X-Men: Fatal Attractions (1993)
X-Men Fatal Attractions (1993) is the next in our line of continuing down the republished X-Men stories known as the "Milestone Collection." This story takes place shortly after the slightly less than good Asteroid M storyline and shows the world that Magneto has survived the whole affair (unsurprised gasp inserted here). This is the story that shows us in the spotlight the group known as 'The Acolytes' with their leader being Fabian Cortez as the "Voice of Magnus" and trying to spread the supposed word of their savior Magneto as he allegedly told Cortez his wishes in his dying breath. A haven for mutant kind to thrive, a promise of starting planet Earth over with mutants on top of the leadership, and betrayal from one of the X-Men, this story is the absolute climax of the reworked Magneto storyline that started with the Claremont-era and has everything needed from an X-Men story to excite any reader.
Overall, Fatal Attractions is a fun read and brings the battle of Xavier vs. Magneto to an epic climax and a worthy conclusion to the story that had been building for years at that point, but is it truly the end? No, the answer is no, they will do it several more times after this. Despite that, this is still a worthwhile read and a worthy addition to any fan's collection. As always if you have any questions or just want to talk about this story, please feel free to leave a comment here or let me know on Twitter.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
When one is looking at reading X-Men Fatal Attractions (1993), I would highly recommend that they take the time to read a couple of the lead-up issues that are not marked as part of the Fatal Attractions storyline on their cover. These include: Uncanny X-Men (1963) #298, 299, 300, 303, and especially X-Men Unlimited (1993) #2. Don't worry, most of the collected editions of this story will already have those in there. The main reason I see it necessary to list them out is because Marvel Unlimited has them listed as "lead-in issues" but these issues provide some very necessary context and should be considered the main story by anyone trying to read this event.
The first positive of this event is the same as X-Cutioner's Song (1992), that being that I personally really enjoy the late-80's/early 90's dark and gritty story telling and art style and this story is yet another prime example of it. This era is often seen as the peak of X-Men comics and that becomes abundantly clear why when one dives into the stories of this time period. With amazing story telling and spectacular art to really weave this story together it is an absolutely enjoyable experience all around. The other upside to this story is found specifically in X-Men Unlimited (1993) #2. This issue tells the story of Erik Lehnsherr the man himself, before becoming the entity we know as Magneto. This issue tells a heartbreaking story that tells the reader exactly what has motivated Magneto to be the way he has been for decades at that point, and this story and motivation honestly cements him as one of my favorite comic book villains of all time. Any fan of the character should at least do themselves the favor of reading this event just to see that.
The first positive of this event is the same as X-Cutioner's Song (1992), that being that I personally really enjoy the late-80's/early 90's dark and gritty story telling and art style and this story is yet another prime example of it. This era is often seen as the peak of X-Men comics and that becomes abundantly clear why when one dives into the stories of this time period. With amazing story telling and spectacular art to really weave this story together it is an absolutely enjoyable experience all around. The other upside to this story is found specifically in X-Men Unlimited (1993) #2. This issue tells the story of Erik Lehnsherr the man himself, before becoming the entity we know as Magneto. This issue tells a heartbreaking story that tells the reader exactly what has motivated Magneto to be the way he has been for decades at that point, and this story and motivation honestly cements him as one of my favorite comic book villains of all time. Any fan of the character should at least do themselves the favor of reading this event just to see that.
Now onto the downsides that I found in the comic. Ultimately, these are downsides of my own perception as a reader in 2022 and not really a knock against the story itself. This is because of the later found redundancy with these type of stories. The first is found even with readers of the era of this story, that being the thought that this is the ultimate battle of Magneto's dream vs. Xavier's dream. While this story does it very well, that does not change the fact that this is a story beat that any fan of the X-Men series knows all too well as we have seen it been done more than a dozen times itself. The other redundancy is found with readers of today, the idea of finding a mutant utopia away from humans. We've seen it with the Utopia era, the mutant reign over Genosha, and even currently with the Krakoa storyline. While I enjoy these storylines personally, I understand where most readers can see this as repetitive and even find it unoriginal. Even before this story we see a version of this safe haven story with Asteroid M, the lead-up story to Fatal Attractions.
Overall, Fatal Attractions is a fun read and brings the battle of Xavier vs. Magneto to an epic climax and a worthy conclusion to the story that had been building for years at that point, but is it truly the end? No, the answer is no, they will do it several more times after this. Despite that, this is still a worthwhile read and a worthy addition to any fan's collection. As always if you have any questions or just want to talk about this story, please feel free to leave a comment here or let me know on Twitter.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
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