The Uncanny X-Men #299
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeUncanny X-Men #299 is the launching pad for one of the X-Men franchise's most politically charged villain concepts: Graydon Creed and his hate group the Friends of Humanity, whose DNA-level irony — a fully human man born of two mutant parents who abandoned him — gave the title's long-running mutant-civil-rights allegory a genuinely complex new face. The issue also seeds the Legacy Virus through Illyana Rasputina's ominous cough, beginning a years-long tragedy that would culminate in her death in #303 and ultimately drive Colossus to sacrifice himself for a cure. Beyond its debuts, the televised debate at the heart of 'Nightlines' — Xavier, Senator Kelly, Creed, and Beast sparring on live television — represents writer Scott Lobdell pushing Professor X from reclusive headmaster into public intellectual, reshaping how the character would be portrayed for the rest of the decade.
In "Nightlines," Professor Xavier, Kelly, Graydon, and Beast find themselves at the center of a heated national debate on mutant rights, appearing on the talk show Night Line to confront public perception and political pressure. Meanwhile, in Kuwait, Forge investigates what he believes to be the wreckage of Asteroid M, uncovering clues that could reshape the understanding of mutant history. Written by Scott Lobdell and illustrated by Brandon Peterson, with Dan Panosian’s inks, Marie Javins’ colors, and Chris Eliopoulos’ lettering, the issue’s cover by Peterson and Panosian captures the tension of a world on edge.
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The issue was written by Scott Lobdell with pencils by Brandon Peterson, inks by Dan Panosian, and colors by Marie Javins, and was published under Editor-in-Chief Tom DeFalco with a cover date of April 1993 (released in February of that year). It arrived in the immediate aftermath of the X-Cutioner's Song crossover, a period when Lobdell was consolidating multiple dangling plot threads — the Upstarts competition, the mystery of Magneto's missing body, and the post-Stryfe landscape — into what would build toward the landmark issue #300. The Graydon Creed character had been briefly name-dropped in Stryfe's Strike File #1 earlier that same month, but #299 marks his first full in-story appearance and the first time the Friends of Humanity are brought to life on the page under his leadership.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Story title: 'Nightlines.' Written by Scott Lobdell; pencilled by Brandon Peterson; inked by Dan Panosian; colored by Marie Javins. Cover date: April 1993.
- First in-story appearance of Graydon Creed — the non-mutant son of Sabretooth and Mystique and half-brother of Nightcrawler — who debuts as a participant in a live televised debate on mutant rights alongside Professor X, Senator Kelly, and Beast.
- First appearance of Graydon Creed's anti-mutant organization the Friends of Humanity, which would become a recurring antagonist faction across the X-titles and the 1990s animated series for years to come.
- First appearance of Fatale, who appears in disguise as a waitress named Pamela Greenwood at Harry's Hideaway; Bishop notices her as suspicious — a thread left for later resolution.
- First appearance of Noah DuBois, who appears unnamed as Senator Robert Kelly's telepathic aide; the character would later resurface in Deadpool-related stories.
- Illyana Rasputina (Magik) is shown feverish and coughing in a scene with Colossus — an early, ominous signal that she has contracted the Legacy Virus, the disease released by Stryfe that would kill her in Uncanny X-Men #303.
- The Upstarts subplot is revisited, with Shinobi Shaw, Trevor Fitzroy, Fabian Cortez, and Gamesmaster appearing alongside the newly revealed member Creed; the Gamesmaster teases the imminent debut of one final recruit (Sienna Blaze, who would first appear properly in X-Men Unlimited #1).
- The issue has been collected in the X-Men Epic Collection Vol. 22: Legacies trade paperback (2023).
Cast · 22 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Spécial Strange #93 (1994), X-Men #5/1996 (1996), X-Men: Fatal Attractions #[nn] (2012), X-Men: Fatal Attractions #[nn] (2016), X-Men Milestones: Fatal Attractions #[nn] (2019), X-Men Epic Collection #22 (2023), X-Men: Fatal Attractions Omnibus #[nn] (2024), De X-Mannen #139, La Patrulla-X #138
Key issues in The Uncanny X-Men
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