The Upstarts are the self titled title given to a newly formed group of teens of obscenely wealthy and powerful energy who collectively felt it would be a great idea to play out a game amongst themselves, vying for political power by eliminating weaker competitors. In their idealistic world, this game would save humanity from the evil politicians, greedy bankers and rich media moguls. However, in the real world where the rules of any game are different, and more often than not unenforceable, the Upstarts soon find their world turned upside down when they find themselves stuck with each other. With the unexpected and apparently impossible turn of events, these teens must work together to figure out what to do next and how to survive the dangerous environment their game puts them in.
With an issue needing to be solved, the X-Men team is assembled for a event. Professor X tells them of a plan to send several genetically altered superpowered beings back to the stone age; many of which are deadly superpowered creatures. The X-Men are to locate and harness these gems, fuse them with their own bodies, and create new X-Men to protect the world. The evil Doctor Doom demands that X-Men hand over the stones to him, stating that he has a plan for their future. The X-Men are put on a race against the clock to locate and extract the gems from the evil scientist.
The main villain for this story is a massive six-foot tall robot named Fabian Cortez. He is a master telepath and also happens to be an expert in artificial intelligence. He has also been hired by the Chinese government to create new weapons they need to fight the Japanese. Once the X-Men try and steal the gems, however, Fabian attacks them, traps them within a mechanical duplicate of a temple, and takes them to his home. Inside, though, Fabian reveals to them that he has made a new life for himself using these gems, and that he intends to rule the world using them.
With a new team of X-Men at his side, Fabian Cortez begins his mission to dominate the world. The evil mastermind sends two of his hellions after the X-Men, but they are easily subdued by the X-Men. He then captures Jean Grey and makes several attempts to kill Cyclops, however, Cyclops is able to thwart his plans. In order to escape, Storm sends a few of her own X-Men to find and rescue Jean Grey, but they too are easily defeated by the evil android. Storm then teleports herself and Jean Grey to a location where she has special goggles which enable her to see the future, but Cyclops is able to trap her there. He then places a mental attack on Storm, preventing her from teleporting and allows her to be captured.
In an issue later in the series, Cable teams up with a mysterious gentleman who wants to help the X-Men defeat the Hellions. The two fight and the gentleman are killed. He leaves a heart stone for Cyclops, which has the power to teleport him and the other X-Men to the future. In an issue later in the series, Cable sends the X-Men back in time to help the future X-Men battle a massive group of robots who have invaded the United States. As a result, Cable’s team is reunited and they succeed in defeating the robots.
All of these events are set to be included in the upcoming movie X-Men: Days of Future Past. Will this be successful in continuing the adventures of the original X-Men team or will it flounder in a movie such as this. The answer to that question will likely be answered when the first movie is released in theatres. The success or failure of the series will also be determined by how well received the current upstarts are. There is a new team of X-Men on the scene, and they are not only getting the kind of response fans had hoped for, but they are also redefining the superhero genre. If you are a fan of the X-Men, these upstarts make for a great watch.