X-MEN ’92: HOUSE OF XCII #5: Endings Are Beginnings

It’s the rip-roaring conclusion to the series, and Steve Foxe and the creative team don’t disappoint. Foxe’s ability to graft the modern era to the 92 eras is on point as it finds the perfect balance between being wonderfully 92 era serious with tongue firmly in cheek. Of course, the modern era is still ongoing, and I was very curious to see how the creative team would pull off the conclusion. It’s a smartly wrapped-up affair that not only stands on its own as an original ending to the piece but also sews up the idea of what the creative team has done in these last five issues in a wonderfully neat package. Foxe clearly gets the X-Men and gets the core of what they are about, and it’s wonderfully expressed in the wrap-up dialogue boxes as the issue comes to its rather clever (sort of) ending.

But stepping back into the issue for a moment. It’s a packed affair with the Nimrod/Trask hybrid causing havoc everywhere as Asteroid X falls and the chaos spreads to Krakoa. There are cameos and deaths galore and absolutely glorious one-liners and some really funny meta-commentary (including some shade being thrown at a character from POX, lol) in to boot. Foxe brings all the story threads together very neatly, making use of a lot of what came before, including Beast’s difference after his resurrection, Jubilee being at the heart of things as opposed to Moira, and even the Phoenix gets thrown in the mix for an explosive conclusion! Foxe doesn’t forget the defining ideas from HOX/POX and the way the creative team slip in the concept of the Chimera while referencing 90’s COMBOMAN (if your were reading
comics in the 90s you’ll know what I mean) so slyly with some Storm dialogue is my absolute favorite thing about the issue. The ending is a satisfying and nostalgia-laced affair that’s fun but neatly ends things in a way that is true to the idea of the 92 series and the cartoon.

Salva Espin And Israel Silva get to have some fun here like they have the whole series. There’s
fantastic splashes with Nimrod versus the X-Men, there’s Charles revealing the many lives of Jubilee, and there’s the Chimera reveal, which had me howling with laughter (they even have it standing in the same pose as the Comboman advert from the ’90s), there are characters getting lasered or sliced in half, Sinister hanging from the ceiling in his lab and every x-fans favorite arcade game too! The art from this series has taken the imagery of the original TAS cartoon and comic series and painted it in marvelously fresh colors while being true to the look and feel of the original, which is a fantastic accomplishment by Espin and colorist Israel Silva.

This series has perfectly brought so many of the best things about BOTH eras. It has adapted together in smart, fun, and often hilarious ways to make a new thing that is instantly recognizable but enjoyable as its own thing. It’s a sterling accomplishment by the creative team, and I absolutely give it my highest recommendation as a work of pure fun.