It Made Sense at the Time

                 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 approac...

        What is up nerds? We are back at it again with a doozy of an issue, part nine in the continuing saga of X-Cutioner's Song, Uncanny X-Men #296. Written by Scott Lobdell, with pencils by Brandon Peterson, ink from Terry Austin, color from Joe Rosas, and letters from Chris Eliopoulos, our issue picks up moments after we left Jean Grey and Scott Summers in X-Force #17 . We catch up with our heroes moments after their attempt to break free from Stryfe's prison has gone south and they have been captured by the Dark Riders who have knocked Jean out. So instead of having one of Marvel's most powerful women deal with the threat her husband smashes the Dark Riders with his optic blasts. They run into more of Apocalypse's former minions and are updated on the fact that "our loyalties have always been to the first among mutants. A mantle Stryfe recently wrested from our former master". This is the first example of dialogue in this issue that follows the Marvel ...

                What’s up, nerds? You know how it goes by now; we are deep in it now with part eight of the X-Cutioner’s Song , X-Force #17. This issue is written by, who else, Fabian Nicieza, with pencils from Greg Capullo, inks by Harry Candelario, letters from Chris Eliopoulos, and colors from Frenchie Buccellato (what a name), and opens with Stryfe standing over Apocalypse having laid woken him from his slumber at the end of last issue. “The time has come, Apocalypse. The devil-to-come must pay his due to the devil who made him, pay me master of time! And let your death be the coin of exchange!” This absolute banger of a monologue opens the fight and really sets the tone for what makes Stryfe great. We have little to no idea where he came from or what he’s planning but he’s over the top and fabulous. Apocalypse does not give him the satisfaction that he is looking for, so Stryfe precedes to beat the ever-loving piss out of Apocalypse...

                Welcome back nerds, to the seventh movement of the grand concerto that is the X-Cutioner’s Song. Our concern today is X-Men (1991) #15, written by Fabian Nicieza, with pencils from Andy Kubert, inks from Mark Pennington, letters from Chris Eliopoulos and colors from Joe Rosas, our issue picks up right where it left off with Reaper attempting to murder Gambit and Quicksilver. Sadly, our erstwhile terrorist fails in this as he is attacked by Psylocke and Havok. Here Psylocke presents what I believe to be the most egregious example of the Psylocke pose. The Psylocke pose is something that is difficult to describe with words, but you know it if you see it, a trend where writers and artists would put female characters, and especially Psylocke into pinup poses as often as possible. Here, Psylocke pulls off a maneuver that is designed to show as much tits and ass as possible with as little regard to human anatomy as possible. It...

                      Sadly, we must return to the world of Peter David with X-Factor with issue #85. Written Peter David, with pencils by Jae Lee, inks by Al Milgrom, Glynis Oliver on colors and Richard Starkings on letters we immediately find ourselves back in the midst of the action as Bishop and Wolverine are confronted by Cable at the Department K installation that we have previously covered. Bishop opens fire almost immediately and battle commences. Wolverine manages to get the drop on Cable pinning him as we cut to the uneasy alliance between X-Force and the X-Men as they arrive in Dust Bowl, Arkansas to investigate the MLF headquarters. Cannonball asks the residents about the whereabouts of the MLF, and the townsfolk draw guns on our heroes. The merry mutants quickly handle the townsfolk and unearth the entrance to the MLF base under main street. We have a brief aside as we check in on Apocalypse in Switzerland as ...

  What’s up, nerds? We’re back at it again with the fifth single released in the album that is X-Cutioner’s Song. Today we confront Uncanny X-Men #295, and we have returned to our first creative team from this endeavor. Written by Scott Lobdell, with pencils from Brandon Peterson, ink from Terry Austin, colors from Michael Thomas and letters by Chris Eliopoulos, the issue opens with Apocalypse in incredible pain. Having been roused from his Odin sleep far too early by his Dark Riders, the emaciated Ancient Egyptian scales the cliffs to a mansion that he formerly used as a hideout. He rejoices in the pain as it justifies his mantra that only the fit survive.   As he claws his way to the top, seeking to find out what could drive his minions to confront the X-Men without his permission, he is confronted by the cadre of mutant heroes who left to investigate Scott and Jeans disappearance. Smash cut to Westchester County where we see Jubilee upbraiding the incarcerated X-Force for...