Wolverine #117

Wolverine # 117
Writing: Larry Hama
Art: Lenil Francis Yu

What Went Down:  The Inhabitants of the New Mexico research colony uncover the X-Men from their hiding spot to ask them about being turned into mindless cyborgs.  Once in contact with the mutants, three of the people transform into Prime Sentinels and attack.  After two of the Sentinels are taken out, the third one grabs a hostage.  Although the dialogue the Sentinel uses says that he is temporarily paralyzing the civilians, the artist is clearly under the impression that the hostages are being killed. 

After the fight, all the people realize that what Mustang was saying is true.  Some wonder if it’s not worth the price to be better, but Mustang ends the debate by saying it’s not worth it.  Next we see Bastion talking about Sabra escaping from Israel.  He then contacts Dr. Prospero, the man behind the Prime Sentinel program, who is actually Bastion’s assistant Harper, a tertiary character that appeared in Uncanny #337.  Harper is told to activate all the Sentinels because SHIELD is on the verge of being activated against them.

Out in the desert, Jubilee has escaped from Zero Tolerance (in Gen X #31, which I’ve never read).  She is thinking about Wolverine when someone surprises her.  Outside the clinic, Cyclops explains the plan off attack, but Wolverine catches Jubilee’s scent and runs off without telling anyone why.

The attacker who snuck up on Jubilee turns out to just be a cactus.  Unfortunately, by attacking the cactus, Jubilee leads a Prime Sentinel to her location.  She manages to shoot her fireworks down the Sentinel’s mouth, but it continues to function.  The girl is about to be killed when Wolverine appears and saves the day.

Later, we see the patients’ bus crashed through the clinic.  Wolverine carries Jubilee to the other X-Men, and they’re all excited to see each other.  It turns out the clinic was empty when they arrived, and the patients destroyed whatever was left after crashing their bus through the door.  After learning the clinic has been breached, Bastion tells his men to activate the special experimental Hunter Killer Sentinel.  Of course this Sentinel just happens to be the X-Men’s new friend, Mustang!

How It Was:  This issue is a fair mix of action and plot, although this story is starting to show signs of disorganization and stalling for time.  We get a little more on the Prime Sentinel manufacturing before the X-Men go to shut it down.  But surprise! It’s already evacuated.  So we don’t get any real closure on the Sentinel clinic…this is the Operation Zero Tolerance that I remember. 

I do like Jubilee in this issue.  It’s nice to see that even though she’s escaped, she still has quite a few obstacles ahead of her.  And attacking a cactus is a nice way to show the effects of the physical and mental anguish she’s gone through.  More than anyone, Jubilee has embodied the suffering of mutants that was supposed to be universal throughout this storyline.  So it’s pretty fulfilling when Wolverine rescues her, and it’s probably the closest we get to satisfaction as far as the heroes vanquishing the villains. 

I think everyone reading this saw Mustang turning Sentinel from a mile away, but Hama needs something to base the climax around.  After all, we know at this point that Hama isn’t going to kill any X-Men, but he could force the X-Men to kill him.  The art is still really great; the fight at the beginning is pretty brutal.  So brutal in fact that the art doesn’t match up too well with the story; even though the Sentinels say they are stunning people, it looks a lot like they’re blowing the skin from their bones.  Other than this odd misstep, Yu is on all cylinders.  Even with such a huge cast, this is completely a Wolverine story, with the eponymous character getting all the coolest moments.  Still, it would’ve been nice if there had been some bigger or more exciting events at the clinic, as opposed to a boring, empty building with no revelations or payoff for the X-Men.  Wolverine and Jubilee really carry this one, along with the opening action.

C

Wolverine #116

Wolverine #116
Writing: Larry Hama
Art: Lenil Francis Yu

What Went Down:  In the middle of the desert, a blind nomad is approached by the tired and ragged X­-Men who are on the run from Operation Zero Tolerance.  The blind man invites them to his fire and explains that his name is Mustang and he’s a pilot that was gravely injured preventing a plane from crashing into an airshow crowd.  He is in the desert taking part in a study that might repair his eyes, kidneys, and legs, all conducted by a Dr. Prospero.  The surrounding trailers are full of people with similar injuries that just want a chance to have their handicaps fixed.  Mustang is also able to deduce that the group is made up of mutants.  After everyone goes to sleep, Wolverine sneaks off to check out the clinic where these treatments are occurring.

In the morning, the X-Men confront Mustang about the true purpose of the clinic.  Using her powers, Jean lets Mustang “see” what Wolverine saw the previous night: a lab full of Sentinel parts.  Jean explains that the Prime Sentinels are sleeper agents activated when they come in contact with mutants and all the people in the camp are being turned into them. 

All of a sudden an aircraft appears in the distance.  The X-Men know it is from OZT scanning for mutants, but Mustang is able to hide them in an underground compartment originally designed for smuggling immigrants.  Mustang then wanders off to tell the rest of the community what he has just learned. At the same time Bastion tells one of his members to activate the Sentinels.  And randomly, we end on a scene of Robert Kelly talking to his wife at her grave. He wonders aloud if he should stand up to Zero Tolerance, then resolves that it’s the right thing to do.  Kelly tells Gyrich to get in touch with G.W. Bridge of SHIELD.

How It Was:  After two issues of barely surviving the Prime Sentinels, the X-Men get a little bit of a breather to actually learn something about the storyline.  Sure the reveal of Prime Sentinels as unwilling cyborgs isn’t a huge revelation, but at least it’s an answer; Bastion has been appearing in X-Men comics since before Onslaught and we never learn who or what he is in this story.  Probably the best moment occurs during the first-person scenes of Wolverine uncovering the lab; seeing Wolverine tear up a wall from his perspective is a neat visual.

The story really centers on Mustang, who isn’t anything to write home about.  He’s a one-dimensional nice guy whose only purpose is to instill sympathy in the reader by putting a face to the victims of Operation Zero Tolerance, although you could argue that particular role should be held by the mutants being persecuted by OZT.  He’s background is so cliché, and it’s hard to believe he can figure out the X-Men’s identities when he didn’t even realize the government was turning him into a killer robot.  You can tell from the first page that you’ll never see him again in another Marvel comic, but he’s inoffensive in a dull, one-note sort of way.

The Robert Kelly scene at the end comes a little out of nowhere; I want to say that this plotline belonged in X-Men, but really it was only tertiary in that book as well.  It is redundant considering all the other conversations Gyrich and Kelly have had in other X-books, but readers of just Wolverine would have needed this to make heads or tails out of the ending.

This book is set up for the end of the story, which is fine enough.  What should’ve happened is that the Wolverine book would be responsible for stopping the Sentinels and the X-Men book would stop Bastion, but that doesn’t quite happen.  Everything in OZT just lacks focus and direction; there doesn’t really seem to be an end game for the team in the Wolverine book.  Still, this is definitely more coherent and less formulaic than the rest of the issues in Operation Zero Tolerance, so I’m not hating it.

C+

Wolverine #115

Wolverine #115
Writing: Larry Hama
Art: Lenil Francis Yu

What Went Down:  Bastion shows Jubilee a hologram of the captured X-Men being brought in by OZT soldiers.  Jubilee thinks it’s another illusion until she notices Logan reaching for Jean.  Jubilee then gets slapped after spitting at Bastion. 

Bastion visits the unconscious X-Men, wondering why he himself hates mutants so much. Then he goes off to gloat to Professor X.  Wolverine appears dead, so the soldiers strip off his restraints and carry him to the furnace to be incinerated.  Bastion shows Xavier holograms of the individual X-Men in their cells, and tells the Professor that Wolverine died in the crash.

Of course, we all know Wolverine is just healing.  He wakes up right as the soldiers activate the furnace.  A flaming Wolverine bursts out and takes down the soldiers.  Stealing a uniform, Logan then takes out some more soldiers that were beating up the powerless Cannonball.  The two then free the rest of the X-Men. 

With the X-Men free, Bastion puts the base on alert.  Jean uses her powers to get past the guards and trick them into shooting at each other.  The X-Men fight their way to the top of the base, but are unable to penetrate the front gate.  With Prime Sentinels closing in, the X-Men prepare for a final battle, but they are rescued by Jubilee, who manages to get past Bastion and reach the door control.  The X-Men escape, bury the entrance, and comment on how weird it was that someone helped to free them.

How It Was:  I know when I first started reading this series I was pretty down on it, mostly from the ending, but this is a pretty fantastic issue.  Lots of action, overwhelming odds, a team that is already wearing at the edges; this is what I’ve wanted from Zero Tolerance since it began.  Since this is the core team of X-Men, it’s odd that this series doesn’t follow the main thread of the story (defeating Bastion), but the X-Men breaking out makes for an exciting little sequence.

For a guy who wrote Wolverine for so long, I feel like Larry Hama is pretty underrated in the canon of Wolverine writers.  It is clear he knows his way around these characters, except for the weak portrayal of Cannonball, but that was a company-wide problem at the time.  There’s not a lot in the way of plot developments, other than some foreshadowing of Bastion’s true identity—that gets revealed after the crossover ends.  What’s great is that it’s a fast-paced action piece, topped off with a fantastic moment for Jubilee as she finally gets something to do other than be Bastion’s punching bag. 

Lenil Yu’s art is really nice here.  It’s a shame that a lot of the action sequences are reserved for the less detailed security camera images, but his posing and expressions are spot on.  Probably the best layout is either the montage of Wolverine memories that Jubilee experiences, or maybe the spread of Wolverine jumping out of the incinerator smoke while on fire and attacking the guards—it’s just a great angry Logan. 

This issue makes the case that Zero Tolerance probably would’ve worked a lot better as a multi-issue story in a single series as opposed to hype-fueled crossover spanning all the X-titles.  Following the main X-cast has been fun in X-Men #65 and now this has been enjoyable, and most of the subplots that never pay out occur in X-Men and Uncanny.  I’m glad I couldn’t remember this because it made for a surprisingly fun read. 

B+

X-Men #69

X-Men #69
Writing: Scott Lobdell

Art: Carlos Pacheco and Salvador Larroca

What Went Down: The issue begins long after the end of the last one, with Iceman, Marrow, and Cecilia riding an ice slide over the ocean towards Connecticut, the location of Charlotte’s kidnapped son Timmy.  The two girls are still bickering, but they both agree that Sabra might not be trustworthy.

We then get a flashback to Sabra saving the group from the army last issue by dropping a building on them.  Sabra introduces herself to the mutants and tells them that she just so happens to have discovered the location of Charlotte Jones’ son.  After the flashback, Sabra lands on the ice slide.  She explains that she lost her son in a conflict, and doesn’t want it to happen to anybody else.  Marrow decides to jump in the water, to the confusion of everyone else.  She surfaces with a dead Prime Sentinel, impaled on her bones. 

In Washington, the Senator has just finished an amazing (off-panel) speech to the Senate to change their minds about Operation Zero Tolerance.  Henry Gyrich talks to the senator about how he respects the man, even though he is probably destroying his career. 

After reaching a Connecticut beach house, they are ambushed yet again by another group of Prime Sentinels, this time accompanied by Bastion. Iceman pleas for Bastion to release the boy, which he says he will do.  Bastion introduces the old woman from last issue as the closest thing he has to a mother.  He then somehow uses Cecilia’s powers against her.  His mother tells him that he has become a monster.

Marrow decides that the best course of action is to kill Bastion’s mother since she is important to him.  Iceman stops her and freezes everyone; he then attacks Bastion on his own.  As they fight, Iceman gives a long speech about tolerance and letting go of anger; a lot of it has to do with his experiences helping to rehabilitate his father.  Iceman has Bastion on the ropes but refuses to kill him.  The Prime Sentinels catch up and neutralize Bobby’s powers. 

Iceman accuses Bastion of having no humanity, giving the villain pause.  He begins to give an order to his Sentinels, but he is interrupted by SHIELD agents arriving to arrest Bastion and all of OZT.  It seems that the Senator’s plea was successful.  Later, Iceman finds out that the rest of the X-Men escaped from Bastion as well.  Marrow asks Iceman why they didn’t kill him, and he responds that it would have made them like Bastion.

How It Was:  Up to this issue, I feel I’ve been pretty charitable with this story.  It was far from perfect, but it had some good character moments and it was Lobdell’s last story on X-Men.  Unfortunately this issue just goes too far off the beaten trail for me to enjoy it. 

First, Sabra is a huge letdown, in more ways than one.  She’s just used as a plot device to tell the characters where they need to go, and to conveniently get the heroes out of the ambush cliffhanger from last issue.  After explaining the aspects of her past that the audience already knew from past issues, she does absolutely nothing else in this issue.  I The threat to Timmy doesn’t feel very immediate, and the fact that we don’t really know the character at all lessens the stakes even more.

But the real disappointment is how the entire story ends; SHIELD shows up to arrest the bad guys, and you realize the heroes didn’t do anything to bring about the resolution.  Senator Kelly’s amazing speech (that we don’t get to see) was so riveting that it got one of the fastest proclamations out of the Senate ever.  Of course, the reason we don’t get to see the speech is because Iceman pretty much covers everything in his own long speech as he beats on Bastion.  This is the guy who violated the X-Men’s home, who captured the most powerful X-Men, and imprisoned/tortured their leader Professor X, and the X-Men don’t even get the satisfaction of defeating him themselves.  Instead some generic soldiers show up and announce the story is over.  It’s possibly the most disappointing story ending ever.

There’s still some nice character moments; Marrow’s fish-out-of-water routine is fun to watch as she tries to understand what Connecticut is and kills a Prime Sentinel with her bear hands.  But half way through, all three girls get pushed to the side with nothing else to contribute.  And the issue doesn’t even explain who or what Bastion is (this is actually revealed in two obscure 1998 annuals unconnected to the X-Men).  So no fulfillment and no answers; it just ends.  Iceman’s speech is really long and dense, but it is pretty true to the character.  It’s just weird how he has to give up at the end of the fight, leaving it unfinished.  The story tries to make it seem like Iceman might’ve swayed Bastion with his words, but nothing interesting is ever done with this idea.

I want to make it cleat that this is by no means the worst issue of X-Men ever.  It is probably the most disappointing though as far as wasted potential.   With this issue, Zero Tolerance goes from one of the X-Men’s greatest threats to a minor inconvenience with no consequences to the characters whatsoever, other than the discovery of a couple new X-Men to join the team.  It’s just a shame that they don’t do anything substantial at all.

D+

X-Men #68

X-Men #68
Writing: Scott Lobdell and Steve Seagle
Art: Pascual Ferry

What Went Down:  Two cops walk down to the basement of the police station, looking for the cause of the power outage.  Marrow attacks them both and knocks them out.  Upstairs, Charlotte Jones decides that she can’t leave her friends to die, even if it means risking her son’s life.  In the interrogation room, Iceman detects the Sentinels on the other side of the glass.  They attack, but Cecilia’s forcefield once again holds them off.  The human police officers barge in, weapons drawn, and the battle escalates.

At the White House, Senator Kelly is feeling guilty about paving the way for Operation Zero Tolerance.  He comes to the conclusion that genocide is not a solution after debating with Henry Peter Gyrich.  He decides that he needs to talk to the President to resolve this. 

In New York, the real police exchange gunfire with the Sentinels.  Iceman breaks a wall and provides an ice slide for escape, afterwards bringing the ceiling down on the robots.  Downstairs, Marrow prevents the prisoners from escaping by scaring them. 

Back upstairs, one Sentinel survives and shoots at Iceman.  Charlotte Jones jumps in between, severely wounding herself.  She explains that her son was kidnapped and asks them to rescue him.  At a dock in New York, Sabra prevents two criminals from stealing some cargo.

Marrow shows up to offer help and make fun of Cecilia’s problems.  The two women almost get into a fight, but Iceman intercedes.  After stabilizing Charlotte, they leave.  Walking down the street, the three mutants are ambushed by an army of soldiers and Prime Sentinels.  The issue closes on Charlotte’s son Timmy being watched by an old woman who tells the boy that his mother is undercover.

How It Was:  With this issue, the Operation Zero Tolerance plot starts to take some missteps.  The threats still haven’t gone beyond Sentinel ambushes for Cecilia to hold back (hell, it’s even the cliffhanger for the issue), and the renewed emphasis on Senator Kelly is not a good sign of where the story is going toward its resolution.  I can’t nail down what Gyrich’s purpose is in this story.  He seems firmly committed to the idea of mutants as a threat that need stopped by any means necessary, but he is sympathetic to the Senator for some unknown reason.  Plus, Gyrich was attacked by Sentinels in Uncanny #346, so he should probably feel a little more strongly about OZT.  It’s good that the story is drawing parallels between racial profiling, unsubstantiated fears, and the Nazis, but shouldn’t Senator Kelly have thought of all this beforehand?  On top of that, the entire purpose of Iceman’s team has suddenly switched from protecting mutants and stopping Bastion to saving the son of a third-tier character that hasn’t been seen in this book in years. 

What makes up for all this is the addition of Marrow to the team.  Now I’m the first to balk at the idea of a villain becoming a hero, and it’s obvious that the X-staff has changed her quite a bit in trying to pull this off (even going so far as to change her appearance to something more aesthetically pleasing).  She was a homicidal maniac willing to blow up a subway full of humans, so this new take on her is a bit of a stretch.  Still, she adds a lot of humor to this story and offers a new contrast for Cecilia.  The story up until now has focused on Cecilia’s problems, but compared to Marrow, Reyes has had it easy.  Marrow lived in a sewer, never saw the sun, and had to hunt and fight for survival.  And Cecilia might be able to see that if Marrow wasn’t so crass and confrontational.  Suffice to say, Marrow adds a new voice and a wholly unique perspective to the other two that adds to the story.

Whereas the characters are spot-on and compelling, the narration is a little overwrought.  There are sequences that are just too full of unnecessary information, like the description of the making of the two-way mirror in one scene, or the entire career history of the two cops in the opening three pages (surprisingly, they do appear in a later issue).  Also there are some sequences that just pull you right out of the story: a tattooed elderly gentleman worried about dying in the precinct and the friends talking outside about breaking into the police station serve no purpose.

But now I’m nitpicking.  I do like this issue for the humor, the animosity and tension between the characters, and at the time I was wondering how this was all going to end.  This is still one of the better portrayals of Iceman you’ll get for a long time, and both Marrow and Cecilia are shaping into interesting characters.

B

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-