"Battle of the Atom" is a 10-part

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

storyline published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

that debuted in September and October 2013 and ran through multiple X-Men books. The story involves the X-Men of the future traveling to present time in order to force the time-displaced X-Men to return to their rightful time, as their presence in the current timeline will result in disastrous consequences.

Publication history

''Battle of the Atom'' was announced in April 2013. The story involves the X-Men of the future traveling to present time in order to force the

All-New X-Men ''All-New X-Men'' was a comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in November 2012, with the launch of Marvel NOW! The series centers on the five original X-Men, brought from the past to the present to confront their future counter ...

to return to their rightful time, as their presence in the current timeline will result in disastrous consequences.Truitt, Brian (September 8, 2013)
"Sunday Geekersation: Bendis takes pride in his X-Men"
''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''.

Brian Michael Bendis Brian Michael Bendis (; born August 18, 1967) is an American comic book writer and artist. He has won five Eisner Awards for both his creator-owned work and his work on various Marvel Comics books.Bendis, Brian Michael and Oeming, Michael Avon, ' ...

, writer of ''All-New X-Men'', stated that the use of

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

in the story is less important than the theme of characters exploring how the choices they make early in life affect them later on in life, in a manner similar to the 1986 feature film ''

Peggy Sue Got Married ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' is a 1986 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high sch ...

''. Musing on the nature of fate, and how these ideas inspired both his previous comics work, and "Battle of the Atom" in particular, Bendis explained:

Plot

When Kitty Pryde's group of time displaced Original Five (O5) X-Men and Cyclops' Uncanny X-Men are forced to team up to stop an out of control new mutant, young Cyclops is killed by a Sentinel. He is resurrected moments later by one of Cyclops' recruits, who is a healer. However, in the brief moments that Young Cyclops was dead, the adult Cyclops blinked out of existence and the world around the two groups suddenly began to shudder and shake, as if reality was collapsing from the time paradox. This causes another round of debate from Wolverine's X-Men about returning the O5 to their proper place in the timeline. The debate is suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a group of older X-Men led by an aged Kitty Pryde, the grandson of Charles Xavier, and an adult Jean Grey (the time displaced O5 Jean Grey, having never returned to the past), dressed as the new Xorn. They seek to force the X-Men to go back to the past. Realizing that something does not seem right, O5 Jean escapes with O5 Cyclops. The X-Men and "Future X-Men" pursue, with Xorn explaining that a catastrophe will soon befall the X-Men if the O5 do not return to their original place in the timeline. The exact nature of that catastrophe is left ambiguous. O5 Jean & Scott eventually make contact with Cyclops team of Uncanny X-Men, and after some consideration Scott agrees to help his younger self and young Jean. Realizing that Scott's thinking on the matter is compromised, Emma Frost telepathically alerts the X-Men and Future X-Men of Young Jean's and Scotts location. However, upon seeing Xorn attack her younger self, Emma has a change of heart and attacks Xorn with the Cuckoos and O5 Jean. Xorn is able to defeat the combined powers of Emma and her Cuckoos, but O5 Jean is eventually able to defeat her. Xorn gives O5 Jean a glimpse of the future, a ploy on her part, which convinces O5 Jean that they need to go back to their proper place in the timeline. The three teams of X-Men part ways, with Cyclops unsure if this fight is really over. Magik, who is also suspicious of the motives of these new X-Men, travels to the future along with O5 Beast and O5 Iceman. It is discovered that these "Future X-Men" are really the "Future Brotherhood", and motives are purely self-serving. This new Brotherhood was created when Alison Blaire, also known as the X-Man Dazzler, is elected president and quickly assassinated, with the identity of the assassin unrevealed. The true "Future X-Men" agree to travel back in time and confront the Brotherhood. Upon arriving at the X-mansion with O5 Jean, Scott and Angel, it is discovered that the O5 Beast and Iceman are in the future. The Brotherhood realizes that they will soon have to fight Cyclops's team and the true "Future X-Men", and accelerate their plans. It is revealed that the "Future Kitty Pryde" is really Raze, the shape shifting son of Mystique and Wolverine. They attack the original X-Men, including an incapacitated Wolverine. Raze is able to infiltrate Scott's team and capture O5 Iceman and Beast. The O5 X-Men are brought to Beast's time machine and an attempt is made to send them back in time. However, an unknown force prevents this process from being completed. As the other Brotherhood members are overwhelmed by the Uncanny X-Men and the Future X-Men, the surviving Brotherhood members flee to Cape Citadel, the site of the first battle between the O5 X-Men and Magneto. The Brotherhood attacks the military to attract the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. The fully united force of the Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine's team of X-Men, and the "Future" X-Men arrive to stop them. Xorn is able to control the S.H.I.E.L.D. weapon systems on site and launch the government Sentinels, which were being created in secret. The X-Men defeat the government Sentinels, and turn their attention to Xorn. She is able to hold the combined forces off, but her powers overload and she explodes. The exact catastrophe that befalls the X-Men due to the O5's presence is not revealed. The Future X-Men return to their proper place in the timeline with their casualties. The whereabouts of the Brotherhood member Raze is unknown. The O5 X-Men, due to being nearly forced to go back in time, decide to leave the Jean Grey School and join the Uncanny X-Men. Kitty Pryde, disgusted that the modern X-Men tried to send the original five back by force, even hunting Cyclops and Jean down like criminals, quits and joins the O5 Team to continue to mentor them.

Cast

Time-displaced X-Men *

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been known under the aliases Marvel Girl, Phoenix and Dark Phoenix. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack K ...

(Past) *

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

(Past) * Beast (Past) * Iceman (Past) *

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

(Past) Wolverine's X-Men *

Wolverine The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for "gluttony, glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is ...

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

* Beast * Iceman * Marvel Girl ll *

Psylocke Psylocke is the name of two connected fictional Mutant (Marvel Comics), mutant superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. The first character to use the Psylocke moniker, Betsy Braddoc ...

* Rogue *

Shadowcat Katherine Anne "Kitty" Pryde is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (January 1980) and was co-created by wri ...

* Jubilee ll Cyclops's X-Men *

Emma Frost Emma Grace Frost is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (Jan. 1980), and was created by writer ...

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

* Magik *

Tempus Tempus is a Latin word meaning time and a Finnish, Swedish and German word meaning grammatical tense. It may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Television *"Tempus, Anyone?", 1996 episode of ''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Super ...

* Three-In-One *

Triage In medicine, triage () is a practice invoked when acute care cannot be provided for lack of resources. The process rations care towards those who are most in need of immediate care, and who benefit most from it. More generally it refers to prio ...

*Benjamin Deeds * Goldballs Future Brotherhood *Xorn lll (older Jean Grey, from the time-displaced O5) *Charles Xavier II, son of Charles Xavier and Mystique *Beast *Raze Darkholme, son of Wolverine and Mystique *

Molly Hayes Molly Hayes (also known as Bruiser or Princess Powerful) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character debuted in the award-winning series '' Runaways''. Like every member of the original Run ...

*Ice Thing, sentient creation of Iceman *

Deadpool Deadpool is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld, the character first appeared in ''New Mutants'' #98 (cover-dated Feb. 1991). Initially, Deadp ...

Future X-Men *Colossus, wielding Magik's Soulsword *Wolverine (Jubilee ll) *

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

(Kid Omega) *Ice Wizard (Iceman) *

Wiccan Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...

, the new

Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in '' Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorc ...

*Kymera, daughter of Storm *Sentinel X (Shogo, Jubilee's adopted son)

Titles involved

September 2013 *Part 1: ''X-Men: Battle of the Atom'' #1 *Part 2: ''

'' vol. 1 #16 *Part 3: ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

'' vol. 4 #5 *Part 4: ''

Uncanny X-Men ''Uncanny X-Men'', originally published as ''The X-Men'', is an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics since 1963, and is the longest-running series in the X-Men comics franchise. It features a team of superheroes called the X ...

'' vol. 3 #12 *Part 5: '' Wolverine and the X-Men'' vol. 1 #36 October 2013 *Part 6: ''All-New X-Men'' vol. 1 #17 *Part 7: ''X-Men'' vol. 4 #6 *Part 8: ''Uncanny X-Men'' vol. 3 #13 *Part 9: ''Wolverine and the X-Men'' vol. 1 #37 *Part 10: ''X-Men: Battle of the Atom'' #2

Critical reception

"Battle of the Atom" has been reviewed by a number of different websites, including

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

iFanboy ''iFanboy'' is a weekly audio podcast which focuses on comic books, comic book publishing, and comic book creators. It stars Josh Flanagan, Ron Richards, and Conor Kilpatrick. The first episode of the audio podcast was released on November 2, 20 ...

and

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

.Zawisza, Doug (August 28, 2013)
"X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1"

Mobile game

In January 2014, a mobile card game based on the event was released for Android devices.

Collected editions

References

{{Marvel events 2013 comics debuts Comics by Brian Michael Bendis