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.

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.

The 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.

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 traps 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.

In 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 to 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.

But, 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 their 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.

Issue 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.

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, 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. His 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…