Mutantkind's Unexpected Savior Violently Embraces His New Role

One of the most beloved X-Men of all time is finally embracing his role as mutantkind's lethal savior.

X-Men #19 opens to the unexpectedly peaceful sight of Douglas Ramsey, formerly known as Cypher, and his beloved Bei the Blood Moon waking up to an idyllic morning in their quiet home in the rural Pacific Northwest. There, Doug hopes he will be able to come to terms with and fully understand his new life as Revelation, the heir to Apocalypse. While he initially believed he could accomplish as much without resorting to violence, it isn't long before a band of mercenaries comes to force his hand, and once they have, Marvel's new Revelation finally understands just how far he will have to go to carry out his progenitor's great work.

X-Men #19

• Written by JED MacKAY
• Art by NETHO DIAZ
• Inks by SEAN PARSONS
• Colors by FER SIFUENTES-SUJO
• Letters by VC's CLAYTON COWLES
• Design by JAY BOWEN
• Main cover art by RYAN STEGMAN & MARTE GRACIA
• Variant covers by GODTAIL, MIKE McKONE & MORRY HOLLOWELL, and SCOTT KOBLISH & VAL STAPLES

Douglas Ramsey made his first full appearance as Cypher in the pages of Marvel Comics back in 1983's New Mutants #13, during which he was being helped by Kitty Pryde to even begin understanding his own powers. As a mutant, Cypher is a hyper-linguist and innately capable of omnilingual translation. As such, he can quite literally understand and communicate in just about any language that exists, whether it be terrestrial, alien, or interdimensional in origin. While this alone doesn't seem like much, the nuances of such an ability have proven invaluable in numerous ways over the years, as has his slight experience with the Mystic Arts and his former techno-organic nature, which was a result of merging with his longtime friend and Technarch confidant, Warlock.

Following the war against Orchis and the end of the Krakoan Era, the ancient mutant known as Apocalypse decided that he needed to return to his roots as mutantkind's self-proclaimed savior rather than trying to continue playing the role of an unlikely hero. To ensure his legacy would live on, Apocalypse gathered twelve unwitting mutants together on Arakko, formerly Mars, and forced them to compete against each other to prove which was truly worthy of being bequeathed such an honor. In the end, it was Cypher who was found worthy, with his prize being a literal transformation into Revelation, the living heir to Apocalypse, and his sacred mission.

While Revelation's current trajectory is interesting enough on its own, it is downright horrifying when held up against Marvel Comics' recently unveiled The Age of Revelation. Much like "Fall of X" and "From the Ashes" before it defined an entire era of X-Men storytelling, The Age of Revelation will mark a dark and ominous chapter in mutantkind's overarching mythos. Although no firm details regarding The Age of Revelation were revealed alongside Marvel's teaser illustration by Humberto Ramos, the sight of numerous mutant heroes crucified in the same way the Reavers once tortured Wolverine ensures that whatever this next era has to offer will leave a major impact on every single character involved.

X-Men #19 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel Comics