Writing: Mike
Higgins & Karl Bollers
Art: Rick Leonardi
Retro Note: This story takes place after
Uncanny #352, but before Uncanny #356.
What Went Down: A team of SHIELD commandos is sent to explore
the abandoned Operation Zero Tolerance clinic from Wolverine #117-118. Much to
the chagrin of everyone involved, the base turns out to have hidden labs full
of human test subjects and Sentinel tech.
The troops get in touch with current SHIELD head of the day G.W. Bridge,
but all the troops are killed by the Machine Man.
A strange fantasy follows with Bastion watching fireworks
with a wife and child with similar skin and hair color. It is revealed that Bastion is actually in a
containment field being monitored by SHIELD scientists and Senator Brickman
(later seen in Uncanny #359). The scientists are trying to determine
Bastion’s origins, noting that his body is not authentic. Bastion then breaks out of the tube.
In Alaska, Cable watches Cyclops and Jean in their house
trying to live a normal life. Cable is
happy for the couple, but reflects on his own struggle. He briefly recaps his history being raised by
Scott and Jean in the future, as well as his history with Stryfe, the Askani,
and Six Pack. As he hikes away, his
revelry is interrupted by a SHIELD helicopter.
The transport takes Cable to the hellicarrier. There Bridge briefs him on Bastion’s recent
escape, showing Cable the security footage.
Bastion is displaying strange strength and energy blasts that he has
never used before. Cable says this is
the government’s fault, but agrees to help search for the missing team at the
clinic.
After cutting briefly to Machine Man plugged into a
Sentinel, we see Bastion (in his underwear) visiting Rose (the women from X-Men #68-69). He asks for help from the woman, and we learn
that years ago Rose found Bastion and raised him; he was as ignorant as a child
although apparently fully grown. The
authorities track Bastion down and open fire on him, accusing him of being a
mutant; the bullets ricochet off him and kill Rose. Bastion flips out and flies through the
helicopter a la Cannonball.
Meanwhile SHIELD loans Cable a plane, which he takes to
the Prospero Clinic in New Mexico. Upon
entering, he is attacked by automated turrets, which he fends off. Cable reaches the main lab and discovers
Machine Man. He is surprised when
Machine Man attacks him, noting that he is a super hero. MM captures Cable just as Bastion
enters. While trying to escape, Cable’s
telepathy causes a mind meld between himself and MM, sharing memories and
feelings between the two heroes. Bastion
takes out Machine Man and reveals that he has transformed himself into
Nimrod—the Sentinel from the future.
How It Was: Presenting the story that should’ve been a two
page section of Operation Zero Tolerance: the Origin of Bastion. This is such a strange one, since Cable and
Machine Man both had absolutely nothing to do with the original Bastion
story. You can see what the writers are
going for, juxtaposing X-51 and Bastion’s origins as artificial beings with
human mentors that diverged in different directions, but the Machine Man is
such an obscure Marvel character and Cable is left with little to do.
The writing team of this story can’t get through two
pages without having to retcon the Zero Tolerance story—oh actually the
Prospero clinic wasn’t abandoned, they just moved all the lab equipment to a
secret room in the same building. Also
odd for this story—it is hinted that X-51 murders the soldiers in the opening
scenes, but this aspect is never touched on again. Because this is a double-sized annual, the
reader is subjected to a number of expository flashbacks of the main
characters’ pasts that have little to nothing to do with the main plot. I don’t really see how X-51’s battle with the
Hulk or Cable’s past with Stryfe help to inform the story better. There’s also this weird plot device of a mind
link between the two heroes which doesn’t make a lot of sense since Machine Man
is well… a machine.
As for Bastion, he’s been tweaked a little. Oddly the writers are trying to make him out
to be sympathetic, unable to fight his inherent programming. Higgins and
Bollers go down the checklist of hints we got from the OZP story: what’s up
with Rose—check, unapologetic hatred of mutants—check, weird Sentinel
tech—check. He’s also been reimagined as
this ultra-powered energy wielding robot, which lends the question of why he
didn’t put up more of a fight at the end of OZP.
This plot is by the numbers. After the first few pages,
you can pretty much predict the story beat for beat, from the fight between the
two heroes to the cliffhanger at the end.
The art is pretty nice; other than some odd facial expressions from G.W.
Bridge everything looks great. It’s just
too bad it takes so long for things to get going. Cable doesn’t start his mission until almost
two-thirds into the book. It’s a very
padded story meant to shed some light on one of the lesser remembered villains
of the X-universe.
Completionists Only
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