TITLE: X-Factor vol. 1, Issue 85
YEAR: December 1992
COMPANY: Marvel Comics
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Jae Lee
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Inks: Al Milgrom
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Group Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom Defalco
It was the X-title crossover for 1992/1993.
“X-Cutioner’s Song” was a 12-part crossover which was featured in “Uncanny X-Men”, “X-Men”, “X-Factor” and “X-Force” and would kick off with Lila Cheney organizing a free concert in Central Park to promote diversity.
Professor Charles Xavier is about to speak at the concert but his speech is interrupted by Stryfe, who is disguised as Cable and infects the Professor with a lethal strain of the Techno-organic virus.
Two of the Horsemen of Apocalypse, War and Famine have kidnapped Cyclops and Jean Grey and suffice to say, X-Men andX-Factor go after X-Force, Cable’s mutant team.
In “X-Cutioner’s Song Part 6” featured in “X-Factor” issue #85, Wolverine and Bishop have found Cable and are now preparing to take him down. Cable tries to proclaim his innocence but of course, Wolverine and Bishop want Cable captured and that is something Cable is not going to allow them to do.
This volume is pretty much action-driven as we read Bishop and Wolverine going against Cable but we also see the X-Men, X-Factor and X-Force teaming up to take on the bad guys in Arkansas. And while entertaining, possibly the darkest thing to read in this Comics Code Authority approved issue, is seeing an enemy being accidentally decapitated by Archangel’s sharp wings.
While I probably enjoyed this issue back in the 1992, reading it today, I feel it’s primarily action and it makes reading this issue quite quick and I thought the overall issue was OK.
While I enjoyed Jae Lee’s cover, the artwork is not all consistent inside throughout the comic book. Some panels with more detail than others and the worst part is that the issue is showcasing a “Dragon Quest” game and a good number of pages are promoting the game.
While the issue does feature Apocalypse and other characters in battle, I felt I enjoyed this certain comic book at the time because it was X-related, because of Peter David’s writing, Jae Lee’s art and it was an action-packed crossover. But as art was a major attraction of the ’90s, the storyline was good but no doubt trying to promote a battle between three of the more popular X-related characters during that period of time.
No doubt, back in the early ’90s, Cable, Bishop and Wolverine attracted all X-fans (and no surprise, I had one open issue and two extras that were still polybagged with a card inside) but while I appreciated it so much more back then, reading it in 2017, I found the issue to be quite average.