X-Men #25
X-Men #25 (vol. 2, October 1993) contains one of the most consequential single acts in Marvel history: Magneto using his magnetic powers to forcibly tear the adamantium from Wolverine's skeleton, nearly killing him and stripping him of the metal coating he had carried since the Weapon X program. That brutal moment set off a chain reaction that reshaped the X-Men line for the rest of the decade — it precipitated Xavier's retaliatory mind-wipe of Magneto, which inadvertently planted the psychic seed that would eventually grow into Onslaught, the 1996 mega-event. The issue also laid the groundwork, picked up immediately in Wolverine #75, for revealing that Wolverine's claws had always been natural bone — one of the most significant retcons in the character's publishing history. According to writer Fabian Nicieza, the idea originated as an offhand joke by Peter David in the writers' room, yet it became the pivot point that defined the darker, action-thriller tone of 1990s X-Men storytelling.
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The issue was published as part of 'Fatal Attractions,' a six-part crossover conceived by writers Fabian Nicieza (on the adjectiveless X-Men title) and Scott Lobdell (on Uncanny X-Men), under editor Bob Harras, to mark the X-Men franchise's 30th anniversary. Nicieza had joined the X-Men title beginning with issue #12 and worked consistently alongside penciler Andy Kubert, making their collaboration on this landmark chapter the culmination of their run together. Each installment of the crossover carried a special holographic panel on a wraparound cover — on this issue, a Gambit hologram — a production flourish typical of the gimmick-heavy Marvel of the early 1990s. The story continued directly from Uncanny X-Men #304 and picked up in Wolverine #75, with the six-part event spanning X-Factor, X-Force, Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Wolverine, and Excalibur.
Trivia · 11 facts
- Written by Fabian Nicieza, penciled by Andy Kubert, inked by Matt Ryan, colored by Joe Rosas, lettered by Bill Oakley, and edited by Bob Harras; Tom DeFalco served as Editor-in-Chief.
- Part 4 of 6 of the 'Fatal Attractions' crossover, titled 'Dreams Fade'; published October 1993 as a 48-page oversized issue.
- Central event: Magneto, in retaliation for Wolverine nearly gutting him in combat aboard the space station Avalon, uses his magnetic powers to rip the adamantium coating off Wolverine's skeleton, leaving him near death.
- In direct response, Professor Xavier — wearing a Shi'ar exoskeleton that allows him to walk — psychically mind-wipes Magneto, rendering him comatose; Magneto would not return until Uncanny X-Men #350 in 1997.
- Xavier's violent act of mind-wiping Magneto inadvertently created the psychic entity Onslaught, which festered in Xavier's subconscious and erupted as the major 1996 crossover event.
- Colossus, who had defected to Magneto's Acolytes in Uncanny X-Men #304, remains behind on Avalon to tend to the comatose Magneto, cementing his turn away from the X-Men.
- The adamantium stripping directly set up the revelation in the follow-up issue Wolverine #75 (Nov. 1993) that Wolverine's claws were always natural bone — a major retcon establishing them as part of his mutation, not Weapon X implants; Wolverine would not regain his adamantium until Wolverine #145 (1999).
- The issue was loosely adapted in the X-Men '97 animated series episode 'Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2,' and elements of Fatal Attractions were also adapted in the 1994 arcade/console game X-Men: Children of the Atom; the story has been collected in multiple trade paperbacks and hardcovers, including X-Men: Fatal Attractions (2012 and 2016 editions) and was excerpted in The 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time #3 (2001).
- Several cover variants exist: standard direct edition, newsstand edition, a 'Blue Holo Error' variant (hologram printed in dark blue), a Gold Logo edition, an Australian edition, a Black & White Hologram variant, and Dynamic Forces signed editions by both Andy Kubert and Fabian Nicieza.
- Cameos by Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), the Thing, and Nick Fury appear in the issue's opening pages.
- Fabian Nicieza returned to the story in X-Men: Gold #1 (2013), written for the franchise's 50th anniversary, adding context to Xavier's mindwipe of Magneto.
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