Broken Frontier

This month, Marvel will be marking the 10th anniversary of the “Onslaught Saga” with the launch of a special mini-series by Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefeld this week in Onslaught Reborn #1. 

The original story, a product of the mid-1990s boom of crossovers, is an interesting beast.  Spanning at least three separate “events,” Onslaught began as an X-Men family tale, before drawing in just about every character from the Marvel Universe and climaxing with several successful re-launches of core Marvel titles.

One of the earliest threads to the Onslaught saga began with the introduction of Bishop in Uncanny X-Men #282 (November 1991).  A time-traveler from a possible future, Bishop arrived with a dire prophecy for the X-Men.  Having seen a garbled transmission in which Jean Grey warned;

 “…betrayed by one of our own!  Professor Xavier…was the first to die…should never  have trusted…we knew so little about – You?!..you may have killed the X-Men…but  the dream will never…”

Jean’s image was then consumed by an energy blast as a mysterious voice asked, “die?” (Uncanny X-Men #287, April 1992).  Uncovering the mystery of the “X-Traitor” continued to be a driving motivation for Bishop as he was integrated into the X-Men.  

During the last half of 1993, the X-Men family of titles was involved in a major crossover called “Fatal Attraction.”  Significant in the history of the X-Men for many reasons, there was one moment in particular that set the stage for Onslaught.  After Magneto critically injured Wolverine, Professor Xavier used his psychic abilities in a vicious retaliatory attack, erasing the villain’s mind (X-Men #25, October 1993). 

The prelude to the saga began in earnest with July 1995’s Uncanny X-Men #322, in which the Juggernaut was (for no initially apparent reason), savagely attacked off-panel by a being called “Onslaught.”  References to Onslaught continued over the next 8 months before his herald, Post, appeared to battle the X-Men in X-Men #50.  In X-Men #53 (June 1996), Onslaught finally appeared, a massive being garbed in armor similar to that of Magneto.  Over the course of this issue, Uncanny X-Men #344 and X-Men #54 (both July 1996), Onslaught tried to recruit Jean Grey to his side, while at the same time she and Juggernaut attempted to uncover his true identity.  By the end of X-Men #54, Onslaught was revealed to be (the increasingly reclusive) Professor Xavier. 

Onslaught: X-Men (August 1996) began with the now infamous Jean Grey transmission that Bishop had once witnessed.  Liberally filling out the outline of the transmission (“Juggernaut was the first to die” and “never should have trusted there was no effect of mindwiping Magneto”), Jean explained that Onslaught was actually a manifestation of Magneto’s mind combined with Professor X’s darker impulses and power.  Throughout the issue, the X-Men clashed with their mentor, destroying most of their mansion, but with no actual casualties to the team (it turned out that Jean only thought the X-Men were dead, and that Bishop’s presence managed to prevent their murders at the hands of Onslaught).

The saga now began to spill out into the Marvel Universe it it’s entirety as it was combined with the idea to outsource several floundering Marvel titles.  Throughout the August and September releases (including Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Fantastic Four, The Avengers  and others), Onslaught began a massive assault on humanity.  At the same time, he kidnapped the incredibly powerful mutant son of the Fantastic Four’s Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman, Franklin Richards. 

During the course of the ensuing battles, efforts to stop Onslaught only augmented the villain’s strength (first Thor separated Xavier from Onslaught, and later the Hulk destroyed Onslaught’s physical shell).  Now existing only as a being of pure energy, Onslaught decided to destroy human and mutant alike.  Growing more powerful every time the mutant X-Men attacked him, it was left to the non-mutant heroes to defeat Onslaught.  When all was said and done, The Avengers and Fantastic Four were gone, having apparently given their lives in battle (Onslaught: Marvel Universe, October 1996).  

At this point, the story branched off in several different directions.  The X-Men returned to their own adventures, feared and hated by humanity (even more so than usual for their apparent role in the deaths of the Avengers and Fantastic Four).  Marvel used the “void” created by the “deaths” of so many heroes to launch new series, including the innovative and popular Thunderbolts.  The orphaned Franklin Richards was adopted by the derivative X-Men team, Generation X, before he ran away across the multiverse with the Daydreamers (a team including Howard the Duck and Man-Thing, who were featured in a three-issue miniseries in 1997).  During this time, Franklin carried a small blue orb, which he protected from harm.  As later revealed, the orb was created by Franklin himself, and within it existed an entire reality – the “Heroes Reborn” universe.

For months, rumors regarding “Heroes Reborn” (originally referred to as “Unfinished Business”) had been circulating in the comics community.  With the comic industry in general, and Marvel in particular, suffering from creative and financial malaise, Marvel President Jerry Calabrese contacted the seven founders of Image Comics with a unique proposal.  In an effort to boost sales and enthusiasm for four of Marvel’s long running titles (Captain America, The Avengers, Iron Man and Fantastic Four), the publisher was interested in offering “personal services contracts” to the Image founders to re-launch the books.  Met with skepticism, only Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld pursued the offer, that saw each sign a 6-month contract (with the option for an additional six-months) to re-imagine the comics for the modern day (Marvel, of course, reserved the right to veto any story ideas or additional creative staff).

Writer/Artist Jim Lee took on Fantastic Four, along with co-writer Brandon Choi and inker Scott Williams, in an effort to update many of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s early stories for modern readers.  Lee also plotted Iron Man’s new adventures, with scripter Scott Lobdell and artist Whilce Portacio, which added the “Heroes Reborn” version of the Hulk to the supporting cast.  On the other side of the deal, Rob Liefeld adopted Captain America (as writer/artist, with co-writers Jeph Loeb and inker Jon Sibal) and The Avengers (with co-writer Jim Valentino, and co-artists Chap Yaep, Sibal and Marlo Alquiza). 

The project was met with mixed reactions, from fans, industry professionals and, especially, Marvel staffers (many felt this outsourcing was a slight against their own abilities).  Amidst much industry coverage, all four new series made strong debuts, although the sales numbers on Liefeld’s books quickly tapered off.  Electing not to renew his contract, Liefeld and his teams were removed after 6 months, making way for Lee to add Captain America and The Avengers to his studio (Lee hired Walter Simonson and Michael Ryan for The Avengers #8-12 and James Robinson and Joe Bennett for Captain America #7-12).  As Lee’s contract neared an end, Marvel upped their commitment for a thirteenth issue of all the “Heroes Reborn” titles.  Borrowing from the Amalgam Comics concept (a co-production between Marvel and DC Comics, which saw characters from both companies temporarily “merged” into one), the #13’s, collectively known as “World War 3,” featured amalgamations between the “Heroes Reborn” universe and Lee’s own Wildstorm comics.

In December 1997, it fell to writer Peter David and artist Salvador Larroca to re-introduce the “Heroes Reborn” characters into the core Marvel Universe through the weekly four-part series, Heroes Reborn: The Return.  From there, each of the titles were part of a high profile re-launch, staggered over two months and featuring the likes of Mark Waid & Ron Garney (Captain America, January 1998), Scott Lobdell & Alan Davis (Fantastic Four, January 1998) Kurt Busiek & George Perez (Avengers, February 1998) and Busiek & Sean Chen (Iron Man, February 1998).

Since that time, there have only been occasional references to the entire Onslaught/Heroes Reborn saga.  In January 2000, Marvel launched a series of on-shots that detailed the events of the “Heroes Reborn” universe following the departure of the “Marvels.”  More recently, the protagonists of the reality-hopping Exiles visited this alternate Earth in issues #81 & 82 (May/June 2006).  Finally, to mark the 10th anniversary of the saga, Marvel is releasing the five-part miniseries, Onslaught Reborn, reuniting Jeph Loeb and Rob Liefeld with a tale that spins out of both the original saga and the events of the recent House of M series.