Part 1 Uncanny X-Men 294: It’s a little suspect when the assassin name-checks himself isn’t it?

Credits: Written by Scott Lobdell, pencilled by Brandon Peterson, inked by Terry Austin and edited by Bob Harras.

Plot: Central Park is hosting a world harmony concert. As one of the guests Lila Cheney is able to invite Charles Xavier to speak to the crowd to help further his goals of human/mutant co-existence. Warren ‘Archangel’ Worthington III is there with his date Detective Charlotte Jones, other X-Men Bishop, Rogue, Storm and Gambit are there as security. Closer to home in Salem Center, Scott ‘Cyclops’ Summers and Jean Grey are having lunch at Harry’s Hideaway Pub and across the road recently dumped Robert ‘Iceman’ Drake is buying pork rinds and other groceries with Piotr ‘Colossus’ Rasputin, who is suffering with heartbreak after the recent loss of his older brother. Back in New York at the Grand Hyatt hotel, several members of X-Factor (Strong Guy, Quicksilver and Multiple Man) are watching the concert on pay-per-view, at least until Multiple Man brings up Strong Guy not working for Lila anymore and he walks off with the TV.

Scott & Jean are arguing, Scott has been fantasising about Psylocke, wandering eyes and all that, but he knows that his heart has always belonged to Jean. The problem is after a recent split between Forge and Storm, Jean feels less secure about things right now, Scott reassures her and that’s when Caliban (now acting as Death, the fourth Horseman of Apocalypse) shows up, by breaking through the roof. Colossus and Iceman see this from across the street and race over, only to be met by War and Famine, 2 of the other 3 Horsemen. There’s two fights but the Horsemen get away, with Scott & Jean.

At the concert, a pair of anti-mutant bigots (part of a group that is unnamed) are attempting to set a bomb to kill Charles Xavier. They are killed by Cable, who talks of his intent to kill Charles himself. Later Charles makes an impassioned speech about tolerance, harmony and things like that, well it goes about as well as you think. Just as the booing intensifies, Charles is shot by Cable, who announces his name. He continues firing as Archangel flies at him. Cable body-slides (his version of teleporting) towards a place he calls Celebration, leaving the X-Men with a Charles Xavier near death.

At Camp Verde in New Mexico, X-Force are using some stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment to watch concert and only catch the assassination attempt. The image of their leader shooting and apparently killing their old mentor leaves all of them in a state of shock.

Notes: Much like the Age of Apocalypse, this was an event I got off the shelves as it was coming out. I was already getting X-Men, X-Factor and X-Force, but from here on in, I also got Uncanny X-Men. It was a way to bring all the X-books together and see what could be done, without the superstars that made the most recent sales figures. The answer was yes, you could. The tension is raised from the beginning, Cable appearing to be ready to kill Xavier, that comes out of left field. The two of them were ideologically close, but used very different methods, however didn’t seem to have any animosity, such as Charles had with Magneto. The public shooting also created a sense of spectacle that could act as a way of bringing other characters into this X-Men story. All the while this was happening, Cyclops and Jean were kidnapped by the forces of Apocalypse. All this and that’s just part one.

Verdict: Writing 4 out of 5 – Solid characterisation and new reader friendly dialogue made this such an easy start to a cross over, you knew where everyone was at the start and a bit about what was going on with them all. It felt ready by the midway point, to dive into this whole thing.

Art: 3 out of 5 – Whilst not spectacular, the art is solid, everyone is on model and the story-telling flows really well. The old-school colouring is more understated that it would soon become and the histrionics sort of match the circumstances, making the 90’s ness of it match the story.

Overall: 7 out of 10 – Despite the 90’sness of it all, this was a solid opener and a reminder of why I loved this era so much. I’m looking forward to the next 13 issues.

Next Time: Scarlet Spider goes Amazing