Merge:Fatal Attractions

Fatal Attractions is a major X-Men crossover written by Fabian Nicieza and Scott Lobdell, published by Marvel Comics in 1993.

When Magneto and his Acolytes return, the X-Men are forced to cross a moral line to stop them.

Plot
The saga begins with the X-Men burying Illyana Rasputin (Magik), who was killed by the Legacy Virus. Magneto and the Acolytes crash the funeral, stating their intentions to wipe out humanity from their space station Avalon. Colossus, distraught over his sister's death and faltering in his faith in Professor X and his dream, joins Magneto and the Acolytes.



Magneto unleashes an electromagnetic pulse on the Earth that creates havoc on the world's electrical systems. Professor X dons a Shi'ar exoskeleton that enables him to walk, and assembles Jean Grey, Gambit, Rogue, Quicksilver and Wolverine to go to Avalon and stop Magneto. Arriving in the Blackbird (modified for space flight), the team boards Avalon and disables the station with a virus created by Beast. Magneto engages the X-Men in battle, and in a fit of rage, tears the adamantium out of Wolverine's skeleton. Professor X, enraged by Magneto's actions, mindwipes Magneto, leaving him in a coma. The X-Men race back to Earth to treat Wolverine, while Colossus stays in a devastated Avalon to care for the comatose Magneto.

As the Blackbird returns to Earth, it runs into rough turbulence. Flashes of Wolverine's consciousness are shown as he struggles to stay alive. The X-Men on Earth watch in horror as the crew frantically tries to stabilize the ship and care for Wolverine. The ship's hatch opens, and Wolverine sees himself "going towards the light", but he is pushed back. He awakens in time to prevent Jean Grey from getting sucked out of the Blackbird. The X-Men land on the Earth safely. As Wolverine recovers from his injuries, he and the X-Men learn that his claws were a part of his actual skeletal structure all along, as he now possesses claws made of bone.

Impact

 * This story lead directly into the Avengers/X-Men crossover "Bloodties"


 * In wiping out Magneto's mind, Professor X unleashed an evil psychic entity, Onslaught, that festers in his mind, leading to the Onslaught Saga of 1996.


 * The mind-wiped Magneto did not return until 1999.


 * Wolverine lost his adamantium skeleton. He did not get it back until 2000, when Apocalypse rebonded it to his skeleton in the Apocalypse: The Twelve storyline.


 * After the destruction of Avalon, Colossus would later join Excalibur as part of his rehabilitation.


 * The storyline was the basis for the Arcade game X-Men: Children of the Atom.

Publication

 * 1) X-Factor (Volume 1) #92
 * 2) X-Force (Volume 1) #25
 * 3) Uncanny X-Men #304
 * 4) X-Men (Volume 2) #25
 * 5) Wolverine (Volume 2) #75
 * 6) Excalibur (Volume 1) #71