X-MEN: ODD MEN OUT #1 - September 2008

Odd Men Out

Credits:  Roger Stern (writer), Dave Cockrum (penciler), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Andrew Crossley (colors), Dave Sharpe (letters)

Summary:  When Xavier reads an article about Fred Duncan’s security firm, he decides to pay his old friend a visit.  With Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, and Wolverine acting as bodyguards, Xavier and Fred have a chat inside Fred’s home.  Xavier reflects on his time in space with the Shi’ar, while Fred details his final days working as the government’s mutant liaison.  After a run-in with Henry Gyrich, Fred reveals he left to join the private sector.  Xavier and Fred bond over being “odd men out” and renew their friendship.

Continuity Notes:  

• This story was commissioned as an inventory issue, sometime in late 1991 or early 1992.
• Xavier isn’t using his hoverchair in the story.  In the early ‘90s, artists used to keep Xavier in a normal wheelchair when appearing in public, but that detail was lost over the years.  There’s no reason for Xavier to keep his hoverchair a secret from Fred, however.
• Xavier tells Fred that Cyclops is the oldest member of the original team; I seem to recall other stories listing Beast as the oldest.
• Flashbacks place Fred’s departure from the government happening “behind the scenes” of Uncanny X-Men #150.
• Let the record show that Fred Duncan’s address is specifically given as 1025 Sindoni Crescent in Hegeman, New York.  

I Love the ‘90s:  Since this story was originally penciled in the ‘90s, Wolverine is allowed to smoke.  Xavier is concerned about receiving secondhand nicotine, but I always thought it was the tar in cigarettes that was dangerous.

Production Note:  With the exception of the credits box, the story appears to be hand-lettered.  The colors are modern digital colors, meaning it wasn’t colored back in the early ‘90s of course.

Review:  “Odd Men Out” comes from the tumultuous period that had John Byrne attempting to write dialogue over the (often erratic) plots of Whilce Portacio and Jim Lee.  Roger Stern heard that the titles were in deadline trouble and pitched this inventory issue, which was accepted and given to Dave Cockrum to pencil.  It’s very possible this story would’ve stayed in the drawer had it been handed to any other artist doing fill-in work for Marvel in the early ‘90s.  At some point, Marvel realized that there was a Dave Cockrum X-Men story just collecting dust…oh, wait…and here’s a New Mutants job!  The two inventory issues were collected after Cockrum’s death in this one-shot.  Oddly enough, the front cover doesn’t feature Cockrum’s name in the title; it’s only barely visible in the credits section.  The back cover pays tribute to Cockrum, true, but it’s strange that the title of the book isn’t X-Men Lost Tales: A Tribute to Dave Cockrum, or something along those lines.  The book’s actual title is disappointing, since it simply recycles the title of the one-shot’s first story.  Maybe the idea is that both of these stories are “Odd Men Out” since they were never published, but it feels lazy.  Also, why isn’t Cockrum’s art on the front cover of this thing?

I’d like to say that the forgotten Roger Stern/Dave Cockrum issue of Uncanny X-Men is a lost classic, but that would be stretching the truth.  Since Stern knows this is a fill-in, he goes for a format often seen in the Bronze Age -- the issue-long recap.  There are legitimate gaps to be filled with Fred Duncan’s story, but the majority of this issue is dedicated to Xavier giving a Xavier-specific history of the X-Men.  Stern tries to smooth over some of the rough parts of past continuity, but there’s only so much he can do with the awkward retcon that revealed that Xavier wasn’t dead, he was just living in the X-Men’s basement preparing for an alien invasion.  This outright dumb story should’ve been forgotten as soon as it was published, but instead it became the modern inspiration for virtually every Xavier story.  Stern has Xavier express remorse over the dimwitted plan ("I developed a successful attack, but I had deceived my X-Men.  I'll always regret that."), but I wish he could’ve used his magic retcon skills to fix the real issues with the story.  In another bit of commentary, Stern has Fred react incredulously to Magneto taking over the X-Men’s school during Xavier’s absence, which isn’t much of a shock.  (Fred says it’s crazier than Xavier’s stories about "alien parasites and cloning.")  Stern’s X-Men vs. Avengers miniseries is filled with cheap shots against the concept of Magneto reforming, and when you consider that this is a story aimed at new readers, it’s a shame that Stern doesn’t even attempt to present any context for why this happened.  Stern just wants you to know that he thought it was a bad idea.

Those complaints aside, I’ll say that Stern’s penned a recap comic that has some personality to it.  The Fred Duncan angle is a clever one, and if you really wanted to know what happened to Duncan, the story provides pretty satisfying answers.  It’s still a recap comic, though, so there’s not much here for existing fans.  For the purposes of this one-shot, the real star is Dave Cockrum’s artwork.  It’s been digitally spruced up by modern color techniques, and in an era that has the major companies hiring artists with diverse art styles, it does look like a comic that could be published today.  Looking at it now as a historical artifact, it’s interesting to see Cockrum’s take on everything from the Jack Kirby to Jim Lee days.  Some of the flashback pages seem to have received more attention than others; I think Cockrum’s biased towards the earliest issues.  Most of all, Cockrum appears to be having fun inventing various alien species for Xavier to interact with during his Shi’ar flashbacks.  

Why didn’t Marvel publish this in 1992?  Hmm… There’s no exaggerated anatomy, no forced perspective, no cross-hatching, and it’s drawn in a traditional grid layout.  No speedlines, but plenty of backgrounds.  It seems like the last thing Marvel was looking for, which is a shame.  I think I would’ve enjoyed this as a kid; I know I would’ve been thrilled had it taken the place of “The Last Morlock Story.”

Think Again

Credits:  Michael Higgins (writer), Dave Cockrum (penciler), Joe Rubinstein (inks), Andrew Crossley (colors), Joe Rosen (letters)

Summary:  The Mad Thinker’s research leads him to an underground lab.  Using the technology he discovers, the Mad Thinker constructs a robot that quickly turns against him.  The robot then travels to the surface to confront the New Mutants.  He absorbs each of their powers and fights the team to a standstill.  Rusty rallies the team and convinces every member to attack the robot simultaneously.  The robot begins to malfunction, and is remotely terminated by its “master” for failing him.

Continuity Notes:  

• This is a never-before-published inventory issue of New Mutants created around 1989.
• All evidence points to the robot’s true creator being Apocalypse.  The underground lab has copious files on various mutants, the robot’s face has Apocalypse’s unique lip design, and the patterns painted on the robot’s body resemble the ones on Archangel’s costume.
• The New Mutants consist of Cannonball, Rictor, Sunspot, Boom Boom, Wolfsbane, Rusty, & Skids.  Apparently, this specific lineup never existed, which creates a major continuity problem.  It’s possible that’s the reason why this story wasn’t used after it was commissioned.

(Hypothetically) Approved By The Comics Code Authority:  Rictor’s thoughts are cut off before he can mentally finish the word “crap.”

“Huh?” Moment:  Cockrum draws Cyclops and Marvel Girl as background characters ice-skating at Central Park with the New Mutants, but they play no role in the story.

Review:  Just think, in some alternate reality, this comic was published instead of the first appearance of Cable.  The content of the story is about what you’d expect from a late ‘80s New Mutants inventory.  The plot’s simple, the characters describe their powers every few pages, a few romantic subplots are referenced, and the teens have a few pages to do “teen” things, like go ice-skating or shopping at Bloomingdale’s.  The major problem is Higgins’ dialogue, which alternates between simply generic and actively horrendous. (“Let’s hurry!  He’s so frightful!”)  Cockrum’s interpretation of the New Mutants is fantastic, although he does seem bored during the fight scene.  The modern production values help the visuals immensely, making sure the linework is properly reproduced and not faded into near-oblivion, as often seen in ‘80s flexographic printing.  There’s no compelling reason for this to be published, outside of paying tribute to Cockrum, although I’m slightly surprised that it wasn’t fished out of the drawer at some point due to its Apocalypse connection.

CABLE ‘99 - April 1999

Something Sinister This Way Comes

Credits: Michael Higgins & Karl Bollers (writers), German Garcia w/Alitha Martinez (pencilers), Matt Ryan w/Candelario & Koblish (inkers), Mike Rockwitz (colors), BenchMark (letters)

Summary: Mr. Sinister visits Cable’s hideout, revealing to him that he engineered Cable’s creation to use him as the ultimate weapon against Apocalypse. Cable refuses Sinister’s partnership offer, even after he’s warned of Apocalypse’s approaching emissaries. Soon, a local nightclub is attacked by mutants claiming to be Apocalypse’s servants. One of them erases Cable’s powers, triggering his techno-organic virus. Sinister rescues Cable, curing the virus and restoring his telepathic powers. Cable returns home and rescues Irene and Blaquesmith from the emissaries. He reveals to Sinister that he knows they’re actually his Marauders in disguise. Cable demands to know all of Sinister’s secrets, but he revives Cable’s virus and uses the opportunity to escape.

Continuity Notes: A flashback scene reveals that Sinister created the techno-organic virus in the early 1900s in the hopes that it could kill Apocalypse. Instead, it only made him stronger. Apocalypse allowed Sinister to flee, but promised to kill him in the future. Just a few months after this comic was published, another flashback in Uncanny X-Men #376 shows that Apocalypse and Sinister were allies again during the early days of the X-Men, behind-the-scenes of the Living Pharaoh storyline. As for the Marauders, none of them has the ability to erase another mutant’s power, although Scrambler can…yes, scramble his opponent’s powers and make them go haywire.

Review: It’s easy to dismiss this as annual filler, but the creators have worked out a plot that ties in to the regular series’ ongoing storylines, and establishes a few continuity points as well. I’m not sure if anyone was actually looking for important continuity to be established in a Cable annual by this point, but it’s there if you’re interested. The ongoing Cable series has never really known what to do with Mr. Sinister, perhaps because the character’s traditionally a behind-the-scenes schemer and rarely someone who takes an active role in supervillain plots. Yet, his entire gimmick centers around Summers’ DNA, and the precious offspring that will be created by Cyclops and Phoenix. Well, here he is. And he’s had an ongoing series since 1993. Why don’t you care, Sinister? Jeph Loeb tried to write around this by having Sinister hint that he’s been more involved with Cable’s life than he could ever realize, but that hint, of course, went nowhere.

So, the premise moves the book slightly past the “generic” marker, but unfortunately the execution is a disappointment. The art is clearly a rush job, making even the normally excellent German Garcia unrecognizable on many pages. Cable versus the Marauders should be a fantastic fight scene, one that’s been in the works since “Inferno,” but it’s pretty lifeless here. The story attempts to build a thematic link between Apocalypse and Sinister, but the conclusion we’re expected to reach -- Sinister’s no better than Apocalypse because he wants to save humanity for his own experimentation -- isn’t much of a revelation. Cable’s also supposed to learn some grand lesson about appreciating humanity instead of agonizing over his heavy responsibilities, but that’s an idea that Joe Casey's used more effectively in the monthly title. There are a few amusing lines, though, and the script is easier to read than Higgins & Boller’s effort in the previous annual. So, it’s not as terrible as you might expect a late ‘90s Cable annual to be; it’s just regular bad.

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.

CABLE/MACHINE MAN ‘98 - June 1998

Metamorphosis

Credits: Mike Higgins & Karl Bollers (writers), Rick Leonardi (penciler), Dan Green (inker), J. M. Babgins (letters), Matt Webb (colors)

Summary: When Bastion breaks free of his imprisonment, G. W. Bridge sends SHIELD agents to investigate his former base, the Prospero Clinic. When the agents break contact, Bridge asks Cable to search the clinic. Meanwhile, a confused Bastion returns to the home of his mother figure, Rose. She’s accidentally killed by the authorities, which sends Bastion into a rage. When Cable reaches the clinic, he’s attacked by Machine Man, who’s lost touch with his humanity. Bastion arrives and makes contact with the clinic’s Master Mold unit. Master Mold is drained of its energy as Bastion is transformed into Nimrod.

Continuity Notes: A scan of Bastion’s body reveals that he isn’t human, but is made up of “complex inorganic systems” which are constantly being recreated by “microscopic robots called nanotechs.” When Master Mold is found in the Prospero Clinic, Cable isn’t surprised at all, and even knows for a fact that Master Mold was responsible for the clinic’s “bio-engineering” that turned people into Prime Sentinels. However, Master Mold never appeared in the Zero Tolerance storyline, so there’s no reason for him to know this.

Review: I guess Marvel’s ‘70s nostalgia craze wasn’t quite over yet, as now Machine Man is being dusted off. This is the same writing team behind his short-lived 1999 series, so it’s possible that Machine Man was slated for a monthly title during 1998, but was held back to be a part of the M-Tech line. M-Tech was based on the assumption that the audience automatically cared about a concept if it tied into “technology” in some way, which makes as much sense as assuming that nostalgia alone could revive interest in concepts like Devil Dinosaur, Shang-Chi, and Machine Man (I doubt most of the audience was old enough to actually remember these characters…yes, Machine Man did briefly join the Avengers during the ‘90s, but I don’t think his membership left much of an impression).

The story opens with Machine Man apparently killing a room full of SHIELD agents, which is quite an attention-getter, but the full significance is only felt if you know this obscure character is actually a kind-hearted hero who understands the concept of love better than most humans (I’m basing this on the recap given to him at the very end of the issue). The image of Machine Man, not exactly one of Kirby’s most inspired designs, going on a murderous rampage is faintly ridiculous. Just looking at him, it’s obvious this character is from a different era, one with a significantly lower amount of blood splatter in its superhero comics. Cable’s from the opposite end of the spectrum, although he’s mellowed out by this point in the ‘90s. Aside from his own vague connection to technology, Cable doesn’t have much of a compelling reason to be in this story, and his role probably could’ve been played by any X-character. He’s also adamant that this is his mission and he won’t bring in any of the other X-teams, which is patently absurd. Bastion led a nationwide manhunt of mutants, looted the X-Men’s database, kept Professor Xavier prisoner, revived the Sentinels, and nearly killed his father…Cable shouldn’t be concerned with “needlessly worrying” his allies. He should be leading his own crossover-worthy cadre of mutants against the menace.