Marvel's Battle of The Atom Reading Order
Future Finds Present To Return The Past To The Past.
Start: September 2013
End: October 2013
Confused? Don't be! Brian Michael Bendis leads this team of writing with an X-Men story that will push time to its limits. It's called X-Men - The Battle of The Atom event and it's a two-month storyline pitting characters from the past, present and future.
Left: The cover of X-Men: Battle of The Atom #1 (2013).
Set in our Present-Day period, something unexpected happens when a past-version of Scott Summers, brought into our current time, almost gets himself killed. All of a sudden the implications are deadly; there's a scramble to get the original five X-Men back into their own timeline of the past. Unfortunately, some of them don't want to go. Especially young Jean Grey who has learned she'll eventually be killed.
Too late, though, X-Men from the Future have decided to join the plot. It's a plot with a mess of outcomes and there's something suspicious, too. Will our X-Men figure this all out before it's too late? Read X-Men: The Battle of The Atom to find out.
Greetings everybody! This is a Summary Page for the Battle of The Atom event. Contained here is a Reading Order with details. The farther down you go, the more you know. Some artwork will be included, but nothing too revealing. Please enjoy yourself and feel free to comment in the Guestbook if you wish.
The Reading Order
Updated to: 10/30/2013
Chapter 1: X-Men - Battle of The Atom #1
Chapter 2: All-New X-Men #16
Chapter 3: X-Men #5
Chapter 4: Uncanny X-Men #12
Chapter 5: Wolverine and The X-Men #36
Chapter 6: All-New X-Men #17
Chapter 7: X-Men #6
Chapter 8: Uncanny X-Men #13
Chapter 9: Wolverine and The X-Men #37
Chapter 10: X-Men - Battle of the Atom #2
Summary Details - Lots of X-Men, Past, Present, and Future
001 Battle of The Atom #1 - Begins the event. Starts with Illyana having teleported into the future and witnessing a battle of future X-Men against Sentinels. She comments that she shouldn't have done this, but had to. Back in our present time, Professor Pryde and the "All-New" X-Men are alerted to a new mutant appearance and decide to go on a recon mission. Once there, they encounter "Animax" and her monsters. In the midst of the battle, though, Sentinels appear. They barely hold their own until the older Cyclops appears with his team and helps wipe them out. But not before young cyclops is hit with a deadly beam. Christopher Muse is quickly called out to heal him; barely alive, everyone realizes that older Scott Summers is disappearing as young Summers is on the bring of death. He lives, but this causes Kitty to order them to return to their own time. Arguments continue, and during them, the time cube activates. Stepping forward is a future group of mutants, including an older Kitty Pryde.
002 All_new X-Men #16 - Chapter 2 of the event. Occurs shortly after the future X-Men arrive. Older Scott and his team have already left the area. At the Jean Grey School, we are introduced to an older Kitty Pryde, a grandson to Charles Xavier, Deadpool, an older Beast, a neanderthal Iceman, Molly Hayes from The Runaways, and one other mystery figure. They've come to warn us that the past versions of the X-Men have to return now. Unbeknownst to them, Jean Grey is attempting to monitor thoughts and encounters a shield. She then collaborates with young Cyclops, telekinetically controls Wolverine to attack, and uses the distraction to flee in the Blackbird. Everyone suddenly notices they've left; that's when Xavier's heir reveals why and Jean Grey from the future reveals herself. They begin the search for young Summers and Grey, and on a shore, we see the Blackbird beached in the sands.
003 X-Men #5 - Chapter 3. Occurs about a day after Chapter 1. With the Blackbird gone, Kitty's team believe their stranded; that's when each version of the Beasts confer and reveal their latest engine technology called the "Dove". They all head in and with the skill of this "Xavier", they begin using Cerebro tech to follow her. Meanwhile, young Jean and Scott have changed clothes and commandeered a motorcycle. They head along the west coast until blocked by their trackers. Caught between the forces, Scott begins to counter with blasts of his own. Suddeny Professor Pryde and Rachel Summers appear and help them escape; they've decided that it should be up to the youths to return on their own decision. In the interim, young Scott and Jean escape once more. They take Kitty's hovercraft and head out to the one-lived mutant refuge of Utopia. Waiting for them is the older Scott Summers and his X-Men team.
004 Uncanny X-Men #12 - Chapter 4. The issue opens with Maria Hill of SHIELD learning that another disruption from the space-time continuum has occurred at the Jean Grey School. This causes her a lot of distress and anger to Hank McCoy. Meanwhile, on Utopia, the older Summers has been deciding on whether to help young Jean and Scott or to send them back. Finally, he's decided; he'll help; this causes Magneto and Emma Frost to argue and Magik to teleport away. While in the middle of this discussion, the mutants tracking Jean and Scott appear. The older Jean Grey begins shutting down everyone. It doesn't work on Emma Frost and the Cuckoos, though. They prepare for a psychic battle.
005 Wolverine and The X-Men #36 - Chapter 5. Occurs immediately from the last chapter. Xorn, the future Jean Grey's alias, is battling Emma Frost, The Cuckoos and young Jean Grey. Slowly, they all fall except one; now it's young Jean vs. her future self. Outside the psychic battle, though, is another matter. Both Scotts are staring down the end of adamantium claws as Wolverine and his band prepare to battle. Young Scott can take no more, he starts blasting. Chaos ensues. Elsewhere, back at the Jean Grey School, Magik just appeared next to young Bobby Drake and Hank McCoy. She tells them to come with her and teleports them into the future where these other X-Men have come; she claims something is wrong and she can feel it. Simultaneously, in the psychic battle, young Jean is showing her incredible strength; she finally forces her older self to show her a glimpse of the future. Their battle suddenly ends; young Jean says they need to go back now. Deadpool has also made a plea to stop fighting, but silently admits to no one that it's a LIE. Back with Magik, her small group finally arrives in the future and it's...BEAUTIFUL. They're at the Jean Grey School, and even the Sentinels are courteous. Suddenly, they are halted by none other than...The X-Men! (picture above). And like they thought, something is truly amiss. Someone is lying!
006 All-New X-Men #17 - Chapter 6. Takes a diversion into the future and ends right back at the present. Jumping into the future, we learn that Dazzler was elected to be the next US President, but was assassinated during her acceptance speech. This cause a split in the X-Men, which semi-explains the two, future divisions appearing in our present. Even farther in the future is where Magik, young Beast, and young Iceman appeared. Facing an Iron Man, Cloak-and-Dagger heir, Jubilation, a Black Panther and Ororo heir, Colossus, a wizardly Iceman, and a phoenix-endowed Quentin Quire, all their attempts are blocked from learning what truly happened. Although fighting is close to occurring, Magik finally talks them into their part of this responsibility. By the end of the issue, they've all traveled back to the present; Magik introduces them to Cyclops as the REAL X-Men of the Future.
007 X-Men #6 - Chapter 7. At the Jean Grey School, Jubilation receives a telepathic message to keep young Bobby and Hank from leaving, but they've already disappeared with Magik. While The Dove and The Blackbird are flying back to the school, Wolverine secretly tells Rachel Summers to spy on the future X-Men they've been working with. He can tell something is wrong. Once they arrive, Xavier learns that Bobby and Hank have gone to the future and he wigs out. This causes a battle and an exclamation that their ruse has been found out. Suddenly the future Kitty Pryde sprouts claws, shapechanges, and disembowels Wolverine; she's calling him "dad". Elsewhere, The Beast and future Jean Grey learn their cover is over and they take down the rest of the school. Outside, at the School's perimeter, present-day Cyclops and their Future X-Men allies are scouting. Sentinel-X flies in for a closer look and finds Jubilation. He introduces himself as Shogo, the future version of her son, currently in her arms. Shogo tells her that everything is going to be okay. But that's not what Psylocke thinks; holding her wounded arm, she appears from a hatch fairly beaten.
008 Uncanny X-Men #13 - Chapter 8. Sentinel-X takes his mom and young self to safety as Cyclops and his team decide on a plan.. Too late. Xavier has the Ice Hulk go beserk on them. At the same time, Magik and Colossus teleport in and face off against Molly and Deadpool. The fight begins, but Magik completely out-teleports Deadpool, drops him from a deadly height, teleports back in behind Molly, and stabs her. Fight over. Outside, Xavier has emerged and takes control of Krakoa, having the creature swallow his opponents up. The future Beast and Jean Grey - in the meantime - have the entire five, original X-Men on the time cube and activate it. It doesn't work! Magik has now teleported in, but Jean manages to "hold" her in place. Jean tells her to kill herself, but Magik teleports her and Colossus out; Colossus then kills Xavier. After realizing the cube isn't working, they test it on Raze; for her, it works. Future Beast surmises that the original five must have created some kind of weird, anti-temporal paradox where time-shifting won't work on them. Unfortunately for the bad guys, our Cyclops just walked in and he plans on laying the smackdown.
009 Wolverine and The X-Men #37 - Chapter 9. Before the arriving mutants can take out enemy, Xorn, the future Jean Grey, uses her powers for them to escape. Once they awaken from their psychic slumber, present-day Cyclops and Wolverine reluctantly join forces. They find Deadpool...dead on the premises. Flying away on the Blackbird with the past-versions of the X-Men captive, Xorn's team, now identified as the future version of The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, heads towards Cape Citadel where the X-Men first formed; they've learned that they can't send them back to the past, so now their activating "Plan B". Once Wolverine, present-day Cyclops, and the true future X-Men learn this, they head to the installation to intercept. Battle begins as the players work to achieve their goals. Little do they know, Maria Hill and a SHIELD helicarrier has also arrived. Xorn spots this and takes control of their weapons, sending all their missiles against those fighting. Appearing to be her contingency plan all along, she's going to kill everyone.
010 X-Men - Battle of the Atom #2 - Chapter 10. The mutants are stunned as every weapon of SHIELD heads straight for them. This is where they started and this is where some of them will die. Before they hit, though, many of them work together, stopping the detonations. While in this fight, though, suddenly Sentinels come forward; SHIELD is employing weapons against mutants! Escalating to a more deadly level, some of the mutants begin dying...future Beast, future Colossus. Xorn is now caught in a fierce battle as the "All-New" X-Men step up against her. She goes nova and explodes. The battle scene is void now; Magik has teleported them back to the school. Some are dead, but there's even greater fallout. Kymera decides to stay at the school. Kitty Pryde and the "All-New" X-Men decide to leave. It appears Cyclops may gain new members to his team. and the dissension among the mutants is greater now in the fallout of this event.
The Checklist for Battle of The Atom - This is Everything You'll Need
X-Men - Battle of The Atom #1
All-New X-Men #16
X-Men #5
Uncanny X-Men #12
Wolverine and The X-Men #36
All-New X-Men #17
X-Men #6
Uncanny X-Men #13
Wolverine and The X-Men #37
X-Men: Battle of The Atom #2
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