Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998

Machine Man & Bastion Annual 1998

Writing: Mike Higgins & Karl Bollers

Art: Martin Egeland

What Went Down:  Cable and Bastion/Nimrod engage in battle as we get a close up of Machine Man’s systems repairing themselves from Bastion’s attack last issue.  Bastion is able to use all the machinery in the lab to attack Cable as he interfaces with the computers. 

Back on the Helicarrier, G.W. Bridge, then head of SHIELD, worrying about the mission and arguing with a General Kragg, whose daughter was part of the failed mission to the Prospero clinic.  Back at said clinic, Bastion/Nimrod attacks Cable with more turrets while he begins to convey his origin to Cable.  Helpfully, Bastion has decided to project his memories onto video screens while he narrates, even though Cable is busy fighting for his life.  Bastion not only mentions every appearance of Nimrod from Uncanny, as well as the Siege Perilous, but he incorporates every Sentinel appearance since the original team fought them in the sixties into his exposition.  Cable uses his telekinesis to blow a hole in the floor and escape the lasers.

As Cable catches his breath, and Bastion continues with his very long origin, X-51 reactivates.  Cable contacts Bridge, telling him the squad is gone, but Bastion is there.  Cable says he can handle it before being cut off by another attack from X-51.  Bastion continues his origin, explaining that he is a combination of Master Mold and Nimrod magically fused through the Siege Perilous, a mystical plot device from the late eighties.  Upon leaving the portal, he was the entity know as Bastion, and he was found and raised by Rose.  Although brought up to be caring, he could not ignore the state of the world and blamed mutants for the world’s problems.

As Cable and Machine Man continue to fight, Bastion shows the beginnings of his clinic and the origins of Operation Zero Tolerance, as well as the building of a new Master Mold.  On the Helicarrier, Bridge argues with a shadowy committee of superiors over what to do about the clinic; they don’t trust Cable and Machine Man to finish the job.  The committee wants him to send an air strike. 

Bastion finishes his diatribe, describing his defeat and the subsequent experiments on his body.  At the same time General Kragg tries to convince Bridge to launch the air strike.  Bastion has decided to use X-51 as the storehouse for his mind, but Cable uses his telepathic bond to break Machine Man from the villain’s control.  After being flooded with his own memories of his father and creator, Machine Man regains control and helps destroy the lab.  X-51 then takes control of the turrets and turns them on Bastion.  They set the clinic to explode, after Cable fails to find any other traces of humanity in the test subjects.  The lab blows before the air strike reaches the location, and the two heroes shake hands and complement each other. 

How It Was:  That’s right, in 1998 we had an annual starring two obscure robot characters, neither of whom had their own series.  The first thing that jumps out in this book is the drastic shift in art styles.  Mark Egeland’s style is cartoonier, but it’s also cleaner than Leonardi and there’s quite a bit more detail put in.  You can just tell from the smoke coming off X-51’s chassis, or the two page splash on page 2 and 3, that there is just more to the layouts and backgrounds in this book.  Unfortunately, aside from some gratuitous action at the beginning and the end, the rest of this issue is a slog. 

We spend the majority of this double-sized issue with Cable running through corridors while Bastion projects his history onto screens for us to see and explains his origin.  For those who don’t know, Bastion is Master Mold and Nimrod magically combined through the mystical plot-device the Siege Perilous.  You’ll note that it took me exactly one sentence to explain that.  Higgins and Bollers instead decide to recap and show every single Sentinel appearance since the original X-Men team, including appearances in non-X-books like the Defenders.  This does absolutely nothing for the story except for padding it out to unconscionable levels while Machine Man is allowed to repair. 

There’s also a subplot with GW Bridge being pressured to bomb the lab to the ground to prevent Bastion from rising to power again.  It adds a little tension, but it’s just been so done to death (most recently in Marvel’s The Avengers).  As for Bastion, he is so boring this issue.  He is supposed to be connected to the entire lab, but he can barely manage to keep track of Cable.  He just keeps droning on and on about Sentinel appearances that nothing to do with him, and then explaining the beginnings of all the plot details we already knew about him.  And poor Cable has absolutely nothing to do other than use his telepathic powers to free Machine Man from Bastion’s influence. 

Machine Man does get a few nice parts where he reflects how easy it would have been for him to turn out like Bastion, but other than that there’s not much to this issue.  This book is so full of filler that it really takes away from an experience that should be rather interesting—this whole debate over nature versus nurture and its effects on artificial beings.  Instead we just get a story that’s more interested in calling back to lots of better issues of Marvel comics.

Completionists Only

Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998

Cable & Machine Man Annual 1998

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

X-Men #71

X-Men #71
Writing: Joe Kelly
Art: Carlos Pacheco

What Went Down:  This issue is narrated by Jean Grey.  We open on Jean telekinetically meditating and trying to wipe the mansion of traumatizing telepathic residue, conveniently allowing her to recap the last couple of issues.  Cyclops, newly operated on, yells out in pain, but when Jean recovers, Scott has fallen back asleep.  Both of them are preparing for a vacation to Alaska to help Scott heal.

Downstairs, most of the X-Men are being repulsed by Marrow’s bad manners at the breakfast table.  Beast and Cecilia Reyes analyze one of Marrow’s bone shards, and Cecilia accidentally makes a comment that sounds like a pass at Beast.  Marrow gets angry at the X-Men for judging her and throws her food on the floor.  Jean walks in and Cannonball gets in a fight with Maggott over the language he uses in front of the lady. 

Outside, Wolverine helps Storm dig up her tiara and some golden coins she has hidden for emergencies.  They discuss their guests, especially Marrow, whom neither of them trusts.  Jean tries to sneak up on the pair, but Logan still manages to detect her.  Jean observes that Logan doesn’t want her to leave, even though he’d never admit it.

Cannonball has decided to take Cecilia and Maggott to Westchester, and Jean decides to join them.  Marrow interrupts, noting that she wasn’t invited because of her appearance.  Maggott offers to stay with her, but she rebukes him and storms off after arguing with Storm. 

At the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw is being served tea by his servant Kiko and recalling the events of a recent Cable story.  A mysterious shadowed figure appears, stops time around them, and presents Shaw with a picture of a golden idol that distresses Shaw.  We also see what appears to be crow or raven.

At the mansion, Beast says goodbye to Trish Tilby and Iceman as they drive home together.  Wolverine has a man-to-man talk with Cyclops, expressing his concerns about the new recruits.  He tells Scott that if he leaves, things will be done differently.

While in Westchester, everyone bickers until they notice a news story announcing that the Avengers and the Fantastic Four have returned after “dying” during Onslaught.  Jean allows herself to get lost in the feelings of hope from the crowd of people.  In the attic, Wolverine and Storm discuss how they are going to handle Marrow.  In Cairo, we get a quick set up scene of a man running a package to a mail pile outside a plane.  As soon as he puts the package in, the man starts to bleed to death, but he tells Anansi that he has beaten him.  The package is addressed to Storm.

Back in Westchester, the group seems more hopeful.  We get another subplot setup of a homeless man getting murdered while Cannonball asks Maggott where his slugs are.  The next day Jean and Scott leave after discussing the future of the team.  In an epilogue, Marrow is carving things in the wall of her room and complaining about the X-Men.  Wolverine appears and tells her that she needs to be taught a lesson.

How It Was:  Even though the last story was kind of a wash, it was still supposed to be a major crossover, meaning that this issue is a quiet, contemplative issue that examines the new status quo.  Basically there are three new potential recruits, all of the X-Men’s nice things are gone, and Cyclops and Jean Grey are taking a break from the team.  And although it’s not much, it’s a solid direction for the book; certainly more than we ever got in the post-Onslaught issues. 

This is a great issue for Jean, who hasn’t had a lot to do recently.  She makes for the perfect narrator since she knows the established characters inside and out, and Kelly’s script really emphasizes this.  From Jean’s confusion over how Logan detected her downwind to her reaction to Storm’s hidden trove, Kelly establishes that Jean is a lynchpin to the X-Men, and he actually manages to make it feel like her leaving affects the team significantly.  In fact all of the characters really come into their own under Kelly’s hand.  Marrow’s rebellious attitude really shines as she riles up everyone else in the group.  She remains sympathetic even though she is purposefully trying to antagonize the team due to the fact that she’s had such a hard life and most of her arguments are actually true.  In another interesting dynamic, it’s clear that Storm and Wolverine aren’t being objective or open to Marrow at all, yet their view also has credence given recent issues with Sabertooth and Onslaught.  Even the flirting between Beast and Cecilia is enjoyable.

The center of the story, the Marvel heroes returning, is handled very nicely.  In what could’ve come off as an in-house ad for the Heroes Return line, Kelly puts the focus on the X-Men’s reaction to learning that Onslaught did not kill the heroes.  The moment of hope at the end makes for a good juxtaposition to the frustration and melancholy that have led up to it thus far. 

So really this issue is just an exercise in great characterization.  Well, the conflict between Cannonball and Maggott feels forced, but other than that everyone else comes off perfectly.  The only other misfire with this issue is the Sebastian Shaw subplot that gets mentioned in a couple of future issues before disappearing forever.  It’s disappointing to see this problem persist with a new creative team, but I guess it can’t be helped.  Overall this is still a fantastic issue.  There is absolutely no action at all, but the characters and interactions are handled so well, you’ll hardly notice.

A

X-Men #70

X-Men #70
Writing: Joe Kelly
Art: Carlos Pacheco

What Went Down:  We open on Iceman using an ice slide to bring Cecilia Reyes and Marrow back to the X-mansion.  Cecilia is terrified by the height and speed, but Marrow goads Iceman into going faster.  When they reach the mansion, they discover that not only has Bastion stolen everything in it, he has used nanotechnology to strip the building of the paint and carpet.  Cecilia runs off, demoralized that she has nothing in her life.

As Cecilia cries to herself, she observes the X-Men bursting through the ceiling because Cyclops has a bomb implanted in him that is going to go off soon.  Of course, all of their medical equipment is gone, so they all start to despair.  Storm is shocked to see Marrow in the mansion. At the same time a giant is carrying a lawyer down the road to the mansion.  Seeing how little hope the X-Men have, Cecilia takes charge of the situation.  After getting a telepathic explanation from Jean, she assigns everyone tasks to do to help Cyclops.

Storm has to get boiling water.  While she generates some rain, Marrow appears to taunt Storm for trying to kill her.  Storm tells her she might want to go back to the sewers.  Cannonball manages to steal some medical supplies, but there’s no scalpel, so Wolverine’s claws have to be used to operate on Scott.  As the surgery/bomb removal begins, the doorbell rings.  Storm finds the Juggernaut, wearing a suit and tie, outside with his lawyer.  It turns out that with Xavier missing, the school and its assets fall to him as Charles’ stepbrother.  Storm slams the door on him and uses her powers to wash out the roads.  Marrow flirts a little with Cannonball while Cecilia continues the operation.

Juggernaut bursts through the door, but he is surprised to see the mansion empty.  He changes into his Juggernaut armor, but the remaining X-Men return just in time to confront him.  Juggernaut taunts the team when he sees that Gambit and Bishop are missing, causing Rogue to lash out.  Maggott decides to take on Juggernaut, but he is easily subdued.  Seeing how pathetic of a state the team is in, Juggernaut decides to leave and come back.

Beast and Joseph show up to help get rid of the bomb.  Wolverine lashes out at Trish Tilby, blaming her story on the Legacy Virus for creating the hysteria that has led to Operation Zero Tolerance and Cyclops’ situation. 

It turns out that this bomb doesn’t explode; it expands and fills a three-mile radius with goo that suffocates and preserves anything in its path.  Marrow gives Cecilia some bones to pry the bomb out and Rogue throws the bomb to one of Maggott’s slugs, who promptly eats it.  Cyclops thanks Cecilia for helping him. 

Later, everyone leaves Cyclops’ room.  Jean explains to Scott that she is worried about how fractured the team is, along with the addition of three strangers.  We end on Marrow carving some menacing threats on the door to the basement.

How It Was: Two double-sized issues in one month!  Brilliant!  I’m just going to go ahead and proclaim that I really love Joe Kelly’s run, especially this issue.  He just has such a great handle on the characters, similar to Lobdell, but he also manages to infuse his characters with a healthy amount of humor and agency.  Even double-sized, this issue has a lot of characters in it, and Kelly balances them all incredibly well, giving each one a moment or two.

Most important of all is that this is the issue where Cecilia demonstrates that she has value beyond whining and absorbing damage.  While her personality could be hard to take in previous issues, coming off as almost selfish, one page into Scott’s operation is all Kelly needs to demonstrate that Cecilia’s abrasive personality is a necessary, and valuable, quality in her field of work.  She takes charge of veteran X-Men in a convincing way, prioritizing her patient over all else.  Marrow also gets some great scenes.  Her playfulness leaves her motivations ambiguous; the reader isn’t quite sure whether Marrow wants to be a hero or stab them all in their sleep.  The tension between Marrow and Storm is well portrayed, and well-earned, setting up a lot of Kelly’s future issue.

Even Maggott is finally more fleshed out.  Yes, his personality has gotten a complete overhaul from his appearances in Uncanny, but in my opinion it’s for the best.  Before Maggott was so generic and uninteresting; now he may be a little goofier and full of himself, but it’s entertaining if you go with it.  And really, who wants to take a hero with giant mutant slugs seriously?

As much as the issue is about the new characters, it’s also about how utterly defeated the old ones are.  Longtime readers have seen the mansion destroyed numerous times by this point in continuity, but having it completely stripped bare is a new and even more unsettling visual.  Yes there is no real reason for it, other than Bastion going out of his way to be a tool, but it presents an interesting obstacle for the mutants to overcome, physically and emotionally.

I even really like the stuff with the Juggernaut.  Yes, it’s absurd that Xavier hasn’t willed his assets to any of his students, especially before voluntarily leaving for the government, but this gives us more conflict and tension for the main characters.  Unfortunately as I always say—too bad the stuff with the Juggernaut never really goes anywhere. 

Some minor hang-ups: it is a little convenient that Maggott’s slug could consume a bomb capable of coating three miles of area.  Yes I know Maggott needs something to contribute to his intro, but it is a little forced.  Also, Jubilee, Archangel, and Psylocke have disappeared.  I realize that Kelly already has an overwhelming cast, but it feels strange to have these characters missing, even if Steve Seagle comes up with an excuse for Betsy and Warren later.  It’s just odd that Jubilee would leave before this was resolved, but I understand she would’ve had nothing to contribute to the story.

In the span of this issue, Kelly delivers a fun one-and-done story while also setting up a number of plot threads, most of which will go unfulfilled.  He clearly has a handle on where he wants to go, and all the new characters have unique and compelling voices.  My only regret is that many of these threads go unfurthered and the new characters don’t stay around long enough.  This is the most substantial roster shake up since 1991, and it’s all for the best.  The title has energy and direction that it hasn’t had since Onslaught.

A

Wolverine #118

Wolverine #118
Writing: Larry Hama
Art: Lenil Francis Yu

What Went Down:  Mustang, the newest Prime Sentinel, starts off the issue just staring down the X-Men.  Because of his history as the victim of horrifying scientific experiments, Wolverine wants to try to talk to the Sentinel because he knows that Mustang is a really good guy.  Of course if it worked on the first try, there’d be nothing left to do with the rest of the issue, so Mustang attacks Wolverine. 

The other X-Men rescue all the other civilians.  Jubilee runs back to help Logan, while the rest of the X-Men discover an army of Prime Sentinels flying towards them.  Wolverine tries to reach Mustang again by telling him some of his own history, insisting that he doesn’t want to kill him.  Jubilee shows up and lets off her fireworks, blinding him again.  Being re-blinded causes Mustang’s personality to regain control. 

Outside, the X-Men realize that the Prime Sentinels aren’t attacking.  They’re being chased by an army of SHIELD agents.  The X-Men briefly celebrate, but one of the Sentinels is ordered to attack Cyclops.  Cyclops fires a warning blast to try and scare it away, but the Sentinel shoots him with an energy beam.  After the other X-Men stop the Sentinel, G.W. Bridge shows up to make sure his men don’t arrest the X-Men.  Bridge makes it clear that he’s not actually on the mutants’ side, but on the side of the American public.  At the same time, some medics discover that Cyclops has been implanted with something.  Wolverine suggests they steal one of SHIELD’s planes.  Before leaving, he says goodbye to Mustang and suggests he stick with SHIELD.  On the plane, Cyclops announces that he thinks that he’s been implanted with a bomb.

How It Was:  Remember how disappointing the end of X-Men #69 was?  Well now we can relive that disappointment all over again with Wolverine #118.  Bastion has completely disappeared from this title by this point, leaving no one for the X-Men to overcome in the climax of their own story, except for Mustang the Hunter Killer.  The fight is predictable, but I do like how Hama ties Mustang to the themes of Wolverine’s origins: namely that they’re both casualties in science’s search for better weapons.  Yes, it’s a little hokey that being blinded again turns back Mustang’s mind (especially since it didn’t work on the Sentinel last issue), but it’s good enough, I guess.

As for the rest, I feel like Hama sets up the readers’ expectations for a huge Sentinel battle, but then can’t deliver because of the restrictions of this crossover’s ending.  It seems strange to me that SHIELD can take down the newest and deadliest Sentinels when they’ve given the X-Men so much trouble.  Also it’s just a weak ending; the least they could’ve done was have the X-Men fighting for their lives before SHIELD shows up to save them.

In spite of the uber-disappointing end to OZT, I do like Cyclops taking a bomb in the chest.  This is due mostly to the fact that it leads to one of my favorite X-Men runs ever, but even more it’s something to care about other than interchangeble handicapped bystanders in a desert.  Jean’s reaction of tearing apart the Sentinel who did it is surprising, in a good way.

 I agonized over what I really thought of this issue.  On the one hand, it has the lame ending of SHIELD showing up to fight the X-Men’s battle for them, but I don’t know if I can really blame Hama and this book for that, since it was universal to all the X-titles.  On the other hand, everything is competently delivered, and even though we don’t get anything close to a solid resolution, we do get a decent cliffhanger that sets up an awesome following issue.  All in all, I still can’t get over the lameness of OZT’s ending; it’s just too dumbfounding to have an outside organization finish the X-Men’s battle for them.  The X-Men are supposed to be a force for maintaining the balance between humanity and mutants, and this issue removes their role from them and gives it to generic background soldiers.  Still, you should read this one, if only to know the set up for the completely amazing X-Men #70.

C-

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-

Uncanny X-Men #346

Uncanny X-Men #346

Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Joe Madureira

What Went Down: J. Jonah Jameson starts this story mid-rant about how the staff of the Bugle needs to work harder at uncovering the shady government dealings involved with Bastion and Operation Zero Tolerance.  Due to the lack of evidence presented on the government’s part, and the disappearance of reporter Nick Bandouveris in Uncanny #339, Jameson is set on nailing Bastion. 

The book jumps to Peter Parker, aka the Amazing Spider-Man, climbing a wall and worrying about whether the government will ever decide to hunt him down.  He happens upon the car of Henry Peter Gyrich, snaps some photos of the government official, and decides to follow him.  A shockwave destroys the road, and as Gyrich is pulled from his car, his bodyguards encounter Marrow and Calisto of the Morlocks.

In an interlude that contains an actual X-Man, Gambit is seen drinking from a pond and wondering aloud what happened to the rest of the X-Men after their spaceship crashed.  In the water’s reflection, Gambit sees what looks like a giant zebra staring back at him.

Back at the Bugle, Jameson is trying to get an official to comment on how Bastion rose to such a high position so quickly.  Bastion enters the office, offering Jameson a disk with the identities and operations of the X-Men on it, saying it will prove the necessity of his cause. 

Meanwhile, Calisto and Marrow are attacking Gyrich in response to OZT, and Spider-Man jumps in to save him.  Spider-Man stops Marrow from murdering Gyrich.  At the same time, Gyrich’s bodyguards transform into Prime Sentinels and shoot at Spidey and Marrow.  It’s briefly mentioned that these were the same guards assigned to Graydon Creed, but don’t worry because nothing ever comes of this.  Calisto jumps in between them, injuring herself in the process.  Over at the Bugle, Bastion continues to tempt Jameson with the story of a lifetime in exchange for backing off on OZT.

Spider-Man fights the Sentinels, all the time trying to make Marrow see why killing doesn’t solve anything.  The two are rescued by Gyrich and some policemen who shoot the Sentinels until they are subdued.  Marrow tries to kill Gyrich again, and Spidey stops her…again. Jameson burns up Bastion’s disk and tells him that he will be exposed.  Spidey tells Marrow to figure out what she has before she loses it all, and then lets her escape with the injured Calisto.  Gyrich tries to stop them, but Spidey tells him that Marrow learned something and deserves a second chance.

How It Was:  If you thought Flashback Month was weird, here we have an X-Men issue with no X-Men, starring Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson.  It’s such an odd choice since the regular cast of Uncanny is in space away from the events of the crossover, not to mention this is a Spider-Man story in an X-Men book.  It’s obvious that Lobdell is trying to wrap up the Jameson subplot that he started during the Graydon Creed election.  You know, the one he built up for a couple of issues before editorial decided to kill Creed off in an issue of X-Factor, leaving absolutely no payoff for all the X-Men issues spent focusing on it.  On top of that, Lobdell has the unenviable task of beginning to turn the character of Marrow, an unremorseful murderer, into a potential X-Man.

Despite the randomness of this issue, it has some strengths.  Seeing Madureira draw Spider-Man is a pleasure in it of itself; the character seems almost created for his cartoony kinetic art style.  Some of the interactions with Marrow and Spider-Man are really well-handled.  There’s a great reverse of expectations where Spider-Man pours his heart out about the tragedy that inspired him to become a hero, trying to reach her, and Marrow, whose life has been a thousand times more difficult than anything Parker has lived through, acts completely jaded and unsympathetic.  Having Marrow as a world-weary cynic is a neat angle, and one that is taken advantage of in her initial appearances as a reformed hero, but unfortunately dropped soon after. 

As for the rest, it’s not particularly gripping.  I’m still not really sure what Gyrich’s role is in OZT, what Calisto’s goal was (Marrow’s was obviously to kill some humans), or how the two mutants destroyed an entire street.  It’s disappointing to see the Sentinels dropped with gunfire after previously taking out half the X-Men.  I do like the idea that Gyrich’s bodyguards were the one’s guarding Creed when he died, but nothing ever comes of this, so it’s best to just ignore it.  And as bad as Calisto’s wounds are made out to be, she spends a lot of issues lying in a sewer without dying, so they can’t be too bad.

Jameson takes up the other half of this issue, and while I enjoy the idea of his arc, its execution comes down to nothing but a ton of dialogue.  I really like that in spite of the government finally cracking down on vigilantes (Jameson’s dream) he still takes the time to realize that the way in which it is being done is unconstitutional. It would probably ring a little truer if Jameson hadn’t lied about or tried to hunt down Spider-Man so many times.  As for the end, Jameson already told Bastion off in X-Men #57, so seeing him do it again isn’t a very satisfying conclusion to his storyline.

While it’s normal for characters to guest star in other heroes’ books, it’s just so strange to see one take over another book entirely, especially during a crossover that should be focusing on the eponymous heroes.  This actually has some moments that are going to be important down the line regarding Marrow, but a lot of this feels forced, unnecessary, and out of nowhere.  There is a lot of preaching going on here by both Jameson and Spider-Man in this issue, and a lot of it just feels redundant.

B-

X-Men #65

X-Men #65

Writing: Scott Lobdell

Art: Carlos Pacheco

What Went Down:  Jean Grey wakes up to find herself confronted by the Heroes Reborn version of Iron Man.  Since Iron Man died during Onslaught, and the X-Men don’t exist in the Heroes Reborn universe, they both assume that the other person is an enemy and fight for two pages before Jean disappears.  In the mountains we see a couple backpacking for their honeymoon when they are passed overhead by the X-Men’s plane—pursued by Bastion’s forces.

Jean wakes up, but she doesn’t have time to share her experience with Iron Man because a hole has been blown in the plane.  Cannonball decides to jump out and cover the X-Men’s escape.

At a bar in Canton, Ohio, a group of civilians watch on the news as Henry Peter Gyrich announces that the X-Men are known terrorists, and the government has enacted Operation Zero Tolerance—a program to arrest all mutants and stop the potential threat they represent.  Most of the patrons cheer, except for an elderly Japanese couple that remembers the Japanese internment camps in America during World War II. 

In the air above Colorado, Cannonball is attacked by a new kind of Sentinel.  These are Prime Sentinels, and since they are newer, by comic book logic they are also deadlier.  At the Xavier Institute police surround the school while Bastion’s forces invade it.  Cyclops gets knocked out of the plane by a blast from the Sentinels, and he is captured. 

At a hospital in the Bronx, a group of doctors and nurses watch the news coverage of Operation Zero Tolerance.  When Doctor, and secret mutant, Cecilia Reyes is asked her opinion, she unenthusiastically replies that it is about time.

Meanwhile Cannonball and Storm are captured, leaving Jean and Wolverine alone in the plane that is crashing.  The plane crashes, but we don’t see if they survive.  At his father’s home, Iceman watches these events with his dad, and tells him that he needs to help his friends.  Bastion projects a holographic message to Xavier, showing him that OZT has invaded the mansion and found Cerebro.  Even though the files are encrypted, it is only a matter of time before files will be opened. 

How It Was:  Operation Zero Tolerance jumps out the gate with a huge development for our heroes—all mutants are now outlaws.  The X-Men get taken in within one issue, while their home is invaded, making things seem pretty bleak.  It’s hard to express just how well this issue reads compared to the previous year’s worth of stories; it’s like comparing Watchman to anything by Rob Liefeld.  There is finally an actual threat, and the X-Men are caught offguard, and challenged in this story.  These may sound like simple narrative tenants to follow, but it’s been many, many issues since we’ve seen anything resembling a decent obstacle to the X-Men’s safety.  The outlaw status for all mutants is an exciting angle, and it’s a shame it’s potential isn’t explored more.

The fight with the Sentinels is adequately done, although it’s a shame parts of it are delivered solely through exposition so everything can be fit in one issue.  It’s unnecessary to be skipping parts of the fight when the first five pages are so superfluous; we get three pages of Jean meeting Heroes Reborn Iron Man for God knows what reason, followed by two pages of background characters observing the fight from the ground.  An odd use of space to say the least, but Pacheco’s art is really great.  Normally I really hate the “newsfeed as exposition” in comics, but it is a small price to pay to get everything set up in one issue.

What really makes this issue worth the read is the end with Bastion storming the mansion. Seeing the defeat and helplessness in Xavier’s face says more than any army of Sentinels ever could, and the fact that Bastion could possibly use his files plus Cerebro really raises the stakes.

There are some hints that this story hasn’t been completely thought out.  Henry Gyrich shows up on the news to deliver all the exposition about the government plan, but it’s unclear what his role is.  He seems adamant about Zero Tolerance in this book, but later we see him plotting with Senator Kelly to foil Bastion.

There’s not a lot of room for character, but Jean and Logan get some nice moments.  This issue does its duty of setting up the event and making it look like an epic.  The odds are finally against them and that’s usually when the X-Men are at their best.  While the cliffhangers elicits the right amount of dread, we’ll have to wait a bit to it resolved, due to the next month being Flashback month!  Still a promising, and maybe misleading, start.

B+

Generation X #27

Generation X #27
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Chris Bachalo

What Went Down: Let’s catch up with the captive Jubilee in Generation X. Bastion presents a battered visor to Jubilee in hopes of convincing her that Cyclops has been killed. Jubilee refuses to believe him, so Bastion leaves the cell.

Actually, the “cell” that Jubilee is locked in is a holographic projection in the middle of Bastion’s ready room. Because Jubilee has weaker psychic defenses than Professor X, Bastion is trying to make the girl emotional to weaken those defenses and discover the secrets of the X-Men. Daria, Bastion’s assistant, is disturbed by these methods and sympathetic towards Jubilee.

On the display screens, Bastion observes Jubilee’s thoughts. She flashes back to a scene in a funeral parlor just after Illyana Rasputin’s funeral. Cyclops comes over to comfort Jubilee, and explains that Wolverine was so emotional because of the recent death of his girlfriend Mariko, and because it reminded him of his foster daughter Amiko. Jubilee tells Scott that she is surprised to be having a normal conversation with the leader of the X-Men.

In the barn of the Massachusetts Academy (why is there a barn?), Artie and Leech are picking pieces of moss off of each other while Emma Frost tries scanning Banshee’s mind for the whereabouts of their students. Banshee’s cousin Black Tom has just attacked the school and covered it in plant life, so Emma is seeing if Tom mentioned anything to Banshee that might help. Surprisingly, Sean’s mind is on a flashback from Giant-Sized X-Men #1, the issue where he joined the X-Men. This gets Banshee excited as he realizes where the students must be.

Back at Bastion’s base, Jubilee spills the food that Bastion has offered her. He mentions that Bishop did the same thing before he killed him. Jubilee refuses to believe the villain, but she still flashes back to X-Men #8, where Bishop first met her and identified her as the last X-Man (even though the foot note is mislabeled Uncanny #29). Bastion decides to change tactics and shows her a projection of Wolverine being tortured by electricity. This causes Jubilee to despair until the fake Wolverine begs for help, proving to Jubilee that it isn’t real. Jubilee then goes on a rant, kicking Bastion and taunting him. Bastion’s mental defenses fail, showing Daria glimpses of his origin: a mechanical arm being covered in pink synthetic material, and Bastion emerging saying “At last.” Bastion knocks Jubilee over and leaves, frustrated. When Daria apologizes for what she saw, Bastion claims it wasn’t real. Then he tells her that they are going to capture the X-Men in Hong Kong. In her cell, Jubilee smiles despite her bloody nose.

What Else What Down: There is also a one page backup story by Jim Mahfood where Jubilee pretends to be on a cooking show and makes pancakes for Skin and her teammates.

How It Was: It’s pretty impressive that at this point in X-History poor Scott Lobdell was writing both X-Men books and Generation X. Man that guy must have been tired. Regardless, this is a pretty solid issue that shows Jubilee in a great light. Putting the light-hearted girl in an environment of physical and emotional abuse is a great way of creating drama, and Lobdell does a great job of depicting the conflict between Bastion and Jubes. Even though she’s completely trapped and restrained, Jubilee is still able to get the best of Bastion, despite all the technology and resources at his disposal. And the flashbacks Jubilee has of the X-Men are great touches, even though the scene from Illyana’s funeral doesn’t seem in continuity, although I guess the X-Men could’ve had a smaller ceremony before they had the big outdoor one in Uncanny #304.

Since I was never a regular reader of Generation X, I can’t say much for the other subplot scenes. It’s obvious that a lot of chaos is going down since Sean and Emma have lost the students, and nobody even knows that Bastion has Jubilee. But really the focus is squarely on Jubilee here.

Chris Bachalo’s art is pretty phenomenal. It manages to be cartoony and exaggerated while still conveying a wealth of tension and emotion. Whether it’s the page spread of Jubilee staring at the battered visor, or the impassive expression on Bastion’s face, the story flows really well for a narrative contained primarily to a small, dark room. Bachalo’s art does make Jubilee look a little younger than readers are used to seeing her as, but I think this enhances the story and makes you sympathize with her even more; it actually heightens both her innocence and Bastion’s complete lack of humanity.

This is a pretty great issue. It has a narrow focus, which works well to flesh out the two main characters. If you’re going to go to the trouble of reading the Operation Zero Tolerance crossover, you should hunt down this issue because it makes for good set up, and it’s better than ninety percent of the issues in the actual crossover anyways. Lobdell always seems to win when he focuses on characters and emotions, and this is just another example of that phenomenon. As for the backup, it’s really absurd and silly, but the art is fantastic. It’s a very odd tone shift after such a serious and tense story, but maybe the idea was to end the book on a high note; depending on your mood it will either put a smile on your face or leave you scratching your head.

B+