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X-Men (1991-2001) #17-24
X-Men: A Skinning of Souls
The X-Men travel to Russia for a family reunion with Colossus' parents - and his little sister Illyana, formerly the fan-favorite New Mutant known as Magik! But the villainous Soul Skinner is on the loose, and the Russian government is prepared to stop him by any means necessary. Even if that means using a little girl and shattering a family. Plus: Betsy Braddock returns! But if Betsy's back, then who is Psylocke? The X-Men head for Japan in search of answers, but find themselves at odds with the Silver Samurai! And Gambit and Rogue face a challenge of the heart. COLLECTING: X-Men (1991) 17-24, X-Men: Survival Guide to the Mansion , material from Marvel Swimsuit Special 2
193 pages, Paperback
First published December 10, 2013
About the author
Fabian Nicieza
2,052 books438 followersFabian Nicieza is a writer and editor who is best known as the co-creator of DEADPOOL and for his work on Marvel titles such as X-Men, X-Force, New Warriors, and Robin.
His first novel, the Edgar Award-nominated SUBURBAN DICKS, a sarcastic murder mystery, is on sale now from Putnam Books.
The Dicks will return in THE SELF-MADE WIDOW, coming June 21st.
His first novel, the Edgar Award-nominated SUBURBAN DICKS, a sarcastic murder mystery, is on sale now from Putnam Books.
The Dicks will return in THE SELF-MADE WIDOW, coming June 21st.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 24, 2023
I have to admit it, I have a certain bias about this storyline. These were the first X-Men comics that I would buy as they were coming out, each month at a time, when I was just a kid. They’re special to me for this reason and I can’t quite take off the nostalgia goggles.
Looking back, I can’t recommend this arc for novice readers. It requires a lot of knowledge, but seeking out that knowledge is what used to be fun.
Firstly, the initial issues about Colossus going back to Russia aren’t very good. They were pushing Omega Red as a big villain at the time, while the Soul Skinner is a forgettable antagonist who promptly dies. Not required reading, although seeing Andy Kubert’s art develop is rewarding.
It’s issues #20 - #23 that get really interesting, and it’s about Psylocke’s origin. This was confusing to me at the time, as I had read earlier back issues of the character when she was just a purple-haired psychic who lived in Australia. While in the contemporary appearances, she was an Asian ninja. Now, as a grownup, I’ve read all of Claremont in order and I know of that time she was engineered by the Mandarin to be an assassin. The Jim Lee redesign was indeed great.
The sudden mystery of a second Psylocke showing up and the eventual revelation that she switched minds with Kwannon was a good idea. And it’s always fun for the X-Men to fly to Japan for undercover missions. For a young reader, all of this was intriguing and encouraged me to learn more about the deep history of these comics.
There was also another subplot about Cyclops being tempted to cheat on Jean Grey with Psylocke. Never forget that X-Men works best when it’s essentially a soap opera. Then he goes away on vacation while he’s taunted by Mr. Sinister, which sets up further mysteries about the complicated lineage of the Summers family (just who was the real time-traveling son, Cable or Stryfe, and hints about another long-lost brother…)
Next up: Fatal Attractions. Before the big Magneto crossover which was set up in Uncanny, these intermittent adventures kept me entertained in the meantime. I’m glad it’s been republished in graphic novel format.
Looking back, I can’t recommend this arc for novice readers. It requires a lot of knowledge, but seeking out that knowledge is what used to be fun.
Firstly, the initial issues about Colossus going back to Russia aren’t very good. They were pushing Omega Red as a big villain at the time, while the Soul Skinner is a forgettable antagonist who promptly dies. Not required reading, although seeing Andy Kubert’s art develop is rewarding.
It’s issues #20 - #23 that get really interesting, and it’s about Psylocke’s origin. This was confusing to me at the time, as I had read earlier back issues of the character when she was just a purple-haired psychic who lived in Australia. While in the contemporary appearances, she was an Asian ninja. Now, as a grownup, I’ve read all of Claremont in order and I know of that time she was engineered by the Mandarin to be an assassin. The Jim Lee redesign was indeed great.
The sudden mystery of a second Psylocke showing up and the eventual revelation that she switched minds with Kwannon was a good idea. And it’s always fun for the X-Men to fly to Japan for undercover missions. For a young reader, all of this was intriguing and encouraged me to learn more about the deep history of these comics.
There was also another subplot about Cyclops being tempted to cheat on Jean Grey with Psylocke. Never forget that X-Men works best when it’s essentially a soap opera. Then he goes away on vacation while he’s taunted by Mr. Sinister, which sets up further mysteries about the complicated lineage of the Summers family (just who was the real time-traveling son, Cable or Stryfe, and hints about another long-lost brother…)
Next up: Fatal Attractions. Before the big Magneto crossover which was set up in Uncanny, these intermittent adventures kept me entertained in the meantime. I’m glad it’s been republished in graphic novel format.
August 13, 2019
2.5 stars.
Spends a lot of time setting things up without any huge payoffs. Fans of Colossus (holy crap does his life suck around this time period! ) and Psylocke will likely find more to like here than others.
Some of the best '90s X-Men issues are the "soap opera" ones where everyone is just hanging out and living their lives, and that is no exception here. Issue 24 gives us more Rogue and Gambit shenanigans and a touching moment between Jubilee and Wolverine.
Spends a lot of time setting things up without any huge payoffs. Fans of Colossus (holy crap does his life suck around this time period! ) and Psylocke will likely find more to like here than others.
Some of the best '90s X-Men issues are the "soap opera" ones where everyone is just hanging out and living their lives, and that is no exception here. Issue 24 gives us more Rogue and Gambit shenanigans and a touching moment between Jubilee and Wolverine.
November 29, 2018
i guess since i finished all issues in this volume it means i finished it
the reviews are with each individual issue
the reviews are with each individual issue
November 28, 2014
A Skinning of Souls (17-19). The Soul-Skinner is a bit of an overly-philosphical villain, but this arc has some nice depth, while we also get interesting looking subplots surrounding Hank and Psylocke and good follow-up to the recent X-Cutioner's Song. Overall, an OK example of X-Men as it was in the post-Claremont days [6/10].
Revanche & Sinister (20-23). The whole Revanche storyline is a retcon of the worst sort. It's unnecessary and it's confusing; it's no wonder that later writers have tried their best to forget it. Surprisingly, Nicieza's telling of the story is quite good, with lots of appearances from old and new X-foes alike. Scott's subplot that eventually brings him into the orbit of Sinister is another good story, because it does a great job of bringing forward the plots of the final Claremont X-Factor issues and (once more) the X-Cutioner's Song. Nicieza's writing is best when it focuses on characters and continuity, and that's exactly what we get here [7+/10].
Between Hope & Sorrow (24). A nice downtime issue of the sort that Claremont did well; Nicieza continues with the trend [7/10].
Overall, this isn't a particularly important volume of the X-Men, but it's a clear puzzle piece arranged between X-Cutioner's Song and Fatal Attractions. Good to have it in print, though I wish it was an oversized hardcover to match all of the other publications of the era.
Revanche & Sinister (20-23). The whole Revanche storyline is a retcon of the worst sort. It's unnecessary and it's confusing; it's no wonder that later writers have tried their best to forget it. Surprisingly, Nicieza's telling of the story is quite good, with lots of appearances from old and new X-foes alike. Scott's subplot that eventually brings him into the orbit of Sinister is another good story, because it does a great job of bringing forward the plots of the final Claremont X-Factor issues and (once more) the X-Cutioner's Song. Nicieza's writing is best when it focuses on characters and continuity, and that's exactly what we get here [7+/10].
Between Hope & Sorrow (24). A nice downtime issue of the sort that Claremont did well; Nicieza continues with the trend [7/10].
Overall, this isn't a particularly important volume of the X-Men, but it's a clear puzzle piece arranged between X-Cutioner's Song and Fatal Attractions. Good to have it in print, though I wish it was an oversized hardcover to match all of the other publications of the era.
October 12, 2016
A fun X-men book.
Not the review, just a Marvel aside:
Oh, Franklin Richards! You're such trouble for the Marvel Universe. He doesn't appear in the book.
Here's the deal. Hank, the Beast, says he's a couple weeks shy of 30 years old. He was 14 or 15 when he joined the X-Men. That means 15 or 16 years have passed since the beginning of the Marvel Universe - the one built by Kirby and Lee in the 1960's.
Sue and Reed got married and had a baby in short order: So that should make little Franklin Richards a teenager. Right? You follow me? Yet he's never portrayed as such. He's always seems to be pre-school age-ish or very early elementary school-ish.
Not the review, just a Marvel aside:
Oh, Franklin Richards! You're such trouble for the Marvel Universe. He doesn't appear in the book.
Here's the deal. Hank, the Beast, says he's a couple weeks shy of 30 years old. He was 14 or 15 when he joined the X-Men. That means 15 or 16 years have passed since the beginning of the Marvel Universe - the one built by Kirby and Lee in the 1960's.
Sue and Reed got married and had a baby in short order: So that should make little Franklin Richards a teenager. Right? You follow me? Yet he's never portrayed as such. He's always seems to be pre-school age-ish or very early elementary school-ish.
April 10, 2015
This is a pretty decent graphic novel, but it had some issues with it.
May 20, 2024
Seeing X-Men '97 got me nostalgic to read some real '90s X-Men comics. It's not unlikely that I read some of this. I picked up the new X-Men book starting at the first issue, but I was quite young then, so I don't have strong memories of the events of this book. It is much wordier than a modern book. I expect that from much older books than this, but was a bit surprised at this. This book covers some parts of the beginning of the Legacy virus in comics, but those events seem to be mostly happening in other books. The stories here only really intertwine because they have X-Men characters. It is going for a fairly dark tone, which seems a tad forced at times, but does feel authentically '90s, anyway... as does the art, which doesn't feature too many feet. The book is generally enjoyable, apart from the two parts at the end. The first was an in-universe briefing about the details of the X-Mansion that goes on for far too long, has hard to read lettering, and isn't terribly useful information. The second was several pages of a swimsuit pinup issue. I remember that those existed, but had never bothered with one before. I'm fairly glad that those were left behind in the '90s, but at least it featured a variety of characters in the pinups, even if it isn't to my taste. I suppose it does give the authentic '90s experience, anyway, and were quick to skip by. Ultimately, it did feel like a '90s book, and gave some good context to some events that I do remember, and was generally capably done, but with the quirks of that era.
June 24, 2017
This collection follows the X-Men's Blue Team to Russia (Omega Red) and Japan (to solve the mystery of Psylocke's twin Revanche), as well as giving Cyclops a chance to visit his grandparents in Alaska to regroup following the events of X-Cutioner's Song.
They also had the chance to deal with personal issues, such as Psylocke's blatant flirting with Cyclops right in front of Jean, Rogue and Gambit's dancing around each other in terms of a possible relationship and Colossus bringing Illyana back to live with him following the deaths of their parents. Cyclops and Jean also finally had a talk about the state of their relationship and got things back on track.
Another good look at the X-Men from the 1990's.
They also had the chance to deal with personal issues, such as Psylocke's blatant flirting with Cyclops right in front of Jean, Rogue and Gambit's dancing around each other in terms of a possible relationship and Colossus bringing Illyana back to live with him following the deaths of their parents. Cyclops and Jean also finally had a talk about the state of their relationship and got things back on track.
Another good look at the X-Men from the 1990's.
January 24, 2025
An X-Men book between events. X-Cutioner's Song had just ended with Fatal Attractions immediately following. In the first story, Colossus heads to Russia with the X-Men to visit his family and more tragedy strikes. The Soul Skinner is kind of a dumb villain so at least Omega Red pops in. Then Revanche shows up claiming to be the real Psylocke and we head back to Japan to figure the whole thing out. Lurking in the background are the Upstarts who I found kind of stupid, killing people for points. The Legacy virus is beginning to rear its head too, a goodbye present from Stryfe that kicks around for a LONG time. The art by Andy Kubert and Brandon Peterson still holds up.
March 26, 2019
An interesting run of stories. First and foremost, the artwork is top-notch! As for the stories, the first run was only okay, I didn't care much about the soul-skinner nor about Omega Red (I like Omega Red, just not the way he was here). However, the rest of the books in this run are great! The whole Psylocke/Kwannon/Revanche story has piqued my interest for a long while, and this collection answers some questions (but leaves you hanging). All said, this is much better than its Uncanny contemporary at the time. Better team, better art, better stories!
July 18, 2018
The first portion of this collection that deals with the actual Skinner Of Souls is a convoluted mess of a story filed with unnecessary deaths, villains who conveniently appear in order to raise the stakes only to incoveniently disappear to before the consequences of the plot. It's basic hacky superhero comics.
2/5 stars
The main thrust of the collection revolves around the existence of two Psylockes. Explaining why she went from looking British to having Asian features. It also threatens to be hacky but finds an interesting and not completely expectable explanation for the deuling Betsy Braddocks.
4/5 stars
I recommend it for Psylocke enthusiasts, fans of fun 90s X-Men storylines, Legacy Virus investigators, and people who enjoy completely unnecessary destructions of a charater's family to justify a change of behavior in later storylines.
2/5 stars
The main thrust of the collection revolves around the existence of two Psylockes. Explaining why she went from looking British to having Asian features. It also threatens to be hacky but finds an interesting and not completely expectable explanation for the deuling Betsy Braddocks.
4/5 stars
I recommend it for Psylocke enthusiasts, fans of fun 90s X-Men storylines, Legacy Virus investigators, and people who enjoy completely unnecessary destructions of a charater's family to justify a change of behavior in later storylines.
November 25, 2019
I wanted to read some Nicieza, but it is with Lobdell, and that shows. These things happen.
Mainly, it is a mess, with a lot going on and a lot of big deaths, but too much noise and confusion to feel anything, even though you are absolutely supposed to be feeling how hard and pointless the hero life is. Without the emotion coming through, it feels like it would lead toward nihilism more than anything else.
Mainly, it is a mess, with a lot going on and a lot of big deaths, but too much noise and confusion to feel anything, even though you are absolutely supposed to be feeling how hard and pointless the hero life is. Without the emotion coming through, it feels like it would lead toward nihilism more than anything else.
May 5, 2017
3.5 stars. Three really interesting plots here: Cyclops/Sinister/Legacy Virus, Psylocke/Revanche, and Colossus/Ilyana.
1.5 points off for leaving lots of questions unanswered, especially with Psylocke and Revanche's body- and mind-swaps.
1.5 points off for leaving lots of questions unanswered, especially with Psylocke and Revanche's body- and mind-swaps.
November 11, 2018
A good X-men transition book.
March 28, 2022
Looks and feels way too much like the 90s cartoon show, which was't all that good either.
Some sexy pose porn for teens, way too much soapydrama talk and stupid plot twists.
Some sexy pose porn for teens, way too much soapydrama talk and stupid plot twists.
January 26, 2024
A poor decision and a pathetic twist to the Psylocke arc that made a complete mess of the intentions of her original writer. Betsy Braddock's change in body is controversial for obvious reasons, but Revanche threw a monkey wrench into Chris Claremont's concept that Psylocke's repressed thrill-seeking psyche now matched what was physically her ideal self. It was preposterous to suggest a merged personality was influencing Betsy; it's who she always was.
May 30, 2015
The artwork went ranged from reasonable (unremarkable but bodies in proportion, characters don't look deformed) to striking (distinct, interesting, good, solid).
I knew of the character Psylocke and Betsy Braddock but by the time she emerged as a character I wasn't following X-Men anymore. I knew about her but not how she went from being English to Asian. This graphic novel explains all that. Finally some answers! This is certainly one of the better graphic novels and I might actually fork out the money to buy it. Unlike so many of the other graphic novels that aren't worth bothering with other than borrowing them from the local library.
I knew of the character Psylocke and Betsy Braddock but by the time she emerged as a character I wasn't following X-Men anymore. I knew about her but not how she went from being English to Asian. This graphic novel explains all that. Finally some answers! This is certainly one of the better graphic novels and I might actually fork out the money to buy it. Unlike so many of the other graphic novels that aren't worth bothering with other than borrowing them from the local library.
January 22, 2014
The run where I officially started buying X-Men comics. I can still remember how excited I was when I saw the cover for X-Men #24 in my shop. I have fond memories of this run, and it makes even more sense now that I know so much more X-Men history (jumping into this cold as a 13 year old and trying to understand the deal with two Psylocke's was difficult - but hey, Gambit was there, so who cares!)
Also can't believe they included the Survival Guide to the Mansion in its entirety - nice bonus!
Also can't believe they included the Survival Guide to the Mansion in its entirety - nice bonus!
October 17, 2014
Amazing artwork in the same vein as the 90s X-Men cartoon.
Good stories with the reunion of Colossus and Magic leading into, and expanding upon the release of the Legacy Virus.
Good stories with the reunion of Colossus and Magic leading into, and expanding upon the release of the Legacy Virus.
March 24, 2015
Overall: 90's X-Men comics lack the character depth and development of modern DC cast.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews