MACHINE MAN/BASTION ‘98 - August 1998

Deus X Machina

Credits: Mike Higgins & Karl Bollers (writers), Martin Egeland (penciler), Howard M. Shum (inker), J. M. Baggins (letters), Kevin Tinsley (colors)

Summary: Having merged with Master Mold, Bastion’s memories are now unblocked. Machine Man attacks Cable, as Bastion recounts his origin. Cable eventually undoes Bastion’s reprogramming of Machine Man telepathically, and the two heroes unite. They trap Bastion inside the Prospero Clinic, where human test subjects are still held captive. Machine Man wants to rescue them, but Cable confirms that they have no brainwave activity. The duo triggers the clinic’s self-destruct sequence and escapes.

Continuity Notes: This issue establishes that Bastion is the amalgam of Nimrod and Master Mold, created after the two were sucked into the Siege Perilous in Uncanny X-Men #247. A “higher authority” judged their consciousness and stripped them of their “artificiality” before sending them back to Earth as one being. Bastion was discovered by Rose Gilberti, who took him in and taught him human kindness. As Bastion learned more about mutants, his programming drove him to develop new Sentinel designs. He abandoned Rose and sought out high-profile mutant critic, Graydon Creed. Soon, he amassed power within the government and formed Operation: Zero Tolerance.

Review: When the mysterious Bastion debuted as the latest and greatest threat to mutantkind, I don’t think anyone expected his origin to be revealed a year or so later in a Machine Man annual. Some characters, like Omega Red, are just made to be disposable cannon fodder for the lower-tier spinoffs. Bastion was supposed to be the personification of the anti-mutant threat, taking his place alongside the likes of mutant supremacists Magneto and Apocalypse as one of the X-Men’s major foes. And as muddled as his debut might’ve been, Scott Lobdell was on to something with the character.

Who were the major anti-mutant figures in the Marvel Universe? None of the Trasks could ever last for long. Senator Kelly had already mellowed out. Graydon Creed was dead, and was usually portrayed as a joke anyway. The X-Men do need an iteration of “The Man” to fight against, and making him a Sentinel masquerading as a human allows him to be an actual physical threat to the team. That Nimrod/Master Mold dangling thread had never been resolved anyway, so there’s even a door already open for his debut. Unfortunately, Marvel’s half-hearted delivery of the OZT crossover didn’t capture the scale Lobdell was going for, and the story actually ended with Bastion getting talked into surrendering. We also learned he had a mommy fixation with some old lady in the woods. Bastion was now the overhyped Next Big Thing, a subject of contempt and mockery by the nascent online fandom.

Marvel could’ve let him rest for a while before trying again, but instead he’s revived for two of the next year’s forgettable “team-up” annuals. And he didn’t even merit an Uncanny X-Men or X-Men annual. He got Cable. Cable was drawn into the OZT crossover for a few issues, but the story had no real impact on the main storyline, and his interactions with Bastion weren’t particularly exceptional. And it’s obvious Machine Man’s here because Marvel doesn’t want that trademark to lapse…and, oh yeah, he’ s a robot too, so that’s a perfect fit. The story’s filled with holes (how did Machine Man come to the Prospero Clinc in the first place…why didn’t SHIELD discover the human test subjects months earlier during the initial raid…where did Master Mold come from…?), and since large sections of it are narrated by Bastion, the reader’s forced to endure a hideous “robot” font that’s hard to read for much of the issue. The dialogue is stilted, and the only idea that’s close to being a compelling conflict is quickly dismissed. Cable wants to destroy the clinic with Bastion inside…without rescuing the human test subjects. Machine Man objects, but Cable assures him that they’re brain dead. Machine Man politely agrees, killing any debate on the nature of “life” -- which is a subject Machine Man might have an interesting take on. The building blows up, the heroes escape, no one mourns the dead SHIELD agents or test subjects, the end. Oh, well. At least no one can steal the name “Machine Man” from Marvel for a few more years.

X-MEN UNLIMITED #18 - April 1998

Once an X-Man…

Credits: Tom DeFalco (writer), Marcello Frusin (penciler), Jose Marzan, Jr. (inker), Comicraft’s Emerson Miranda (letters), Shannon Blanchard (colors)

Summary: In San Francisco, Gambit robs from criminals while searching for Mr. Sinister. Overwhelmed with guilt over his involvement in the Morlock Massacre, Gambit is haunted by visions of the X-Men. When Gambit’s contact, Oscar, gives him the option of finding Mr. Sinister or ending Hydro-Man’s killing spree, Gambit decides to be a hero and stop Hydro-Man. After defeating Hydro-Man, Gambit discovers Sinister has killed Oscar. Eventually, Gambit realizes he’s hallucinating, as a dog sled arrives to rescue him in the Antarctic.

Continuity Notes: This takes place during Gambit’s missing months after the X-Men left him for dead in the Antarctic (and, retroactively, we of course learn that they never intended to leave him for dead). I don’t know if the man leading the dog sled was ever identified, as we’re later told the Green Mist Lady, and then New Son, saved Gambit in the Antarctic.

Review: X-Men Unlimited has a new editor, Frank Pittarese, with this issue, which might explain why we’re not getting more of the Howard Mackie/Terry Kavanagh tag-team. Tom DeFalco didn’t do a lot of work on the X-titles, but he did show up more than you might expect in the ‘90s. DeFalco has said in interviews that he was given What If…? (which then led to Spider-Girl) as an assignment because Marvel contractually had to offer him writing jobs during these years. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that this was an open job that was also offered to him, since the book never kept a regular writer and any of the issues not written by Howard Mackie or Terry Kavanagh just seemed like random assignments.

DeFalco actually drops his typical Silver Age, borderline-cornball, scripting for the story. He instead adopts a 1970s, “Your name is Iron Fist…” second-person narrative style, which does help to set the story’s mood. Gambit’s overcome with guilt after his role in the Morlock Massacre has been exposed, but he’s determined to prove to himself that he truly is a hero. In the end, this just turns out to be a self-indulgent fantasy, but as the narration says, “It may be a lie…but you cling to it nonetheless.” This is one of the better examples of how to write what is essentially filler; the character is in the same place he was when the story started, but he’s undergone an emotional arc and learned something about himself. Plus, we get an appearance from a villain from outside of the X-canon. I know Tom DeFalco has advocated for this in interviews, so I’m glad he was able to work Hydro-Man in, even as a hallucination.

Guiding Light

Credits: Bill Rosemann (writer), Marty Egeland (penciler), Howard M. Shum (inker), Comicraft’s Emerson Miranda (letters)

Summary: A group of city workers comes near the area of the sewers where Callisto is recuperating. Marrow singles out the supervisor, shows him Angel’s bloodstains on the wall, and demands he stay away from their sacred place. He soon orders his men to leave the tunnels.

Continuity Notes: A footnote places this story prior to X-Men #72.

Review: I forgot “Your Man @ Marvel” had written a few comics during these days. This is a very brief story that plays off Marrow’s original motivation for joining the X-Men -- Callisto wanted her to find a “better way.” Rather than killing the men, she just scares them off, and then goes back to nursing Callisto. Nothing particularly memorable here, except for artist Marty Egeland’s decision to transform the leaves that covered Callisto’s wounded chest in her previous appearance into a skimpy leaf bra that barely covers her nipples. Classy.

DAYDREAMERS #1-#3, August-October 1997

Once Upon A Time…

Credits: J. M. DeMatteis (plot), Todd Dezago (script), Martin Egeland (penciler), Howard M. Shum (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Kevin Somers (colors)

Daydreamers, a.k.a. Another Thing That Pissed Steve Gerber Off, is a spinoff miniseries from the post-Onslaught era of Generation X. Shortly after Franklin Richards was added to the cast of the book, the series did a “split up the cast” storyline, followed by a crossover arc. Consequently, Franklin barely made his presence felt in the series, which is a shame since very few people have ever explored the connection between the mutant child of Marvel’s First Family and the assorted X-teams. The other ignored Gen X cast members included Artie and Leech (the two younger kids at Xavier’s school who seemed to just live in a treehouse), and Howard the Duck, who gave Skin and Chamber a ride during their road trip. For no discernable reason, Man-Thing and the ultra-obscure Tana Nile also popped up in the series shortly before the cast was divided.

The six characters were exiled together after Black Tom’s attack in Generation X #25, which is where this mini picks up. Man-Thing has the team floating inside the Nexus of All Realities, and it isn’t long before Howard the Duck falls into a wacky alternate universe. This reality recasts the Marvel Universe as fairy tale and fantasy characters, so we have two of the Incredible Hulk’s multiple personalities represented as Twiddle-Dee and Twiddle-Dum, the Scarlet Witch as the Wicked Red Witch of the Southeast, and Dr. Strange as a transvestite Good Witch of the North. Meanwhile, the mysterious Dark Hunter stalks the team as they track down Howard. The debut issue is enjoyable, although the script only has a few slight laughs, and the art leans too much towards standard superhero work and not enough towards an appropriate cartoony tone. I’ve never seen such a lifeless Howard the Duck.

Across the Universe

Credits: J. M. DeMatteis (plot), George Broderick, Jr. (script), Martin Egeland (penciler), Howard M. Shum (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Kevin Somers & Digital Chameleon (colors)

Things get crazier, as Man-Thing suddenly develops the ability to speak. No explanation is offered this issue, although we do learn why Tana Nile ended up in Gen X’s backyard in the first place. (She came to Earth to escape her imperialistic alien race; she wanted the Avengers’ help and ended up with Artie and Leech.) The RuPaul version of Dr. Strange transports the team away from the Dark Hunter, where they land in a legally protected parody of a Dr. Seuss book. Everything must be spoken in rhyme in this reality, which the script gets some mileage out of. Because Howard refuses to go along, the crew gets thrown in jail. Meanwhile, Artie is upset with Franklin, and seems to be hinting that he’s directly responsible for the Dark Hunter. In the end, Dark Hunter invades the prison and kidnaps Artie while the team tries to escape. Howard demands Man-Thing teleport them out of this existence, as he did earlier during Black Tom’s attack (Man-Thing acknowledges that this isn’t one of his powers and he doesn’t know how he did it in the first place). While trying to follow Dark Hunter’s path, Man-Thing somehow transports them to Duckworld, the home planet Howard’s been trying to reach for years. They’re shocked to discover Howard is an icon in this world, complete with his own golden statue. If the next issue somehow ties this into the 1986 Howard the Duck movie, I’ll be thrilled.

Dark Eyes

Credits: J. M. DeMatteis (plot), Todd Dezago with Andy Jozefowiez (script), Martin Egeland (penciler), Howard M. Shum (inker), Richard Starkings & Comicraft (letters), Kevin Somers & Digital Chameleon (colors)

There is a joke about the movie, but it’s not the explanation for Howard’s celebrity status. Howard meets his parents, who reveal that his adventures on Earth have been televised for years on Duckworld. However, Howard realizes that these aren’t his parents, as Franklin begins to behave strangely in the living room. When Leech and Man-Thing start asking him too many questions, Franklin throws a tantrum that apparently kills them. Howard and Tana Nile begin to piece things together and realize that they were never traveling through alternate realities (Franklin’s powers, combined with Man-Thing’s connection to the Nexus, created the worlds), Man-Thing never spoke (it was only Franklin’s voice talking through him), and the Dark Hunter isn’t a villain after all (he’s Franklin’s subconscious).

Franklin’s dealing with the loss of his parents, and with the help of Dark Hunter, he finally makes his peace with their deaths. Not that Marvel ever expected us to believe they were dead, but it’s a little odd that this mini was published just as the Heroes Reborn stunt ended and the heroes were making their way back to the Marvel Universe. It seems like this would’ve had more impact if it were published right after the Onslaught event. Still, the emotions are portrayed rather persuasively, and the twist ending works as a legitimate surprise. I’m not sure why exactly this merited its own miniseries, unless Marvel really wanted to test the waters for a book with a kid-friendly cast. I would’ve preferred this as an ongoing subplot in Generation X, penciled by Chris Bachalo. It could’ve livened up a few issues, but I guess that space was needed for more Zero Tolerance material (in fairness, those issues weren’t that bad either). Now, does anyone know why this mini had so many guest scripters…and why two of them had no connection to the X-office?