Savior reveals himself to be a parallel universe version of Charles Xavier.  On his world, after Magneto’s death, the villain nearly destroyed the world by unleashing the iron in the Earth’s core and wiping out the magnetic field in the atmosphere, killing millions.  The remaining heroes combine their intelligence to build a machine to save the rest of the planet, but this device runs on mutant powers and kills them.  This world’s Cyclops was among the first volunteers to power it.  After running out of mutants on their world, Savior and Storm began kidnapping mutants from other dimensions and using them to power the device.  It is the only way to keep their fragile planet intact.

Using the telepathy-blocking helmets of various Magnetos from different worlds, the “real” Cyclops escapes, along with other-dimensional versions of Emma Frost (Emmaline), Kitty Pryde (Shadow), a young Nightcrawler and Wolverine (Howlett).  They split up, with the ladies and Kurt going after the X-Jet and Cyclops and Howlett going after Savior.  Storm defends the X-Jet and captures Shadow and Emmeline, while Kurt appears to have been caught in an explosion.  Storm then intervenes and takes down Cyclops and Howlett, but they get back on their feet, ready for the final confrontation.

This is a fun story.  I like the parallel universe reinterpretations of the various characters.  In one scene, Cyclops seems to enjoy fighting on the same side as a Wolverine again, after his schism with the “real” version.  Cyclops’ mission is conflicted, though.  He means to kill Savior in order to save countless mutants in different dimensions, which will result in the destruction of this planet.  Not sure I see how this will work out.

Mike McKone’s art is as excellent as ever!  It’s dynamic, it’s sleek, it’s detailed.  There’s really nothing to complain about.  His Storm is very nice.  She seems to literally float on air, not fly.

Overall, this is an off-beat story for the X-Men, but that just makes it refreshing.  It’s neat to take Cyclops out of his element and place him in a unique situation.  It’s nice to have an X-story take place outside the normal trappings.  While this probably won’t go down as one of their most iconic tales, it’s still an enjoyable tale.

Verdict: Buy

ASTONISHING X-MEN #46
Written by Greg Pak
Art and Cover by Mike McKone and Rachel Rosenberg