Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars 42 (Years Of Future Past Edition)

Marvel has really gotten a lot out of a story line that was surprisingly only two issues of Uncanny X-Men back in 1981.   The Chris Claremont/John Byrne classic has spawned numerous spinoffs and tie-ins and of course the best X-Men movie.

(On a side note, the “future” in the original story was 2013.  Man I’m old.)

Unfortunately, we also got the Secret Wars tie-in/sequel Years of Future Past.  I currently have it ranked as 47th out of 50 in our Secret Wars Power Rankings.  Tom would place it last.  As might Ryan if he hadn’t stopped reading it in disgust.  I’ve already looked at issue 1 and after the break I will finish the series with Years of Future Past #2-#5.

Be sure to check out our latest Secret Wars Power Rankings, which also features links to the other parts of my read through.

Years of Future Past #2

The issue begins with flashbacks to the upbringings of Christina Pryde and Cameron…uh…just Cameron.  Like Madonna.  Pryde was imprisoned, she was surrounded by the love of her family who taught her history, philosophy and art.  In contrast, Cameron was free, but let’s just say that Wolverine wasn’t exactly a hug it out kinda dad.  He told Cameron about the war and taught him the skills they needed to survive on the streets.

But that was then.  Now, the surviving mutants are on the run from Doom Sentinels, finding refugee in the Morlock tunnels and Angel’s sanctuary called Centrum.  The people of Centrum has been keeping a deactivated Sentinel head in the middle of town and using its sensors to give an alarm if a non-mutant comes near.  Everyone is safe, until our “heroes” decide to activate the Sentinel to get some information from it regarding the pending attack on President Kelly.  The information points to Kelly setting up the attack himself with the intent to blame mutants.  Before the mutants can do anything about it the Sentinel head summons the Doom Sentinels to their location.  The mutants are once again on the run, but find safe haven with Smaug Lockheed, who has grown quite a bit.

Years of Future Past #3

It’s Lockheed versus the Doom Sentinels.  With the help of a reappearing Storm, long thought dead, the dragon seems to be winning the fight.  Until a disembodied Doom Sentinel head blasts Lockheed from the ground.  The blow causes the dragon to come crashing down and knocks a building over.  Cameron is in the wrong place at the wrong time and is saved from the falling bricks by…his mother.  In the least shocking twist of the year, Kitty Pryde and Colossus are also Cameron’s biological parents.  Needless to say, Cameron is more than a little miffed at the deception.

Escaping from the Doom Sentinels and hiding out in Nightcrawler’s chruch, the truth is finally revealed about Cameron’s birth.  Well, there’s not much to it.  Cameron was born, the Sentinels captured most everyone, Logan escaped with Cameron.  A couple of years later Chrissie was born in secret in captivity.

After a lot of whining by the kids about how tough it is growing up, the pair (well, mostly Chrissie and then a reluctant Cameron) decide to help free the slaves at the Mutant Internment Camp located next to Nightcrawler’s church.  But as it turns out, some of the mutants are working with Kelly and have no interest in being saved.

Years of Future Past #4

While many of the mutants do rise up and join the Pryde’s and Nightcrawler to battle for freedom, others fight against them.  Conveniently, the bad guys are all dressed in their super villain outfits and not jumpsuits with giant M’s on them, so that they are easy to distinguish.

The rebels appear to be outnumbered and definitely outgunned until Storm, Logan and Magneto arrive with a Sentinel body in tow that Magneto is controlling.

Then things get confusing as it turns out that Magento has actually sold them out and the Pryde’s are meant to die as martyrs saving President Kelly.  Once revealed that plan doesn’t last much longer as Cameron kills “Uncle Erik”.

Cameron then tells Chrissie that the only way for this war to end and for the world to heal is the extinction of all mutants.  They are the anomalies that have upset the balance.  So he plans to kill President Kelly and then the humans will wipe the mutants out for good. (What about all the mutants in the other zones of Battleworld?  Right, nevermind.)  Chrissie tells him that he is going to have to go through her first.

Years of Future Past #5

And in this issue, things go from bad to worse.  For the reader that is.  Cameron gives some speech about tigers taking over the city; it’s mutant versus mutant as those loyal to Magneto and his cause fight against our heroes; Cameron fails in his bid to kill President Kelly when he is impaled by his baby sister; everybody is sad and then a tiger shows up to finish them off.  Or something.  Who the hell knows?