UNCANNY X-MEN #323: A Nation Rising

The X-Men encounter some strange new foes!

Originally Published August 1995

Out on the road smack dab in the middle of nowhere, Iceman and Rogue -- looking like she belongs in an Aerosmith video -- are pulled over on the side of the road, discussing the predicament of having blown through yet another tire with no spare. They're not sure exactly how to resolve the predicament, especially given Rogue's dictum that they can't use their powers in any way for any reason on this trip.

Bobby has never gone this long without a homemade sno-cone

They resolve to do things the flatscan way -- walk to the nearest greasy spoon and call a tow truck, just like Alicia Silverstone would.

Back in Westchester, Archangel and Psylocke are having a-- wait, stop, stop, holy crap, what the--

That's right, Psylocke's power to dislocate her entire spine so that her ass and boobs are both in the same picture is getting a real workout today.

Anyway, Betsy and Warren are working out in the danger room, which is lately occupied by Sabretooth since his encounter with Wolverine in the latter's solo title. Betsy suddenly senses some danger incoming, and is by turns relieved, and then disturbed, to find that that danger is Gambit, who has awakened and wants to know where Rogue has gone off to.

As for Sabretooth, he's out for his daily walkies with the newest X-Men, Cannonball, who was called up from X-Force in the pages of that book, presumably because with Gambit out of commission and Rogue away, the book was running dangerously low on phonetic southern accents. 

I think it's a good choice because if anyone is capable of handling Victor's zoomies, it's Sam and his blastin' ability.

The two encounter Wolverine, who himself has been expressing feral tendencies lately. Logan is itching to go another round with his longtime rival, but declines when he realizes he is facing down a helpless kitty.

Wolverine also warns Sam that while he's got gumption, which is valuable, that sort of thing can also get a guy killed. 

Storm arrives and asks Wolverine -- who is waiting for the arrival of his old friends Mac and Heather Hudson -- and Cannonball to tag in on the investigation into the nightclub massacre recently committed by a breakaway mutant terrorist group.

At the broadcast studio of CBNC, Beast admonishes Trish Tilby for her zealous reporting on the discovery that the Legacy Virus can now be transmitted to flatscan humans, thus unnecessarily ginning up anti-mutant sentiment. Trish retorts that that's what the news is supposed to do. It certainly doesn't help that they have had a, ahem, personal relationship.

Honestly, if Beast is insinuating that Trish should have kept the whole thing under wraps, they're both wrong, since the public do have a right to know, but Trish's report was basically a scare piece without any context or commentary from the mutant researchers working on the Legacy Virus. But speaking of ginning up anti-mutant sentiment, here's a word from Graydon Creed.

Down in the badlands, Iceman and Rogue discuss what Rogue is running from -- whatever it was she saw when she got a glimpse inside Remy's head. Rogue demurs, she's not ready to talk about it... yet. But speaking of dangerous things inside one's head, Bobby can't stop seeing visions of Emma Frost, who recently vacationed inside his own brainpan.

Storm, Cannonball, Wolverine and Detective Charlotte Jones meet up with the city coroner who has some shocking and confusing news for them. All those people who died at the club... shouldn't be dead.

No sooner can Dr. Chen explain any of this nonsense than Wolverine catches a scent of something strange and lashes out, slashing the Doc across the torso. At first it seems like it's more wild man nonsense from Wolverine and that he might have to be put down, but no, it turns out his instincts were dead on when this funny lil guy crawls out of the remains of Dr. Chen.

I'm sorry, "Sack," is it? It's "Sack," right? That's the name, "Sack?" You go by "Sack?" Is that short for "Sachary?" Do you maybe want another go at choosing your fearsome bad guy name? You can choose anything, anything you like. Let your mind run wild. It doesn't even have to make sense, it's the 90's. Okay, you're sticking with "Sack." "Sack" is the name. "Sack."

This is Sack.

Anyway, no sooner do we meet Sack, than we also encounter his friend Vessel.

Further Thoughts:

This is the first time in quite a while that we've seen Wolverine get involved in X-Men stuff -- ever since Magneto ripped out his adamantium in Fatal Attractions (two years ago~!) he's been written out as "needing time away" from the X-Men. But more to the point, for many years now his character has felt more like the property of Wolverine writer Larry Hama and less so of the X-Men as his private mythology grows away of the children of the atom. As such, it feels a little like a guest appearance when he turns up in the series he was once synonymous with, and by 1995 was starring alongside in a wildly successful animated series. It's very strange to be surprised to see Wolverine in a comic! 

One interesting thing that you notice when you pay way too much attention to these four-color funnies is this repeated pattern that has developed lately of humanizing the X-Men's longtime foes, or in some way bridging the gap between them and our heroes. Obviously this is a longtime X-Men tradition: X-people who were introduced as antagonists include Mimic, Banshee, Sunfire and Rogue (and indeed, if we look at characters like Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in the Avengers, the villain-to-hero pipeline is a commonly traveled one in the Marvel Universe) But in the past few years -- since the departure of Chris Claremont -- we've seen increasing instances of the X-Men taking their villains in as sort of an aid project. Currently, Sabretooth has residence in the mansion albeit in a devolved, lobotomized state, as does the possibly-comatose Juggernaut. Recently, Emma Frost, Mystique and Callisto have all spent time in the X-Men's medical bay, with some of them even taking up full affiliation in certain X-related groups. I don't know whether it's a Scott Lobdell move of a Bob Harras idea or just a plot point they keep going back to, but I like what it says, in that if the X-Men don't tend to these people, who will? It's not even about reforming or changing their allegiance, but about putting welfare of individuals above the usual clash between superpowers. I just think that's a cool way to subtly transcend the superhero genre.