X-Men: Fatal Attractions (Comics) | Review

Most X-Men crossovers pile on the roster and hope the chaos distracts from thin plotting. Fatal Attractions does something different. This event takes the ideological war between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr to its breaking point, forcing every mutant caught in between to pick a side or watch the entire world burn itself down.

The whole thing kicks off with Magneto's assertion of mutant supremacy escalating from philosophy into coordinated action. He's not scheming from a cave anymore– he's moving openly, aggressively and every member of the X-Men universe has to respond.

Storm, Wolverine, Cable, Bishop and the rest don't just react to his moves. They splinter. They argue about acceptable methods and Xavier's vision. Some of them actually join Magneto's cause, convinced his path represents genuine power instead of false compromise.

Fatal Attractions sets the stage directly for what becomes the catastrophic Onslaught Saga. The fractures created here between Xavier and his team, the questions raised about coexistence's viability, the raw power Magneto demonstrates– all of it converges into a confrontation that will ultimately define the future of mutantkind.

The Fatal Attractions storyline emerges from months of building tension across X-Men titles, where mutant-human relations have deteriorated to the breaking point. Xavier's dream of peaceful coexistence is looking less like idealism and more like dangerous fantasy.

The mutant population is deeply fractured and increasingly uncertain. Some believe Xavier's approach has completely failed them after years of endless compromise. Others see Magneto's offer of strength and protection as the only viable path forward in a hostile world that refuses to accept their existence peacefully or otherwise.

Magneto's gone past philosophy into direct execution. He's actively weaponizing mutants across multiple fronts and his raw power has never been more terrifying or more strategically focused on systematically dismantling Xavier's vision of peaceful coexistence completely.

What makes this work is the scale of consequences. This isn't a team fighting inter-dimensional threats where nobody remembers what happened next. This is personal. Relationships fracture. Characters make choices that actually stick. Some of them don't survive the aftermath.

These aren't abstract battles. Wolverine loses something irreplaceable. Storm makes a choice that costs her dearly. The younger generation watches their icons fall and questions whether loyalty to Xavier's dream is worth the devastating price they're being asked to pay.

The event pulls storylines from Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor and Excalibur, each contributing toward inevitable collision. Magneto isn't just fighting the X-Men– he's exposing cracks in their foundation. He's forcing Xavier to confront whether his dream had teeth, whether mutants can co-exist with humanity, or if Magneto was right all along.

The tension escalates because X-Men genuinely aren't sure anymore. Storm questions Xavier's leadership. Wolverine's ready to end this. Younger mutants reconsider their side. Magneto argues a worldview that makes uncomfortable sense instead of just throwing punches.

Bishop arrives with warnings about a future that seems connected to this moment. His presence complicates an already fractured situation because his knowledge suggests these choices ripple forward in ways nobody fully understands yet, making every decision feel loaded.

What separates Fatal Attractions from other X-Men events is genuine willingness to change things permanently. Characters get hurt in ways they don't recover from. The status quo shifts. This isn't just another temporary crossover designed to move units. It feels like a turning point.

The aftermath leaves mutantkind permanently altered and fractured. Xavier survives but changed by what he's witnessed. Magneto escapes, having proven his point about coexistence's impossibility. The X-Men regroup but they're no longer unified in purpose, no longer confident Xavier's path represents their best chance at survival.

The emotional weight comes from watching teams that fought together turn on each other. Cable's X-Force pulls in separate directions. The core Uncanny roster splits on strategy. Gambit and Psylocke's relationship fractures when ideology trumps personal loyalty completely.

Artwork by Adam Kubert (Avengers/X-Men: AXIS, Avengers Vs. X-Men), Andy Kubert (Marvel 1602, Origin), Greg Capullo (Batman: Bloom, Batman: City of Owls), Joe Quesada (Daredevil: Father, Daredevil: Guardian Devil) and John Romita Jr. (Iron Man: Doomquest, Sentry: Reborn) brings different visual approaches to the same conflict.

The Kubert brothers nail character work– Storm's conviction and Wolverine's controlled intensity read clearly across panels. Capullo handles sequences where Magneto's power dominates the page, showing mutants getting pushed by force they can't match.

Writer Fabian Nicieza (Avengers West Coast: Darker Than Scarlet, Wolverine: Weapon X Unbound) and Scott Lobdell (X-Men: Dream's End, X-Men: Skinning of Souls) keep character voices distinct even as Fatal Attractions pulls them in different directions.

Magneto sounds genuinely convinced, not power-hungry. Xavier's desperation becomes visible as his dream fractures under practical pressure. Wolverine's internal conflict about acceptable violence shows through action instead of exposition monologue. Dialogue sounds like how real people actually speak when survival's on the line.

Fatal Attractions works because it respects X-Men mythology while refusing safety. This event connects to ideological wars between Magneto and Xavier established decades ago, while setting up future conflicts that define X-Men narrative through the late 1990s and beyond.

The consequences ripple forward into storylines like Operation: Zero Tolerance and the eventual Messiah Complex arc, establishing Fatal Attractions as the moment where mutual coexistence stopped being viable and the X-Men started fighting for mutant survival itself.

If you've been waiting for a crossover that actually means something, where stakes feel genuine and character development sticks, Fatal Attractions is the event that earns that momentum. It's not perfect but it's the kind of story where you remember exactly what you felt reading it, the kind debated in comic shops for years after release.

X-Men: Fatal Attractions is available in collected trade paperback, hardcover omnibus and Epic Collection, available through Barnes & Noble, local comic-book stores and online retailers. Digital readers can access it on Amazon Kindle, ComiXology and Marvel Unlimited.