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

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-

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-Force #55

X-Force #55
Writing: Jeph Loeb
Art: Adam Pollina

What Went Down: We open on Shatterstar holding Meltdown, formerly Boom Boom, right above one of the SHIELD Hellicarrier’s engines. She throws a time-bomb in and counts it down. On the bridge, Dum-Dum Dugan is in charge; G.W. Bridge is currently running SHIELD because I believe Nick Fury died over in the Hulk series. Anyway, alarms start going off and Dugan starts yelling at people. A shadowy figure tells Dugan that he’ll take care of it and that mutants fall under his jurisdiction. Contessa Valentina shows up to tell Dugan not to freak out.

In other parts of the Hellicarrier, different squads of X-Force members break in. Cable is teamed with Caliban, who is tasked with locating a particular mutant. Cable brings up some recent X-Force events while they walk. Domino and Siryn discover a load of invisible lasers, but Dom is able to use her luck powers to avoid them while shooting out all the weapons emplacements.

Meltdown and Shatterstar are attacked by some SHIELD troops, but Meltdown discovers they’re all LMDs, so they can use lethal force on the robots. After defeating them, Tabitha searches the ship’s databases and discovers that Sabretooth is still alive, but his location is classified. She blows up the computer because she is still angry about Sabretooth’s betrayal of her sympathies.

Back on the bridge, Dum-Dum yells at his people some more. As X-Force makes their way through the ship, they tear out a variety of systems. Caliban leads Cable to a big round door, saying they’re objective is behind it. Cable contacts the rest of the team to meet them there, and they proceed to combine they’re powers to open the door. Inside, they find Cyclops strapped to a machine. Also, SHIELD has surrounded X-Force while they were opening the door.

G.W. Bridge appears to tell X-Force that Cyclops is a prisoner of the U.S. government. The team pretends to surrender, but Cable uses his powers to free Cyclops of his headpiece allowing him to take out all the SHIELD soldiers with his optic blasts. Bridge is the only one left standing, so Cable punches him out. The team escapes, and Jean Grey picks them all up in a jet. She shares a kiss with Cyclops afterwards.

In an epilogue, Warpath is enjoying a relaxing beach vacation with Risque after disappearing during a battle in a previous issue. The cliffhanger is that he doesn’t know if he wants to leave Risque to rejoin the team.

How It Was: Well, this feels like an unnecessary detour. Granted, it’s not taking up an X-Men issue, but it’s still hard to see why any of this was necessary. We never get to find out why the Friends of Humanity turn Cyclops over to SHIELD or what Kelly’s huge secret was. I also can’t picture X-Force fans being thrilled about having all the book’s plot lines derailed for a meaningless crossover with Uncanny X-Men.

Still, parts of this story still work as a kind of big, dumb heist caper. It’s nice to see the members of X-Force working together to infiltrate the ship so effectively, and there’s some decent action and interactions. Since I’m primarily an X-Men fan, it’s nice to see Meltdown following up on Sabretooth since that’s one of the few character arcs I’m familiar with. Almost everyone clearly has one or two subplots they’re going through, which is nice, but I get the distinct feeling that none of them are furthered with this issue. Also, I don’t like how Domino’s power becomes a plot device to easily overcome any obstacle.

The main problems come from the fact that the whole issue is dedicated to solely rescuing Cyclops and the incompetent portrayal of SHIELD. Yes there is some alluding to factional infighting within the organization, but SHIELD still comes off as being run by a bunch of idiots, which is usually the case when they’re in any book other than they’re own. All Dum-Dum Dugan does is yell for the whole issue, and as far as being worthless goes, the same goes for G.W. Bridge. It’s exciting to see that Bastion might get involved, but then he disappears after the beginning of the book and nothing comes of his telling off Dugan at all.

This is not really where the story in Uncanny #333 needed to go. It feels like a needless distraction for X-Force, and it’s hard to get excited about SHIELD in the 90s without Nick Fury. This feels like a competent team book, but it turns out to be nothing special, which is a shame since this was a golden opportunity to gain more readers. You can almost feel how hard this series wants to be X-Men with the logo at the top of the cover, or at the very least recapture its initial popularity.

C+

Uncanny X-Men #317

Uncanny X-Men #317
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Joe Madureira

What Went Down: Paige Guthrie wakes up to find herself a prisoner of the Phalanx, along with four other mutants: Monet, Clarice, Angelo, and Gregor. Angelo’s really negative and stretchy, Clarice cries a lot, Gregor is kind of hokey, and Monet just sits there. Paige is certain that the X-Men will come to rescue them all. Clarice points out that Paige has been infected with some kind of trans-mode virus, even though it appears on the outside of her clothes.

In San Francisco, Emma, Banshee, Jubilee, and Everett arrive at one of Emma’s luxurious town homes. Banshee lets Emma know that he doesn’t trust her and then destroys a number of targeting devices outside the house. Inside the absurdly large living area, Emma shows Banshee their next objective: a SHIELD safehouse in the San Francisco area.

Back in the Phalanx prison, Angelo tries to cheer Paige up. A member of the Phalanx named Harvest visits the captives and threatens all of them. Clarice uses her powers of teleportation to start to pull Harvest apart, but Gregor stops her because he is worried that she might be hurt. Harvest teleports away.

On what appears to be the Golden Gate Bridge, Jubilee talks with Everett about how worthless she feels for not being more adept with her powers, especially after Everett used them so effectively last issue. She is also fed up with all of the suffering that comes with the role of X-Man, even though she loves everyone on the team.

At the SHIELD base, Emma uses her powers to hide them from sight, while Banshee uses his powers to… errr hide them from the cameras somehow. In the prison, Monet takes the time to actually talk. She explains that she has manipulated her clothes, which are techno organic, into a weapon that can hide them from detection. She also kills Gregor because he was really a Phalanx spy.

Emma and Banshee find a techno organic reading using the SHIELD computers, but the agents discover them because Emma’s powers didn’t hide the rain puddles they brought in with them. Emma threatens the agents, but Banshee knocks them out first. Emma claims she was bluffing.

Monet uses her super strength to bust a hole in the prison and escape. Paige suggests that she should stay behind because she is infected, but Monet forces her to come with them. The group discovers that they are in the middle of the ocean on a giant boat.

How It Was: Alright then. We finally get a little bit of personality from the next generation of mutants. Angelo, the future Skin, is a pessimistic bastard. While most hideous characters like Beast or the Thing keep they’re regrets and sadness to themselves, Angelo is immature and allows it to taint his attitude and interactions; it actually comes off as fresh in a world of stoic comic book heroes, but it’s not necessarily fun to read. The rest of the characters aren’t nearly as interesting, but that’s okay because Lobdell ideally wants to save that development for the main Generation X series. The reveal of Gregor as a spy is well handled, although once again a little predictable due to his odd behavior.

Jubilee probably gets the most development in the brief scenes she appears in. Selling audiences on Jubilee wanting to leave the X-Men wasn’t an easy mandate, but I think Lobdell makes a compelling argument here. It is strange that the two characters go all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge to have their conversation, but oh well; meanwhile, Everett continues to be quiet and boring.

The plotline with Emma and Sean infiltrating SHIELD seems like a needless detour to pad out the story. If Emma has enough technology to find a top secret facility, why can’t she find the Phalanx ship as well? Shouldn’t they tell SHIELD about the Phalanx? And can’t Banshee just ask for their help, since they’re obviously aware of who is?

The art is pretty good, but for some reason Joe Mad has made Everett and Gregor’s bodies really over muscled. Everett’s girth might be a side effect of absorbing Sabretooth’s powers, but it still looks really weird. The layout of Emma’s home and the effects of Clarice’s powers on Harvest serve as stand out moments for the art. The spotlight on the young mutants isn’t great, and it leads to some stalling on the part of the heroes outside.

C+

X-Men #26

X-Men #26
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Andy Kubert

What Went Down: Part 2 of Bloodties: We enter on a very angry Quicksilver, raging about the fact that Fabian Cortez has abducted his daughter. The X-Men are on the Blackbird watching a newscast from Trish Tilby live in Genosha. Cortez is explaining his plan for mutant dominance in the war torn country, and he is using Luna Maximoff as a symbol, since she is the granddaughter of Magneto.

Up on Asteroid M, Colossus is caring for a comatose Magneto and pondering whether revealing Magneto’s condition might help ease tensions. Exodus, who has taken charge of the Acolytes, says he needs to be alone with Magneto to seek his counsel. Since Magneto can only drool on himself, Exodus comes off as pretty insane.

Back in the U.S., the Avengers are in a huge battle with SHIELD agents trying to prevent them from interfering in the Genoshan conflict, as per UN decree. Five Avengers escape, including Captain America, leaving the rest of the teams to mop up. After the fight, the remaining Avengers prepare to deal with the UN.

On the ground in Genosha, Xavier and his allies are ambushed. Fortunately, Xavier somehow guessed this would happen, so he pulls out masks for himself and the Beast. The attackers are led by obscure X-Men ally Renee Majcomb, who is leading a coalition of humans and mutants fighting for a united, integrated Genosha without any fighting. Hank brings up Trish Tilby, but the group is needed elsewhere. As the group drives off, U.S. Agent is seen stowing away under the car.

Meanwhile, the X-Men land and are attacked by some generic looking mutate soldiers. As the X-Men battle the group, Cortez is revealed to be nearby. The Avenger squad also lands on Genosha and breaks up a riot of mutants and humans trying to kill each other. Exodus shows up and kills all the humans in the crowd.

How It Was: Well both teams finally make it to Genosha, after half an issue of battling SHIELD and recapping the events of the previous issue. We also learn why more stories don’t take place in Genosha; the Ge- in Genosha must stand for generic because that’s the best description for every character there. Even supporting characters like Renee Majcomb are nothing but militant badasses ready for war, and everybody seems to be wearing brown. As for the war itself, there are no panels that depict this great conflict that is going on everywhere; for an epic battle, all the encounters the super hero teams have with civilians tend to resemble the standard boring mobs that the X-Men generally break up. The setting just lacks impact; there is nothing to make it stand out when it should be the central focus of the story.

As for the characters themselves, they’re not allowed to do anything really significant. If you look at the previous crossover, Fatal Attractions, there were character changing events happening left and right, from Cable’s return to Wolverine’s injuries. Like it or not, at least that story was trying new things with the characters. In Bloodties, everything is predictable and shallow. Quicksilver, Crystal, and Cortez are the only ones who seem affected by this story. All the other characters seem curiously unmoved; they just keep commenting on the horror of the war. The creators can’t even keep track of the characters in it, as Revanche appears in this issue, but not in the previous or next issues. Plus Exodus’ turn as power mad lunatic doesn’t do a lot for me, and the Xavier/Beast subplot is simply crawling along.

Still, the fight with SHIELD is pretty cool, and Colossus has a nice follow up scene from Fatal Attractions where the reality of his situation hits him. Kubert’s art looks good, and he finally has a reason to draw giant clouds of smoke during the scene with Xavier’s team being gassed. Also, the final page with Exodus makes for a pretty cool moment for the villain. This is a perfectly middling issue, where not a lot happens. The following issues feature a series of fights that maintain this plot stall until the final issue.

C