X-Men: The Wedding Special (2024) #1

by Kieron Gillen, Rachel Stott (Artist), Michael Bartolo (Colorist)

WEDDING EXTRAVAGANZA! Mystique and Destiny are one of the most beloved - and longest running - gay couples in history. Somewhere in their 100+ years together, the pair married, but we've never seen the event on the page. This year, Marvel's Pride makes history with Marvel's first woman-to-woman wedding! And with a couple as complex as these two, you know there's a lot more to the story. We promise party crashing! Villainy! Romance! In the classic tradition of Fantastic Four Annual #3 and X-Men #30, this anthology will be a must-read for every comics fan. Featuring the Marvel debuts of award-winning writers Yoon Ha Lee (Ninefox Gambit, Machineries of Empire) and M. Louis (Agents of the Realm), and much more talent to be announced!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels Comics, LGBT, Young Adult, Graphic Novels

83 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 29, 2024

About the author

Kieron Gillen is a comic book writer and former media journalist.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty cute and a nice palate cleanser after slogging through the godawful Fall of the House of X/Rise of the Powers X event.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of shorts focusing on various X-Members' reactions to being invited to a wedding / vow renewal. As with most anthologies, it's born through several creators, making a tone and flow hard to establish when viewed as a collection. Pretty obviously padded to justify the price tag, it isn't exactly a daylight robbery experience, but it is leaning towards it. 

actual rating 2.5 stars

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of agree with one of the characters in this comic, why are we celebrating the terrorist mass murder couple? They’re gay and that makes all their crimes okay? But I do know these two have done a lot of heavy lifting for the Krakoan Age and have done a lot of redeeming but it does feel weird to highlight these two when there are so many other phenomenal Queer characters. Also so weird to do this Pride month special in May! Like literally drop this next week and it’s in June. Anyway, had a fun time with it, it’s cute and gay or whatever so of course I’ll like it. Love being cute and gay.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dal 1980 che aspettavamo questo momento!! ♥️🙌🏻

[Frédéric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Typical no-surprise event. I hear the LGBTQIA+ message clear and loud but that doesn’t make the book more interesting. Fluff all over the place, choking cutesies, unfunny jokes and not so good art to boot.

For true completists only

[Juju Andalon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this would be a tribute, a reflection of Destiny and Mystique over the years and what it has resulted in. I thought this special was going to be a story that encapsulated all the trials and morally gray choices the two have made for each other, and how love is still at the center of it all.

Instead, what I got was a poorly structured story focused more on queer Gen Z humor and stereotypes.

A “wedding extravaganza” is hardly the premise of this issue, the anthology choppily centering on a vow renewal. Not bad in theory, but not what was advertised and certainly not what I think most were expecting. The separate stories were okay, but they felt random at times, only being part of the special because of the queer characters. They also felt very gimmicky and cringey, pandering to a younger audience with way too much confidence. Specifically, the GenZ-isms were not working for me.

Usually I can handle actual Gen Z characters saying things like “Sapphic Sapphire” and “Bisexual Menace” to refer to Mystique. Even Anole’s protest of Mystique as their queer rep (which was actually so true and hilarious) was fine. But most of it felt so heavy handed, like Marvel was trying to prove just how iconic Destiny and Mystique are. Yet, that falls through because they use other characters rather than the titular couple themselves, to make the point.

Now, this issue is not without a few positives, some moments actually being really funny and the art being lovely, which is not surprising. Also, I’ll always love the Mystique and Destiny family-thing they’ve got going on, so I enjoyed seeing it. However, I expected more than a tongue in cheek take on Mystique and Destiny’s relationship. They really should’ve just given Mystique and Destiny a story separate from Marvel Voices. C'est la vie, I suppose.

Overall, a poorly executed good idea.

Also, the "we spit on the law" is really cute in theory, but felt so cheesy and out of character. It's like the writers forgot that being queer doesn't magically transform personalities. They're out here telling us Mystique is just a silly goofy girl, when she actually isn't, and I cringed reading this. .

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven - mainly due to the multiple stories within it? It's an anthology. The stories that focus on Mystique and Destiny are stellar, and I recommend - those I'd give four stars and higher. But I skimmed over the Logan, Captain Britain, and Remy stories for the most part. Losing interest quickly and being a little annoyed by the uneven artwork.

Read it for Mystique and Destiney's wedding, which doesn't quite go down as expected. Their couple counseling by...Emma, which also contains an entertaining surprise. And X-Factor #9 Annual included at the very end, where Mystique mourns Destiny's death. (Destiny was resurrected on Krakoa against Moira McTaggert's wishes). Added bonus Chris Claremount's interview, and the history of Mystique and Destiny's romance, among the first LGBT romances in comics, and how they jumped around the pesky 20th Century Comics Code to tell it. (Now it's not an issue, since the Comics Code has long since been disbanded.)

Skip the bit on Logan, Betsy and Remy...or skim it. You won't miss much. I'm not sure I understand why they included the Logan storyline - unless it was a shout-out to good LGBTA teachers? But Logan doesn't come to mind as a teacher of well anything? Kitty, yes. Even Xavier? Or maybe Emma? But not Logan. It felt off and out of character. Iceman's romance is included for the male gay audience, but I'm not sure it was absolutely necessary? And it's a reprint? Also everyone looks like they are twelve?
Remy and Rogue? Equally unnecessary, and the art was not the best.

So an uneven read - as is true with most anthologies. It is however worth a look for Destiny and Mystique among the best romances in comics - a romance between two female rogues.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute to end all the drama with some gay vow renewals! i didn't know destiny had been dead for so long!

dying at the lil x-men kids calling mystique the sapphic sapphire and a bisexual menace lol. how nice when old villains join the team and we just choose to overlook all the awful things they did in the past

it was so interesting to read the interview with chris claremont and all the things he did to get around the comics code authority back in the day

also i totally forgot to mention this anywhere else but i love the idea of mutant circuits so much :') they've been around for so long but now they have a name

alsoalso wow that took way longer than i expected and now i'm only caught up on x-men titles up to the start of this year aaaaaaa

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part $$$ grab during Pride Month...
Part break from the Fall of X garbage flooding the newsstands...

It's an anthology of stories about the Destiny/Mystique renewal of vows and other LGBTQ+(and some other letters I'm sure I missed) stories in the MU.

Best parts?
* Rictor, Northstar, and Iceman talking about their first relationships. That Iceman/Romeo relationship is all kinds of time travel messed up.
* The interview with Chris Claremont and how the Mystique/Destiny relationship evolved
-----
Bonus: Claremont's 'behind the scenes' of dodging the Comics Code same sex ban in the 80's...
Bonus Bonus: Did you know Marvel didn't break from the Comics Code until 2001

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this was a bit of a bait and switch. It's billed as the never before told wedding of Mystique and Destiny but it's really just a renewal of their vows. I wanted to see this be all about their original wedding. This is all just a bunch of fluff, padded out with two reprint stories to drive up the cover price. The best parts about it are the 4 pages of prose covering their history and an interview with Chris Claremont about the intended nature of their relationship when he wrote them off and on in Uncanny X-Men for the better part of 17 years.

[Yasser Maniram · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of an anthology issue featuring some side characters than a main event special but I did enjoy the Logan story. The art varied depending on the story, the Emma Frost story likely had the best art, but at the end of the day they could have trimmed 75% of the content and achieved a similar result.

[Alias Pending · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great final panel. Obviously, if you are reading X-Men, you'll read this. It is a celebration of villainy and romance and the fall of censorship and the rise of pride. Some of the tales required some backstory that I have not gotten to yet, and at least one story took an abrupt turn that mandated a re-read to figure out. But the classics did that too. Good stuff.

[Scratch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anole was the one person speaking perfect sense. There is absolutely no reason to treat Mystique, the gender-fluid --bisexual?-- character as a role model, let alone a hero. There's no point praising her just because she got gay married. She's a terrorist and a murderer several times over.

No wedding gift. Just protest.

[Whatcha Reading Heather? · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 4.5/5 stars. Half star deduction because Iceman's side quest REALLY didn't need to be included and was literally just shoehorned into this one-shot to sell his series. Otherwise, I thought this was a solid look into Mystique and Destiny's long-term love and it was a nice touch to have Chris Clarmont's interview and a relationship timeline included.

[Vijay Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anole has a point but man did the Wolverine story get to me especially as someone who loves education and the educators in my life. And then the reprint of X-Factor Annual #6 reframing the callback in the E’mma Frost story? Man…

[Sara☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very fun, very gay comic full of personality!!
I loved all of the small side stories about various characters preparing for the wedding and seeing the interactions between them!

My personal fave was the rogue and gambit story🥹the art style was GORGEOUS (esp the last drawing! my babies!! they’re so in love)

I love when you can tell that a pride comic has been created by queer people, because these two were, in fact, being gay and doing crimes in the 19th century😌

[petra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so, so, so lovely. So many queer characters, dinosaurs, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, great humor, gorgeous artwork, ... And I also really enjoyed the pages about Marvel's queercoding history and the interview with Claremont!

[Roman Colombo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful collection of short stories and a wedding that goes exactly as it should with these characters.

[Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it bad I enjoyed the other stories in the comic other than the main one with Mystique and Destiny? I expected more from Marvel with it being Pride.

[Raul Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

except for the loki/emma frost story, I loved every single story, my favorite by far tho was the wolverine one it was a lot of fun and the message of the story was really sweet

[spooky ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want one of those shirts now

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loki said that Emma doesn’t recognize love when she sees it while referring to Jean Grey Phoenix. Which could mean nothing.

[Sasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful and fun collection of short stories leading up to mystique and destiny's wedding! it was great fun, the writing was good, and the art was beautiful! be gay, do crime!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was genuinely adorable i love them so much