Title:Apokolips...Now.
Release Date: 1982
Writer:Chris Claremont
Penciller:Walter Simonson
Inker:Terry Austin
X-Men:Professor X, Cyclops, Phoenix, Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde.
New Teen Titans::Raven, Starfire, Changeling, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, and Robin.
Villains:: Darkseid, Deathstroke, assorted soldiers of Apokolips and Dark Phoenix.
The year 1982 was one of the last years that something as innocent as this could happen. Not the last year that the big two comic book companies could unite to make a cross-over, because they indeed did so much more extensively in the 1996 Amalgam Comics event. No, this was one of the last years that a comic book writer could write a story bringing together characters from two different companies without worrying about continuity or whether or not it was canon. The issue of how the two superteams had managed to not meet each other is glossed over, but it is perhaps related to the power of The Source, the mystical point in space that plays an important role in DC cosmology, It is perhaps being hinted that what lays beyond the The Source Wall is actually The Marvel Universe.
The story follows the continuing efforts of the evil space tyrant Darkseid to break through The Source Wall so that the power of The Source can give him dominion. Darkseid thinks that the energy associated with the Phoenix Force can help him penetrate the mysteries of the Source, and his quest for it brings him into conflict with The X-Men and the Teen Titans, who are alerted to the dangers of the Dark Phoenix by the alien princess Starfire. The two groups end up captured by Darkseid, but manage to escape, team up, and fight him, and use what is left of Jean Grey's human consciousness stops the Dark Phoenix entity from running amok.
If you are not a comic book fan with a deep knowledge of DC and Marvel storylines, I apologize for that last paragraph.
What I found most interesting about this series is there seems to be an actual story behind the book. Even in intracompany crossovers, teams are often brought together for nothing other than splash pages, and the storyline seems to be tacked on afterwards. But despite the somewhat overblown plot, the book really does seem to flow. I could almost believe that Chris Claremont came up with the plot idea first,and then managed to talk the publishers into the idea; rather than the two publishers getting Chris Claremont to write the book as a gimmick. One of the biggest proofs of that is the book has one of the hallmarks of a quality, story-driven comic book: lots of small panels that develop the storyline, rather than dramatic splash pages.
This book involves three things that can go dramatically wrong: Chris Claremont, cross-overs, and cosmic scenarios. And yet in those innocent days of 1982, the whole thing came off smoothly!
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