STORY: "The Other Shoe..." (19 pages)  Gambit and Phoenix sneak into the headquarters of new anti-mutant organisation Operation: Zero Tolerance.  They are discovered, but Onslaught helps them escape.  Meanwhile, Cyclops saves Senator Robert Kelly from an assassination attempt by the Friends of Humanity, and a mysterious shadow entity appears at Archangel and Psylocke's home.

What you need to know:
This is the first we see of Operation: Zero Tolerance, who will be the basis of a major storyline in 1997.  Unfortunately, it's not going to be a very good one.  They're introduced as being a multinational organisation formed by co-operating governments.

Their leader is Bastion, who is seen clearly for the first time here. He's later revealed as a reincarnation of the mutant-hunting robot Nimrod, who was shoved through the mystical Siege Perilous in issue #247.  Interestingly, guest artist Pascual Ferry has drawn Bastion in a much more angular and inhuman form than any subsequent artist (with the possible exception of Chris Bachalo).

Senator Kelly has found out about Operation: Zero Tolerance and wants to stop it.  That's why he wants to speak with Cyclops, and that's why the Friends of Humanity want to kill him.  This will become significant when OZT becomes the main storyline.

Kelly starts giving a list of people he contacted to try and set up his meeting with Cyclops.  Presumably he's guessed that these people have some connection with the X-Men.  The people he mentions are Professor X, Moira MacTaggert, and Ambassador St Croix (an established member of Xavier's Mutant Underground network).

The Onslaught storyline also gets advanced.  Bastion, who's a bastard but isn't an idiot, is busy worrying about the strange Onslaught-related events (virtually none of which were ever explained) that had been cropping up in numerous series around this time.  In particular, he obligingly confirms that the technicians abducted by Onslaught in X-Men vol 2 #46 were returned. Admittedly, Bastion assumes Onslaught is a mutant (he isn't, not really), but at least he's taking an interest in it.

Plenty of hints in this issue of Professor X's connection with Onslaught (explained in just a few short issues).  His inconsistent comments about how he can use his powers in the Operation: Zero Tolerance base and the X-Men's surprise at learning about the existence of Onslaught at all are just some of the signs that he's keeping something from them.  Ultimately, it's Onslaught who saves Gambit and Phoenix from OZT, presumably with a view to recruiting Phoenix to his side (as he attempts in X-Men vol 2 #53).

Archangel and Psylocke's sparring session is interrupted by a big Juggernaut-shaped shadow.  Which you won't be surprised to learn contains the Juggernaut.  This is the Juggernaut returning to mainstream continuity following the cancellation of Malibu's series All-New Exiles, in which he starred. However, subsequent comments from Marvel, particularly in the Marvel Vision magazine, suggest that Exiles may not be part of continuity at all.  This plot thread continues directly into X-Men vol 2 #53.

Archangel is still grumbling about the injuries he suffered a while back.  Psylocke, meanwhile, is making muttering noises about the strange changes she's gone through as a result of all that Crimson Dawn stuff in issue #330.

How Thick Is Graydon Creed, Part 236: he decides to kill a political rival, and tags along to watch. Duh.

You want trivia?  We got trivia.  Cyclops's hair is parted on the wrong side throughout this issue.

Comments:
The official start of the Operation: Zero Tolerance storyline, and more development of Onslaught.  Yes, it's two, two, two crap late-nineties plots in just one issue!  Although in fact, this is a pretty good issue, let down only by the knowledge that the stories never go anywhere interesting.  If the creators had been able to keep up this level of quality, we'd all have been rather happier with the next couple of years.

Operation: Zero Tolerance are introduced as a genuinely dangerous opponent, and Bastion makes a pretty impressive showing in his opening story, leaving his true nature as a genuine mystery (and, for once, one that had pretty much been thought out in advance - Lobdell had intended the Master Mold rather than Nimrod, but the basic idea remains).  Kelly, the X-Men's former political nemesis, is wheeled out as a dissident in order to emphasise just how nasty this bunch are, but since he'd been effectively mellowed over the previous few years, it works.  As for Onslaught, by this point Marvel seemed to have worked out who he actually was and were starting to drop sensible hints about it all (though they never managed to satisfactorily explain most of the previous build-up).

Guest art on this issue is from the excellent Pascual Ferry, who went on to provide memorable work on Heroes For Hire and Warlock.  The inkers on this issue are obviously trying to make him look like Joe Madureira, but his work still looks impressive.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Archangel (last in issue #331; next in X-Men vol 2 #53)
Bishop (last in Generation X #14)
Cannonball II (last in Wolverine vol 2 #101)
Cyclops (last in X-Men vol 2 #51; next in Storm #1-2, then in Storm #4, then in Excalibur #96)
Gambit (last in X-Men vol 2 #51)
Iceman (last in Wolverine vol 2 #101; next in Storm #4)
Phoenix III (last in X-Men vol 2 #51; next in Storm #1-2, then in Storm #4, then in Excalibur #96, then in X-Men vol 2 #53)
Professor X (last in X-Men vol 2 #51; next in Storm #1, then in X-Men vol 2 #53)
Psylocke (last behind the scenes in issue #331; next behind the scenes in Excalibur #96, then in X-Men vol 2 #53)
Storm (next in Storm #1-4, then in Cable #33)
Wolverine (last in Wolverine vol 2 #102; next in Storm #1, then in Storm #4)

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
The Juggernaut (last in All-New Exiles #5; next in X-Men vol 2 #53)
Robert Kelly (between pages of X-Factor #123)

VILLAINS
Bastion (between Uncanny X-Men '96 and X-Force #54)
Graydon Creed (between X-Men vol 2 #51 and #53)
The Dark Beast (between X-Men vol 2 #51 and Storm #4)
Onslaught (first actual appearance; last behind the scenes in X-Force #52; next in Cable #33)
Operation: Zero Tolerance (last in Uncanny X-Men '96)
The Friends of Humanity (between X-Factor #119 and X-Men vol 2 #53)

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