Random Happenstance

I didn't mail in for them very often, but Wizard used to have a side hustle of #0 issues, or #1/2, or whatever: buy the magazine, mail in three bucks or so for a 'collectable' about 30,000 other people ordered. Other times, though, the #0 issues weren't mail in but more of a promo, included with the magazine, which I believe this one is: from 1999, X-51 #0, "A Mere Technicality" Written by Michael Higgins and Karl Bollers, pencils by Pascual Ferry, inks by Andrew Pepoy.

This was intended to hype up the upcoming series, the return of Machine Man after...I wanna say his last appearance was Iron Man Annual #11 in 1990, but he probably appeared in the background of something like West Coast Avengers or an eight-pager in Marvel Comics Presents. It's not hyped up or anything, but this would be the last appearance (for some time, anyway) of his traditional look: in his first issue, he would get a new look that resembled Robocop without his facemask/helmet, but retaining some purple highlights. It didn't catch on.

Anyway, this issue, while apparently enjoying a snifter of brandy the size of her head with her boss, Tessa recaps Machine Man's history to Sebastian Shaw. Shaw is after him because a signal that seemed to indicate he was made with his technology, and he wants to figure out how he got it. Tessa rolls the footage of some Hellfire Club goons--in their beloved, classic outfits--trying to bring the robot down and failing. Shaw intends to reclaim his tech, but seems more offended at his identity of Aaron Stack. This all seems like a perfectly reasonable set-up for the series...except, for the life of me, I can't recall if Shaw or Tessa appear in it? Maybe they farmed the job out to Mystique and her Brotherhood, since they would appear the first two issues.