The issue that couldn't be put down -- Uncanny X-Men 423 "HOLY WAR" : Part 1 of 2

by Lightengale x

I'll wager you will not read anything like this for a while. It's got Wolverine and Jubilee fans a talkin' and tragedy a-happening This was Uncanny X-men 423.......

The entire thing seems on a downer from the start, the X-Men consisting of Cyclops,Jean Grey,Iceman,Wolverine,Nightcrawler,Husk and Chamber return to the mansion to be greeted by the site of crusified mutants. Worse, their own former X-colleages. Pulling rank,Scott orders them to be taken down ,despite the place now being a crime scene, and it is discovered that we recognise at least 3 of them; Skin , Magma and none other than the X-men's own Jubilee. Now i read somehwhere that by the nature of the crusifiction and the angle of the body on the cross, you die a slow painful death from your own fluids flooding your lungs. And all on the crosses are confirmed by Jean's telepathy to be dead..another tell tale sign that X-men has got much more gruesome in the last year or so.

As expected, Wolverine goes mad trying to get Jubilee off the cross as fast as possible and Husk and Chamber discover Angelo Espinosa, another former Gen X member who has been seen with Jubilee in the pages of X-men unlimited since Generation X disbanded. All the dead are rushed to the med lab where Arcangel, Warren Worthington has a new healing factor and believes he can help them all. But as he grows weak from the link up and blood loss, Logan orders the Nurse,Annie to pull the plug on him; There's no change with Jubilee or the others.

"Yank him Annie, we don't need anymore dead today"

But a small voice interupts him, "Who died?" it quietly asks, it's Jubilee, alive,but barely. "You did you little pain in my butt, scared the life half outta me" is his reply, but you can see he is so glad she isn't dead, a little reminder of the good old fashioned Wolverine and Jubilee team up.

Upon the others' return to the med bay, Angelo has not woken up and it appears that only Magma and Jubilee did revive. A teary Jubilee and Husk mourn their friend in one silent frame.

Cyclops appears to have a rod up his ass throughout this issue,berating Nightcrawler for his lack of wanting authority and for one team not telling the other team that there are religious fanatics on the loose, thanks to the failure to apprehend them issues ago. Nightcrawler discovers his preist ordaining was false and that he's been brainwashed at some point. This provides a link with the crusifictions; to get to Kurt and the X-men through religion.

The last few pages involve Jean using the Phoenix to blow open an underground lab under the church Kurt has been led to believe he's been studying for preisthood in .They discover many dead disfigured mutants who have been used as test subjects.... Bring on part two!

The issue was a must read and i can't wait for part 2. Jubilee is rumoured to be becoming a full-timer once more,after all, she was an original, and with Husk,Chamber and Monet all gracing the x-men pages of late, a gal could feel left out, besides, her life seems to be temporarily ruined with another loss, despite her ever cheerful outlook even in the face of death. This issue has done Jubilee a lot of good in my humble opinion. We knew the girl was resilient, but this really pushed it. Being dead then coming back to life and still managing to be her same chirpy self? There's a lot of Wolverine in that.

Jubilee haters should be silenced by this issue-she's a strong gal and now she seems to be challenging Logan and the best of them for the most tragic life award. She's long since stopped being pure bubblegum and she at last seems to be growing up. She's being illustrated much more like a young woman and with the revival of her long hair, fans seem to be quite happy wih her development of late. Logan and Jubilation have lots to catch up on and i hope she stays...maybe she'll be waiting for Jono and Paige to admit they love each other along with the rest of us!

Just another random though was that Polaris is really doing my head in now, who made her this bitch? she does nothing but look annoyed,stressed and be all protective over Alex whom Annie looked after all the time he was in a coma. As Paige said, she's a "psycho" at present and i worry about this impending wedding!

Jubilee,Husk and Arcangel are due to star in a stand alone in #427, hopefully with Jubilee being a little more alive,although mourning the loss of Angelo .

Uncanny X-Men 423 had a simple format to it but a very sinister and tragic undertone which made it feel and seem more real. We really felt the loss and that was the ability of the amazing writers to do that to us.

With Marvel killing a lot of classic characters lately i worried that this massacre was going to end worse than it did,and although poor Angelo lost his life, Angel's healing wasn't a total loss. After all, Bishop did once say that Jubilee was going to be the last X-man........