X-MEN #65: First Blood

Bastion mounts his attack on the X-Men

Originally Published June 1997

We begin with ... ???

Jean seems to be having visions of the dead as Iron Man -- complete with techno-bananahammock -- appears before her. Both are confused: Jean because she watched this man die, and Iron Man because he doesn't seem to know who Jean is or what a mutant is.

Could it be that instead of dying, the Avengers and Fantastic Four somehow found their way to some kind of alternate reality where they look marginally different and have their entire histories rebooted? Seems improbable but I guess we can't rule it out. Before we can investigate any further, Jean is yanked back into her normal reality where she is aboard a plane that is being attacked by the agents of Operation: Zero Tolerance somewhere over the Colorado Rockies.

The X-Men scramble to defend their disabled jet (these X-Men have pretty bad luck with air travel.) It becomes clear they're going to have to defend themselves.

Meanwhile, at a diner in Canton, OH, some locals gather to watch Henry P. Gyrich doing PR for OZT, claiming that the X-Men attacked an innocent vessel.

In a moment that would have seemed broad and overly simplistic a few years ago, the middle-Americans cheers to this violent government overreach. Nowadays it just seems like a day in the life of a Republican voter who thinks trans people are to blame for all their problems.

Yeah, this will keep grocery costs down!

The diner's Japanese proprietors are rather less enthused, having lived through the internment camps that America used during World War 2.

In the air above Colorado, Canonball struggles with some Bastion-Bots while Cyclops considers his next move -- Storm and Jean are focused on not crashing the plane which means they, the only other X-Men who can go airborne, are not available to assist.

Meanwhile, at a seemingly nondescript property in Salem Center, NY, law enforcement gathers outside of what is widely believed to be a harmless prep school.

For all their ability, the X-Men succumb, one by one, to the OZT drones.

Also watching live from the Bronx are the staff of Our Mother of Mercy Hospital. One of the Doctors, Carter, reflects on the time he met Storm and she helped him turn his life around. But somewhat less sympathetic is one Dr. Reyes, who says -- possibly reluctantly -- that a mutie is a mutie and it's, on the whole, good to round them all up and kill them.

Methinks the lady doth protest something or other

While the forces of Operation: Zero Tolerance make their way into what we know to be the X-Mansion, the X-Men continue to fall...

In New York, the OZT-ers await the revival of their leader, the "prime unit" Bastion. He reflects on how close he is to realizing his purpose, and how in some ironic but yet-unspecified way, he owes his existence to the X-Men themselves.

The final score: Cannonball, splashed. Cyclops, blindfolded. Storm, gooped. Wolverine and Jean? TBD, but it's not looking good.

Seeing the news, Iceman decides to end his two-week hiatus and jump back into action, with a rousing "give 'em hell" from his formerly racist dad.

From inside the mansion, Bastion holo-facetimes Xavier, who is currently at a containment facility in New Mexico. The head honcho of OZT mentions that he gained access by probing the mind of a person who knew the access codes but had less strong psychic defenses. (Just spitballing here but I guess that was why he was torturing Jubilee.)

In Xavier's war room, Bastion accesses his files on things like the Danger Room, the Mutant Underground, etc etc. They're encrypted like a Zodiac letter in some kind of crazy chicken scratch but Bastion says hey, we'll work on it.

Ultimately, Bastion wanted Xavier to bear witness to the final end of his supposed dream.

Further Thoughts:

This is a strong issue, putting the X-Men deep on the backfoot against the well-organized and deadly foe. If you're alive in 2025 you probably do not need me to underline the startling similarities to things that are happening since the current United States President took office. That's because hatred and oppression always take the same shape, and you can be prepared to recognize it but it nevertheless shocks you when it manifests in real life.

What we do here is intended to be frivolous but it would be a total abdication of my role as analyst if I didn't acknowledge that, that in the real world we need to remain active and resist the creeping tide of hatred and fascism overrunning this hemisphere. Stay healthy, stay mentally engaged, take breaks when you need to but don't drop out. They're counting on apathy and exhaustion.

One thing this issue does that is exceptional -- but not necessarily conveyed by this recap -- is the way it juggles its two primary plots. The X-Men action (and any relevant cutaways) takes place in the first three quarters of the page but -- for 6 pages until the arrival of Bastion -- the bottom quarter is devoted to building up Bastion's eventual breaching of the mansion. That's pro's pro stuff, and whomever designed it -- whether that be Carlos Pacheco on the page or Scott Lobdell in the script -- it's top level.

I'll glide over the cold open featuring the "new" version of Iron Man -- I'm not sure if it was intended to juice sales on the "Heroes Reborn" line, tease the "return" to the main Marvel Universe that was still months away, or just be a random encounter. The issue features an unused opening page that is stated to have been replaced when they "decided" to include Iron Man.

 

We are left on a downer note with seemingly everything lost for our heroes... Seems like a good time for a random, unrelated Flashback month story, right? Check out Ko-Fi later this week for the story!