Unstoppable

Uncanny X-Men #12 – By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (Layouts) & Alex Toth (Pencils)

Now this title is really starting to move for me! This was a really exciting issue that features a lot of back-story for Professor Xavier. After 11 issues and some cameos and cross-overs, we’re all dying to know more about the characters in this book. Starting with Xavier is a great move because it will all help lead us to why he founded the X-Men to being with.

This issue picks up exactly where the last one left off – with Cerebro literally screaming a warning that a ultra-powerful opponent was identified and on the way! Xavier seems to know who this is and urges the X-Men to bolster the defenses of the mansion. Iceman builds up a second wall of ice around the campus; Cyclops digs a ditch inside the walls where Beast lays a thick electrical cable and Marvel Girl hides under yard waste; and Angel helps Cyclops assemble mortars as a last line of defense. Then, the unknown enemy comes even closer – pounding on the outer ice walls.

At this point, Professor Xavier decides he needs to relate the story of his childhood to his students. Somehow, this story has a bearing on the incredible powerhouse they will be facing. There are several things revealed in this story that I never knew about Charles Xavier. I never realized he wasn’t born a mutant – or at least they give the idea here that he wasn’t. His father worked on nuclear weapons in New Mexico while he was young and he attributes his abilities to the radiation present in the area. His father died in an nuclear blast at the facility and his mother married Kurt Marko shortly after. In a rather clichéd storyline, young Xavier wasn’t well-liked by Marko or his son Cain. Some things I found surprising were Xavier’s exploits in sports – as both a quarterback and a track star. Of course, he used his mental powers to reach the pinnacle of these sports, but I just never saw the character doing that. Kind of a fun idea.

Cain confronts his father about Brian Xavier’s death during a quarrel over some money and young Charles overhears. Cain has a tantrum and smashes some beakers and test tubes causing a chemical explosion and fire. Kurt Marko drags both boys to safety and with his dying breath confesses that Brian Xavier’s death WAS an accident, but he could have saved him if he’d not been cowardly.

The boys grow up competitive and contentious. While serving together during the Korean war, Cain Marko seeks shelter in a cave during an artillery barrage. Inside, he finds a temple to Cyttorak, the god of Dark Magic. He picks up a gemstone, reads the inscription, and releases Cyttorak’s curse – becoming the juggernaut of dark magic.

I thought this was great as Charles Xavier refers to the “Crimson Bands of Cyttorak” on a few occasions here. This is one of the powers that Doctor Strange is known for calling on to bind his enemies. I’m not sure how much Cyttorak has been defined as yet over in Doctor Strange’s adventures, but this is another fine example of Marvel becoming that all-inclusive Universe.
The issue cuts between phases of the flashback, and the unknown enemy defeating defense after defense outside the mansion. This technique really built up the suspense and made the reader really hunger to see this new villain, while getting important information about a main character! Brilliant story craft by Lee here.

The only thing that sticks out to me in this story is the fact that Cain Marko is NOT a mutant. At least he’s not revealed as such in this issue. Even so, Cerebro – the mutant detector – is going crazy at his approach. Why would it detect him if his powers are based in magic? Does Cain Marko harbor a mutation that hasn’t been spoken of yet? Is that what enables him to actually contain the power of the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak?

The issue ends with Juggernaut bursting into the mansions and facing off against Xavier and the X-Men in a wonderful cliff-hanger! Kudos to Stan Lee for such an amazing introduction to this character and storyline!

Note: This issue was reprinted in December, 1970 as the first story in Uncanny X-Men #67 (cover by Marie Severin) and again in April, 1995 as X-Men: The Early Years #12 (Cover by Adam Hughes).

Professor Xavier and the X-Men #12 & 13 – By Jorge Gonzalez and Duncan Rouleau (issue 12) & Nick Gnazzo (issue 13)

As with issues 4 and 5, this title has decided to expound on the original material in Uncanny X-Men #12 and expand it to two issues. However, by doing that, Jorge Gonzalez separates the story between the flashback story (covered in issue 12) and the current continuity (covered in issue 13). I suppose Gonzalez or editor Kelly Corvese decided modern audiences might like a simpler retelling. My opinion is that changing the story this way weakens the tension and spoils the reveal of the Juggernaut himself. True, he is shown in the final splash panel of issue 12, but it’s not as powerful as the slow build-up used by Stan Lee as we see the shadowy figure breaking through all the defensive emplacements finally to be revealed looming over Professor Xavier.

In general, the flashback contains the same material as the original, but in the moments before Cain Marko grabs the ruby of Cyttorak, Charles Xavier reveals his psychic powers to which Marko jumps to the conclusion Xavier is a mutant. The re-imagining also gives us an almost Hulk-like transformation page where Marko changes into the mammoth Juggernaut. Again, I thought this was revealing a little too much too soon. I liked Kirby’s shadowy change, where you weren’t sure exactly what was happening to Marko.

As happened with much of Marvel, the timeline is moved forward as well. Instead of Marko and Xavier fighting in Korea, this time they fought in Viet Nam. The Asian settings of the wars is easily interchangeable, however the time between the war and the issue dates is very different. When the original tale was written, the Korean war had been over about 10 years – the reimagining was written about 25 years after the end of Viet Nam. This dramatically changes the ages of Xavier and Marko. Not really relevant to the story, just something that stuck out to me.

Issue 12 ends with a one page version of a shadowy Juggernaut bursting out of a ship and beginning his journey to the school. The final, full-page panel gives Juggernaut the though-monologue threatening to kill Charles Xavier. *YAWN* The original told it so much better to end up in a similar place.

The X-Men set up the defenses in issue 13. Doing much of the same things they did in the original, the team bustles about the outside of the mansion preparing for the imminent arrival of Juggernaut. The focus is put a little more onto Iceman, who is also the narrator of this particular issue.

Gonzalez does a nice job of using the voice of the youngest X-Man to get across some of the fear that all of the characters are feeling. He also conveys some of Iceman’s youthful bravado in a couple of additional scenes – in one, he initially confronts Juggernaut alone. He is quickly overmatched and has to MELT his own icewall to escape unharmed. I don’t think I’ve seen Iceman melt anything before, but I assume this can be looked at the same way we’ve seen the Human Torch draw power out of fire.

Juggernaut cuts through the defenses just like in the original, but Gonzalez actually leaves the last line of defense – the steel “airlock-type” doors – out of the story entirely. This gives him a little more time for the first time the whole team takes on Juggernaut. In this version, Professor Xavier has holed-up in the control center for the Danger Room, and the X-Men face-off against Juggernaut in their training room. This doesn’t seem to make any difference as nothing from the Danger Room is brought into play accept for some type of ray gun in the initial few panels. The X-Men use very little teamwork trying to subdue Juggernaut and they pay for it by getting their butts soundly kicked! This issue ends with Juggernaut hovering over Xavier ready to kill him.

In general, making the original store two issues doesn’t play as well as the simpler, more tension-filled story. While we do get a few interesting extra scenes featuring Iceman in the second issue, we also get more room for longer exposition and a slightly longer fight.

We also get more of the Juggernaut which isn’t a bad thing. And some of the art from both Rouleau and Gnazzo gives us some fun splash-pages and big panels of the villain. The artwork gives the impression of the massive size and power of this guy. I think it makes him scary in ways that the story has dropped the ball on.

Up Next: Uncanny X-Men #13 and Professor Xavier and the X-Men #14