Cyclops and Jean attempt and escape, while the rest of the X-Men attempt to function
Originally Publish January 1993
When last we left off, Cyclops and Jean Grey, who have been captives of Stryfe for what feels like two and a half months, were mounting an escape attempt. It seems to have gone poorly, as we catch up with them cornered by the Dark Riders -- Stryfe's newly-minted minions -- with Jean mysteriously down for the count.
But psych -- that is, Cyke -- as it was all a feint to get the Riders into close quarters so that Scott could blast them all with an incontrollable optic blast. As it turns out, Jean is not only conscious, but capable of holding back Scott's optic blasts with her telekinetic abilities -- which, like many things that have happened to the X-Men in the past year or so, feels like it should be presented as a much bigger deal than it is.
As in, the last time we saw Jean pulling this trick, it was implied to be a sign that her powers were starting to become unfathomably immense in scope, a sign that they were reaching a scale that could become intoxicating and corrupting. That in turn led to one of the greatest stories ever told in the superhero comic medium, a testament to what you can do when you actually give a shit about the story you are telling... but sure, this looks cool I guess.
Jean and Scott run aimlessly around Stryfe's complex, featuring architecture that can't help but start to look very familiar after a few laps...
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| Fellow fans of this cult classic may recognize this shout-out |
From afar, Stryfe watches the two loverbirds in flight, snickering that they only got away because he wanted them to, so nyah ha ha, the worst is yet to come. Soon their predictable natures will cause them to destroy themselves.
While Stryfe is in a gloating mood, Moira informs Beast -- still flummoxed as to how to treat Xavier's condition -- that she has decoded a message from within the techno-organic virus infecting Charles.
By now, it's become achingly clear that Stryfe is a drama addict -- he disguised himself as Cable to execute Xavier, but by now he doesn't give a shit about maintaining any kind of illusions about the fact that he's responsible for all of this. Maybe he's just doing it for clout.
Up in space, Bishop, Wolverine and Cable share a cup of coffee and recap everything we know so far, which is frankly not much, but it sure does fill pages, as they run in circles trying to figure out what Stryfe's deal is.
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| Cable's name is Nathan? That's an interesting thing to learn |
Similarly, Cyclops and Jean, wandering aimlessly through Stryfe HQ, wonder why this man who has got to be a good twenty years older than them seems to have it out for them for something in his deep past. But before they can come to any conclusions about it, they run into a familiar -- if terrifying -- face.
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| Dwah! |
Yes, that is Scott's forgotten baby, also named Nathan (after his grandfather, Nathan Sinister), who was last seen being brought to the future by the enigmatic "Mother Askani" to be cured of his techno-organic virus and maybe also fulfill his destiny.
Stryfe pops up to let Scott and Jean know they have a choice to make: Kill the baby and Stryfe will be defeated (and thus the X-Cutioner's Song will finally be blessedly over) or don't and get killed yourself. It's a classic parenting dilemma, one that I believe is covered in a whole chapter of What To X-pect When You're X-pecting.
Stryfe puts the pressure on by siccing the Dark Riders on Cyclops and Jean, but instead of killing the baby like they're supposed to to make it all go away, they actually fight to defend the baby and themselves. This is surprising to Stryfe, who was not aware that people do such things.
Scott and Jean fight their way out, with Scott punching a hole in the side of the building with his optic blasts... only to realize too late that that may not be the place they want to go.
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| Now this, I've definitely seen before |
Further Thoughts:
All the while, Apocalypse continues to treat with the X-Men and define the terms of their temporary alliance -- Warren is still mad, of course, about the time that Apocalypse transformed him into a walking instrument of death, but you have to admit, the fact that Warren is standing here as an alive walking instrument of death proves that Apocalypse's mutant-sciencing powers might be next level. Hopefully he can help bring this story in for a landing.
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| Apocalypse bears absolutely no responsibility for that mullet though |
We're now nine parts into this "song" and the story is clearly getting tantalizingly close to revealing some of the secrets that it has been keeping up its sleeve for the past several months, but its steadfast refusal to reveal anything about what is truly going on becomes more absurd by the week. Likewise, it feels very much like there's no real master plan here, and that Stryfe only exists to look cool, do random evil guy shit, and be somewhat pathetically obvious in his inability to process his childhood trauma.
In 2023, it's easy enough for me to criticize this, but in 1993, "this story makes no sense and isn't going anywhere" was not a reason for people not to buy X-Men comics. They offered a visceral, in-the-moment thrill that made you want to keep reading, and in fact made you feel like you were a dope if you didn't keep reading, because remember, it's 1993, and the X-Men are the coolest thing going. It can be hard to apply any criticism to anything that was so immensely successful in its time, but all you can do is learn from it. Substance isn't everything. Stryfe is for the masses.
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