The Stranger Among Us

Uncanny X-Men #11 – By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

This issue is a major turning point in the history of the X-Men. Stan Lee wraps up his original concept for the book here and sets the table for new adventures and adversaries for everyone’s favorite mutant teens – and really begins the journey to becoming the X-Men we think of in the 21st century.

The story begins straight-forward enough, with Professor Xavier detecting the presence of a new mutant. Here he unveils a new device – the Radar-Image Beam – which will use radar waves to create an image of the new mutant detected by Cerebro. But the mutant’s power is so great, that it disrupts the image and the team must be sent out to search for him.

The Stranger is the powerful character that the team is after. Dressed in a suit and white lab coat, he heads out into the city. Soon he runs into Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants who encourage him to join their ranks. Magneto and Mastermind demonstrate their powers on him, but the Stranger quickly turns the tide on them by blasting off the metal Magneto wrapped him in and turning Mastermind into a lifeless statue of “solid matter.”

The X-Men arrive on the scene only to be attacked by Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch as the Stranger makes off with Magneto and the Toad. After a brief altercation, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are subdued and they finally decide they’ve had enough of Magneto and vow to leave the Brotherhood and head back to Europe.

After determining there is nothing that can currently be done to aid Mastermind, the X-Men and Professor Xavier head out after the Stranger. They finally face-off with him in a park, where he has Magneto and Toad wrapped in anti-magnetic material. He identifies himself as an alien who seeks out mutant on other planets and brings them back to his homeworld for study. He then leaves the planet, with Magneto and Toad in tow, vowing never to return.

The issue ends with Cerebro buzzing wildly and the promise of a powerful mutant more dangerous than any they’ve ever faced.

This issue is Stan Lee taking apart his original concept of X-Men vs. Brotherhood on a consistent basis, interspersed with “mutant of the month” stories like the Unus story or even Blob, and trading it for the more traditional model followed by the Fantastic Four or Spider-man. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch join the Avengers in the same month they leave the brotherhood – bringing their popularity another book in the growing Marvel Universe, and preserving the balance of characters in the X-Men.

Lee also temporarily removes the rest of the Brotherhood from the picture by having Mastermind frozen in stone and Magento and Toad whisked away from the planet altogether. This opens up more possibilities for this book then before. We’ve recently been treated to the Savage Land and the conflict with Lucifer (along with some history of Professor X), which have been enjoyable departures from the “same ol’” stories with Magneto. Those original stories were kind of dull and repetitive. I’m glad to see Lee breaking out of the rut and moving in a new direction.

I’m very excited to see what’s coming around the corner and where this book is headed now!

Note: This issue was reprinted in December, 1970 as the second story in Uncanny X-Men Annual #1 (Cover by Jack Kirby) and again in March, 1995 as X-Men: The Early Years #11 (Cover by Larry Stroman).

Professor Xavier and the X-Men #15 – By Jorge Gonzalez and Nick Gnazzo.

Yep, number 15. For some reason, the powers that be at the time decided to run this story out its original order and placed it AFTER the next storyline. Since it’s a reimagining of the original #11, I’ll add it here.

As far as the re-imaginings go, this one is similar to those that have been before it. It covers the basics of the story, but makes some changes that I didn’t think were really necessary. First off, it puts the Stranger in his “super-hero” costume, not the simple suit and lab coat from the original. While this makes him more dynamic and recognizable, I liked the simple charm of him attempting to fit in at first. In fact, Gonzalez completely eliminates all scenes before the Stranger stumbles upon Magneto. And this time, the Stranger is summoned by a pulse that Magneto sends out to draw the alien to him. These changes only allow for Gonzalez to have more page-space to add material that wasn’t in the original.

Magneto is the narrator of this issue, and spends the first several pages ruminating about recent defeats and back-handedly introducing the characters of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. There’s nothing really new here, and he again refers to himself as Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, a name not yet introduced in the classic book. Magneto’s narration doesn’t really add anything to the story, except at the very end. When being whisked away by the Stranger, his thoughts read, “…my arrogance…has cost me…everything!!” Nice for him to admit that, even to himself.

Other than that, there aren’t too many other diversions from the original. Xavier only uses a 90’s version of Cerebro in the beginning of the story – no Radar-Image Beam – and later Xavier is seen in his 90’s “hover-wheelchair” as opposed to a simple one.

One thing I noticed, is that Gnazzo’s art is a lot more fun in this issue. He uses more dramatic poses and includes a lot more detail in his panels. He actually uses background art and dynamic angles to add tension and intensity to the story. For the first time, I wanted to see more of his art. Now that I’ve seen him grow his talent through this book, I’m curious what else he’s done.

As a re-imagining, this book is fine – bringing the look and feel into the 90’s and matching the imagery with comparable costumes and articles of that time. Still, I don’t think it adds much to the original and I’d still encourage readers to check out the Lee/Kirby version.

Up Next: Uncanny X-Men #12 and Professor Xavier and the X-Men #12 and #13