Strange Bedfellows

Strange Tales #120 - By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

This issue read more like an Archie comic or something I'd imagine more from Millie the Model or its ilk. The first half of the story basically focuses on Iceman and the Human Torch's dating situations - or lack thereof in Bobby Drake's case. Bobby is so disappointed by Jean Grey accepting a date from Warren Worthington that Professor Xavier tells him to take some time off. Bobby decides a water tour of the Hudson River in New York City looks like a great way to meet girls.

Of course, the girl he meets is Doris who's dating Johnny Storm. He's a gentleman and she's up-front about her date, so even after Johnny shows up nothing really happens. In fact, that's about all the dialogue that's exhanged between the characters for the entire issue. Really, in the rest of the story there are about two panels of them exchanging strategic outbursts while they're in costume.

The rest of the story centers around some river pirates attempting to rob the passengers on the ferry. The leader of this group, the Barracuda, has a few interesting moments in the story but he's little more then a two-bit criminal and might have been a more fitting "baddie" in the Golden Age. But he and his men are rounded up with little difficulty be the team of Fire and Ice.

Overall, it's somewhat of a disappointing story because there is precious little interaction between the Marquee characters. I would have even welcomed the two of them getting into a bit of a tussle over Doris before teaming up against the pirates. Both charcters are considered jokers on their own teams, but we see precious little of that here and certainly not with each other. A one-upsman game of one-liners would have been fun to see. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

The back-up story featuring Doctor Strange was actually the better part of the issue. "The House of Shadows" by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is actually an idea ahead of it's time. The focus of the story is on a TV crew broadcasting a reporter staying the night in a haunted house. Being 1964, they can't send the cameras in with the reporter, but he does have a wireless microphone and he will narrate his findings throughout the night. Little did Stan Lee know that there would be entire TV series around this concept some 30 or 35 years later! Or maybe this is where Ghost Hunters REALLY got their inspiration!

The situation catches the attention of Dr. Strange and he watches from amidst the crowd outside. Once the reporter begins to encounter some oddities, Strange goes astral but finds he cannot enter the house even in that form. He then brings to bear the powers of his enchanted amulet (no name given to it in this issue) in order to see the reporter inside. After observing for a few moments, Strange determines that he's needed inside and brushes the crowd aside and enters through the door.

A few spooky things happen inside and Strange needs to bring the powers of all his favorite sources (Dormammu, the Vishanti, the hosts of Hoggoth and more) to overcome the eerie mists binding him in the clutches. In fact, the mists are so powerful, Strange calls upon all his benefactors in a mere two panels!!

I found this story to be kind of spooky and fun. As this is very early in Marvel lore, Strange is wearing the blue pajamas including the cape, the mystic eye hasn't earned its name yet, and Hoggoth is hoary not his hosts! But it was actually a creepy story worthy of Twilight Zone or something and really fits the idea that Dr. Strange is defending the earth from other-dimensional fiends. So, this part was worth reading.

Guess that's why it's STRANGE TALES, huh?

Up Next: Uncanny X-Men #6 and Professor Xavier and the X-Men #7

Asteroid M and the Olympic Toad

Uncanny X-Men #5 - By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

This issue gives more of the spotlight to the Toad and Mastermind after shirking them so much last issue. Oh, sure we get the drama of Magneto's relationship wtih Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch (AGAIN, green on the cover!), but the less attractive mutants get to shine a little.

Magneto is still upset after losing his battle on Santo Marco with the X-Men in the last issue. He's now obsessed with finding their headquarters and destroying them. Early in the issue, Mastermind is skulking around New York trying to find any information he can about the X-Men and their base of operations, but returns empty-handed. Magneto devises a plan that he knows the X-Men can't refuse - he sets up the Toad in a very public display of mutant powers to encourage the X-Men to attempt to recruit him.

Toad enters a televised Track and Field event and clearly stomps the competition by using his mutant abilities - he hops over other racers in a sprint, clears all the hurdles in one leap and even decimates the high- and long-jump records. Once the crowd starts yelling, throwing things and accusing him of cheating, the X-Men are forced to act.

Leaving the now-powerless Professor Xavier behind, the X-Men rush to the stadium to rescue the hapless mutant. The heroes protect him from the riotous crowd and rush the false athlete onto a waiting subway train. Once aboard, the Beast questions him about his abilities and their familiarity and unmasks the athlete as the Toad. I question why Mastermind wasn't on-hand to use his illusion abilities to make a much more convincing disquise for the Toad. If he could whip up an entire army last issue, changing the Toad's appearance should be easy.

His ruse broken, the Toad bounds off the train at the next stop and Magneto enters the battle. The first slugfest of the issue happens in the train station as Magneto and his evil mutants attempt to rescue the Toad. Even though the rescue is unsuccessful, the Brotherhood manages to capture the Angel and escapes with him planning to trade him for the Toad later.

This is the first appearance of Magneto's headquarters Asteroid M - a hollowed-out asteroid that has been outfitted with all the comforts of a space station that maintains a geosynchronous orbit over the earth. The Brotherhood escape to the security of the asteroid in what amounts to a giant red iron. Definitely one of the sillier Kirby designs, it has a typical horseshoe magnet bottom and a top that vaguely resembles Magneto's helmet. It changes to a much more cylendrical design by the end of the issue.

At this point the story starts to fall apart with major plotholes of convenience. Toad develops a sort of trance-state when away from Magneto and uses a communicator to call down another magnetic transport to get the X-Men up to Asteroid M. There is absolutely no reason for this shown in this issue, but he does perk up when he's on the asteroid and nearer to Magneto. Must be Magneto's "magnetic" personality, huh? (Yeah, couldn't just let that one lie, sorry!).

The X-Men's ultimate escape is just as convienient. As Magneto tears off a piece of the asteroid, he just happens to do it while they're in a section that has an escape module - which Magneto only takes control of after it delivers the X-Men safely back to earth. UGH! I hate convenient plotholes. At least have them use their powers to survive the entry back into the atmosphere and crash-land safely. That would have been a bit more exciting as well!

Iceman has some cool displays of his powers in this issue - he stops Toad with an Ice-slick on the floor, creates an ice club to fend off Mastermind's illusions and later on creates an ice tunnel as an access tube in space! We see more development of most of the X-Men this issue. Their personalities diverge a bit more and we see even more of the Beast's ever-growing vocabulary and a few more hints at a budding relationship between Scott and Jean.

I didn't realize that Asteroid M shows up so early in X-Men continuity - it just seemed like that was a Chris Claremont invention to me. But it turns out that Magneto has set up his HQ very well and can operate it like one big deathtrap for intruders. Between mechanical traps and his own abilities, the X-Men barely survive their visit. It was sort of tough to see Magneto rip parts of it off so casually. Can't wait to see it come back, but hopefully it's not so easy to get to in future stories.

I admit the ending of the issue held some surprises for me. First, it's revealed that Professor Xavier is fine and completely healthy with his powers intact. It was all a ruse to get the students to pass their final exam. Professor X announces they have passed with flying colors and they are about to graduate from the school. Wow! I really thought Stan Lee had kept up the schooling for a lot longer then five issues! So now that they're going to graduate, there isn't a new class until the change in issue #94? That seems a little odd. Guess I'll have to keep reading and see what happens!

Note: This issue was reprinted in September, 1994 as X-Men: The Early Years #5. Cover by Tim Sale.

Professor Xavier and the X-Men #6 - By Fred Schiller (plot), Jorge Gonzalez (script) and Jan Duursema

In general, this issue is a pretty faithful retelling of the original story, but Schiller and Gonzalez make a few changes that actually improve the story. As I said above, I thought this was a pretty weak effort by Stan Lee, but the writers of this reimagining put a little more thought into things and patch up some of those convenient plotholes.

Mainly, Magneto's intention in this version is not to find the X-Men's headquarters, but to lure them to his own HQ. This makes so much more sense from the very beginning. Here, Magneto plotted all along for the Toad to be the method to get the X-Men to his asteroid. Taking the Angel just seemed to be this last bit of enticement they needed and using Toad made for an easy trip.

The issue also benefits from perspective of the future - the characters are more well-defined and we get more information on X-Men canon. Once again, Magneto is really the focus of the issue and we get a lot more of his backstory explained. He is fully identified here as Erik Magnus Lehnsherr for the first time, and the narration relates his youth in Poland and his survival from the atrocities of Auschwitz. Its a compelling notion that Magneto moved from thinking of the Jews as his "people" to believing the same only of mutants. Gonzalez makes this transferrence in only a few sentences, but it makes for a powerful character point - the people whom Magneto allied with, believed in, and survived with eventually looked down on him for being a mutant, thus proving themselves no better, in his mind, then their own Nazi oppressors. This is really a poignant moment and a real turning point in the characters past. It's really a shame that this is sort of overlooked in this short-lived reimagining title. I hope it gets picked up elsewhere in the main line in the future. Or hopefully in the X-Men Origins: Magneto movie!

This time it's also not so easy for the X-Men to escape Asteroid M. They actually have to use a combination of powers to survive and get to the vehicle that Toad brought them aboard in. And to even find it, they had to backtrack and use a device taken from the Toad (albeit "off-screen"). Jean uses her telekinetics to hold the corridor intact and iceman then reinforces it with his ice tunnel. Cyclops takes command of the team and ultimately flies everyone home by mimicing the functions he observed the Toad using when he brought them up.

In the end, Professor Xavier is up and well again, but there is no mention of his faking his injuries or that any of this was a test for the students. All is remaining the same and there is no mention of a graduation. I'll have to see how they play this out in the next several issues.

Just another quick note - Jan Duursema is back on the art chores in this issue. Glad to see that since I wasn't thrilled with Steve Ellis in the last issue. I really do enjoy Duursema's version of Magneto, even if she does tend to overuse the dramatic poses and Spawn-like splahes of him.

Overall, this is one of those rare ocassions where I enjoyed the reimagining more then the original. Not that the Lee/Kirby version doesn't have its charms, but from a story-telling standpoint the new version worked a lot better. After all, Schiller and Gonzalez had 32 years to think of how to fill those plotholes, right?

Up Next: Strange Tales #120

Catch Up!

Professor Xavier and the X-Men #5 - By Fred Schiller and Steve Ellis

"I'm sorry, Mr. Nicieza is no longer with this title." It seem Fabian was only filling in for two issues, or possibly that after he took over editorial didn't really like the direction he was taking things and brought Fred Schiller back.

I was afraid that this title was going to diverge from the original X-Men run, but it seems the powers-that-be directed it back on course. However, in order to do that, they had to use this issue to cover all the material left out of the previous issue and get things back to the point where it matches up with the original again. I'll do the same here. I'll return to the dual format again next blog.

Schiller picks up the story where Xavier summons the X-Men and they plan to head off to Santo Marco to oust Magneto and his new Brotherhood. In this version, the X-Men don't even try to be subtle as in Stan Lee's original plot - they just burst on the scene in full costume and attack. This is really one of the first times we see the X-Men as the aggressors. Their motivations are solid and they're trying to free the people of the island nation, but we've never seen them go on the true offensive. I'd say their actions against the Vanisher and the Blob were more counter-attacks then real initiations of combat.

One key difference here is that Magneto is using an army of mercenaries to take and hold the island. In the original he only had to rely on Mastermind's powers of illusion to create an army and take the island. He later converted the island's own forces into his private army. This was a strange choice, but Schiller manages to use a couple of the mercenaries to flesh-out the story into a full issue. There are a few running gags that he places in the issue that really do recall some of Stan Lee's humor from the 60s. We see more of this in some exchanges between Iceman and the Angel that actually reminds me of their relationship in the Champions. But now I'm getting ahead of myself!

The combats and eventual ending are mostly the same. However, Quicksilver's motivation for disarming the nuclear bomb at the end is a bit different. He says he only did it because the Scarlet Witch begged him to. He would have been happy to let the X-Men die. He wasn't so selfish and cold-hearted in the original. This version makes it seem very much more obvious that he would choose the Brotherhood over the X-Men.

As in the original, the Toad and Mastermind get the short end of the stick in this part of the story. Their roles are overshadowed by Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. I really don't like Schiller's interpretation of the Toad - he's just annoying and stupid, not obsequious as he should be. And there simply wasn't enough of Mastermind to say anything about his character.

Overall, this issue was just a catch-up from the last to get the series re-synced with the original. Fabian Nicieza's sidetrack gone and the bad news is it took Jan Duursema with it. I'll miss her more masterful touch in the stylized look of all things 90's. Ellis is TOO stylized and exaggerated and things can look not only out of proportion, but oftentimes it's too easy to mistake exactly WHAT something is supposed to be.

And speaking of artwork, the cover features a rather dramatic pose of Cyclops entering a room through a hole he's evidently just blown through a wall. In the foreground are Magneto with the Scarlet Witch kneeling at his feet cradling an injured Quicksilver. Yeah, this never happens in the story. Oh, the events happen...just not at the same time nor in the same place. Ah, well...the 90's hype machine at work, right? And in the grandest of comic book traditions. Nice image by an artist I can't identify, but just NOT in the story.

As a retelling of the original tale it serves its purpose and entertains the reader. I liked the additions of the humor because it added to the characterizations, but there isn't really anything here that improves on the original.

Up Next: Uncanny X-Men #5 and Professor Xavier and the X-Men #6

Ahh, Brotherhood

Uncanny X-Men #4 - By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

First off, I LOVE the splash page of this issue! I was excited just by that alone. It's a great Kirby image of the Danger Room in full action. The Beast is bounding through pneumatic boxing gloves while dodging arrows over bursts of flame and other obstacles on the ground below! And the other students and Professor X hover in the background watching. Priceless! I look forward to the Danger Room sequences each issue. Makes me sorry they went away from that formula sometimes. Of course, by the time they change, I might be sick of it too, but usually there are better uses of powers there then in the main story!

The sequence goes on as other students have a try at the obstacles and ends with Professor X presenting the kids with a cake celebrating one year of school. Wow how time flies! Cyclops even uses his eye-beams to cut Jean a nice big piece of cake. No need to worry where his hands have been!

The story then switches over to the antagonists and the first time we see the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, whose esteemed members include Toad, Mastermind, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch (dressed in green on the cover for some reason). These guys are NOT the nice, wholesome family that the X-Men are. The in-fighting and one-upsmanship are the order of the day for Toad and Mastermind, and the Scarlet Witch is being forced into the organization. When Magneto arrives, he reveals that he rescued the Witch from pitchfork wielding locals, so she owes him her life. A debt he will not let her escape.

I never knew the Scarlet Witch's name actually had a meaning. I just figured she had "hex" powers and dressed in red - good enough, right? The truth is revealed in the flashback sequence. She was going to be hung as a witch by ignorant villagers, and she was called "scarlet" as in a woman of questionable morals. Apparently, she has taken the name to remind her why she is who and where she is now and she wears it like Hester from The Scarlet Letter. I never realized there was a connection to the literary piece. Stan Lee continues to impress me.

The Toad really amused me in this issue - he's just such a "toadie." When arguing with Mastermind he uses the threat of Magneto to defend himself, and once Magneto returns, the Toad just tells on everyone else like a third grade Hall Monitor. There's a lot of Renfield and Peter Lorre in him. Definitely my favorite character in this issue.

The future for Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch is really telegraphed. When Magneto announces he's going to escape his captured nation of Santa Marco and leave behind a nuclear bomb to destroy the country, neither sibling is happy. The Scarlet Witch resigns herself to the fate of the nation, but Quicksilver decides he can't let it happen and rushes back to defuse the bomb before even the X-Men can get to it. As a reader, I began to wonder how long the two could stay part of this organization.

Not a lot of development for our heroes in this issue. It's actually a pretty standard story in which the X-Men are mostly defeated by the villains. Magneto and the Brotherhood escape as Professor Xavier is caught in the blast of a smaller bomb meant to eliminate him and his team. At the end of the story, the Professor is left power-less after the blast and the X-Men are faced with the possibility of facing their mission without the Professor's power to back them up. This becomes the first real "cliffhanger" of the series.

This issue was interesting more for characters and characterization then actual plot line. The new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants were fun characters who had interesting interactions with each other and the X-Men. Very nice to see the villains getting some character and becoming fleshed-out like the heroes. It will be interesting to see where Magneto and his posse go next.

But story wasn't the only strong point here. I also have to say there are a few panels - including the splash page - where Kirby's art really shines here. Lots of the typical Kirby-esque technology, a great couple of panels featuring the mental projections of Xavier and Magneto and an entire page of Cyclops using his powers against the Brotherhood. It's really nice to see Kirby cut loose like that and just show us the power of his imagery.

Note: This issue was reprinted in August, 1994 as X-Men: The Early Years #4. Cover by Ken Lashley.

Professor Xavier and the X-Men #4 - By Fabian Nicieza and Jan Duursema

It can only be said that this story hardly resembles the original. It focuses mostly on Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch and adds quite a bit to their story, but also adds pieces in for Xavier and Magneto. In fact, the X-Men don't even really appear at all, except for Jean Gray at the very end.

The story opens at an unknown point in the past where Professor Xavier offered Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch a place at his school. He gives them a brief explanation of mutants and the purpose of his school. Quicksilver - always the arrogant one - denies his need for more training as he zips off in mid-conversation to rescue the most accident-prone girl in all Europe (she has to be rescued again later and it's implied she needs to be rescued constantly - a nice piece of humor in a rather dark issue. Pietro (Quicksilver) turns Xavier down on both their behalf, and Xavier leaves disappointed.

The next scene brings Xavier to the facility run by Moira MacTaggert - Muir Island. I realize that Moira should be part of Xavier's life at this time and before, but this is really a nod to fans from the 90's who were reading these books instead of really adding anything to the story. She provides a nice sounding board for Xavier to air his concerns about missing out on the Maximoffs and his concern they will be recruited by Magneto. In the current state of the original series, Xavier doesn't have this type of a confidante so it was a clever way to provide this based on X-Men history. As part of their discussion, they bring up other mutants from around the world who happen to be Colossus, Nightcrawler and Storm. Really just more fodder for the "modern" fans.

In this issue, we see the events that led Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch to Magneto. This time again, they save the little girl , and Wanda uses her powers and the village calls her a witch. They call her 'scarlet' this time based on the color of her hair, and Quicksilver does most of the rescuing. Magneto steps in at the end and literally drives off the townsfolk using his powers. His appearance is a full-page splash done very well by Duursema.

We do finally get to meet the Toad and Mastermind, but again, their scenes are very reduced in favor of the drama surrounding Quicksilver and the Scarlett Witch. Duursema draws a great Toad, but Nicieza writes him more slimy and lascivious then the original interpretation.

One of the biggest surprises is that we get a pseudo-origin of Magneto in this issue. After his telepathic conversation with Xavier, Quicksilver overhears part of it as it was spoken aloud. Magneto tells him a story of how he was unable to save his young daughter from a fire. While cradling her dead body in his arms, he says his magnetic powers "exploded out of him" and caused further devastation - so much that his wife, Magda, left him.

I never heard any part of this story before. This might all be part of the 90s history stuff that I missed, or is it simply a misdirection so as not to reveal that Pietro and Wanda are his children? The latter fact is implied many times throughout the issue, but its never confirmed. Now, I'm curious to see where this story goes and how it will fit in other issues down the line.

This issue actually ends with Magneto and the Brotherhood attacking San Marco - which was a major focus of the original story. The events never actually are shown in this issue and the Professor does NOT end up powerless at the end. So, it seems these two series are diverging a little at this point. I'll have to see how it works out in the next issue.

Overall, I actually enjoyed this issue. I found the things Nicieza did were interesting and a nice look at Xavier's tactics vs. Magneto's, and it gave us a nice understanding of the young Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. I'm very curious about how Magneto's revelations will play out in the future.

Up Next: Professor Xavier and the X-Men #5