In the ever-widening vortex of mythos Marvel’s mutant menagerie known as the X-Men have become, sometimes returning to a more simple time is best when considering new, dynamic stories. This is essentially the ethos Marvel’s new anthology series X-Men Legends is operating under. Coming in April, X-Men Legends #3 will address the origins of the X-Men’s animosity with one of their most dangerous villains, the mad tyrant Apocalypse, in a story set during the influential run during the 1980s of the original X-Factor by husband and wife team Walt and Louise Simonson, who are returning for this new issue.

The original roster of X-Factor was made up of the reunited team who originally attended Xavier’s School for the Gifted: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel, Beast and Iceman. Their original archnemesis was the then brand-new character Apocalypse, who formed the Four Horsemen (including a heel-turned and transformed Angel) to take them down. While the central focus of the original X-Men series grew from a saga of students at the school into tales of a semi-military task force geared towards putting down threats from evil mutants and space dictators, X-Factor was something of a return to basics by the Simonsons. It reintroduced the original team as a band of protectors of young mutants masquerading as mutant-hunters. During this time, X-Factor faced off against and defeated Apocalypse, and took his sentient ship (affectionately known as “Ship”) as a new base of operations.

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X-Men Legends #3, written by Louise Simonson and drawn by Walt, will return to this era of the original X-Factor team and focus on a new, untold battle against Apocalypse as he uses a secret sabotage within Ship to attack the team. The story will take place between X-Factor #42 and #43, which were originally published in 1989.

  • LOUISE SIMONSON (W) • WALTER SIMONSON (A/C)
  • Connecting Variant Cover by IBAN COELLO
  • Action Figure Variant Cover by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
  • THE ORIGINAL X-FACTOR RETURNS – TO BATTLE APOCALYPSE!
  • The mutants once known as the original X-MEN now fight the good fight as the mutant team X-FACTOR! Together with their mysterious sentient spaceship Ship and the newly transformed ARCHANGEL, they’ve defeated CAMERON HODGE and foiled APOCALYPSE’s scheme. But as Ship starts to malfunction, Apocalypse’s true plan unfolds!
  • Return to this classic era with legends Louise Simonson and Walter Simonson as they kick off an ALL-NEW tale set before X-FACTOR #43!

While retcons can often have deleterious effects on the overall stories, such a trap was actually hinted at by Apocalypse in X-Factor #26, where, after his defeat by the team, the ghost-faced Darwinist is shown to be secretly watching the ship remotely, plotting his next move. Apocalypse would canonically next attack X-Factor during the final major saga of the group, 1991’s Endgame, which saw Apocalypse infect and effectively destroy not only Ship, but also Cyclops’ young son Nathan (later known as Cable) in the process using the “techno-organic virus.” Apocalypse’s plans before this time have never come to light, until now.

X-Men Legends #3 by Louise and Walt Simonson goes on sale in April, wherever comic books are sold.

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