanna, Angel Medina, Robin Riggs and Art Thibert)
The fourth book in Marvel's Onslaught saga, focusing on Cable and the Incredible Hulk. This book roughly divides into two halves. In the first, Cable and Storm battle the Hulk as they attempt to break Onslaught's mental control of the behemoth. This is all-action as the two mutants try increasingly desperate measures to defeat their attacker. Perhaps the most interesting element of this half of the book is that the Hulk's various personalities are all featured; the intelligent Hulk, the vicious grey Hulk and, best of all, the savage Hulk.
The second half of the book tells the Hulk and Cable's respective (and separate) stories in the build up to the final battle with Onslaught. The impatient Hulk decides to lead a premature attack on Onslaught, joined by Hawkeye, Falcon, Vision and Crystal. However, their enemy's mental powers supply them with visions that show the spectre of their deaths and reveal the Hulk's disregard for the safety of his allies. Meanwhile, Cable is approached by his archnemesis, Apocalypse, with a plan to deny Onslaught access to Franklin Richards' reality changing powers. It's great to see two enemies, who clearly hate one another, being forced into alliance by an enemy like Onslaught. Naturally, Apocalypse plans a betrayal, but Cable and the Invisible Woman are one step ahead of him.
Although this book doesn't advance the overall Onslaught story very much, it's great to see how the turmoil affects such major characters as the Hulk and Cable. It also contains a line which sums up the tragedy of Xavier's fall; 'And now...what's left of the dream? Or any who followed the dreamer?'
Followed by 'Onslaught 5: The Front Line'.
4 out of 5
Onslaught 5: The Front Line
by Howard Mackie, Tom DeFalco & John Ostrander
(Art by Jeff Matsuda, Al Milgrom, Mark Bagley, Larry Mahlstedt, Josh Hood, Derek Fisher, Tom Lyle, Robert Jones, John Romita Jr. and Al Williamson)
The fifth book of the Onslaught saga. Perhaps, technically, this book should be under 'anthologies' as it tells separate tales of X-Factor, Spiderman, Green Goblin and Punisher, but it has the overarching story of Onsalught's Sentinels invading Manhattan, so I've included it here.
The book begins with X-Factor battling Fatale, Post, Random and Havoc, only to learn that they are a distraction whilst an army of Sentinels (giant mutant-hunting robots, if you didn't know) powers up and launches. The main battle against Onslaught goes on elsewhere (covered in the other books of the series), but here we get to see some of New York's solo heroes battling against the Sentinels which have been reprogrammed to kill all super-humans. Peter Parker has to risk the use of his intermittent powers in order to help Ben Reilly, the current Spider-Man. The Green Goblin tries to cope with his own fears and inadequacies in order to continue a hopeless battle. Meanwhile, when the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier is shot down by the Sentinels, the Punisher steps in to protect the survivors from murderous looters.
This book serves to illustrate how the war against Onslaught affects the lives of all of Marvel's heroes, not just those destined to participate in the final battle. Basically, it boils down to this; Spider-Man - good, Punisher - good, Sentinels - good, this book - great!
Followed by 'Onslaught 6: Pyrrhic Victory'.
5 out of 5
Onslaught 6: Pyrrhic Victory
by Mark Waid, Scott Lobdell & Tom DeFalco
(Art by Mike Deodato, Tom Palmer, Andy Kubert, Art Thibert, Carlos Pacheco, Bob Wiacek, Madureira, Tim Townsend, Dell, V. Russel, Milgrom, Adam Kubert, Joe Bennett, Dan Green and Jesse Delperdang)
The conclusion of the Onslaught series. This should have been the greatest graphic novel I've ever read, but unfortunately the entire experience of reading it was ruined. The problem is that the comics which make up the book haven't been arranged in chronological order, meaning that chapter 4 actually takes place after chapter 5 and chapter 2 happens after both of them. The upshot of this is that rather than reading as a continuous coherent story, you're constantly bewildered by the order of events as the chapter you're reading references past events which you won't read until the chapter after next! What's most annoying about all this is that it's so ridiculously unnecessary. If they'd just got someone to proof read the book before printing it, it would've been simple to put it right.
If, however, you can get past this major annoyance, you should love this book. The war against Onslaught reaches a crescendo as the Avengers battle Post and Holocaust, the Fantastic Four confront manifestations of their oldest foes and the X-Men free Charles Xavier from Onslaught's control. Everything comes together in the final chapter as the assembled heroes of the Marvel Universe (not to mention Magneto and Doctor Doom) take the fight to Onslaught himself. The ending is exciting, inspiring and tragic.
So, the screw up with the order of the stories makes me want to give the book a 3, but the quality of those stories makes me want to give it a 5. So, let's split the difference.
4 out of 5