Issue Date: February 1985
Story Title: An Age Undreamed Of
Staff: Chris Claremont (writer), John Romita Jr. and Dan Green (artists), Glynis Wein (colorist), Tom Orzechowski (letterer), Ann Nocenti (editor), Jim Shooter (editor in chief)
Brief Description:
Sorcerer Kulan Gath has magically tranformed Manhattan island to the barbarian age, building a kingdom of terror, hate and magik. His henchmen are the Morlocks, his enemies the X-Men and the Avengers, or rather barbarian-counterparts of those heroes. By accident, Storm and Callisto fall into the ocean, and the current takes them out of the spell’s range. They unite to battle Kulan Gath, and have unexpected help in the form of Selene, who although still in Manhattan, is unaffected, as she already liuved back then in the era where Gath is from. The evil sorcerer puts Xavier, Dr. Strange and the New Mutants under his control, while Selene turnms Magma and Rachel Summers into her loyal followers, since both girls don’t remember past encounters. Storm and Callisto re-enter the city, their minds proitected by Selene‘s sorcery, yet it’s too late, she has already been captured by Gath. Storm, and Callisto unite with the ancient versions of the X-Men, the Avengers and Illyana rasputin against the immortal tyrant.
Full Synopsis:
Manhattan, New York. Ships pass the many bridges, police are doing their job, helicopters and planes are in the air, the Statue of Liberty is currently repaired. All of a sudden, everything is gone, Manhattan transformed into an ancient version of itself, with a magical wall separating the island from the rest of the world.
In Washington, Val Cooper is presiding a meeting to discuss the Manhattan crisis with several Washington officials. Valerie tells that matter and reality underwent a complete transformation and that horrible things happen in the island, like human sacrifices. They tried to locate super-heroes such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four but discovered them too had been transformed. The biggest problems seems to be that the whole underground community of Morlocks have been transformed into the sorcerer’s loyal soldiers. When the government sent in troops, they too got transformed once they had crossed the barrier. Val is also afraid that Kulan Gath's sortilege might extend itself to the rest of the world. As several people argue on how to react, Val claims their only hopes lie in the hands of the X-Men and Avengers.
Aboard a sailship, Storm is abruptly waken up by Sunder, one of the Morlocks, who places her under arrest : her existence bothers Kulan Gath, she has to be enslaved. Sunder and Callisto try to carry out her enslavement by placing a hot iron collar around her neck, but Ororo reacts violently and fights. Callisto hunts Storm all around the ship and it’s rigging, and finally Callisto strikes with a blade across Storm’s belly. Thanks to the pain, Ororo before getting a vision of what the world should be in reality. Storm falls underwater with Callisto and the current pulls them towards the magical barrier leading to the real world.
Meanwhile, Kulan Gath is holding Dr.Strange prisoner, and prevents him from casting any spells, as Dr. Strange‘s mouth has been magically sealed, and his fingers are of no use, turned into long bands. The sorcerer then merges Professor Xavier and the Morlock Caliban into one single being, to utilize their abilities of mutant tracking and telepathy in combination. Gath's main goal is to reign supreme on Earth and to avenge himself from his sworn ennemy, Spider-Man. Thanks to their responding to Caliban/Xavier’s mental calls, he also easily enslaves some of the New Mutants (Wolfsbane, Mirage, Sunspot, Cannonball, Warlock). Warlock, unaffected by the time switch, manages to flee but isn't able to free his friends.
In a dark corner of the palace, Selene is lurking. She is not affected by the time switch as well, as she already was alive around the time that Kulan Gath ahs taken the city too. She plots her revenge against the barbarian sorcerer and finds two new allies : Rachel Summers and Magma, who, because of Gath‘s enchantment have no memories of their previous encounters with Selene.
In Hoboken, beyond the Hudson, Storm and Callisto are under federal custody; Callisto is pissed that she owes her life to Storm and that Kulan Gath enslaved her people. The two women receive a psychic call from Selene who suggest a truce and ask for help against the sorcerer. Callisto and Storm agree to gang up and after Ororio picked the locks, they rush to Manhattan through the Morlock tunnels.
In ancient Manhattan, Spider-Man tries to flee from Gath' soldiers (the New Mutants among them) and lands in a pub where he meets some of the Avengers : Cap, Starfox and the Wasp, as well as Nightcrawler and Rogue. Spiderman is arrested and Gath’s servants recognize a blond girl in the corner – Illyana. Sensing her power they want to capture her as well, but the heroes prevent this. Things heat up as Colossus and Sunder arrive and a full-scale battle between all of them starts.
Meanwhile Callisto and Storm cross the magical barrer again, and protected by Selene‘s spell their minds are unharmed, though their exterior changes to match the barbarian times.
Suddenly, the pub's walls and floor animate themselves and bury most of the agressive Morlocks, thanks to Selene's intervention; Colossus has been freed from Kulan Gath's influence thanks to a Magik, who just remembered how to access her magical power, and starts wielding her soul sword. Selene and her two “children“ Amara and Rachel meet with the heroes, but suddenly an image of Gath appears and swallows Selene. Storm and Callisto arrive too late in the pub to stop her disappearing, she finds herself trapped in magical bands in the sorcerer’s palace.
In hiding, Storm, Callisto, the Avengers and the X-Men decide to unite themselves against their tormentor while the Morlocks and New Mutants are scouring the city searching for them.
Characters:
Colossus, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Storm, Rachel Summers, Professor Charles Xavier (all X-Men)
Cannonball, Magik, Magma, Mirage, Sunspot, Warlock, Wolfsbane (all New Mutants)
Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Starfox, Vision, Wasp (all Avengers)
Doctor Strange
Spider-Man
Caliban, Callisto, Sunder (all Morlocks)
Val Cooper
Henry Peter Gyrich
Selene
Kulan Gath
Notes:
Kulan Gath already cast his magics in the barbarian times as can be seen in Conan, the Barbarian #14-15. He also encountered Spiderman in Marvel Team-Up #79.
This Issue has been reprinted in:
Essential X-Men Vol. 5 (Trade Paperback)
Classic X-Men #94
Issue Summary written by: Nicolas Giard
