Review: X-Men - The Wedding of Cyclops and Phoenix

Having captured Sabretooth following a violent murder spree, Professor Xavier seeks to rehabilitate the villain. The X-Men are uncomfortable with the situation, with Jean Grey in particular questioning her mentor’s sanity. Before she can commit to a future with her long-time love Cyclops, Jean must assuage her doubts and confront the violent creature living amongst them.

X-Men: The Wedding of Cyclops and Phoenix collects X-Men #27-30 and Annual #2, X-Men Unlimited #3, Uncanny X-Men #308-310 and Annual #18, X-Men: The Wedding Album, and What If? #60. It is written primarily by Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza, with the art talents of Andy Kubert, John Romita Jr., Ian Churchill and Mike McKone.

The Wedding of Cyclops and Phoenix is assembled as a loose collection of stories leading up to the titular nuptials of two of the X-Men’s most iconic members. It picks up immediately after the events of Fatal Attractions. While the X-Men are still grappling with the defection of Colossus and Wolverine’s departure from the team, they are sent on a mission to apprehend Sabretooth and stop his murderous rampage. Upon doing so, he is locked in their basement and is given treatment by Professor Xavier. The purpose is to rehabilitate him, as was done previously with Wolverine and Rogue, though the X-Men are not convinced Sabretooth is worth the trouble. Jean Grey is the most reticent, her doubts magnified by her distaste for Xavier crossing the line when he psychically lobotomized Magneto and by her own sorrow regarding the absence of Wolverine around the mansion. She must reconcile all of these feelings before her engagement and eventual wedding to Cyclops. It's a nifty story arc for both Xavier and Jean Grey, giving both characters some much-needed panel time.

Since the stories in this trade weren’t originally planned or composed as a neat six-issue arc, the quality and focus varies from issue to issue. For instance, the events of X-Men #27 seem out of place and disjointed with the overall narrative due to its introduction of the character Threnody and the inclusion of Mister Sinister. Neither character plays any kind of substantial role in the proceeding issues. While it is poignant in its thematic usage of the Legacy Virus, it is also unrelated to just about everything else in this trade. If anything, it emphasizes the overall nature of storytelling during the 1990s. Each individual issue features a self-contained story that builds on or, at the very least, references events that have occurred previously. This makes it less accessible.

As a team, Lobdell and Nicieza introduce a lot of interesting developments. The rather brief “Sabretooth is imprisoned by the X-Men” arc from the animated series is expanded upon here and is used as a plot device in order to create a schism between Xavier and the X-Men. With Sabretooth living in the mansion, we get a lot of great moments that develop the characters further. Jubilee begins having nightmares, Psylocke finds an unsettling similarity between herself and the villain, and a connection between he and Gambit is hinted at. This insight into their characters helps readers to relate to them and allows for further speculation regarding the directions they may take in subsequent issues. The best moment, however, occurs in X-Men #28. With Sabretooth demanding psychic pacification after deeming Psylocke’s offering too paltry, Jean Grey ventures down into his cell to fulfill his request. It is a tense scene in which the “good girl” is placed in such a seemingly vulnerable position against one of the X-Men’s deadliest enemies. The implications of what Sabretooth might do to her are uncomfortable and scary. However, such fear turns out to be unfounded. Nicieza and artist Andy Kubert defy expectations. Jean shows no distress and is confident in her superiority to Sabretooth. She unleashes the totality of her psychic abilities on Sabretooth, owning him and essentially turning him into a whimpering dog. It’s brilliant and it’s a moment that helps to define who Jean is as both a hero and as a woman. She's tough and showcases just how much of a boss she can be when need be. She's all too often underestimated or overlooked as a character (especially during this era), so it's great to see her being the powerhouse that she's built up to be. She would have another standout moment two issues later when she used her powers in an entirely different way – by lifting Xavier into the air so she could dance with him at her wedding.

The most contentious aspect of The Wedding of Cyclops and Phoenix rests with those responsible for pencilling the issues collected here. While Andy Kubert had previously done impressive work in preceding issues, there’s a distinctive decline in his art here. He especially seems to have difficulty in the all-important wedding issue. His perspective is wonky in numerous places and any panels featuring numerous characters look extremely rough, with many posed awkwardly or are drawn lazily without defined hands or feet. John Romita Jr.’s art, featured in Uncanny X-Men, fares better. His characters are more distinctive and he experiments with his splash pages, but the colours laid on top of his work aren’t the best and sometimes there’s an unfinished quality to the art. There are also a couple of issues drawn by Mike McKone and Ian Churchill when they were still early into their careers. Churchill’s effort is the more impressive, particularly as it seems McKone had yet to figure out how to properly place facial features (i.e. Rogue appears with a rather puzzlingly large forehead).

The overall direction of this collection is well-done and the character work achieved by the writers is fairly impressive. They engage with some tough subjects, particularly regarding morality and the ability to change for the better, which is reminiscent of what Chris Claremont would do during his legendary run on Uncanny X-Men. One of the only shortcomings would be their usage of such a large cast, as it makes it difficult to develop each character for the readers. In other words, not everyone gets their moment in the spotlight. The focus of this trade is also primarily on the patented soap opera drama the X-Men are synonymous with, so don't go expecting lavish or epic action scenes. As mentioned previously, this collection also isn’t the most accessible and is probably best read in succession with X-Cutioner’s Song, A Skinning of Souls and Fatal Attractions. Even still, there are quite a few moments here that are not to be missed (i.e. Jean Grey vs. Sabretooth and the titular wedding).

RATING: B-