Uatu is the Watcher, he has become blind so he recruits a new watcher. X-51 is an android who thinks he is a man. He was a hero for a time, operating under the name, Machine Man.
The problem that mankind faces today is that due to unknown factors, the entire populace has mutated. Everybody is a metahuman; a super – villain or hero, yet to be defined. And now the superheroes of old are being made redundant. These heroes we remember are starting to age, many not so gracefully. Nobody else on the planet is aging, there are few young people and nobody can procreate.
Uatu’s continued frustration stems from X-51’s empathy with, and sympathy for mankind, especially as we get closer to the end of the world. Man is not important. Mankind’s purpose is to act as good bacteria protecting the planet and the host that grows inside it – a child Celestial, by following the Celestial plan which is encoded in our DNA. Everything we do is part of the Celestial plan.
Wolverine is old, fat and lazy. Spiderman is getting pudgy, keeps getting approached by Cage to join the police force and his daughter is Venom. Captain America is the hero of the story, if a story of this kind can have heroes. He is old and slow and beginning to forget what America means, and losing hope in people. He is the last of the heroes and he’s very close to throwing in the towel.
X-51 watches all this happen from the moon, but Uatu first shows him the beginning; the birth of mankind, the visit of the Celestials and others, and the creation of the moon as an eye in the sky – to watch over Earth. It is Uatu’s goal to show X-51 what the Celestial plan is.
Reed Richards, after the death of the invisible girl and her brother Bobby – the human torch, by Namor: the Submariner, has donned Dr Doom’s old costume and lives in Doom’s castle. Him and Tony Stark are trying to undo the absolute mutation which Reed thinks he caused, they are pooling their minds and resources to stop the end of the world.
What I like most about this book is its scale – epic would be an understatement. A powerful God story is what they’ve achieved here through Jim Krueger’s writing, supported and matched by awesome sketches and materialised in those expected and hoped for images. This is a story of time about the birth of the Gods themselves and one very thorough concept of what it means to be human. Why are we here? Many books ask this question. This one hopes to provide an answer, beyond Uatu’s stale loathing for the very human habit of clinging to the concept of good and evil. There is no good, nor evil he states (though those that do state it, are usually the evil ones, so it’s a bit of a cop out.) There is only the Celestial plan.
In fact there is a mirroring of real life here. We are so insignificant in the world and therefore our lives are insignificant on the scale of the universe, so what does it matter what a man’s deeds are? It’s an argument that succeeds if its attempt is to draw out thought and feeling from the reader.
The story dares to go deep and explore all interesting tangents and relevant inquiry. At the same time we are introduced to some lesser known and our main Marvel staples. We get to know these characters, even if Uatu believes their lives to be insignificant. I must warn dear reader, here. Uatu’s distance is not without reason. The story of man is part of this birth and death of heroes and the story of mankind is truly depressing, even X-51 has trouble accepting the whole of it. But the story balances out towards the end, if not less depressing then at least somewhat satisfying. Like a very big meal. You might not be sure you want more, but it’s pleasurable to know that there is more when you are ready.
the joy of eating and the folly of thinking 