Earth X

Have you heard of it?

Do you know it?

Earth X is the brainchild of Jim Krueger, who birthed the series from notes created by artist phenom Alex Ross. The story is the tale of a dystopian future of one possible timeline of the Marvel Universe in which Krueger paints for us the cataclysmic outcome of a world in which everyone has acquired super powers and the heroes of yesteryear are no longer special or unique.

 What grabbed my attention first about this book, aside from Ross' insanely awesome cover work, is the notion Krueger brings forth that mankind's genetic potential (a longstanding issue in the Marvel Universe) was encoded into us by the race of godlike beings known as The Celestials. This idea is the backbone of a new mythology of the Marvel Universe which Krueger and Ross craft that is brilliant in its depth and awesome in its scope.

The first question, of course, has to be.....WHY?

Why did the Celestials take any interest in what are essentially insects to them? Why tinker with mankind's genetic destiny at all? To what end? The brilliance of the answer involves the purpose and mission of Galactus as an entity, the balance of the cosmos and the final fate of Franklin Richards - long identified as the most important mutant in the Marvel Universe.

While this story remains the core around which the rest of the series is crafted, the creators manage to entwine us into the lives of some of our favorite characters as they struggle and cope with seemingly unrelated crises' that threaten the slowly dwindling population of the planet Earth. In the end? Everything comes together in an epic story that has the kind of depth almost never found in comics.

I read it 11 years ago when it was published and forgot about it.

I found it recently at the local library and checked it out for another read, and was reminded of just how good it is. Easily my favorite overall piece of Marvel Universe storytelling. So much so that I purchased a copy of the Graphic Novel at Fan Expo, and then sought out Universe X Part I & II and purchased them as well. I'll update you on Universe X after I finish it, but so far?

More brilliance!

And if you like Ross & Krueger, I have to ask.....are you reading Project SuperPowers?