X-Men #67

X-Men #67
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Carlos Pacheco

What Went Down:  Our story now takes us to Israel, where Israeli super soldier Sabra is infiltrating…somewhere…to find information on Operation Zero Tolerance.  Some security guards find her just as she finishes the download, asking her to come with them.  Escorted into a car, the three agents Sabra meets turn out to be Prime Sentinels, and they demand she give up the information she just stole.  Sabra defeats them, and her thoughts explain that she is motivated by the loss of her son Jacob.

In Manhattan, Cecilia and Iceman have made their way to Archangel’s penthouse apartment.  Iceman tries to explain Archangel’s history, but Cecilia doesn’t really care, and both of them are anxious about running into disguised Prime Sentinels.  Marrow observes them as they walk by the sewer.  Inside the apartment, Iceman accidentally attacks Angie Quail, who says she is Candy Southern’s old roommate that is housesitting for Warren.

In New Mexico, Bastion continues to taunt Professor X.  Xavier comes to the conclusion that Bastion wants Xavier to be lying about his power loss because Bastion secretly wants to be stopped.  Bastion insists he is saving humanity.

In New York, Iceman tries to call the X-Men’s allies on a cellphone while Angie tries to get Cecilia to open up about the things that are bothering her.  Iceman’s powers konk out because Angie is actually a Prime Sentinel nullifying them.  Cecilia saves Iceman, and the Sentinel is defeated by a gunshot from behind, courtesy of Charlotte Jones—Archangel’s former girlfriend, a cop, and an X-Men ally.

Charlotte takes the two mutants to the police station for protection.  Cecilia doesn’t trust her, but Bobby insists that Charlotte is a friend.  In another room, we see Charlotte talking to the two bodyguards from Uncanny #346 (the one’s that are really Sentinels).  Operation Zero Tolerance has kidnapped Charlotte’s son, forcing Charlotte to lead her friends into a trap.  On the other side of the two-way mirror, we see that a number of the police officers are also Prime Sentinels.  Just as they are about to attack, the power goes out.  This is thanks to Marrow, who is trying to help our heroes.

How It Was:  More new players and more to like about already-established ones.  I’m still really digging Cecilia and Iceman’s relationship at this point.  While Cecilia still complains a lot, she is far more sympathetic here as it slowly becomes clearer and clearer that Iceman has absolutely no idea what he is doing.  And that’s a really fun direction to see this odd couple in.  Their banter back and forth tells the whole story; their frustration, fear, and growing admiration all come across really well. 

What I’m not too crazy about is the formulaic pattern this story is stuck in: Cecilia and Iceman go someplace to hide, Prime Sentinels ambush them, Cecilia holds them off with her forcefield, an outside force saves them, repeat.  It’s only issue two of this story, and this has already happened two or three times, and it’s not going to stop.  As for the attempt of a misdirect with Angie the housesitter, it probably would have worked better if we’d seen this character once or twice before.

I like the idea of a Mossad trained Israeli Captain America, so it’s too bad that Sabra is little more than a plot device in this story.  She does get a nice scene where she takes out some Sentinels though.  And then Charlotte Jones appears out of nowhere; last time I remember seeing her is the beginning of the Legacy Virus story around Uncanny #298.  The abduction of her son would probably mean a lot more if she appeared in this series with any regularity.  Still, it’s an interesting enough quandary to put our heroes in.  All in all it’s a decent issue.  If you’re not sick of Prime Sentinels yet, the desperation and tension from the protagonists is enough to keep the story captivating.

B

X-Men #66

X-Men #66
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Carlos Pacheco
 

What Went Down:  After a time-honored newsfeed/exposition dump recaps the premise of Operation Zero Tolerance, we see a celebration among the patients and co-workers of Dr. Cecilia Reyes in a hospital lobby.  A bleeding victim in need of immediate care interrupts the impromptu celebration.  The patient dies, despite Reyes’ best efforts, but as everyone is leaving the person gets up and transforms into a Prime Sentinel.  Having hidden the fact that she is a mutant from all of the hospital staff, Cecilia is less than thrilled.

The Sentinel tries to kill Cecilia, revealing that her mutant power is a forcefield that absorbs just about anything, but causes her physical pain as a result.  An orderly is revealed to be another Sentinel, who takes a hostage to convince the surgeon to turn off her mutant power; however, she has no control over it.

Fortunately for Cecilia and the hostage, Iceman shows up to save the day.  Instead of thanking him, Reyes attacks Iceman, blaming him for revealing her secret.  It seems that Charles Xavier had previously approached her about becoming an X-Man, but she declined.  Now she is convinced that the X-Men are somehow responsible for the Sentinels’ awareness of her.  Speaking of Sentinels, more attack, so Iceman encases the entire room in ice and shatters a hole through the floor to the sewers.  On the way down, he “drops” Cecilia in order to test her reflexes.  Down in the sewers, Dr. Reyes breaks down over the loss of her normal life.  Iceman gives her a pep talk, and convinces her to trust him…for now. 

In the OZT Hulkbuster base, Bastion continues to taunt Xavier over the acquisition of his belongings.  He thinks Xavier still has his telepathy, even though Xavier insists that he lost it during Onslaught.  To top it off, Bastion shows Xavier the captured X-Men from X-Men #65.

How It Was:  Well, it’s been a while since the last actual issue of OZT.  As a reluctant rereader of this series, I have to admit that this issue exceeded my expectations.  With all mutants under arrest, it’s only natural for the X-Men to intercede on behalf of oppressed mutants everywhere.  For some reason though this X-Men crossover story is organized so that there is only one X-Man, and he can only rescue one mutant out of what must be hundred or thousands. 

There’s no real reason why Cecilia should be the only one chosen for protection, but plot holes aside, her interactions with Iceman are fantastic.  Or more accurately I should say that this is the best Iceman we’ve seen in a while.  As Lobdell’s last arc, this is as good a place to go as any, since this is a natural conclusion for Iceman’s characterization to go.  And it’s nice to see that this is a challenge that he’s nowhere near prepared for.  Cecilia comes off as conceited and egotistical, but the script balances it by showing that Iceman is just as caught up in the role of his job—building on previous character points with his ex-girlfriend Opal.  And although Cecilia is abrasive, her situation comes off as rather unique.  Instead of just being a reluctant hero, she’s played as completely unwilling, making for an interesting counter to Bobby’s experience and optimism.  It’s an interesting direction that few writers have explored to this point.  After all, everyone would be honored to be an Avenger, but nobody wants to be an X-Man.  Some might be taken back by how much exposition is crammed in to explain all of Cecilia’s history and background, but I can respect wanting to get it all out of the way.

 I like that we’re finally seeing the repercussions of OZT, but I do wish that the story centered more on the fact that the government is unlawfully seizing citizens as opposed to making it solely about one doctor and how inconvenient this all is for her.  But with only four issues to work with, I can respect wanting to keep the scope small.  Pacheco’s art really helps out with the pacing; it makes what little action there is livelier, and his Iceman looks pretty cool.  As a franchise-wide crossover, this is probably a bit underwhelming, but as a spotlight for Iceman, it’s fantastic.  Putting him in a situation where he is outnumbered, and pairing him with a self-hating novice who doesn’t trust him, that’s just the stuff of drama.  Not the greatest thing ever, but enjoyable enough for a beginning.

B-