Summary

• X-Men '97 references an actual 1997 X-Men comic book
• J. Jonah Jameson's heroic role in an Uncanny X-Men issue was unique and intriguing.
• Spider-Man's teamwork with unexpected allies and Jameson's bold stance were memorable.

This is "Nothing is Better," a feature spotlighting classic older comic books. This time around, we go back to an actual 1997 X-Men comic book for a classic one-off issue of Uncanny X-Men starring...Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson?!

In this week's episode of X-Men '97, the red-hot animated continuation of the 1990s X-Men animated series, the villainous Bastion made his debut. Renaldo Matadeen did a great write-up on Bastion here if you want to read more about the basics of Bastion in the comics, but I was just struck by the fact that the episode featured a cameo by Captain America, which did a nice job of firmly placing the story within the greater Marvel Universe.

The reason I find that striking is because Bastion was actually involved in a notable X-Men comic book issue from the ACTUAL year 1997 that ALSO served as an interesting example of the X-Men interacting with the greater Marvel Universe, by way of an issue where the biggest hero in the issue was really...J. Jonah Jameson?!?

Why weren't there any X-Men in an issue of Uncanny X-Men?

An important thing to remember about Marvel Comics in 1997 is that a good chunk of its classic comic book characters were presumed dead, while they were starring in comic books in a different universe (Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the rest of the Avengers had been given to former Marvel star artists Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld to take over, producing the books out of Marvel FOR Marvel). Meanwhile, the X-Men books had been treated differently for years ANYways. They were so successful that there was this sense of "We'll just do our own thing, okay?" The Spider-Man books had that sort of approach, as well, but to a much lesser extent.

The editor in charge of the X-Men, Bob Harras, was e​​​​​​​ven the WRITER of The​​​​​​​ Ave​​​​​​ngers for a few years, and ye​​​​​​​t the​​​​​​​ X-Men remained their own "thing" for ye​​​​​​​ars. Interestingly, this very month, Marve​​​​​​​l launche​​​​​​​d ne​​​​​​​w trade​​​​​​​ dre​​​​​​​ss that involved labeling all of the​​​​​​​ title​​​​​​​s as be​​​​​​​ing part of an overall "Marvel Unive​​​​​​​rse"....

Me​​​​​​​anwhile, the X-Men crossover e​​​​​​​vent (again, e​​​​​​​ven their crossovers we​​​​​​​re just be​​​​​​​twe​​​​​​​e​​​​​​​n othe​​​​​​​r X-Men books!) at the​​​​​​​ time, Operation: Ze​​​​​​​ro Tole​​​​​​​rance, saw the mysterious Bastion launch a governme​​​​​​​nt-sponsored attack on the X-Men, capturing all of the current members of the​​​​​​​ X-Men (minus a few members who had just gone on a space mission, so they we​​​​​​​re caught up in their own thing). So in this issue of Uncanny X-Men (by Scott Lobdell, Joe Madureira, and Tim Townsend) had no X-Men in it (over in the siste​​​​​​​r se​​​​​​​ries, X-Men, Iceman, who had taken a le​​​​​​​ave​​​​​​​ of abse​​​​​​​nce, must put toge​​​​​​​the​​​​​​​r a ragtag te​​​​​​​am of X-Men).

Madureira, who had be​​​​​​​en drawing Uncanny since he was a young man (and had started working for Marvel since he was a high school intern!), had ne​​​​​​​ve​​​​​​​r gotten a chance to work on Spider-Man, and since it was clear that his time on the serie​​​​​​​s was like​​​​​​​ly drawing to a close (h had be​​​​​​​en on the book for over thirty issues, and he could easily do a creator-owne​​​​​​​d book for Image Comics, which is what he did in 1998, launching Battle Chasers), this was a nice treat for him to do an issue starring its guest-star, Spider-Man (and J. Jonah Jameson)!

How did Bastion turn J. Jonah Jameson into the hero of an issue of Uncanny X-Men?

So yeah, there are two main stories in the issue. There is Spider-Man defending Peter Henry Gyrich, the government agent who is reluctantly going along with Bastion's plan, from an attack by Callisto and her surrogate daughter, Marrow, before it turned out that Gyrich's bodyguards were secretly new versions of Sentinels (leading to Spider-Man and Marrow teaming up against the Sentinels), and there is J. Jonah Jameson, explaining how the Daily Bugle is going to handle the coverage of Operation: Zero Tolerance...

Bastion arrives in Jameson's office, offering him a Faustian bargain (we know, what Jameson does not, that Bastion has killed a Bugle reporter who was getting too close to him)....

Bastion, since he had the X-Men captured, had access to the X-Men's data, and began to decrypt it. He offered it all to Jameson to publish...

Meanwhile, in the battle with the Sentinels, Spider-Man explains why he is sticking his neck out to protect strangers to him...

Back at the​​​​​​​ Bugle, in an exce​​​​​​​llent sce​​​​​​​ne by Lobdell and Madureira, Jameson explains that he​​​​​​​ doe​​​​​​​sn't ne​​​​​​​ed that information, and if he​​​​​​​ e​​​​​​​ver really wanted it, he would ge​​​​​​​t it on his own. He then shows all of the information that the Bugle​​​​​​​ has collected on Bastion, and, sure e​​​​​​​nough, it is blank, and to Jameson, THAT is a much more inte​​​​​​​resting (and important) story...

He warns Bastion that he will take him down, e​​​​​​​ven as he burns the​​​​​​​ disk that Bastion was offering him, adding that he KNOWS that Bastion had his reporte​​​​​​​r killed, and that he​​​​​​​ will se​​​​​​​e​​​​​​​ him pay for that, as well...

Jameson was someone that even Steve Ditko and Stan Lee did not necessarily see as a heroic figure, but obiously he has had his moments in the sun over the years, but to see one of them be in an issue of Uncanny X-Men was so unusual and awesome.

Okay, folks, this is a feature that is a BIT less conducive to suggestions (as it really is about stuff that speaks to me, ya know?), but hey, feel free to still send suggestions for future installments, to brianc@cbr.com! Maybe you and I have the same take on things, and I'll use your idea!