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A Defense of the Onslaught Saga

       The Onslaught Saga is a bad event comic. I don’t really think that is up for debate. What I am trying to highlight is the good that is weighed down by the cruft. But to fully grok the frankly insane story we are about to embark on we have to turn our attention back the 1993 crossover event Fatal Attractions, penned by Fabian Nicieza and Scott Lobdell, the event chronicles the aftereffects of Magneto’s heel turn in X-Men (1991) #1-3. The key part of the event, at least for our purposes, is the iconic finale where the X-Men confront the villain on his asteroid base Avalon. It is here after Magneto uses his power to rip the adamantium coating from Wolverine’s bones, that Magneto has his mind wiped by Professor Xavier in a fit of anger. This is the moment that will create Onslaught and sets us on the path to one of the most notorious event comics of all time.           Now what precisely is Onslaught? In the simplest terms, the being known as Onslaught is the psychic gestalt of M
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A Small Update

      What is crackalacking nerds? Its been a hot minute and I want to post a small update. I am going to change my approach to this project a bit, locking myself into a format where we proceed chronologically and issue by issue was not the best for my own particular workflow and processes. What I want to do is still focus on the nineties and still focus the comics with, as I put it at the start of this, a certain reputation, but I want to move beyond the issue by issue breakdowns, because frankly a lot of the issues don't accomplish a ton, and give myself to jump around the timeline a bit to what catches my interest. Hopefully I should be back with a new feature soon, I just got to get back in the groove of writing as I fell out of the habit since we last spoke. See you soon for Onslaught.
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X-Cutioner's Song: Final Thoughts

                 X-Cutioner’s Song is a bad event comic. I don’t think there is any getting around that fact, but it still managed to get its claws into me in away few comics before or since have. It is a strangely important work for its multitude of flaws, and it arrives at a crucial moment for Marvel. To fully understand the moment X-Cutioner’s Song emerges into, we must go back to 1989 and perhaps one of the most consequential hires that Marvel has ever made, when Rob Liefeld joined Louise Simonson on New Mutants as the penciler. Now what happens from there is a tale that depends on who you are talking to but the two things that are undeniable is that first: Rob’s art proved popular enough that he turned New Mutants from one of the worst selling books at Marvel to one of the best and this gave him enough clout to allow for the second point: he   was able to force Louise Simonson off of the book and take full control over both plot and story which would eventually lead to New Mutants
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X-Cutioner's Song Part 13 (The Encore): Uncanny X-Men #297

               What is up nerds? Our time with X-Cutioner’s Song has somewhat sadly come to an end as we have reached the encore of our story, Uncanny X-Men #297. Written by that nineties stalwart Scott Lobdell, with art from Brandon Peterson, inks from Dan Panosian, colors from Marie Javins, and letters from Chris Eliopoulos, this issue doesn’t actually have a lot of … story, but it does flesh out some of our characters nicely. There are three sort of major threads to the issue. Our first mini arc sees Archangel and Beast repairing the bar that got busted up when the Horsemen of Apocalypse kidnapped Scott and Jean. The bar, Harry’s Hideaway, is a recurring location through a lot of X-Men comics, so Hank and Warren spend most of an evening reminiscing and repairing the bar incognito. We then cut to the X-Mansion where we see Rogue sitting on the roof stargazing somewhat morosely. Gambit suddenly appears and asks Rogue to come back inside because her eyes are still damaged from the opti
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X-Cutioner's Song Part 12 (The Finale): X-Force #18

            What is up nerds? I did not realize it until I sat down to write this, but our time with X-Cutioner’s Song is coming to an end. Todays issue, X-Force #18, is the finale of the main story, and our issue for next time, Uncanny X-Men #297, is the epilogue that wraps a few dangling plot threads up as well as setting the stage for the Legacy Virus arc. But enough of that, we pick up our story on the lunar surface with the classic X-Force creative team, Fabian Nicieza on words, Greg Capullo on pencils, Harry Candelario on inks, Chris Eliopoulos on letters, and Marie Javins on color. Cable in all his beefy glory enters into the final show down with Stryfe guns drawn and quips ready. Stryfe of course, is gloating in his typically over the top manner, declaiming “time is up and down and inside out and mine to control! Which all means that if anyone’s borrowed time is up… it is yours!” He continues by asking if Scott and Jean deserve to be forgiven for their trespasses and Cable, fi
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X-Cutioner's Song Part 11: X-Men #16

                 What is up nerds? And welcome back to the eleventh chapter of the X-Cutioner’s Song, X-Men #16. This issue maintains the adjective-less creative team of writer Fabian Nicieza, penciler Andy Kubert, inker Mark Pennington, letterer Chris Eliopoulos and colorist Joe Rosas. We come back to the action right as the proverbial shit is about to hit the fan as Cable, Bishop and Wolverine are confronted by the Dark Riders. Of course, battle ensues and there isn’t a ton we need to focus on here, the actions good and Fabian has a far more natural grasp on the characters quips during combat than most of the other writers of the era. Bishop and Cable worry they are being out matched by their foes far superior numbers. And right as our three hard as nail heroes are about to be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the opposing forces, their salvation arrives in the form of the other X-Men team we covered last time. We cut away from the battle to see Stryfe observing the proceedings via ho
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X-Cutioner's Song Part 10: X-Factor #86

                 What is up nerds? And welcome back to the tenth chapter of our look back at X-Cutioner’s Song. Today we examine X-Factor #86 and thankfully it’s the last time I have to write about Peter David for a good long while. Written, of course, by Peter David, with pencils from Jae Lee, inks by Al Milgrom, letters from Steve Outro, and colors by Glynis Oliver, our issue opens with Wolverine revealing on a video call to his fellow X-Men, Stryfe has taken Scott and Jean to the Moon. The X-Men are confused, questioning Wolverine’s conclusions in David’s typically wry and overly twee dialogue. Wolverine reveals that he received a subconscious psychic flair from Jean and that’s enough to get the rest of the X-Men on board. Cut to the Moon and we see Scott and Jean as they float through the cold vacuum of the lunar surface, moments from death. Our heroes manage to stumble into an air bubble, but it is a brief respite as Stryfe approaches. Back on the X-Men video call Wolverine says
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