don heck

The X-Men Go Out with a Bang. (Sorry Mr. Worthington!)

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hey folx! I’m back, and we have some weird X-Men stuff to talk about. I didn’t get as much reading done on our camping trip as I’d thought, but that’s just because Kevin and I were having too much fun with our friends and we never got the rain that was forecasted. (I’d planned on spending the rainy day in the tent reading and listening to the rain on the tent. It’s my favorite thing!) Between that, an insanely busy week at work thus far, and two D&D campaigns, I’m just now getting time to write about the rest of the series. So, let’s get into it, shall we?

So, my darlings, we only have three, that’s right, THREE, issues left of the original X-Men run. This run ends with issue #66. Technically, the series will start back up with issue #67 in December of 1970, but these will just be reprints of the original stories. This was a format that Marvel used a lot at this time. X-Men had been cancelled, but then, seeing the sales numbers of the Neal Adams issues we’re going to talk about today, they decided to bring it back as reprints. Since we’ve already talked about these stories, we won’t be covering them again in the blog. I will let you know which issues were printed during the months we’re covering each time so we can keep up with it. But for now, let’s talk about these last few issues.

Issues 64 is a fun little romp that introduces us to a new mutant named Sunfire. The issue takes place right as the X-Men get home from their ordeal in the Savage Land, and they’re all still exhausted. But, while watching the news, they get a ping from their mini-Cerebro and Bobby, Hank, and Warren decide to go check it out. (Jean and Scott aren’t there). It’s Sunfire! He’s a Japanese diplomat’s son who wants to ruin his father’s legacy of working with the US. See, Shiro’s (Sunfire’s) mom was gravely injured by the bomb in Hiroshima and then died in childbirth. Shiro’s uncle has been raising him to hate the Americans for the bombing and the war. So, now, under his uncle’s conditioning, he sees his father as a traitor and attacks him at the UN in NYC. (Papa doesn’t know Sunfire is his sun, FWIW.) The three X-Men try to stop him, but Sunfire ends up hurting Beast pretty bad before getting away and the X-Men retreat to their city apartment to regroup. They meet up with Jean and Scott and the five of them follow Shiro and his father to DC, where they’re set to meet with Congress. Sunfire tries to blow up the Capital Building!! The X-Men try to stop him. Cyke’s powers are a fairly even match for Sunfire’s, but it takes Marvel Girl stepping in to help to turn the tide of the battle. And then, figuring out that this villain is his son, Shiro’s dad appears at the top of the Capital Building to reason with his son. But then evil uncle shows up and shoots dad. This is way too much for Sunfire, and he kills his uncle before rushing to his father’s side to renounce he behavior and turn himself over to the police. The X-Men shrink away into the trees before they can again be blamed for something that wasn’t their fault.

Like I said, this was a fun little issue, and overall I really enjoyed it. Per a note in the beginning of the issue, Don Heck subbed in on art for Neal Adams on this one, but this didn’t bother me as much as I’d thought it would. I do still have a problem with Scott CONSTANTLY telling Jean to stay out of the fighting, but since it’s just Scott doing it at this point, it’s less about overall treatment of women on the team, and more about super icky chauvinism from Scott towards his girlfriend. It’s a theme that’s going to continue in the series. The women are more and more treated like equal members of the teams, but the guys start exhibiting really problematic behavior in their romantic relationships that are presented as good or virtuous. So, best believe we’ll be talking about all of that toxic masculinity as we come across it! And speaking of toxic masculinity, lets jump over to our next issue!

We know you don’t, Scott. But you’re gonna have to figure it out ASAP.

Issue 65 begins with the X-Men arriving back at the mansion from DC to find Lorna and Alex in full costume waiting for them at the door. They say there’s no time to wait, the gang needs to change back into their uniforms because there’s a terrible danger. But either because the team is tired, or maybe because Roy Thomas is gone this month and Dennis O’Neil is writing, or maybe just because they needed to fill some pages, the X-Men proceed to start fighting with Alex and Lorna about this, going so far as to all use their powers on each other until FINALLY Scott takes his head out of his ass and calls for order. They all go in and change and then fight again. SOME. MORE. about these aliens that are headed towards earth to take over and enslave everyone. The X-Men are still skeptical, even after Alex lays out all the evidence and they fight some more until Alex reveals how they formed the plan to stop the aliens. Are you ready for this, my loves?… Fucking Xavier is still alive.

Not back from the dead. He’s been alive this entire fucking time. And Jean KNEW but was forbidden from telling anyone else. And it gets worse. He was never actually “dying” like he told the X-Men a few months back (a few years in real time, but only months in comic time.). What actually happened was this: He was researching this alien civilization because he figured out they were moving their planet towards ours to come conquer the Earth. In the meantime, apparently Changeling (remember him?) shows up and tells Chuck he’s dying, and wants to redeem himself. So Chuck asks Changeling to impersonate him so he can focus on this research, and then LETS HIM DIE IMPERSONATING HIM and lets the whole world think he’s dead. Oh, and apparently he’s been IN THE BASEMENT OF THE MANSION THIS ENITRE FUCKING TIME. So yeah, we’re going to stop right here and talk about how INCREDIBLY ABUSIVE this all is. Guys, Xavier is a MONSTER. Let’s make a list of the evidence, shall we? First, he took a venerable, dying mutant that came to him for help and manipulated the poor guy into dying for him. Next, he lied to everyone but Jean for MONTHS and then made her lie to all of her teammates/friends and her boyfriend. (I won’t even get into the shitty, patriarchal bullshit that is making the only woman on the team be Xavier’s emotional confidant because it’s automatically a woman’s job to be the emotional sounding board for toxic men.) Then, he just shows back up, apparently weakened, and just starts ordering everyone around again. THEN he takes this band of exhausted, confused, and betrayed kids, MENTALLY ERASES THEIR EXHAUSTION, forces them to keep training, and then sends them on a suicide mission. All in one goddamn issue! I seriously want to scream. This man cares NOTHING about these kids. They are simply tools for him to use to advance his plans. The writers gloss over his jumping into their brains to erase their exhaustion, but we’re not going to. This is so fucking fucked up. Because look, the kids have been running non-stop for days now. They just got done fighting Sunfire, who really messed them up, and they haven’t rested or slept. They’re not just mentally tired. They’re physically exhausted and injured. So, a mental wipe isn’t healing injuries, it’s just making their brains ignore it. He’s forcing them to keep training through physical exhaustion and injury. Someone is going to get REALLY hurt. I mean, not literally, because obviously the writers didn’t actually think this plot point through to it’s conclusion. But for real, it sucks!

But, back to the plot. The kids head to the magnetic south pole to fight the scout ship that’s already there, while Lorna stays back to help Xavier with his part of the plan. They get there just in time to see SHIELD send some jets at the ship and get completely destroyed. (We also get a quick cameo from Nick Fury himself!) But our X-Men are stupid brave and fly their specially designed ship directly inside of the scout ship, fight a giant green alien puppy/sea monster thing, and then fight some of the aliens. Meanwhile, Chuck connects himself telepathically to EVERYONE on the planet, and zeroes in on the good will of those who have it. Polaris (Lorna for those that don’t remember) uses her magnetic powers to help him direct all of this good will to Marvel Girl at the magnetic south pole. MG directs this at Havok, who somehow uses his powers to amplify it and send it into Cyke, who then sends it via his solar eye beams up at the planet of the would-be invaders. Meanwhile, Iceman uses his powers to keep Cyke from overheating from the raw power running through him. This plan succeeds in turning the aliens away because apparently, they have no sense of compassion or empathy, so sending all of that to them freaks them out and they run away. I know it sounds SO. FUCKING. CORNY. But, I have to be totally honest. It kind of works! It at very least gives us some gorgeous artwork of how all of the powers build on each other.

The downside to all of this awesome power combining? Chuck is in a coma!! Did I say downside? I meant bonus. (Look, I’ve made my feelings about Chuck known since the beginning, so let’s not act surprised that I’m happy he’s out of commission.) And it’s this comatose leader that moves us into our final X-Men issue for awhile: Issue #66.

See, the kids don’t know how to help Xavier out of his coma, so they fight amongst themselves like always. Especially Alex and Bobby, who seem to be fighting over Lorna until she puts them both in their place. They try mind-probing the prof, but it doesn’t really work. And only then do they realize that they have a fucking telepath in the room as ask Jean to try and get into his head. This really bothers me, because Jean has been getting stronger and stronger lately, she was the only one who knew Xavier was alive, and she’s been communicating with him telepathically for months. So, there is no reason she shouldn’t have offered to try right away, or why no one else should’ve thought of it too. I have a really hard time with how much Jean is pushed to the side constantly, basically until Claremont gets his hands on her in the 70’s and 80’s. She’s so incredibly awesome and powerful and these early writers don’t get that AT ALL. It’s so frustrating.

Anyway, Jean finally jumps into Xavier’s head and gets flashes of the Hulk. Eventually, the gang figures out it’s probably Bruce Banner, and not the Hulk that the prof needs, and they head out to find him. Scott asks Alex to stay behind to guard the professor. Lorna offers to stay with him, so, OF COURSE, a crazy jealous Bobby insists on staying too. Because, they don’t need everyone available to confront the FUCKING HULK or anything, Bobby. Goddess, I can’t even with this toxic jealousy between these boys. I am so fucking over it. I love Bobby Drake y’all, but I really hate him in this era. I miss the sweet kid who went on double dates with Hank and didn’t pick fights with everyone. He’s turning into Hawkeye. I take that back, it’s worse than that. He’s turning into fucking Henry Pym. Don’t do that to my Bobby, Roy Thomas! Seriously!!

Okay, so, Marvel Girl, Cyke, Beast, and Angel head out to find Bruce Banner. They find the Hulk in Vegas, and of course Hulk won’t listen to them so they fight. MG finally brings him down mentally (Yay Jeanie!!) and he turns back into Bruce Banner. Bruce tells them he worked on a device with Xavier that should help save him, and that it’s in one of Bruce’s hidden labs. But just then, the Army shows up to get the Hulk, which just turns Bruce BACK into a giant green rage monster, and he takes off. The X-Men follow before the Army can arrest them, and they end up out in the desert. They fight again because Hulk doesn’t like people talking about Bruce. Their fight causes an avalanche, which reveals a hidden lap in the mountain. The kids find the device in there, and let the Hulk take off as they head home with the device and save the professor. And we end the series with the whole team around the professor’s bed getting ready to fight another day.

Let’s pause here to talk about this run of X-Men as a whole. I’ve gotta be honest, loves. This was REALLY HARD to get through. This over-the-top, hyper masculine writing its not for me at all. I know there are a LOT of people who love these old comics for the nostalgia of the beginnings. And that’s totally fair. Maybe it’s because my intro to the X-Men was the 90’s cartoon, but for me, this was just painful. Honestly, there’s a part of me that feels a little guilty for hating this era so much. I really WANT to like it. But I just can’t overall. I mean, there are definitely good moments throughout. Magneto is so over-the-top and fun during this era. And it’s been a lot of fun seeing the first appearances of characters like Havok, Polaris, Ka-Zar, and Sauron. Plus, I think starting at the very beginning for this project was important, no matter how painful it was. But I’m not gonna lie folx, I am so excited to be moving on to the Claremont run. We’ve got some of my absolute favorite characters coming up once we get to Giant Size and I cannot wait. We’ve got some Avengers to read before we get there, but we’re getting close!

Before we get to Avengers or Giant Size, we need to talk about parts of Ka-Zar 2&3. So, this series of Ka-Zar only lasted three issues, and it was a quarterly magazine with multiple stories in each issue. Issues 2 & 3 included a story about Angel that we are going to cover. It seems to take place after issue 66 of X-Men, even though issue 2 came out the month before. In these issues, Warren’s father, Warren Worthington Jr., is ill and Warren is at home visiting after stopping a bank robbery solo as Angel. He leaves for the evening to take his girlfriend, Candy out on a date. (We’ve met Candy once or twice in the X-Men comic, and, if I remember correctly, this won’t be the last time we see her either.) Anyway, we cut to the goons Angel stopped earlier, and they work for a villain called The Dazzler (not to be confused the the AMAZING Alison Blaire who won’t make her spectacular debut for another nine years!). The Dazzler has some nefarious plan we never really learn the details of, but somehow pulling them off hinges on murdering Mr. Worthington Jr. So, the goons sneak into the Worthington mansion and do just that. Because Warren’s father is a well known businessman and socialite in NYC, his murder is reported on the radio as soon as the police arrive at the mansion. Unfortunately for everyone, Warren hears this report in the car on his way home with Candy. He FREAKS out, and takes off to chase the murderers, leaving Candy alone on the side of the road (luckily, he also left her the car since he ran into the woods and then took off as Angel). He finds the murderers on their flying pogo sticks (Yes, that’s really what they’re called. LOL.) and fights them. He’s beating one of them mercilessly when the police show up. They’re about to arrest Angel as well as the murderer, but luckily FBI Agent Duncan is there too, and let’s Angel go with a warning about not taking the law into his own hands, which Angel is clearly not going to listen to. For those that don’t remember Agent Duncan, he was the FBI agent we met all the way back in X-Men #44 and he’s being coordinating with Xavier to help the X-Men save the day. (Yeah, I’d completely forgotten about him too!)

Warren heads home to console his mother before going to find The Dazzler, but he doesn’t get the chance, because apparently The Dazzler has technology to transport Warren from his mansion to Dazzler’s lair. So now Warren is a prisoner. But, since no one knows he’s Angel, he easily sneaks out of his cell and confronts The Dazzler, who tries to convince Angel to back down by revealing that he also has Candy prisoner. He’s banking on a hero not being willing to let her die, even if he doesn’t know her. (Cause, you know, no one’s figured out that Angel is Warren. LOL) The thing is, Warren was already blaming Candy for his father’s death, because our egotistical, hot-tempered Angel is not coping with his very fresh grief well, my loves. He freezes in place and The Dazzler’s goons close in to remove his mask. And that’s where we end! We’re told the rest of this story will appear in Marvel Tale’s #30, but that won’t be published until April of 1971, so we’ll have to wait to see how it plays out. I have to say, this was a good little arc thus far! It’s super sad, and just the beginning of a pattern of tragedy and trauma for all of our mutants. Angel is super angry and hyper-masculine in this arc, but this time it doesn’t bother me. All of this takes place in two days, and his father was just violently murdered. This feels like a REAL response from a young kid who is also a superhero in this situation. I just hope it’s wrapped up well when we get to MT#30.

And with that, we’re done with our X-Men for a few years. We’ll be jumping back into Avengers with our next outing, as our favorite mutant twins are making their return to the group. And we’ll be there for awhile while we wait for Giant Size to come in 1975. We’ll also be adding more titles before then, as our wayward mutants join some other teams to bide their time. I’m excited to move on to this next chapter, and meet some really fun new characters. So, until next time my loves, keep searching….

1969 Part 1: Let’s talk Representation

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello my loves! It’s been a REALLY long time since I’ve written about comics, so I’m feeling a little rusty and anxious about this post. So, bare with me as I get my bearings again.

Since currently the only title we’re reading is X-Men, (and because I am DESPERATE to get to Giant Size and Claremont’s run!) we’re going to fly through 1969 in just two posts. This post will cover issues #52-59. It’s a lot of ground to cover, and a few different story arcs, so lets jump in!

So, X-Men #52 is the end of the arc we started 5 years ago. (Oops!) I’ll do my best to catch you guys up, but you can also refresh your memories here! Basically, Mesmero is trying to carry out Magneto’s vision of mutant supremacy. He has captured Lorna Dane, telling her she’s Magneto’s daughter and that she must rule in his stead until he returns. We learn that Magneto is apparently NOT dead, and Bobby storms off on the rest of the team when they are forced to leave Lorna behind with Mesmero. Cyke tells the team he has a plan, and we cut to Erik the Red, challenging Mesmero for leadership of this whole silly plot. And that brings up to #52!

So, issue 52 is the wrap up to this arc. Eric the Red proceeds to fight his way through ALL of Mesmero’s goons and Mesmero until he is face to face with Lorna, who, despite recognizing that her dad’s plans are evil, feels she must help him because he’s her blood. Erik talks his way into joining Magneto as his second in command, and Mesmero is pissed guys! The whole thing is crazy silly, but it’s still fun. Then we cut to X-Men, where Jean is telepathically reaching out to each of them to begin Cyke’s plan that he mentioned at the end of issue 51. We still don’t know exactly what it is, but Bobby isn’t part of it since he stormed out on the team last issue. MG, Beast, and Angel arrive at the hideout of Mags and Mesmero and sneak in. They’re confronted by Erik the Red, who turns out to be Cyclops!! I have to be honest, I didn’t actually see that one coming. I probably should have, but I didn’t. It’s a great little plan on Scott’s part, until his identity is IMMEDIETLY discovered by Mesmero and the X-Men accidently use the trap they’ve laid against Bobby instead of the bad guys!! Way to go guys!

Anyway, the X-Men fight Mesmero and his henchmen after Beast gets an unconcious Iceman to safety. Bobby wakes up and find Lorna. He tells her that he spoke with her adoptive parent’s and has proof that she is NOT Magneto’s daughter. Thus free of her allegiance to Mags, Lorna absolutely destroys the remaining base and bad guys. Mags escapes (because of course he does!), our X-Men + Lorna live to fight another day, and Bobby and Lorna seem to be getting very close. But let’s pause here for a second to talk about Lorna. Cause guys, I have issues. Lorna Dane is a pretty cool character who is going to get totally under-utilized as the years go on, but this is the first time I’ve read her origin. And I have to say, it really sucks. Like Jean and Wanda before her, she starts off a totally one-dimensional character. A damsel in distress that is too stupid to question these villains feeding her some legit CRAZY story about how a mass murderer is her real father and also too weak willed to not question it and just go along with them because “blood” or some such nonsense. SERIOUSY?!? Like, she spends all of issue 52 complaining about how Mags is evil, but she has to defend him to the death because he’s her father. Girl, you’re powerful enough to bring this entire operation down in a second, and you don’t even think to do it until Bobby tells you that you were lied to?!? Even then, you just believe Bobby with no proof (although, in Bobby’s defense, he does have receipts and offers them to her, she just apparently doesn’t need to see the evidence.) I’m so fucking sick of reading women who are nothing but pretty things for the guys to swoon over and sometimes have small victories against the villains. It’s exhausting. Especially when I’ve read more modern stuff and know how fucking bad-ass these same women will be under a better writer. Jean, Wanda, Lorna: they will all eventually have world-ending, reality-bending, earth-shattering powder and they deserve better than this. Ok…rant over for now. Let’s continue on.

On top of this silly story, issue 52 brings us the art of Werner Roth who has made a few appearances as artist in the past. His art is great, if a little “house style” for my liking. It’s awesome art, it’s just not Steranko, so I’m a little sad. But nothing I can’t get past. And also, we need to talk about Erik the Red’s AMAZING bondage outfit. Who knew Scotty had that side to him?!?

But seriously, with that arc neatly wrapped up, lets move on the the next one! But first! Issue #53, “The Rage of Blastaar!” (AKA, the useless filler issue) Seriously, this is a one-off story about some alien named Blastaar who gets pulled down to earth when Jean tries to use some of Chucks equipment. He’s very angry and ragey, and he’s absolutely destroying our X-Men until Jean and Bobby make a bunch of ice mannequins to throw at him, they melt, and make a connection between him and the machine and he’s sent right back to where he came from. I wish I were kidding. We’re even treated to Jean being sad at watching this creature “die” even though he’s clearly pure evil and wants to destroy then entire world. Because, girls are emotional you guys! (Please see above for my feelings on this matter. LOL)

Let’s move on, shall we? Awesome! Cause I’m super excited for this next arc. It’s a dumb story, but I have reasons for being excited. Issue #54 starts a new arc that will run for like, three and a half issues, centering around the Living Pharaoh (LP) and it also introduces the one and only, Alex Summers!!!! (*insert happy dance here*!) That’s right, it’s time to meet the baby Summers brother, my loves! Are you as excited as I am? You really should be!

So, first off, just want to mention that as this arc unfolds, we go from Arnold Drake writing and Don Heck taking over on pencils, to Roy Thomas writing with Don Heck’s art, and finally to Roy Thomas writing with Neal Adams doing the artwork. This pair will continue for the next eight issues, and it’s a great pairing. I really like Neal Adam’s art. It’s clean and crisp in a way we haven’t seen yet and it’s really pretty. So, anyway, this whole arc is about a new mutant villain who has named himself the Living Pharaoh. He’s kidnapped Scott’s younger brother Alex, who by the way, Scott has been in touch with, but has told no one about. The entire team is with him to watch Alex graduate from college, all thinking about how Scott never told them he had a brother. Not even Jean! Alex doesn’t appear to have any mutant powers, FYI. The team fights LP and loses, the LP tries to frame Cyclops for his death. Cyke escapes the police and find LP and LP ends up kidnapping him as well, and he takes them to Egypt. The rest of the team follows, and they fight some more. In the fight, Alex suddenly manifests his mutant powers and stops LP! (Here’s my shocked face that Alex is a mutant. LOL. As if a Summers could get through this world without powers or tragedy.) As they try to find someone to turn the captured LP over to, they stumble into his base and there’s more fighting. LP kidnaps Alex AGAIN. SOME MORE. And the team is left trying to find him somewhere in the Egyptian desert. And yes, I know, this recap is very tedious. Trust me, so was the arc. LP goes on and on to Alex about cosmic rays being the source of their powers and that he grows stronger as Alex grows weaker? Don’t ask. It doesn’t make sense to me either. LOL. Anyway, LP drains Alex of his powers and, I kid you not, transforms into a giant stone being and calls himself “The Living Monolith”. I wish I were making this up. But the X-Men eventually defeat him (and by X-Men, I mean Alex. They’re getting their asses handed to them until Alex takes control and breaks out of the machine draining him and uses his powers. This apparently drains LP of all of his powers and he’s no longer a giant stone creature and passes out.) We end with Alex freaking out about not being able to control his new powers. Whew!

So, there’s still like, half an issue left of this arc in #57, but it’s just a wrap up of Alex, not LP, so let’s pause to talk about LP. Because it’s super icky. We’ve talked a tiny bit about representation and politics and such in the past, but, fair warning, we are going to be discussing it more going forward. It’s important to me to talk about how these things evolve and change. That said, back to the current issue at hand, which is that every last one of these “Egyptian” henchmen and LP himself are white men dressed like ancient Egyptians. You see the problem here, right? It’s made even ickier when the Living Pharaoh explains that he thinks he is an ancestor of the ancient pharaohs. And he thinks a very white Alex is too. So, not just a white boy with an Egypt fetish. A white boy who wants to claim status in this non-white culture. We have ourselves a lot of weird, imperialist, white-washing politics going on here. Historically, this isn’t surprising. This is completely on brand with a long history of white-washing Egyptian culture and representation in American media. (For further examples, please see Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, the entire cast of “The Ten Commandments“, and basically the entire cast of “Gods of Egypt” just to name a few) I’m not exaggerating when I say that American media really likes to cast white actors as Egyptian rulers and gods. Like, a LOT. To be honest, I’m not sure if this is worse then some villainous stereotype like we had with the Mandarin in Avengers? They’re obviously both bad choices. Like, if the only representation of non-white characters is villains, that’s obviously shitty. But, white-washing everyone isn’t the answer. (Nor do I give the writers and artists enough credit to think that was their intention when making these villains white.) But either way, it’s super gross to have all of these white superheroes (Avengers and X-Men alike) fighting villains from all sorts of non-white cultures when those cultures don’t get any representation as heroes. There are no Asian superheroes in this era. There are no African superheroes. But we’ve seen villains from all over Asia in Avengers that were gross stereotypes, and now we have Egyptian villains here. Guys, I need some Storm and Sunfire in my life like, right fucking now. So, lets end this rant and keep going so we can get to Giant Size and get to at least some representation in the hero’s line-up!

If it’s not clear from the covers above, this next arc (Issues 57-59) is bringing back those undaunting, ever-returning, amazing X-foes: THE SENTINELS!!!!!! And, as should be clear from the cover of issue #58, we get the first appearance of Alex as Havok as well!! Guys, I’m excited for this arc. Not just for these appearances, but because it’s just a better arc in general than the last one. So lets go!

Issue 57 starts with Lorna, home in NYC, getting kidnapped by a Sentinel!?! And then, before we can question it, we cut back to our X-Men in Egypt. Alex has fled and the Egyptian authorities are on scene of the last battle with LP. LP turns out to be some renowned archeologist, and he blames Alex for the destruction of the ancient ruins he was using as his base (Not wrongly either, as Alex literally razed the entire structure when his powers went off in the last issue!). But Cyke is pissed that these cops are after his brother and he fucking attacks them, because of course he does. **Quick aside here. Do you guys remember my undying love for Scott? Full disclosure: it’s gone. I warned you all that I’m a different person and comic fan than I was five years ago. This will probably be most apparent in this specific shift. You’ll find I no longer love Scott. In fact, I have very little patience for his quick temper or his martyrdom or (spoiler alert!) the absolutely terrible way he treats Jean and other partners in the future. He’s got a lot of toxic traits and he reminds me too much of my ex husband, and it isn’t until MUCH MUCH later on that he starts to redeem himself. So, just be prepared. LOL.** Anyway, the team runs off to find Alex, but it’s for naught because he was hiding in a nearby cave, but he is also captured by a Sentinel. The team tries to contact Lorna so she can turn on Cerebro for them to find Alex, and they discover her apartment in shambles. Iceman freaks out because she’s his girlfriend and he’s worried. So the team splits up. Iceman and Beast head back to the states to find Lorna and the rest of the team continues to search for Alex. When Iceman and Beast arrive at Lorna’s, they’re confronted by two NYPD officers and we learn through the TV that while they’ve been in Egypt, a federal judge has been working with Bolivar Trask’s son to stir up anti-mutant sentiment again and restart the Sentinel program!! And these aren’t his father’s Sentinels. Dear son Larry has improved them. They’re now the purple and pink giants most of us think of when we think of the Sentinels. And they’ve been upgraded with specific attacks meant to counter the X-Men’s powers. (Heat for Iceman, water for fire, etc.) The boys are attacked by a Sentinel and Iceman sacrifices himself so that Beast can get away and contact the rest of the team to warn them. The rest of the team rushes home, but not before Angel throws a fit about being “The Avenging Angel” (we’ll talk about that at the end. It’s part of his back story that’s been happening in the ends of the last few issues) and decides to FLY HOME FROM EGYPT HIMSELF. WITH HIS WINGS. I can’t even with this. Cyke warns him that he’s never flown that far before, that they’re in a hurry, that he’ll be too exhausted to fight, and 100 other reasons this is a terrible fucking idea. But, of course, Angel does it anyway.

Cut to Larry Trask’s base of operations where we learn he has a way to temporarily block mutant powers. We also learn that he has Alex and Lorna there and Alex has agreed to work for Trask as “Havok” in return for Lorna and the other’s safety. Iceman is relieved to see Lorna still alive, but fights with Havok about his deal, calling him a coward. But then Havok takes down a Sentinel single-handed and that basically shuts Iceman up. Alex is POWERFUL you guys. Like, incredibly so! It’s awesome!! And he’s now in a very basic Havok costume: all black with the circles around his head. Anyway, Trask blocks Havok’s powers and we cut to Professor Abdol (the Living Pharaoh!) bitching about the X-Men and mutants to a room of Trask cronies, just to then turn back into LP as Havok is weakened by some device of Trasks and is attacked and carried away by Sentinels. It’s a fun bit of karma carried over from the last arc, and it’s done well. I really appreciate how at this point in the series, Roy Thomas blends these arcs into each other so organically.

Meanwhile, Angel is captured by two Sentinels as he streaks across the ocean, and guess what? It happens right outside of the commercial flight that Scott and Jean are on, so fuck off Warren. You weren’t any faster then them and you were too exhausted to even try to fight off the Sentinels. These boys and their fucking egos. Anyway, we cut to scenes of other mutants being captured by these new and improved Sentinels. We see Mesmero captured, but when the Sentinels try to capture Magneto too (who is with Mesmero) we learn that it’s not really Mags!! It’s a fucking Android!!! And Mesmero had no clue!!! I love it. I love it so much. Of course Magneto isn’t really there. Is he actually really dead? Is he just too cool to actually hang out with Mesmero? Who knows?!? But then Judge Chalmers shows up at the base. He and Larry fight as we see the remaining three X-Men (Marvel Girl and Cyke have met up with Beast) trying to sneak into the base outside. The judge pulls a medallion off Larry’s neck that his father gave him, and suddenly the Sentinels stop obeying him. Guys, turns out little Larry is a fucking mutant (because of course he is!). He is clairvoyant and predicted his mom’s death. That freaked out Bolivar, so he gave him a medallion to block his powers. Then he created the Sentinel program to wipe out mutants because, I guess, he was scared they’d out his son or something? But now that the Sentinels can sense that Larry is a mutant, they refuse to listen to him. They lock him up with Havok, Lorna, and Iceman and prepare to receive other mutants that have been captured so they can kill all of them. We see Banshee (!!!!) for the first time in years, as he’s been captured and tries to overpower everyone in the base. He fails. We also see Sentinels capturing Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad, and Unus, Mastermind, and Blob. Our three remaining X-Men sneak into the base, switch costumes with SW, QS, and Toad to confuse the Sentinels, and then fight their way to the rest of the captured mutants. Between Cyke and Havok, they take out a lot of the Sentinels. And then Cyke convinces the Sentinels that they have to protect humans by ending the source of mutation itself, so the Sentinels all fly away to go try to destroy the sun. For real. It’s so ridiculous, but it works and is HIGHLY entertaining. We end with Havok injured and the team calling a mysterious old friend of Charles’ for help. A friend named Dr. Lykos!!!! (If you don’t know Dr. Lykos, I won’t spoil the surprise, but I’m so fucking excited!!!)

So yeah. That ends the reading for this entry. We still have to talk about the back stories at the ends of these issues, but I first want to say that this reading ended on a major high note for me. You guys, I LOVE the Sentinels. They’re awesome adversaries and, while these original ones in the 60’s are a bit silly, they become absolutely terrifying as the years go on and I can’t wait to see them evolve. It’s going to be lots of fun!! But lets talk about the origin stories in these issues:

First off is the rest of Beast’s backstory. We left off with him captured by El Conquistador and forced to help him to save his parents. Hank has to steal an experimental nuclear reactor. He does no problem, but of course EC lied to him and won’t release him or his parents. Then Angel, Cyke, and Iceman show up to save him and take him back to the mansion. (Yes, I know we haven’t gotten Angel’s backstory yet. The writers are also aware and mention it. Apparently we’re getting them out of order.) Beast joins the X-Men and Chuck ups his game this time and erases the memory of Hanks powers from the ENTIRE FUCKING TOWN. I am so glad he is dead. Like, for real. This man has no concept of consent at all.

Next up is Angel. He’s in boarding school when his wings start to grow. He freaks out and gets himself isolated from the other boys in the dorms so no one knows. Then one night, there’s a fire in the dorms and he flies in and saves everyone, pretending to be an actual angel. This gives him the bug for hero-ing and he rents an apartment on his own and begins fighting crime as “The Avenging Angel” (I told you we’d get it it! Lol). Anyway, Cyke and Iceman show up to recruit him as he’s coming back from stopping some thieves. He still has the vial the thieves stole. Chuck telepathically tells Cyke and Iceman to capture Warren with NO explanation and they fight. Then Chuck jumps into Warren’s head to tell him that the vial he has is going to explode because, I kid you not, his MUTANT BODY activated it. *Sigh* So Warren does the noble thing and flies it up into the upper atmosphere to freeze it (because of course right before this he knocked Iceman out, so he conveniently can’t freeze it). He almost dies, but doesn’t, and agrees to join the team. And this time, Chuck doesn’t have to mind-wipe anyone!! Yay for small victories I guess! Let’s go with that as we jump to Jean, cause it’s not going to be fun.

Up until now, all of our heroes have had multi-installment back stories that involve danger and adventure. But that’s all about to change. Because Jean Grey doesn’t get a backstory. She gets five fucking pages at the end of issue #57. The whole thing is told from her perspective and is entitled “The Female of the Species”, so I’m already seeing red. We’re told on the first page that Stan Lee has brought in a female writer (Linda Fite) for this special “origin”, but if you think that’s going to help, you’re sorely mistaken. What we get is Marvel Girl explaining her powers to us in the most ridiculous ways. We see how her telekinesis helps her make apple pies and do housework, how her levitation helps her escape “boring garden parties” and we end with her telling us that just walking down the street is an adventure because she can stop purse snatchers (without taking any credit for it) and that she can “turn men’s heads without trying” because apparently being appealing to the opposite sex is more important that being a badass superhero. Guys, I’m livid. We get absolutely no explanation of how her powers manifested, how she was originally recruited to join the X-Men, or anything else. We just get, basically, a Good Housewife article with superpowers.

And on that less than stellar note, it’s time to wrap up this EXTREMLY long entry. Please know that, despite all my rage, I do love these comics and these characters. These stories are silly and convoluted, but they’re still a lot of fun. And we’re about to get into an arc that introduces a really fun villain in our next section of reading, so that will be cool to get into. I think you guys will really like him! I know I do. He’s just so over the top and silly, you can’t help but love it! So, hang in there with me my loves. I promise I won’t always be so negative and grouchy with our merry band of mutants. Let’s get excited about what’s to come, and until next time, keep searching my darlings!

Professor X is Dead!!! Let’s Celebrate by Finishing 1968

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello darlings!! Are you ready to cover a decent amount of ground today? I hope so, because we’re celebrating the death of the X-Men’s egotistical mentor by finishing up the rest of 1968. We’re also finishing up our Avengers reading for a little while. So, let’s start there.

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When we last left them, the Avengers were losing members left and right. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver have gone to join Magneto, Cap has quit, and now Hercules has also left to return to Olympus. This leaves us with Ant-Man/Goliath, Wasp, and Hawkeye. Since issue 51 & 52 don’t have any of our mutants in them, we’ll gloss over them quickly. Basically, the Collector kidnaps the Avengers, Thor, and Iron Man. They manage to escape but the Collector gets away. Then they get a message from Cap that he is sending the Black Panther (just called Panther at this point) to join the team as Cap’s replacement. In issue 52, Black Panther shows up to join the Avengers only to find them dead. He’s framed for their murders by Grim Reaper. (He’s Wonder Man’s brother and wants revenge on the Avengers for his brother’s death.) Panther escapes from jail, fights Grim Reaper, and then uses his scythe to revive the Avengers who aren’t actually dead, just almost dead. They then welcome Panther to the team and resolve to find Wanda & Pietro.

Not a lot happens in these two stories. Issue 53 crosses over with events that are going on in X-Men, so we’ll cover that as we go through X-Men. It’s also our last issue of Avengers for awhile. We’ll also talk more about that after we discuss the issues. That said, lets jump into X-Men starting with issue #43.

xmen43The issue opens up with Xavier’s funeral. The kids are the only people there besides the priest. Suddenly, Pietro shows up to pay his repects. The X-Men are suspicious since they know he’s working with Magneto now, but he just wanted to say good-bye and then runs off again. The kids return to the mansion to find a secret video message from X that he left in case of his death. It basically tells us nothing new except that he’s be training Jean to “add” telepathy to her abilities. This seems really dumb to me. How could Jean just ADD a totally different power to her mutant abilities? It is seriously blowing my mind, but I’m choosing to just tell myself that by “add” he means, access a subset of her powers that she’s always had but couldn’t control/tap into. That seems to be basically what this gets retconned into later anyway. The important part is that the team still has a telepath.

Meanwhile, at Mag’s island HQ, he and Pietro are fighting because Pietro left to go to the funeral. Pietro explains that he’s still loyal to Magneto, but went to the funeral out of sadness. Wanda is physically healed from her gunshot wound, but she’s still fuzzy mentally and her powers aren’t working. Pietro wonders if they’ve made that right choice, or if the Avengers could better help Wanda, but his hatred of humans keeps him with Mags for now. It’s interesting in this issue how almost uncomfortably close the twins are. In one panel they embrace as Wanda laments being a burden on Pietro and he promises that his place will ALWAYS be at her side. And on the next page he breaks down in tears and lays with his head buried in her lap, her arms around him and him holding her around the waist. (see below). It just strikes me as an embrace of lovers, not siblings. This is something that is going to happen/come up again and again throughout the years. As far as I know, there’s never actually any hint that there’s anything incestuous going on between them in the 616. (The Ultimate universe is a whole other story. One we will not be getting into as it’s a totally separate continuity from what this blog is covering.) But it’s still a little weird and uncomfortable.

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The X-Men decide it’s time to take the fight to Magneto, so Cyke lays a trap. Mags has been attacking and robbing cargo ships in order to get supplies for his island base. The X-Men hide on a ship and then send radio communications saying it holds equipment they think Mags will try to steal. It’s actually a really well laid trap. It’s nice to see Cyke really come into his own as a leader now that X is gone. He’s sure of himself and with good reason. Something that will come up later in X-Men is that Scott’s  ability to strategize and plan on a tactical level is basically on par with Captain America. In other words, it’s awesome. Anyway, they break in and fight Magneto. Quicksilver joins the fray and we get a great moment where he says to Cyke that he’s with Mags, but thinks to himself that he must try to stop the X-Men before Magneto kills them. So, obviously QS is starting to waiver in his loyalties. Anyway, the X-Men fight well, but Mags ends up capturing them.

In issue 44, QS talks Mags out of killing the X-Men, so he locks them up in special trapsxmen44 he’s designed for each of them. Angel manages to break out and Cyke sends him to get the Avengers to help them. He thinks it was too easy to get out, so he doesn’t want to walk into a trap, but also wants to take advantage of Angel being free. Angel takes off, but it held up by fatigue and a storm and ends up spending the entire issue on a secret base in the middle of the ocean fighting and then listening to the life story of some guy named Red Raven. Seriously. It’s dumb. It’s a throw away issue in the middle of a story arc that feels like they were just trying to make sure this timed up with Avengers, which is also dumb because the last two issues of Avengers were throw away issues too.

xmen45In issue 45, Cyke manages to escape his trap as well. It’s amazing!!! Scott is getting so much more powerful and so much more sure of himself. My little Cyclops loving heart is all fluttery!

Anyway, he goes to break the rest of the X-Men out of their traps, but gets into a fight with Quicksilver instead. They have a discussion about Magneto’s dream versus X’s and then fight. Cyke knocks QS unconscious with his optic blasts, and just then the Avengers show up and threaten him! While all this is happening, Mags is watching and is being REALLY REALLY violent and cruel towards Toad. It’s pretty sickening and also pretty important.

Avengers 53 is the final issue of this arc and it’s kind of exactly what you think it’s going toavengers53 be. The Avengers didn’t really trust Angel, but they came anyway. Then they found a listening devise in his feathers so they tie him up and go attack everyone without talking to anyone. Meanwhile, Mags uses the machine he’s been building to make the X-Men fight back. Because Hawkeye and Goliath totally suck always, they refuse to do anything but attack the X-Men. Black Panther is the only one who questions what is happening, but since he doesn’t know the X-Men, he defers to the rest of the Avengers. Suddenly Angel shows up and breaks Mags control of the X-Men and the fight stops. And this is where things get REALLY convoluted. See, Mags planned on Angel escaping and going to the Avengers for help. He planted the listening device knowing the Avengers would find it and then distrust him. But, if that wasn’t silly enough, the Avengers somehow figured all this out and left Angel behind on the plane on purpose to be their ace in the hole. Seriously, what the hell? This is absolutely nuts. Anyway, as the heroes recount what happened, the island begins to blow up. Toad finally snaps and takes off with SW and QS, leaving Mags behind. The Avengers and X-Men leave in the Avenger’s quinjet and Magneto is left to die.

Guys, this whole story arc was pretty awesome until the very end. It is so ridiculous how convoluted it gets. There’s no need for all of it. It’s also yet another story where two groups of heroes fight each other because no one will slow down to talk for 5 minutes. You’re all going to get sick of me complaining about these types of stories because  they happen AL THE TIME.

xmen46But, moving on. After this adventure, the X-Men return to the mansion where Fred Duncan (the FBI agent X was working with) and Foggy Nelson (from Daredevil!) show up. Foggy is there for the reading of X’s will. He, unsurprisingly, leaves everything to the X-Men with Scott as the trustee for the estate. Before they can talk to Duncan about what he wants, Juggernaut magically appears in the basement of the mansion. I know, I’m just as confused as you are! They fight him, but he won’t believe X is dead. The fight eventually leads them to Xavier’s grave. Then, Juggy suddenly disappears right back into the Ruby cosmos he was in to start with. It’s never really explained how he showed up or left again, but everyone seems to think X had something to do with it before he died. All that really matters is this was just an exercise to show us how much more powerful the kids have gotten since the last time they fought Juggy. They’ve been getting more and more powerful recently, but nothing puts that on display better then having them fight a villain they haven’t fought in a long time and who is virtually indestructible. It’s a bit of a waste of Juggernaut, but it’s effective.

Afterwards, Duncan tells them that he’s there to insist the X-Men disband and spread across the country. Without X there, the FBI thinks the kids are more at risk together and if they’re spread out, they can respond to threats more quickly. They aren’t happy, but Scott insists they do as Duncan asks. This split up means the next few issues focus on just a couple of characters at a time. It’s actually a lot of fun to see the kids interact outside of the school setting. They’re not really kids anymore. They’re adults and that becomes clear here. They’re all also more sure of themselves, their powers, and their relationships with each other. It makes these next few issues easier to read than earlier Silver Age stuff, and also allows them and the reader to move on from Xavier’s death.

These issues also introduce us to a new writer. Roy Thomas has been gone for a few issues now, but we’ve mostly had fill-in writers. Now we have Arnold Drake writing for awhile going forward. I like his writing a lot. Under him, all five heroes have much more personality and control of their powers. Even Jean seems more like a whole person with confidence and capability than she ever has before. We’ll see that more and more with each passing issue.

Issue 47 is focused on Hank & Bobby. They’re taking Vera and Zelda out before they get xmen47their instructions on where to relocate. They go to the theater to see a guy called the Maha Yogi. Once there, the guys realize that it’s actually Warlock/Merlin who kidnapped Jean a few years ago. He’s trying to hypnotize the entire audience. The boys fight him and stop his plans, but not without upsetting the girls for disappearing yet again. It’s a nice reminder that Hank and Bobby have lives outside of the school and a great look at their awesome friendship. They fight well together and have adorable banter.

xmen48Issue 48 focuses on Jean and Scott. They’re together in NYC. She’s started modeling and Scott is working at a radio station. They are adorable and lovey. Scott shows up at Jean’s swimsuit photo shoot to threaten the photographer for asking her out, but then he gets hit on by all the other models which makes Jeannie all jealous. It’s cute in a kinda sexist 1960’s kind of way. (See that? That’s me focusing on the silver lining instead of the shitty misogyny of the Silver Age…I know, you’re impressed with my restraint.) Anyway, some robots try to steal some expensive radio equipment being delivered to Scott’s radio station, so Marvel Girl and Cyke jump into action. They battle the robots and then track them to their HQ where they take out all the others and fight their leader, Quasimodo. He escapes, leaving the heroes to die as the underground base floods with water, but because Jean is a capable adult now, she rescues them with her telekinesis easily.

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Issue 49-51 start with Warren returning to the school for a little bit of closure. While he’s there cerebro goes off, so he contacts Jean telepathically. She and Scott are still living in NYC, but Hank & Bobby have been relocated to Cali. Jean links them all together and they decide to meet up at Hank & Bobby’s to go after this threat. That threat is Mesmero and a bunch of mutant slaves who are trying to activate and then control all the latent mutants in the world in order to carry out Magneto’s dream of mutant supremecy. One of these latent mutants is the one and only Lorna Dane, who Bobby saves from brainwashing and takes back to his apartment. The X-Men go to stop Mesmero while Iceman stays behind to protect Lorna. They’re captured and brought to another base in the desert. Here,Cyke Iceman is held captive while Mesmero activates Lorna’s latent mutant powers and they all worship her as their queen. Turns out she’s Magneto’s daughter and has the same powers as him, so they think she will lead their fight in his absence. Just then Mags shows up because he’s apparently not dead, and the X-Men fight him. Bobby is PISSED about all of this and clearly in love with Lorna. The fight turns against the X-Men and Iceman is wipped out from freezing the entire place. Cyke is grabbed and they force a helmet on him that is meant to stop his optic blasts. And this is where we get my absolute favorite moment of this arc. Cyke busts the hell out of the helmet in the most spectacular fashion. Guys, he’s getting REALLY powerful. It’s awesome!!!

Mags attacks them all and MG & Cyke are left trying to defend the rest of the team who is totally battered at this point. And we get yet another awesome Cyclops moment. As Mags fights them both, and Cyke can feel himself losing, he begins to taunt Magneto anyway and we get to see what he’s saying and thinking at the same time, letting us know just how much of a bad ass he’s being right now. While he thinks that this strain is unbearable even with Mag’s power split between Cyke and MG, what he says is this: “Is that the BEST you can do, Magneto? You must be losing your grip in your old age! Come on–Make it interesting!”

As the team looks like they’re done for, Cyke makes one last desperate play. He brings the ceiling down on Magneto, allowing them to escape in the chaos that follows. But they’re forced to leave Lorna behind. This is not okay with Bobby, and he and Scott almost come to blows about it back at the apartment. Jean tries to stop the fight but Bobby storms out. Scott lets him go saying Bobby needs to cool down and that he has a plan to stop Mags and Mesmero. Cut to the desert base where a giant figure calling himself Erik the Red is insisting on challenging Magneto.

Overall, I have to say that I absolutely loved this arc. Arnold Drake’s writing here is a breath of fresh air. And starting in issue 50, we also get a new artist. And it’s one of my favorite artists…Jim Steranko. Steranko’s art is exquisite, and a huge change from the sort of “house style” that Roth and Heck use. xmen50His cover of Issue 50 is one of my favorites ever! The new art and writing combine here to make this feel almost like a totally different title in a really good way. This team is a functioning, competent, adult team of superheroes now. They have drama and romance and they’re starting to feel less like a group of students and more like an actual family. To me, that’s how X-Men should feel. They have sooooo much drama between themselves over the years, but no matter what they have each other’s backs because they’re family. This arc also makes Scott and Jean’s relationship actually feel like a relationship. They care about each other outwardly now. They bicker and get jealous, hold and protect each  other in battles. Scott refers to Jean as Jeannie multiple times. It’s wonderful. The other wonderful part of it is that they are now being written as equals. We don’t see Scott refusing to let Jean fight out of fear for her safety. He trusts her abilities and recognizes her integral part on this team. And she’s getting stronger and stronger right along with the guys. I love it sooo much!! I’m excited to see how she progresses as we close out the ’60’s.

The final thing to discuss is the “Secret Origins of the X-Men” segments at the end of all the issues. We’ve seen Scotts origins already. Now we get to see Bobby’s. He’s on a date when they’re jumped by some bullies from school. He uses his powers to save his date, but the town goes crazy and he’s arrested. Scott shows up to save him, but Bobby doesn’ want to go so they fight. While they fight, a honest to god lynch mob follows and tries to catch them both. They end up catching the boys and are about to try to hang them when X finally shows up and saves them both. The Drakes consent to Bobby going to Xavier’s school, but then he erases their memories of Bobby’s powers. Ok. That is SOOO messed up. It’s bad enough when he does that to villains, but to do it to the Drakes? What is the point? Gah, I hate that plot point. But, moving on… we then get the beginning of Beast’s origin. His dad was exposed to radiation at work, which is where his mutation comes from. He was super smart and a football star in high school. He’s captured by El Conquistador who insists Hank help him with some unknown mission or he’ll kill Hank’s parents. And that’s where we leave off in issue #51.

We also get a closer explanation of Scott, Bobby, and Hanks powers in some of the issues. We learn that Scott’s optic blasts are converted solar energy that his eyes are absorbing and converting all the time. But that’s why he can run out and need to recharge. They are sheer force, no heat. He also has buttons on his gloves to lift his visor so he doesn’t always have to use the one on his temple. Bobby’s powers work by pulling moisture from the air. His body has adjusted to the colder temps so he prefers cold climates, but can get enough moisture from a cactus to survive in the desert if needed. Beast’s mutations are his hands and feet as well as his muscular frame and reflexes. These allow him to climb almost anything, absorb the impact from high falls, and use his feet as basically another set of hands. And that about covers the Origin sections of these issues.

We are now done with all of 1968! Only one year left in the 60’s guys. I’m sooooo happy. And only a few more years left until we get to Giant Size and Claremont. I’m just glad that, at least for the time being, I have Arnold Drake to make this more then bearable. We’re also done with Avengers for a little while. With Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver off the team, there’s nothing to tie it to the X-universe at this point. When this changes, I’ll add it back into the reading and give you guys a REALLY brief rundown of anything important we missed while we were away. And with that said, it’s time for this seemingly endless post to come to a close. Until next time my dears, keep searching…