COUNT NEFARIA'S ANI-MEN, 1975

COUNT NEFARIA'S ANI-MEN, 1975 The new X-Men barely have time to settle in before Count Nefaria puts them through a disaster. X-Men #94–95, cover-dated August and October 1975, sends the reorganized team against Nefaria's takeover of the Valhalla military base. His muscle is the Ani-Men: Gort, Bird-Man, Cat-Man, Croaker and Dragonfly. Four have earlier criminal careers behind them. For this mission, their animal identities have become physical transformations, with Dragonfly joining the lineup. They make a nasty first assignment for a group still learning how to fight together. The base is dangerous before the X-Men even reach them, and Nefaria has a missile threat hanging over the operation. The team cannot simply beat five opponents and call it a day. The takeover begins with a package inside the installation opening into a portal. The Ani-Men pour through it, defeat the surprised guards and give Nefaria access to the war room. It is an effective use of a small force: bypass the defenses, seize the controls, then use the base's own systems against anyone trying to retake it. The X-Men are called in because the Avengers are occupied elsewhere. That hardly makes it a modest assignment. Scott is taking a recently assembled team into a nuclear emergency, with personality clashes and training-room frustrations still fresh. There is no experienced original lineup waiting behind them to handle the difficult part. This is also a different Nefaria lineup from his hired villains in the 1966 story. He is back with new help and another enormous scheme. By the end, the X-Men have stopped the immediate threat, but John Proudstar is dead. Their first missions together already carry a loss they cannot undo by winning the fight.