Issue(s): Uncanny X-Men #328
Cover Date: Jan 96
Title: "Precipice"
Credits:
Scott Lobdell - Writer
Joe Madureira - Penciler
Tim Townsend - Inker
Ben Raab - Assistant Editor
Bob Harras - Editor

Review/plot:
Digital review warning.

It's been decided that Sabretooth is not redeemable. Mainly because he didn't like the X-Men's VR rendition of Bambi.

Sabretooth is back to snarling at Xavier, his original personality fully on display. It seems that he's been faking the puppy dog thing.

It's a shame how over the top everything about the failed Sabretooth redemption story (and really everything in the X-Men, and really everything in all 90s comics) turned out. I really saw potential in Xavier taking Sabretooth in and trying to help him with his psychotic rages (as i said when it happened, it's something that sort-of happened with Wolverine, but we never really saw it happening, and this was an opportunity to do it again). It would have been much more interesting to see Xavier really try, and maybe even see Sabretooth starting to turn a new leaf, before ultimately failing. Instead Sabretooth has just kind of been in the background. Unlike with Wolverine, there's been plenty of space devoted to it, but the scenes never really showed anything. And now it's been decided that it fails.

While the X-Men are waiting for Valerie Cooper to sent people to pick Sabretooth up, Boomer confronts him, saying that he lied to her. She presumably developed an attachment to him in X-Force (unfootnoted of course). Sabretooth now goads Boomer into freeing him by calling her white trash.

I don't know what he's implying about Cannonball. He presumably knows her history. Certainly we do. Unless there was some scandal with the Beyonder that didn't get printed.

An timebomb from the angry Boomer frees Sabretooth. Psylocke steps in, but gets slaughtered.

The telepathic "glow" that has subdued him in the past doesn't work.

Boomer watches as Psylocke is gutted.

Beast, Cyclops, and Archangel show up too late to stop Sabretooth from escaping.

Psylocke's injuries will last a while and result in a new status quo for her. So this ends the longstanding non-plot for Sabretooth (in the X-Men books anyway; he's really just punted over to X-Factor) but trades it for the Crimson Dawn Psylocke. Making it kind of a wash in my book.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - Sabretooth escapes

Chronological Placement Considerations: Boomer will go to see her father in X-Force #49 as a result of the events here. That has a Dec 95 cover date while this is Jan 96, so i've pushed this back a bit in publication time to accommodate it. Sabretooth's story continues in the 1995 Sabretooth special (which also had a cover date earlier than this).

References:

• Bishop has been having trouble with his memories since Legionquest and Scott and Jean say it's been the same with them since the Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix.
  
• No footnote but Boomer and Sabretooth's relationship was developed over X-Force #45-48.
  
• Sabretooth and Psylocke first fought in Uncanny X-Men #213. The way Sabretooth remembers, he won that fight, but that's a misinterpretation.
  
• The injury that Wolverine gave Sabretooth in Wolverine #90 is apparently what stopped the "glow" from working.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A