STORY: "The Ties That Bind" (22 pages)  The wedding of Scott and Jean.

What you need to know:
Well, it's the wedding of Scott and Jean.  Not much else to say about it, really.  After this, they disappear for a few issues while they're on their honeymoon (which leads into the Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix miniseries).

Wolverine doesn't turn up to the wedding.  However, he does show up lurking around the outskirts and keeping Sabretooth in line.  Bizarrely, the X-Men seem to have decided that it would be a nice idea to ask Sabretooth to sit politely on a nearby hill until the wedding was finished.  What's wrong with just locking him in his cell?

Jean's dress was designed by Nicole Miller, who is apparently meant to be among the wedding guests shown in this issue.  If you have a particularly desire to learn more about her, visit her website.

There's a scene where Scott needs Xavier to tie his bow tie for him.  From the look of the art, none of the creators knew how to tie one either.

Moira leaves a note for Xavier, suggesting that Cable might be the key to a vaccine against the Legacy Virus.  This goes nowhere.

Captain Britain and Meggan are shown among the wedding guests, but that's impossible given storylines over in Excalibur.  This is the second time in six issues that Captain Britain appears by mistake.

The chronologies for this story are enormously and unnecessarily complicated because additional scenes from the wedding also appear in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album (a wedding video shot by Kitty Pryde) and the framing sequence in What If? vol 2 #60 (stories about other possible courses for Scott and Jean's relationship).

Comments:
I've never liked this issue.  It's meant to be heartwarming and sentimental, but it doesn't work for me.  Scott and Jean had been an established couple for so long that actually marrying them off seemed like a mere formality.  It just seemed to come out of nowhere, and it never seemed to make much difference. 

And Andy Kubert is not the right artist for this kind of story.  He's an action artist.  He does dynamism.  At least at this point in his career, he doesn't do character moments and acting.  Just look at page two, where the script solemnly insists that Rachel Summers has "joy-filled eyes", while the art looks more like she's been on the mogadon.

The right way to do this, if you ask me, would have been to marry Scott and Jean off, and then write them out of the book.  Pack them off to a nice retirement, and bring them back for the occasional guest appearance.  Give them the happy ending and be done with it.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Professor X (appears in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; next in X-Factor vol 1 #101-102, then in X-Factor Annual #9)
Archangel (last in Uncanny X-Men #310; appears in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12 of this story; appears in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 14 and 16 of this story)
The Beast (last in pages 1-2 of What If? vol 2 #60; appears behind the scenes on page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12 of this story; appears on page 18 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 14 and 16 of this story; appears in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 16-17 of this story)
Bishop (last in Uncanny X-Men #310; appears behind the scenes in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12 of this story; appears in pages 4-6 of the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 14 and 16 of this story; appears in pages 7-12 of the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 16-17 of this story; next in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60, then in Uncanny X-Men #311-314, then in the second story in Uncanny X-Men Annual #18, then in Cable #16, then in Uncanny X-Men #318, then in X-Men Annual vol 2 #3)
Cyclops (marries Jean Grey; last in Uncanny X-Men #310; appears in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; appears in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 14 and 17; appears in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 20-21; next writes the thank-you card at the end of X-Men: The Wedding Album, then in Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix #1-2, then in flashback in the Cyclops & Phoenix story in Marvel Valentine Special #1, then in Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix #3-4, then in issue #35)
Gambit (last in Uncanny X-Men #310; appears behind the scenes in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; appears in page 18 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 14 and 16; appears in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between between pages 16-17; next in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60)
Jean Grey (marries Scott Summers and becomes Jean Grey-Summers, though she generally continues to use the name "Jean Grey"; last in X-Men: The Wedding Album; appears in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; appears in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 14 and 17; appears in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 20-21; behind the scenes from pages 21 onwards; next sends the thank-you card seen at the end of X-Men: The Wedding Album, then in Uncanny X-Men Annual #18, then in Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix #1-2, then in flashback in the Cyclops & Phoenix story in Marvel Valentine Special #1, then in Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix #3-4, where she takes the codename "Phoenix", then in issue #35)
Iceman (last in pages 1-2 of What If? vol 2 #60; appears behind the scenes on page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; next in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album, then in Uncanny X-Men #311-313, then behind the scenes in Uncanny X-Men #314, then in Cable #16, then in Uncanny X-Men #318, then in Secret Defenders #18-19, then in issue #38)
Psylocke (appears behind the scenes in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; appears in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 16-17)
Rogue (last in issue #28; appears behind the scenes in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; appears in page 18 of What If? vol 2 #18 between pages 14 and 16; appears in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 16-17 of this story; next in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60, then in X-Men Unlimited vol 1 #4)
Storm (last in pages 1-2 of What If? vol 2 #60; behind the scenes in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; next in X-Factor vol 1 #101-102, then in Uncanny X-Men #311-314, then in Uncanny X-Men Annual #18, then in Cable #16-19, then in Uncanny X-Men #318, then in X-Men Annual vol 2 #3)

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Wolverine (between What If? vol 2 #60 and Wolverine vol 2 #79; his letters in this issue were written between pages 35-36 of Wolverine vol 2 #75)
Jubilee (last in X-Men: The Wedding Album; appears behind the scenes in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; appears in page 18 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 14 and 16; appears in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 16-17; next in Uncanny X-Men #311)
The Banshee (last in Uncanny X-Men #310; appears behind the scenes in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12 of this story; appears in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 14 and 17 of this story; he is behind the scenes in pages 12-14; next in issue #32)
Moira MacTaggert (behind the scenes between Excalibur vol 1 #74-75)
Philip Summers and Deborah Summers (both between issues #22 and #39; both in What If? vol 2 #60, Philip behind the scenes, between pages 11-12)
Elaine Grey (next in X-Men vs The Brood #1) and John Grey (next in Uncanny X-Men #322; both last in X-Factor vol 1 #40; both are behind the scenes in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12)
Gailyn Bailey and Joey Bailey (both between X-Factor vol 1 #40 and the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album; they are behind the scenes in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12 of this story; after that point, they are only behind the scenes in this issue)
Stevie Hunter (last in Uncanny X-Men #300; appears behind the scenes in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; behind the scenes from page 12 onwards; next in Uncanny X-Men Annual #18)
Corsair (behind the scenes; last in flashback in Infinity Crusade #3; next in Incredible Hulk vol 2 #415)

VILLAIN
Sabretooth (between Uncanny X-Men #310-311)

GUEST APPEARANCES
Excalibur: Nightcrawler (last in Uncanny X-Men #310; behind the scenes from page 12 onwards; next in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album), Phoenix II (between Excalibur vol 1 #74-75) and Shadowcat (last in page 1 of the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album; behind the scenes from page 12 onwards; behind the scenes in pages 4-12 of the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 14 and 17; next behind the scenes in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60; all three appear in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12)
X-Factor II: Forge, Havok, Polaris, Strong Guy and Wolfsbane (all last in pages 1-2 of What If? vol 2 #60, except Forge, who was last in Uncanny X-Men #310, and Wolfsbane, who was last in New Warriors vol 1 #46; all appear in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12, where all are behind the scenes except Havok; Strong Guy appears in page 18 of What If? vol 2 #60, then in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 14 and 16; Havok appears in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 16 and 21, and is behind the scenes from page 21 onwards; all next in X-Factor vol 1 #101, except Strong Guy and Wolfsbane, who appear next in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60)
X-Force II: Cable, Boomer, Cannonball II, Domino II, Rictor, Shatterstar, Siryn and Warpath (all last in X-Force vol 1 #34 except Cable, who was last seen in Uncanny X-Men #310; all next in X-Force #35 except Cannonball, Rictor and Shatterstar, who appear next in pages 7-12 of the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album, and Warpath, who appears next in pages 26-27 of What If? vol 2 #60; all appear in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12, where all but Cable and Cannonball are behind the scenes; between pages 14 and 16, Boomer and Rictor appear in pages 4-6 of the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album)
Lila Cheney (last in X-Factor vol 1 #93; appears behind the scenes in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; appears in page 18 of What If? vol 2 #60, then in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 14 and 17; next behind the scenes in X-Factor vol 1 #107)
Valerie Cooper (last in X-Factor vol 1 #100; appears behind the scenes in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; next in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album)
Leech and Artie Maddicks (both last in the second story in X-Force Annual #1; both behind the scenes in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; both next behind the scenes in Generation X #5)
Quicksilver (next in Captain America vl 1 #427), Crystal (next in Incredible Hulk vol 2 #417) and Luna Maximoff (next behind the scenes in Avengers vol 1 #374; all last in pages 1-2 of What If? vol 2 #60; all appear behind the scenes in page 10 of What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12; all appear in the second story in X-Men: The Wedding Album between pages 14 and 16)

OTHER CHARACTERS
Nicole Miller (first appearance; the designer of Jean's dress; last behind the scenes in X-Men: The Wedding Album; behind the scenes in What If? vol 2 #60 between pages 11-12 of this story; no further appearances)

Written: 7 October 2004

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