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Quote1 I was there... there when it all began. I was present when the light that first shone upon the waters fled before a second shadow. A shadow from the stars. I was witness to the First Host of Celestials, X-51. There to see the Earth be remade in their own image. Quote2
Uatu

Appearing in 1st story

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Races and Species:

  • Robots (First appearance)
  • New Folk (First appearance) (Corpse, skeleton or other remains)
  • Dinosaurs (First appearance) (Appear in flashback and corpse in main story)
  • Humans (First appearance)
  • Watchers (First appearance) (Appears on screen)
  • Homo erectus (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Celestials (First appearance)
  • Deviants (First appearance) (Only in flashback) (Origin revealed)
  • Eternals (First appearance) (Only in flashback) (Origin revealed)
  • Angels (Mentioned)
  • Devils (Mentioned)
  • Kree Sentries (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Homo antecessor (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Inhumans (First appearance) (Only in flashback) (Origin revealed)
  • Ennead (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Olympians (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Asgardians (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Atlanteans (First appearance) (Only in flashback) (Origin revealed)
  • Synthezoids (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Atlantean-Human Hybrids (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Flora colossi (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Several unidentified alien species (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Deviant Mutates (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Hill People (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Giganto (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Kree (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Mutants (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Skrulls (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Taa-ans (First appearance) (Only in flashback)
  • Zenn-Lavians (First appearance) (Only in flashback)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Events and Eras:

Synopsis for 1st story

On Earth many years into the future, the former superhero and android Aaron Stack, better known as the "Machine Man", lives a quiet life in emulation of his "father" and creator Abel Stack. Aaron's peaceful existence is interrupted only by the appearance of a black doorway, which has haunted him throughout his life. The doorway appears once more, now offering to share with Aaron the truth of humanity and its ultimate destiny. Unable to resist the temptation of knowledge, Aaron touches the doorway and is transported far away, with his human exterior stripped away to reveal the machine underneath.

Shocked and distraught at losing his face, Aaron is shocked to learn that he is on the Moon. Spotting what appeared to be buildings in the distance, Aaron begins exploring, unaware that a figure is watching him from afar. Discovering the Watcher's Citadel, Aaron enters and is greeted by Uatu the Watcher, who appears on a massive screen in the center of the room.

The Watcher, who insists on referring to Aaron by his model number "X-51", explains that he has brought him to the Moon to assume the role of the new Watcher. Using his equipment, he shows Aaron the origins of the world as it now exists. Milennia ago, the Celestials, godlike beings from outer space, arrived on Earth to shape the planet in their image. They carved out a piece of the planet to create the Moon, brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs, and captured early man, experimenting on him to create new races. The first race, the Deviants, were deemed a failure, as they had been designed with too much aggression, causing them to rebel almost immediately. The second race, the Eternals, were more stable, and made into the planet's first protectors. Up

The Eternals settled upon the mountaintops and were worshipped as gods by the humans who lived in the valleys below, while the Deviants lived beneath the valleys, enslaving all they encountered and becoming the origins of mankind's stories of devils and demons. Upon witnessing the Celestials, X-51 describes them as breathtaking, to Uatu's disappointment. When X-51 questioned whether those actually worshipped as gods, like Thor, were frauds, Uatu explains that the Celestials were not the only life form from the stars to visit Earth.

The Kree, an alien nation locked in war with the alien Skrulls, also came to Earth hoping to find fodder for their armies. Using the Terrigen Mist as a catalyst to trigger the seeds implanted within humanity by the Celestials they created the Inhumans. The Inhumans also rebelled against their creators and constructed the hidden city of Attilan. When X-51 points out that Uatu has yet to show him anything that truly has to do with humanity, Uatu counters that the purpose of humanity does not begin to manifest itself until the arrival of the Fourth Host of Celestials.

He goes on to explain that 25 000 years ago, the Deviants enslaved all of humanity, endangering the species alltogether. Deeming this unacceptable, the Second Host of Celestials returned to destroy the Deviant Empire, causing the sinking of Atlantis. Withnessing the destruction caused by the Celestials causes X-51 to call them evil, which Uatu quickly dismisses, deriding good and evil as human inventions to explain what is beyond human understanding.

1000 years ago, the Third Host arrived to strike an agreement with all those who would lay claim to humanity; the various alien beings animated by myths who now were worshipped as gods. They agreed that neither the gods nor the Celestials would interfere in the affairs of humanity, with the gods oblivious to the fact that the Celestial seeds in humanity would eventually allow them to grow beyond the gods.

Uatu explains that he has seen nations rise and fall, heroes born and die, and when X-51 asks how he can sleep at night, he responds that Watchers do not sleep nor shed tears for fallen heroes. He declares that there is no good, no evil, only change. He confesses to luring X-51 there under false pretenses, and goes on to explain that it was not until the 20th century that the seeds dormant in humanity began to germinate, in part due to the strain of World War II. The development of the atom bomb further sped up this evolution, and more and more superhumans began to emerge as external forces triggered the seeds dormant within them.

In time, mutations began to occur naturally, leading to the rise of mutantkind, the first of whom was Namor the Submariner, whom Uatu devotes particular attention to, describing him as the "pendulum that swings between the polarities of Deviant and Eternal". As more and more superhumans emerge on the Earth, roughly divided into groups of heroes and villains, Uatu describes the arrival of Galactus, hesitantly revealing his role in stopping him from consuming the Earth. Uatu reveals that the Fourth Host of Celestials arrived shortly after the creation of Adam Warlock, decreeing that mankind was progressing as planned.

Uatu ends his story by revealing that he has been blinded after being caught unawares and appeals to X-51 to aid him as the new Watcher, declaring that what is about to happen must be catalogued. When X-51 deduces that the Celestial seeds have been implanted in the entirety of the planet's population, a satisfied Uatu tells him that they have already begun to transform the planet, and that the destiny of mankind was determined long ago.

Solicit Synopsis

X-51, the MACHINE MAN, has been mysteriously transported to the surface of the moon by the WATCHER; and it seems that something is happening on Earth. Something that has been occurring since the beginning of time. And it will leave no being -- from the AVENGERS to the X-MEN -- unchanged.

Notes

  • Like the entire Earth X trilogy, this issue touches on a number of subjects that deal with the entire history of the Marvel Universe. This prelude issue covered most of the Marvel Universes history as it is known on the planet Earth.
  • On page 10, the location that X-51 stumbles across is the Blue Area of the moon. Constructed long ago by the alien Kree. It is the home of Uatu the Watcher and was once home to the Inhumans. It's known for being the only area on the moon that has an atmosphere that can sustain life.

The bones that are seen in the second panel belong to Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy as revealed in Earth X Trilogy Companion.

  • Page 11 panels 2 shows a blaster, and on panel 3 we see scorch marks on the ground. X-51 is in the location in which Dark Phoenix killed herself for the sake of the universe in X-Men #137.
  • Page 12: The citadel shown here is owned by the Watcher, it first appeared in Fantastic Four #13.
  • Page 14/15: The giant projector that displays the Watcher's face was once depicted in X-Men #137 when Wolverine accidentally stumbled upon the Watcher's citadel.
  • Page 20: The Deviants on panel 3 were the Celestial's first attempt at mutating humanity. They first appeared in The Eternals #1 as well as their next creations shown in panel 4, the Eternals.
  • Page 21: This one page spread shows of the Deviants subterranean world of Lemuria located deep below the Earth's surface, as well as the Eternals home Olympia, which is located in Greece. The Eternal Ajax (First appearance Eternals #2) is seen flying towards Olympia.
  • Page 23: The hidden city of Attilan first appeared in Fantastic Four #45. It was originally located two hundred miles southwest of Iceland. It was later relocated to the Himalayan Mountain range in China, until finally it was moved to the Blue Area of the Moon. Each time it was moved it was to avoid being found by the rest of humanity.
  • Page 26-27 Panel 2: In the second we see a barbarian who could either be Conan (first appearance in Conan #1) or Kull (first appearing in Kull and the Barbarians #1) Both are characters that were part of Marvel continuity but were owned by other parties. Marvel no longer holds the rights to either character, and this probably explains why the barbarian in question has his back turned to the reader, let alone not being mentioned by name.
  • Page 28: The first two panels retell the presentation of the original Human Torch to the press circa 1939. These events and the original Torch's first appearance were depicted in Marvel Comics #1. Panel 3 shows Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos. Visible in this panel are Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, and Gabriel Jones, all of whom first appeared in Sgt. Fury #1.
  • Page 30: Panel 1 shows the Invaders consisting of the Original Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, Bucky, Captain America and Toro. The team was the first group of heroes during World War 2. They first appeared as a team in Avengers #71. Toro was the sidekick to the original Human Torch he first appeared in Human Torch #3. In panel 2 we see the Red Skull (John Schmidt) standing to the left of Adolf Hitler. The Red Skull is Captain America's arch-nemesis; he first appeared in Captain America Comics #2.
  • Page 32-33: Features a number of the "Marvel Monsters" that were popular in the 1950s. After the war, popularity in super-hero comics flagged and comics turned to horror, science fiction, romance and drama. Marvel created a number of monsters for their horror and science fiction tales, some of these creatures are pictured here, from left to right they are: Groot (top left, first appeared in Tales to Astonish #13), The Brute That Walks (First appearance Journey Into Mystery #65), The Glob (first appearance Strange Tales #88) and others.
  • Page 36: Panel one shows the second Human Torch (Johnny Storm) trying to revive the memories of the Sub-Mariner; this happened in Fantastic Four #4. Panel two shows Namor finding Atlantis deserted; this happened in Fantastic Four #6. His attack on New York City with the monster Giganto shown in panel 4 happened in Fantastic Four #4. Namor attacking the Eskimos with the block of ice that contained the frozen body of Captain America happened in Avengers #4.
  • Two variant covers for this comic exist.
  • The first variant is part of a larger work of art by artist Alex Ross. Putting all the covers together in the proper order shows a larger picture. This particular cover shows the hand of the Golden Age Human Torch. This cover had a second printing. The 2nd printing of this cover featured a blue "X" in the Earth X title.
  • The second Variant is a Dynamic Forces special edition. This cover features a picture of the Earth surrounded by various Silver Age Marvel characters. The Human Torch, Daredevil (in red costume), Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, Thor, Hulk and Captain America are all represented on this cover as they appeared in the early 1960s.

See Also

Links and References

References

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