Chronological X-Men - (Part 20) Second Genesis What If Review

If ‘if’ were a fifth we’d all be drunk.

What If #9 … The New X-Men Had Died on Their Very First Mission

The whole ‘second genesis’ arch ends with a few ‘what if’ stories, the first we have ‘What if the new X-Men had died on their very first mission’ in which we see the deaths of quite a few X-Men: Sean, Scott, Jean, Lorna, Alex, Bobby, Warren, John, Ororo, Kurt, Piotr, Shiro and Logan all die on the mutant island of Krakoa when it gets sent into space. Charles is devastated which causes Hank to leave the Avengers and return to the Xavier Institute in order to take care of Charles. Hank ends up reaching out to Moira for help and she brings along Rahne. In this reality Count Nefaria still takes over the weapons base with his Ani-Men and Hank uses Cerebro to reach out to a new set of mutants to help him take Nefaria down. Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver join the battle (but leave afterwards in order to return to their respective spouses) Namor’s cousin Namorita, Thunderbird II – John’s brother James, Banshee II – Sean’s daughter Theresa and Wolfsbane – Rahne once Charles activates her latent mutant abilities. It was kind of a fun read for what it was, so I don’t really have anything against it.

What If #23 … The All-New All-Different X-Men Had Never Existed

Okay, basically this one is just what it says it is- only it covers a lot of storylines. Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Havok, Iceman, Marvel Girl, Lorna (know known as Polaris) and Charles are all still X-Men. We see the Shi-ar empire and it’s princess Lilandra, we get the Hellfire Club, Mesmero, the Phoenix Force, Thunderbird (who is a villain in this reality) Nightcrawler (who is a villain in this one too) the Sentinels, Eric the Red II (so the Shi-ar version not Scott in disguise) Alpha Flight, Sean Cassidy, Dr. Corbeau, Dazzler, Dragonfly (of the Ani-Men) The (Shi-ar) Imperial Guard, Moira MacTaggart, Magneto, Mutant X, Storm, Kitty Pryde, the Starjammers and Sunfire. Okay so very quickly the X-Men don’t get captured by Krakoa, Eric the Red brainwashes Thunderbird and Nightcrawler, Lorna goes on the mission in space so Jean doesn’t have to sacrifice herself and get possessed by the Phoenix Force, Lilandra is still branded a traitor by her brother and run off of her home world, the Phoenix Force still goes batshizz and it is Kurt who sacrifices himself in order to make up for being so misguided by Eric the Red’s manipulation. The story is good, but it covers a whole hell of a lot of other plots within this one issue and there are a crap load of characters here so there isn’t too much individualized focus for anyone in particular.

What If #23 … The All-New All-Different X-Men Had Never Existed: B

What If #9 … The New X-Men Had Died on Their Very First Mission: B