Review: X-Men - X-Cutioner's Song

When an assassination attempt leaves Professor Xavier in critical condition, the X-Men scramble to find his attacker – their one-time ally Cable – which leads them into conflict with his X-Force team. Then, Cyclops and Jean Grey are kidnapped by the forces of Apocalypse. The X-Men must divide and conquer in order to save the life of their mentor and rescue their captive teammates.

X-Men: X-Cutioner’s Song collects Uncanny X-Men #294-297, X-Factor #84-86, X-Men #14-16, and X-Force #16-18. It is written by Scott Lobdell, Peter David and Fabian Nicieza, with art by Andy Kubert, Greg Capullo, Jae Lee and Brandon Peterson.

X-Cutioner’s Song was the first major X-Men crossover event for Marvel since 1990’s X-Tinction Agenda, the aftermath of which saw the birth of Chris Claremont and Jim Lee’s commercial smash X-Men #1. X-Cutioner’s Song, spearheaded by Nicieza, David and Lobdell, is framed as a trial by fire in the foreword for its hardcover collection. It came at a precarious point in the publishing history of Marvel’s Merry Mutants. The creative forces that had helped usher in a new era of commercial success for Marvel had jumped ship to start their own publishing house, which left the company without their big guns and with a sizeable hit to their stock. X-Cutioner’s Song was thus proposed as a way to maintain interest in the X-Men titles and to prove that Marvel was not hindered in any way by the so called “X-odus” of Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Marc Silvestri and Whilce Portacio. Sadly, the desperation is easily felt within the crossover and it remains an example of the excessive storytelling of the 1990s.

To use a term popular with describing today’s crop of X-Men and Marvel Studios films, X-Cutioner’s Song suffers from being overstuffed. Despite a remarkably simple premise, the narrative gets weighed down by the presence of its massive cast. There’s roughly two dozen mutant heroes, plus numerous villains, who are all vying for the attention of the reader. There is certainly a hierarchy to the characters involved. Wolverine, Cable, Bishop, Cannonball and Havok are the unequivocal leads in X-Cutioner’s Song. They carry the story forward, while the rest of the characters act as decoration for fight scenes. Even still, we do get some great moments between Cyclops and Jean Grey, as well as some further character development for Archangel. I’m also impressed by the dialogue written for both Boom Boom and Jubilee, whose sass helps to balance out the otherwise soapy writing.

The pacing of X-Cutioner’s Song is brisk. There’s plenty of action, including a rather memorable fight scene between the X-Men and the Mutant Liberation Front. It’s during these sequences where we actually see the characters shine, particularly due to the punchy one-liners and the collaborations between the members of the X-Men and X-Factor (X-Force is sidelined for much of the crossover, unfortunately). All of the explosions and elaborate displays of mutant powers do a lot to distract from an otherwise thinly plotted storyline.

Most of the issues I have with X-Cutioner’s Song revolve around its lead villain Stryfe. He was created in 1990 as an antagonist for the New Mutants and X-Force. He was portrayed initially as a mysterious masked figure, whose face was later shockingly revealed to be exactly the same as Cable’s. Thus began a debate between who was the “real” Cable. X-Cutioner’s Song provides no concrete example into Stryfe’s true identity or why he’s so bitter towards Cyclops and Jean Grey. By refusing to give readers the answers they need, Stryfe’s motivations remain unclear. Since the narrative never offers exposition or insight into Stryfe’s character, readers will undoubtedly be left feeling lost and with more questions than answers. Furthermore, there are issues regarding his general conception and portrayal. He’s a madman, which is always a riveting trait in a supervillain, but is very cartoonish. From his dialogue to his outlandish armour (complete with faux-nipples), he typifies the ridiculousness of the early-‘90s.

Despite its many (many) shortcomings, this crossover is remarkably entertaining – like a mindless popcorn flick. It’s punchy, exaggerated and dynamic. What makes it all the more enjoyable is the gorgeous art provided by Andy Kubert and Greg Capullo. Their art is distinctive and full of character. Kubert’s style came to define the visual representation of the X-Men in the ‘90s and provided the art for X-Men from 1992 up until 1996, becoming one of the longer running artists to work on Marvel’s Merry Mutants. Given the fact that he was Jim Lee’s successor, he did a remarkable job filling a legend’s shoes. Conversely, Capullo took over for Rob Liefeld in the pages of X-Force. This meant that the book went from being defined by its outrageous fashions and mind-boggling proportions to being one of the most beautifully drawn titles in Marvel’s wheelhouse. Capullo is near-incomparable and his characters are truly gorgeous. His take on Jean Grey is especially stunning and it’s quite possible that she’s never looked better than at his hands. Sadly, the art by Brandon Peterson and Jae Lee isn’t quite as remarkable. Peterson’s style is similar to his predecessor Whilce Portacio. It’s rough and largely unattractive. Jae Lee, meanwhile, suffers from inconsistencies. At times, his art is fluid and expressive while at others it seems rushed and lacks detail. While on the subject of inconsistency, it’s worth noting that there are quite a few visual continuity errors. Notably, costumes look different from one issue to another and Polaris’ jaw strap disappears and re-appears (note: she’s supposed to be wearing one due to suffering a broken jaw in the pages of X-Factor).

All in all, X-Cutioner’s Song serves as a reminder of the often outrageous storytelling that pervaded comic books in the early-‘90s. It certainly has an “everything and the kitchen sink” vibe to it and it never really delivers on its promised focus on Cyclops and Jean Grey (since it spends way too much time on Cable and Wolverine – shocker). Taken from an entertainment standpoint, it’s a fun read. We get to see a whole lot of characters interact and there’s plenty of great art to see. With a better villain, or at least one that’s elaborated on more, and some careful editing, X-Cutioner’s Song could have been a very compelling crossover. As it is, it’s merely just a representation of what typified a rather infamous era in comic book history.

RATING: C+