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 optic blast she took during the X-Men’s assault on the MLF base and Moira MacTaggert has ordered bed rest. There is a lot of tension filled romantic dialogue as Rogue asks him to leave but he stays to comfort her. As this situation ramps up, we cut to our third and final thread with Jubilee rollerblading. Happy that the evil has been defeated, Jubilee is, if you’ll pardon the pun, jubilant as she runs into Professor Xavier who, apparently can walk now. This is apparently a temporary side-effect of the Techno-Organic virus cure, so he is enjoying his brief moments of walking. He muses that there are times that he would surrender his immense psionic power for the ability to walk again, and Jubilee convinces him to rollerblade with her. Back on the roof Rogue bemoans the incompatibility between the life of an X-Man and her desire for a romance with Remy. But when Gambit reaches out to comfort her, Rogue snaps berating for him for not considering the risks her powers run if they touch and tells him “Ah’m a woman. If ya can’t—if ya won’t treat me like one, then please… leave me alone.” And as Gambit turns to leave, we turn to the Professor learning to rollerblade. As he is just getting the hang of it and beginning to enjoy himself Jubilee crashes them into the pond. Gambit returns to the roof with a blanket and reassurances for Rogue as they hug with the blanket between them. As Jubilee and the Professor dry off Jubilee comments that it is nice that under all of his responsibilities and importance, he is just kind of a normal guy. As Charles attempts to return to the house under his own power, his ability to walk slowly fades and Jubilee runs to help him back to the mansion. And that’s where our issue ends.

This was a very sweet issue. Each of our little moments we focus on helps make all of these characters more and more real. The Archangel and Beast side story is not very important, but it helps make two of the X-Men’s more aloof members more relatable as they reminisce over their younger days like they’re the long-time friends they are. The Rogue and Gambit story is touching as we have just recently begun to see what is one of the X-Men’s longest-lived romances but there is not a whole lot to talk about. The Xavier side story is probably the one with the most to talk about, it’s a lovely story where we get to see a side of the Professor we do not normally see. To paraphrase Kate Pryde, normally Professor Xavier is a jerk but here we see his nurturing and parental side. The fact that he can walk again is … complicated and not something I am fully qualified to speak on as an essentially fully abled person, but it is another chapter in Xavier’s long and complicated relationship with disability. The dialogue is deeply medium, it’s nowhere near as bad as Scott Lobdell will get but it’s not great. The art is also deeply medium as well, Peterson is at his most Liefeld acolyte-y but the more pastel colors are nice. And there we have it, the last issue of X-Cutioner’s Song. 7/10.