What If…? Uncanny X-Men #1: Happy Wife, Happy Life

“Inferno” is a pivotal moment in X-Men history. A distinct moment in time filled with fire, demons, anguish, and death. When the dust settled and the fires were extinguished many lives were lost and a family was forever destroyed, but what if things turned out differently? What if a life that was taken? What if a family was allowed to grow and love? What consequences would this decision have on the world?

“What if?” is something of an institution at Marvel despite it’s inconsistent release schedules, That being said, for the 50th anniversary of the title Marvel has elected to bring us alternate stories to some important Marvel events as well as questions fans have always had about different characters. For the first issue, we revisit the iconic “Inferno” storyline to find just what could have happened if Madelyne Pryor survived the event and Scott Summers decided to stay with her and raise their son Nathan (AKA Cable). The result is a story that has some fun elements, but sum of the parts end up being its downfall.

Gerry Duggan tells a tale that moves a bit fast, but still winds up being a fun time overall. Channeling elements of Claremont, Morrison, Hickman, and even himself he constructs a narrative that has a few contrived moments to keep the pace up, but they aren’t anything that will take you out of the book completely. The characters act how you would expect them to in this wild situation(which makes sense given Gerry’s experience with said characters), but there are a couple of questionable moments and Maddy especially gets not much of anything to do despite being a main point of the story.

Jan Bazaldua’s art is gorgeous from start to finish. There are no wasted pencils as she brings Duggan’s achingly tragic and action-packed script to life with great detail along with Arthur Hesli’s vibrant colors.