Days of Future Past is a
storyline that appeared in
Marvel Comics Uncanny X-Men
#141-142. It was collected and reprinted in a
graphic novel called X-men: Days of Future
Past.
Considered by many to be
Chris Claremont's best writing during his run on
Uncanny X-Men, the
Days of Future Past story presents a
nightmarish possible future that it seems the
X-Men
cannot escape. It takes the reader from the comfortable world of super heroics commonly
found in
Marvel books and presents them with a
wasteland future, the product of hatred and
fear. Told though the eyes of a
young woman, this future sees almost all members of the team
dead and
Xavier's dream of coexistence with humans in tatters. The scariest thing is the
seeming inability of man to overcome his prejudices that seem to lead the X-Men back to this
story time and time again as the
definitive future, regardless of what actions they take in
the present.
The Ruins of New York City, not long from the Present
Kitty Pryde, also known as
Sprite or
Shadowcat, walks through the remains a destroyed
New
York City, trying to reach the mutant
concentration camp with a small piece of
electronics
clutched to her chest. Meeting a gang called the "
Rogues", Kitty is aided by a decidedly
decrepit and old looking
Wolverine, who Kitty addresses as Colonel
Logan. Wolverine is shown
to be a part of a
paramilitary resistance group, operating in the remote regions of
Canada,
called the
Canadian Resistance Army. Wolverine asks some cryptic questions of Kitty, and she
confirms that "they would all be ready when he comes". Logan then disappears into the
ruins
again. In the most decidedly chilling part of the story, Kitty continues her journey to the
camp, passing by the
simple grey headstone marked graves of many Marvel heroes. The
Fantastic Four, the
Avengers, the
X-Men all dead and buried. Kitty arrives at the camp and
is clinically scanned by a massive
Sentinel which is standing guard. She is allowed to pass.
Rejoined by the last of her living friends, Kitty hurries to give the parts she smuggled in
to
Franklin Richards, son of
Mr. Fantastic and the
Invisible Woman.
Colossus, now
Kitty's husband,
Rachel Summers and
Storm wait and watch Richards work. In this
timeline,
Scott Summers (
Cyclops) and
Jean Grey (
Marvel Girl) have had a child, Rachel.
Magneto also watches, in a wheelchair, revealing himself as a twisted parody of
Professor
X, acting as a mentor to the remains of the X-Men. Richards puts the mechanism into a
hobbled together machine which is used by the
telepath Rachel to exchange Kitty's adult mind with the mind of young
Kitty Pryde of our time.
Westchester, New York, the Present
The X-Men are training in the
Danger Room, a room in
Xavier's School where they hone their
superpowers. This reality's
Kitty Pryde, has just become an active member of the X-Men
team. This training session is also her first time in the Danger Room. Just as the session
ends, Kitty
collapses and
blacks out. Fearing that the training has caused her injury, Kitty
is rushed to the
MedLab. Kitty wakes up, her mind now swapped with the Kitty from the
future. Upon convincing the team about who she is, Kitty explains how her
horrible future
was created: On that day, the
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants would kill
Senator Robert Kelly,
in opposition to his proposed
Mutant Control Act. Popular human opinion would shift, and the
people of the
United States elect a president that promises to
wipe mutants off the face of
the Earth. The Mutant Control Act is created, but it is deemed
unconstitutional by
Congress.
The administration reacted to this ruling by giving
complete autonomy to the mutant-hunting
Sentinel robots, secretly in
mass production, programmed with one task:
kill mutants at all
costs. The robots analyzed the situation, and concluded that the best way to protect
humanity was to
rule it. They killed most of the world's super-powered heroes, villains and
mutants because they did not conform to the
standard template for human. The ones that who
survived where sent to concentration camps or used as
hounds to hunt the remaining few free
mutants. The
Canadian Resistance Army had fought a losing
guerrilla war against the
Sentinels for years, but they were near collapse. The few remaining X-Men devised their
final desperate plan to send this message back to the past to warn the X-Men of our time. If
they could avoid the murder of Senator Kelly by the Brotherhood, maybe the future would be
saved. After hearing Kitty's story, the X-Men rushed to Washington to contact Professor
Xavier.
The Ruins of New York City, not long from the Present
Having swapped Kitty's mind into the past, the X-Men, led by Wolverine, began to escape the
concentration camp to take one last suicidal mission: Destroy the
Sentinel Continental Nerve
Center, located in the
Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four's old base of operations.
Leaving the crippled Magneto behind to die in his wheelchair, they left the camp. Colossus
lamented all the friends he had seen die, and was filled with guilt for leaving Magneto
behind. Suddenly, a Sentinel tore the roof off the abandoned subway tunnel where the group
was hiding, crushing Franklin. The group destroyed the trio of robots that attacked and an
enraged Colossus destroyed several more by
dropping a building on them. They continued on
toward the Baxter Building.
Washington, D.C. , the Present
The X-Men arrive at the
Senate building, where Senator Robert Kelly hosting a hearing about
the importance of the
Mutant Control, in the interests of human safety.
Dr. Moira MacTaggert
and
Charles Xavier (
Professor X) were where attending, providing the mutant point of view.
When Xavier saw the X-Men, he read Storm and Kitty's minds. Before he could act, the
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants attacked. The X-Men, concerned for the safety of the public, and
on their first mission with
Storm as the leader, started losing badly.
Mystique knocked
Professor X and Dr. MacTaggert unconscious.
Destiny, the Brotherhood's
precog, told
Raven
that there was a
random factor involved that was changing the future. That random factor was
Kitty Pryde
The Ruins of Downtown New York City, not long from the Present
Finally arriving at the Baxter Building, the X-Men begin their
assault, destroying the lone
Sentinel that was guarding the building. Rachel stayed outside to protect the
unconscious Kitty, whose body held the
consciousness of her younger self. The X-Men fought
up to the floor that housed the nerve center. A Sentinel guarding the floor was alerted.
Wolverine leapt to attack it, but he was caught in a
plasma blast and burned away down to
his
adamantium skeleton. All the X-men would
die feet from their objective. Storm was
impaled through the chest. Colossus raged and screamed vengeance for his
lost sister, and was quickly killed.
Rachel and Kitty's only hope now rested in the past.
Washington, D.C. , the Present
The tide of battle began to turn in favor of the X-Men.
Colossus,
Wolverine and
Storm
defeated the
Blob and
Pyro, while the
Angel saved the civilians from being caught in the
fight.
Nightcrawler entered in battle with "himself" when
Mystique took his shape. Mystique
escaped by morphing into a regular human form and fleeing into the crowds. Inside the
Senate, the pivotal point of the history was about to happen.
Destiny was about to
kill Robert Kelly with an
arrow, but Kitty, the random factor,
phased inside her and pulled
her down, making the shot miss. Kelly was saved.
At that very moment, the adolescent Kitty's mind returned from future. The X-Men, worried
that they had not stopped the future, asked Xavier if they had been successful. Xavier
answered by saying that only time held the answers.
After reading a reprint of this story in
Classic X-Men, I began to collect comic books. The
powerful storytelling and struggle against impossible odds struck a chord. It is a great
example of
tragic storytelling, and a
prime example of comics as
literary art.