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X-Men: Proteus

Chris Claremont
Art: John Byrne

Reviewed by Lorenzo Princi
X-Men: Proteus by Chris Claremont
Cover Concept by Lorenzo Princi, 25 March 2015

While Jason Wyngarde plants the seeds to what will later become the Dark Phoenix saga, the X-Men face another super-mutant threat in Proteus. In the aftermath of yet another epic battle with Magneto, in which the Uncanny X-Men barely survive, there is a brief - things are back to normal - respite. Soon enough however a series of eerie events at Muir Island shakes the X-Men into action, culminating in a desperate call from Moira MacTaggert to Cyclops.

It's not until the second issue in the collection that we actually start getting a sense of what is really going on, but once Proteus is revealed, things start moving rapidly in the right direction. Proteus is infact the son of Moira and Kevin MacTaggert and his ability to literally reshape the nature of reality is more than a match for the entire X-Men team combined.

Proteus is a classic X-Men story arc with a surprisingly deep character development for Moria, who easily could have been a simple human plot device. Her fractured relationship with her husband is central to the story as her son, Joseph (Proteus) was spawned from a hateful marriage. Raised by a mother who held him in a laboratory, as the years passed he absorbed his mother's hate of his father despite her attempts to hide it. Finally breaking free and rampaging through Scotland, possessing and discarding innocent victims until he re-unites with his father so that his power and hate can reach their climax.

The X-Men are faced with their greatest threat, who is showing even greater strength than Jean Grey by manipulating the very fabric of reality. Can they put their own infighting aside in time to stop him? Well... you'll have to read it yourself to find out...

Tags: Marvel X-Men
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