Guest Review - "Only a Mutant Like Ourselves Could Have Destroyed the Hulk!" What If? 31

Doug: Once again we welcome Thomas F. to the scribe's chair. Today he's sharing thoughts on a magazine that was a late-Bronze Age staple for many of us - What If? And lurking within the issue Thomas has chosen is a question stemming from the early 1970s -- What if Wolverine had killed the Hulk? Why wait? Read on!

What If? #31 (February 1982)

“What If Wolverine Had Killed the Hulk?”

Rich Margopoulos-Bob Budiansky/Mike Esposito/Bob Sharen

Thomas F.: The “What If” comics were an intriguing concept: as fans are aware, they presented hypothetical tales of an alternate reality. Usually based on a significant event in the Marvel Universe, they tried to show the direction history would have taken if things had unfolded differently—sometimes very differently. Some of the stories have unsettling and tragic outcomes, which will make the reader feel relieved that they are just imaginary. The narrator of the story is, as usual, the Watcher.

This invented tale features Wolverine. But in these early times, little was known about Wolverine. Still, a few facts were established:

(1) Wolverine, aka Logan, had been a Canadian field agent employed by the Canadian military;

(2) Wolverine was a mutant with an incredible healing factor;

(3) Wolverine had a skeleton constructed of adamantium, a virtually unbreakable metal;

(4) Wolverine had three razor-sharp, retractable claws on the back of each hand, which he used as offensive weapons;

(5) Wolverine had an extremely powerful sense of smell; and

(6) Wolverine possessed the savage instincts of an animalistic killer and had undergone drug therapy and “psycho-training” to curb these wild impulses of his.

  

BACKGROUND: To evade the American military, the Hulk made his way into Canada and fought a giant, Yeti-like cannibal beast in the woods of Quebec known as the Wendigo. Alerted to the ferocious creatures destroying the forest in the Canadian North Woods, the Canadian Armed Forces sent a special adamantium-clawed field agent with a six-hour deadline to capture the Hulk. Wolverine proved unsuccessful—he was unable to defeat the Hulk in combat, and the Canadian military intervened, sending a “crack-squad of specially-trained commandos” to finish the job. They use a soporific gas against the Hulk, which worked, but when the Green Goliath awakened, he easily broke free and escaped. (These incidents took place in The Incredible Hulk #s180-182, before the events of Giant-Size X-Men #1, where Wolverine abruptly resigned his Canadian commission and left with Professor X to join the new X-Men, who were introduced in X-Men #94).

 

300-WORD SYNOPSIS: This time around, Wolverine first incapacitates the Wendigo, then engages the Hulk in a fight to the finish. No quarter is given. Wolverine pits his tenacity, speed, and “diamond-hard” adamantium claws against the overwhelming strength of the Hulk. Caught up in the escalating intensity of the clash, Wolverine disregards the instructions of his superiors to apprehend the Hulk and decides to kill him instead. In a savage spate of fury, Wolverine repeatedly slashes away at the Hulk’s neck and succeeds in killing him.

Later, after a barroom brawl during which he loses control of himself, Wolverine is charged with murdering a civilian, and he deserts the Canadian Forces. Almost immediately afterward, Wolverine—now out of options and pursued by the law—is enlisted into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants by the powerful Magneto, Master of Magnetism. Magneto tasks Wolverine with infiltrating the X-Men as a mole.

Over several weeks, Wolverine becomes a trusted member of the X-Men, training with the team in the Danger Room and helping to defeat the Sentinels. Wolverine is still committed to betray the X-Men for Magneto, although he does so with a troubled conscience, because he now considers the X-Men his friends. According to a prearranged plan, Wolverine disables Cerebro’s “proximity fuse,” which allows Magneto and his followers to break into X-Men headquarters without warning.

When Magneto and his mutant cronies—the Blob, Unus the Untouchable, Lorelei, and Mastermind—breach Professor Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters, they overwhelm the X-Men. But when Magneto tries to kill Jean Grey/Marvel Girl, for whom Wolverine feels affection, Wolverine turns on Magneto. Both inflict lethal injuries on one another: Wolverine slashes Magneto to death, and in his final moments, Magneto uses the power of magnetism to cause Wolverine to pierce himself in the throat with his own metal claws.

Before reading this issue, I’d never heard of Rich Margopoulos. After looking him up, I discovered that he’d written for Warren Publishing, which produced the monster/horror comics Hunter the Demon Killer and Vampirella. Margopoulos also wrote over at MLJ, now known as Archie Comics, and wrote at least one more What If? story for Marvel (issue #38). His influences were Steve Englehart and Roy Thomas.

As for Bob Budiansky’s artwork, it’s average, in my opinion. Passable, but not extraordinary, though he is a good storyteller. Certainly not a big name, Budiansky is best known for writing The Transformers and penciling issues of Ghost Rider near the end of its run. Personally, I would have liked to see Herb Trimpe pencil this issue.

I thought I’d mention that as a Canadian myself, I have an affinity for heroes of Canadian origin, and appreciate it whenever Marvel or DC create Canadian characters, even if they’re almost invariably depicted as British replicas.

I love the scenes where Wolverine does the Hulk in. Wolverine’s relentless viciousness really makes an impact here.
Although it wasn’t known at the time of The Incredible Hulk #181, it was established years later that Wolverine’s metal claws did lacerate the Hulk’s tough skin, but the Hulk healed so quickly that he appeared to be uninjured.

The Hulk’s passing made a personal impact on at least two people, General “Thunderbolt” Ross and his daughter Betty. The general has mixed feelings of part relief and part regret now that his long-time nemesis has perished. As for Betty, she is immensely saddened because although she was certainly aware that the Hulk was very dangerous, she loved Bruce Banner, the man inside the monster. The rest of the world is understandably astounded to when they hear of the Hulk’s death on a news broadcast.

I found it neat how the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, led by Magneto, have their version of a “Danger Room” at their headquarters where they train, just like the X-Men do. Supervillains have to keep in shape too!
Wolverine’s tendency to succumb to a berserk rage is an appealing quirk of his. Unfortunately for him, this time it led to tragedy—when a barfly pulled a gun on him, Wolverine acted instinctively and skewered him like a shish-kebab.

This also happened after Magneto tried to kill Jean Grey—Wolverine flew into a rage and butchered him.

 

The final page where the dying Magneto managed to summon enough power to carry out a final offensive, killing Wolverine, is shocking. Like some movies, the actually impalement occurred off-screen (in this case, off-panel).

 

Overall, this was an intriguing issue that I was glad to finally get my hands on. Just wish that “bigger” names had been involved in the production of this series, though Frank Miller did write and pencil two excellent What If? Daredevil stories: What If? #28 (“Matt Murdock … Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) and What If? #35 (“What If Bullseye had Not killed Elektra?”). If you’re a Daredevil and/or Miller fan, be sure to check those out.

Who Made Who?

Karen: Sunday morning I was lazily reading some articles on the comics sites, since I like to keep up with what's going on in the books I no longer actually read, and I came across this article in Comic Book Resources by Brett White, which discusses how Marvel Comics are changing characters and long-time story lines to get more in line with the Marvel films. I knew some of this had been going on -for example, the increase in Inhumans in the Marvel Comics universe. But I was stunned to read this little tidbit: it was recently revealed that Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are NOT the children of Magento! What??  

Karen: Yes, a brilliant idea from 30 years ago apparently wiped out in order to make the comics more like the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron film. So who will be the twins' parents now? I don't know. Will they turn out to be Inhumans? Mutant inhumans? It's mind-boggling to me that Marvel feels the need to make a move like this.

Karen: It's obvious that they think that they need to bring their books more in line with the films, so that new readers (coming from the movies) will not be confused by discrepancies from the film universe to the book universe. But I think they are operating from a false premise. I really don't think there is much flow of readers in that direction. From what I can tell, you have movie fans, and comic fans who also are movie fans. There aren't a lot of Marvel movie fans who also decide to go read the comics.  Sad but apparently true.

Karen: So Marvel is essentially going back and altering/hacking away at its own roots, all for naught. This move, and others mentioned in White's article (replacing Nick Fury with Nick Fury Jr, who looks like Samuel Jackson, the worldwide Inhumans increase, books featuring movie and TV characters, etc) are unnecessary, over-complicating, and make the comics seem like slaves to the films. I'd much rather see the movies drawing from the comics, and not the other way around.

Discuss: X-Men: Days of Future Past film

Karen: You know the drill -talk about the movie, but PLEASE keep it SPOILER-FREE for at least a few days!

Karen: I saw it Friday night and thought it was very entertaining -maybe my favorite X-Men film -although First Class is right up there too. Quicksilver nearly stole the show!

Haunted by the Past: X-Men 141

X-Men #141 (January 1981)

"Days of Future Past"

Chris Claremont/John Byrne/Terry Austin

Karen: I feel like this is a big day for us here at BAB. This has got to be one of the biggest issues of the Bronze Age, and personally, it marks the beginning of the end of my love of the X-Men. After issue #143, Byrne and Austin would leave the book, and a lot of what I enjoyed about the title seemed to disappear. But for over five years, this was not only my favorite comic, it was an obsession. The X-Men were the perfect fantasy escape for this pre-teen/teen  -the ultimate outsiders, yet they were also incredibly cool and though they fought each other (hello Cyclops and Wolverine) they were also a family too. One could imagine belonging to the X-Men in a way you could never imagine joining the Avengers or the Justice League. Each issue of X-Men was approached eagerly, and it rarely disappointed (well maybe the Murderworld stuff did a little). The creative team was going strong and readers felt like they were a part of something special. So along came X-Men #141, and it just blew everyone away. From the incredible covers -with #141 becoming legendary - to the amazing time-travel premise, this two-part story is a tour-de-force. It's no wonder that -for good or ill -it became the basis of so much to come in later X-Men stories. So let's get to it, shall we?

Doug: Well... just a second. True confession time. Maybe "true reminder" time would be a better way to put it. Our longtime readers may recall that I've said in the past how I left comics when I entered high school. The year was 1980, and the last X-Men I saw over a five year period (no, silly -- it didn't take me that long to graduate; I picked the hobby back up in the spring of my freshman year of college) was #130 -- I was ushered out by the Disco Dazzler! That's right -- left just as the "Dark Phoenix Saga" was ramping up! So for me, a recent purchase of the DoFP tpb gave me the opportunity to finally read this story. 

Karen: You're right -I'd forgotten in the heat of my excitement over this review that you dropped out at the absolute worst time in X-Men history! You missed out on the whole Dark Phoenix saga and Days of Future Past -oh man, Doug, talk about bad timing! So yes, I can see you won't have the same connection to this material that I do. But maybe that's a good thing -you'll be more objective.

Karen: Our splash page opens in a decimated-looking New York City. We see a woman in a dull green jumpsuit with the letter 'M' over the left side of the chest. She's carrying a box of what appears to be medical supplies. We are told this is Kate Pryde -not Kitty. For it is the twenty-first century -the future, and the state of NYC is typical of most of the U.S. Kate is on her way to rendezvous with Logan -and she's worried about the safety of her surroundings. And with good cause. She soon falls through a trap door and is ambushed by a group of toughs that look like they stepped out of Mad Max. Kate warns them that she's on official Sentinel business, but they scoff -the leader says they hate the robots almost as much as they hate 'muties.' He threatens Kate and she gives him a swift kick in the gut -it's about all she can do, as a collar prevents her powers from working. Things don't look too good, but then her friend Logan shows up. It is, of course, Wolverine, a little gray at the temples, but none the worse for wear. He quickly takes down the thugs, without using his claws, as his signature attack would alert the Sentinels of his presence. Logan is now a colonel in the Canadian Resistance Army, and he's working to take down the Sentinels. It turns out that the other super-powers are planning to launch nuclear missiles the moment the robots head out of North America. So he and Kate and the remaining X-Men are going to try to stop it from happening. He gives Kate a small component, part of a larger device called the 'jammer.' He tells her phase two begins at midnight and wishes her luck.

Doug: Kate is very serious-looking. This sure isn't the little Sprite that had recently entered the X-verse. But Wolverine's certainly recognizable immediately. There's a lot going on in these first few pages, both visually and through the text. I felt it was a lot to digest, and it raised a ton of questions for me. One thing I was struck with early here was that the X-Men actually are wary of the Sentinels. My impression of the Sentinels through time had been that they looked great, but rarely succeeded in accomplishing what they'd set out to do. So that they were in some fashion of control in this era seemed off. Claremont and Byrne were spinning a mystery.

Karen: Kate certainly looks haggard, and in the context of the story, it makes sense. My impression of the Sentinels was different from yours though; while the X-Men had always found a way to stop them, I never considered them pushovers. And of course, this is yet another iteration, a 'new and improved' version if you will.

Karen: Kate's trip back to the Bronx is a depressing one. The buses are pulled by horses, indicating perhaps oil has been cut off to America. We are now told the year -2013! - and that there are three classes of people: H for baseline human -allowed to breed; A, for anomalous humans, people carrying mutant genes, forbidden to breed; and M, mutants, who were relegated to outcasts by the Mutant Control Act of 1988. Most of mutantkind was exterminated -we are told millions have died since the Act was passed (could these all have been mutants in North America? That number seems awfully large. Would it include mainline homo sapiens as well?). Kate enters the interment camp where she lives and walks past row after row of tombstones, and we see the names of many characters we know, some who were mutants (Charles Xavier, Scott Summers, Kurt Wagner) and some who were not (Ben Grimm, Reed Richards). It does seem that more than mutants were killed in this terrible reality. Kate thinks to herself that they will try to ensure that this nightmare never even happens!

Doug: Ah, stories told in some future epoch. Talk about partying like it's 1999! I've always thought the best thing about the original Planet of the Apes series was that it was set around 2000 years in the future -- no need to worry about catching up to that! Anyway, you're right about the apocalyptic scene Kate travels through. In a way, Chris Claremont was setting up later storylines -- or at least feeling them out -- with his caste system. The Morlocks, the island of Genosha... I can see how those ideas could flow from this storyline. From the cover we know this is going to be dark, but there was something about seeing the non-mutant heroes deceased that struck a nerve as to the seriousness of this situation. The long path back into the concentration camp was eerie marked with all the headstones; Claremont and Byrne had done some homework in regard to memorials of this sort left over from our own stupidity in this history.

Karen: Kate joins with fellow X-Men Storm and Colossus, now Kate's husband, and Franklin Richards, last survivor of the Fantastic Four, and his girlfriend, a red-headed telepath/telekinetic named Rachel. They begin to discuss their plan when a man in a wheelchair comes up. No, it's not Professor X, but Magneto! Circumstances have caused the former foes to become allies. While Colossus questions whether their plan will work, Magneto says it must, if the world is to survive. Kate and Peter (Colossus) take a moment alone. He feels concern over what they plan to do - he says if they succeed, their love might cease to exist along with the Sentinels. Kate says if it is to be, it will be. But more than that, if they are successful, they will create a world where their children can grow up free and unafraid. The Sentinels killed their children -if she can change that, it is worth the risk.

Doug: Did you wonder at all about the X-Men who would survive and form the backbone of this future team? I think it's a cinch that if Dave Cockrum had been on the creative staff, Nightcrawler would have been a survivor. You know, I was going to wonder why they didn't take the opportunity to introduce a new character here, but they did in Rachel... not Summers yet, though. She'd certainly become a major player in another 50 issues or so. Wait -- the idea of Magneto as a good guy started here, too. Man, I guess I didn't know how much Claremont would mine from this story over the succeeding years!

Doug: The inclusion of Franklin Richards surprised me, but it was actually nice to see him finally grown up. Speaking of, did you ever think Peter was too old for Kitty? Wouldn't he have been in his early 20s when she joined up -- and wasn't she only like 14 at the time?

Karen: I would have liked to have seen more of Franklin -he looked a bit like his uncle Johnny, but talked like his dad! I wonder if he still had his reality-altering abilities? As for Peter and Kitty, I think I've read that Peter was in his later teens -perhaps 18, and Kitty was about 14. So yes, perhaps a bit awkward -not to mention illegal! - but then she was a little more mature and he was somewhat naive. As far as chemistry goes, it always seemed like a nice match.

Karen: The mutants initiate their plan later that night. Franklin assembles the jammer, which shuts down their inhibitor collars and allows them to use their powers. Rachel then uses her mental powers to send Kate's consciousness back in time...to October 31, 1980. Young Kitty Pryde has just walked in on a live session in the Danger Room. Yes, she just walked right into the room! She even says the door was unlocked, to which Wolverine replies, as he battles a robot with buzzsaw hands, "Kid, that flamin' door is always unlocked!" You really have to wonder what Professor X was thinking. As the X-Men -Angel, Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine - battle different threats in the room, they try to reach Kitty and the panic button to shut the room down. Kitty has frozen in fear but Storm manages to conjure up a mini-twister to blow her away from danger and into Colossus' arms. Nightcrawler teleports into the room and hits the panic button, shutting down all the threats just in the nick of time. Kurt tries joking around with Kitty about her first Danger Room session, scheduled for that morning, but Kitty is visibly uncomfortable around him. This hurts Kurt's feelings but he says he will give her time. The older X-Men gather in the control room to run the training scenario the Professor has designed for Kitty. It's completely non-threatening, and Kitty walks across the room easily, using her phasing power to pass through every challenge. The X-Men get a good belly laugh out of it, and are all smiles -until Kitty collapses to the floor. What they don't know is that Kitty's mind has just been hit by her consciousness from thirty years in the future.

Doug: Of all the X-Men issues through the Bronze Age, what percentage of them contain a Danger Room scene? We mentioned this in our review of X-Men #4 a couple of weeks ago. But you know -- it never gets tired, because anything can happen in that space. I always felt it gave artists a chance to cut loose. I felt bad for Kurt, but thought Kitty's reaction was very natural. I think it represented the fact that even as outsiders, there could be some more outside than others. Each X-Man had incredible powers, but no one looked as Kurt looked. Kitty's wariness seemed to be innocently offensive, if you know what I mean. And wasn't it great that Wolverine counseled Kurt? These folks had really grown through the years -- way different from the group that always seemed ready to fight each other back in the early "All-New, All-Different" years.

Karen: Looking back, it seems like Wolverine matured a lot during the Dark Phoenix saga, or right after it. He was far less of a jerk after Jean passed away, and wound up becoming a responsible team member. In some ways, his growth is similar to Hawkeye's. I can't help but think that this was all purposeful on Claremont's part.

Doug: I really liked Storm's ascension to leadership. She seemed a natural to take the reins after Cyclops left. She always had such a great relationship with Kurt and Peter, and Wolverine was just going to be Wolverine no matter who was "in charge". I really loved it that Kurt, even after Kitty had somewhat shied from him, was the one who got to her first after she collapsed. He has such a big heart, and was always a team-first guy. I thought Claremont sold Kitty's transformation to Kate quite well with the more mature speech patterns. John Byrne and Terry Austin did a top-notch job of conveying the confusion on the faces of Nightcrawler and Wolverine. Did you find Angel to be a fifth wheel on this team? He's so appealing visually, but really has no power set beyond flight, and to be honest he seems incomplete without Bobby Drake along for the ride.

Karen: It was interesting to see Storm become leader -I'm not sure I had seen those qualities in her before. She brings a certain maturity and calmness to things, although I think she lacks the tactical know-how of her predecessor, Cyclops. But then, did these X-Men ever fight effectively as a team? We've discussed that in almost every review we've done of the book! Kurt's determination to break through with Kitty, to get her to see him as more than a monster, was very well done. The transformation from Kitty to Kate was conveyed well not only by her speech but I thought the art showed a change in her posture too. As for Angel -yes, I never really knew what he was doing with this group. He certainly didn't seem to belong with them. It was like an old man trying to hang out with the cool kids. 

Karen: On the plane to the capital, Kate expands upon her story: Kelly is not a bad man, but is concerned about the ever-increasing number of super-powered people in the world. The Brotherhood killed him to put humanity in their place, but instead, it escalated tensions and caused anti-mutant sentiment to grow, leading to the Mutant Control Act and the reactivation of the Sentinels. The robots decided the best way they could achieve their programming was to take over the country. They also decided to begin exterminating all super-powered beings, mutant and non-mutant, hero and villain. By the year 2000, all of North America was under Sentinel rule. And most of the X-Men were dead. Now the Sentinels are about to expand their jurisdiction to the rest of the globe, which will set off a nuclear war that will destroy the planet. The surviving X-Men of the future came up with this plan, and Kitty was chosen to be sent back, because at this age, she had not been trained to protect herself from psychic assaults.

Doug: How about the kid dressed up like a member of the Newsboy Legion? Someone please tell me -- was this the first time in Marvel's history that some sort of registration of super-powered types was proposed? Of course in the Avengers a few years earlier the feds had dispatched Henry Peter Gyrich to serve as a security liaison to the team and clean up some of their lackluster policies (of course he brought other irritations into the mix). Marvel would seem to touch on some of these themes over and over, culminating in Civil War. 

Doug: It seems odd that the Sentinels could accomplish all of that without any of their former masters involved -- the Trasks and Stephen Lang (of course there's a reason they weren't involved, and it has to do with pushing up daisies -- but I think you know what I mean).

Karen: I assumed these were a more advanced version -so their AI had progressed to the point where they could think for themselves and create plans and strategies. Which is pretty scary.

Doug: Did you think it odd that Kitty Pryde had been with the X-Men for some months and had not yet had psychic shielding training? I don't know that her phasing powers would be a threat to the team if she were to be turned against the team, but certainly she'd have had knowledge that could have been psychically pilfered. Of course, everyone was preoccupied with that Hellfire Club thing. 

Karen: It's hard for me to tell how much time has passed since they first brought Kitty on board -not too much I think, since this is her first Danger Room session. 

Karen: Flash forward thirty years. The X-Men have escaped the Sentinel compound with Wolverine and are traveling through the old subway tunnels. We are told that Magneto (called Magnus here, not Eric) stayed behind, sacrificing his life to give them time to get away. They are moving along when suddenly the roof of the tunnel is blasted away -and so is Franklin! He is disintegrated by a beam from the Sentinels. The mutants are warned to surrender. Rachel is stunned, but Storm tells her to fight back, and she does -with a telekinetic blast that looks suspiciously Phoenix-like. Hmm. Storm blasts a robot with lightning but it is too insulated. That problem is solved by a Septuagenarian fastball special.  Another patrol of three Sentinels appears and Colossus handles them by knocking a building over on them. The X-Men are determined to make it to the Baxter Building -the Sentinels' base.

Doug: This story sure does pave the way for Magneto to be seen in a more sympathetic light, doesn't it? And does the fastball special ever get tired? I think not!

Karen: Back in 1980, we go inside the Pentagon, where we see a woman named Raven Darkholme. She works in the Department of Defense, but is in reality the mutant shapechanger Mystique. She enters a room and inside we see the members of the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants: Destiny, Avalanche, Pyro, and Blob. Blob's old fashioned -he doesn't like taking orders from a woman and this sets off a squabble with his team-mates, but Mystique soon settles him down. Then she tells them all to get ready -it's time to strike!

Doug: I thought Destiny, in regular clothes, sure looked a lot older than she'll appear once in costume. Threw me off a bit. Pyro's no looker, is he? The Blob fills that comic relief roll, doesn't he?

Karen: In the Senate, Robert Kelly is speaking at a hearing about mutants. This scene was recreated in the first X-Men film. Xavier and Moira MacTaggert are there as well. The X-Men show up in civilian attire and the Professor reads their minds to find out what's going on.However, as Kelly goes on, wondering if there will be any place in the world for 'ordinary people' as more and more super-powered people appear, the wall of the hearing room begins to crumble and collapse. As the audience flees, the dust settles and the Brotherhood appears. Mystique threatens the Senator, but then a lightning bolt slashes down in front of her. The X-Men face the Brotherhood, telling them that if they want to harm anyone here, they'll have to go through them. With that challenge, Mystique then orders her team to kill the X-Men. It's game on -in two different times!

Doug: I was surprised at how public the altercation was between the Brotherhood and the X-Men. Granted it had to be given the circumstances, but it seems that throughout their history the very existence of the X-Men was always a secret. Here, they identify themselves and dive right into the scrap with the bad mutants. But then the reporters assembled recognize Warren Worthington III as the Angel -- so that cover had been blown years ago when he bankrolled the Champions. Avalanche looks like a dude that might be at home in the Wrecking Crew! And I love Wolverine's bravado when the Blob says they don't look like any X-Men he knows. "That's right, Fatso. We're better." No exclamation point, just matter-of-fact.

Karen: It's hard to believe all this story was packed into one issue. So much goes on here, and there are so many small character moments throughout. The level of detail and thought in the story is fantastic. The Baxter Building as the Sentinels' base? Outstanding. Kitty and Peter together? That was amazing at the time -remember, she hadn't been around very long at this point. The art is also terrific. As usual, it is dynamic and packed with detail. Byrne's characters are emotive and distinct. There's so much emotion in this story -seeing the graveyard with the names of so many of our favorite characters in it, it brings a lump to the throat. It's easy to feel the pain that Kate and the other future X-Men feel. Even all these years later, after this story has been built on and copied and redone to death, it has power to it. No wonder they have made a movie out of it!

Doug: I agree with everything you just said. If they knew at the time that this was the swansong of Byrne and Austin, then they were going to end their run on the very top of the mountain. And before we leave, just a quick comment on that art team. Look through this entire issue if you have it -- there's no short-cutting. I'd say 90% of the panels have a detailed background. Although I think Byrne's earlier 1970s art on this title was better, this is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Great, great creative talent on display in this issue, from all the stakeholders.

Avengers Firsts: Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch

X-Men #4 (March 1964)(cover by Jack Kirby and George Roussos)

"The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Paul Reinman

Karen: We're back with our second 'Avengers' Firsts', this time looking at those terrific twins, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. The first thing you might notice is their appearance on the cover: the Scarlet Witch is colored green, and Quicksilver, who wears his green costume on the pages inside, is garbed in blue here! What a mess. But this introduction to two important members of the Marvel universe is a pretty fun read. Beyond just being the first appearance of these two characters, it also brings the concept of Xavier's and Magneto's conflict and differing philosophies to the fore.

Doug: I'll be using the X-Men Marvel Masterworks, volume one for reading; the art in today's post is from the X-Men dvd-rom, but we'll also include a couple of scans at the end from the Masterworks to show some specific coloring differences. Editorial seemed to think that maybe it was a better idea to correct the twins' costumes for the high-quality Masterworks reprint! Like you, I really enjoyed prepping for today's review. I'd only read this story one other time, and it was the better part of two decades ago -- it really had a fresh feel to it this time around. I'd echo your comments about the relative importance of this particular comic, in light of the public's primary knowledge of the Marvel Universe coming through the feature films. Much of what happens between these covers is seminal to the X-Men franchise, and now with Wanda and Pietro set for their silver screen debuts it carries a bit more weight.

Karen: This issue starts out with the X-Men in the Danger Room -is it just my imagination, or did half the early X-Men issues start this way? Anyway, Beast is being put through his paces. He nearly completes his obstacle course but fails right at the end and falls into a pool of water. After getting some words of wisdom from Professor X, it's Iceman's turn. He's still the fluffy, snowman-like Iceman. He  also does well, to a point. After another short lecture from the Professor, it's Jean's turn. But she has a simple task: to lift the lid on a box. Teacher's pet! Inside is a birthday cake. Professor X says it's been a year since they began training and it's time to celebrate. Hey, he wasn't all bad! The youngsters gather around their teacher and dig in, smiles all around. Amusingly, Cyclops slices the cake with his eyebeam. Apparently he had achieved remarkable control even at this stage.

Doug: The Danger Room certainly received some modifications over the years, didn't it? Using the Masterworks, I flipped back through the previous three issues, as I thought this story was the first in which the term "Danger Room" was used; wrongo, buckaroo. It was in issue #2. But you're right -- in these first few months the team seemed to spend every moment at the school in said training facility. I suppose that's OK if Stan and Jack felt that they were doubling their readership each month (probably not the case) or just wanted to toy with the mutants' powers. One thing I did take note of as a major shift in characterization from the premier to this ish was the upgrade of Hank McCoy's speech patterns. Gone was the Thing-like grammar and in its place was a more "normal"-sounding fella. He didn't seem to be the scholar he'd grow to be, but he'd certainly left the street-level talk behind.

Doug: Even at this early stage, the team had formed their personalities that would carry them all the way into the Bronze Age. Bobby would mature the most, I guess -- but he had the furthest to grow. I always felt that Warren looked the coolest of the five, but was perhaps the most bland. Sure, his jerk-like qualities sometimes rose to the surface, but editorial perhaps didn't want him to stray too far from his namesake, I guess. Oh, and in regard to Cyke's eyebeams and our discussion of such back in the "Secret Empire" storyline -- everything I'm seeing in these early issues has them as force beams. No heat seems to be present.

Karen: We switch scenes to another group of mutants gathered around a table, eating, but this is a far different gathering. This is our first look at the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants: Toad, Mastermind, and the focus of our review, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Gone is the camaraderie we saw with the X-Men; instead, Quicksilver upbraids the Toad for his table manners in front of his sister, while Mastermind comes on to her. Wanda, appalled and quite angry, uses her hex power to cause a bottle of water to fall over into Mastermind's lap. As he prepares to retaliate, she calls to her brother, and Quicksilver gives Mastermind a swift right to the jaw, knocking him off his feet. Mastermind is about to return the favor when the Toad begins hopping with glee, telling them go ahead, destroy each other, then just he and the Witch will be left to rule alongside "the Leader"! At the mention of "The Leader" Mastermind backs down, knowing that Quicksilver and his sister are integral to his plans. Hmmm, who could this mysterious Leader be???

Doug: Talk about nailing it the first time! Quicksilver upbraids the Toad, indeed! "Toad! Must you chomp your food like that?? My sister happens to be at the table, you obnoxious fool!" No lie -- laughed out loud when I read that. So I said the Angel was jerk-like above. Pietro would take any and all comers in a jerk contest and destroy them all! We spent some time last week discussing the elements of Hawkeye's personality that would stick and grow to become literally who he was/is. Stan truly does nail it the first time with a) Pietro's brashness and speech patterns, and b) his twisted devotion to his sister as her guardian and protector. Given that this was a Silver Age story, we had no inkling that Wanda's power would one day far eclipse her brother's and that she would make a better protector for him! I loved Wanda's costume in these early years, from her headpiece to the rings around her boots. There really was no reason to sex her up as many artists did over the course of the 1980s-'00s.

Karen: I think you're a bit hard on Pietro -he's a hot-head, but at this stage, I don't think he's a real jerk. But I'll save my comments for him until the end.

Doug: I haven't read all of the Silver Age X-Men books, but every time I come across Mastermind I am astounded that the fool could pull off the whole manipulation of Phoenix as "Jason Wyngarde". Just floors me -- what a great choice by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, because I recall a deep sense of, "Ha! Got me!" when the reveal came.

Karen: In the office of a shipping line, the mutant master of magnetism, Magneto appears! I just really wanted to do a Stan Lee alliterative phrase there. He winds up stealing an old freighter that has guns on its deck. I don't know much at all about ships but I thought that was interesting. Using his magnetic abilities his pilots the craft out to sea -and who should be flying by but the Angel, on a training exercise. But although the winged teen swoops down for a closer look, neither mutant spots the other. Angel returns to the mansion and Professor Xavier runs a series of physical tests on him as Jean assists. Warren (the Angel) relays what he saw, and the Professor has a sense of foreboding about the freighter.

Doug: Speaking of headpieces, Magneto has one of the coolest headgears in all of comicdom. I love that helmet! I also know next to nothing about ships, but I share your wonder at why a "freighter" would be armed with heavy artillery; I also questioned Angel's query about the possibility that it was being remotely controlled. I tried not to read too much into the image of Jean as a lab assistant. Any reason why Hank wouldn't have been involved in... I don't know, biochemistry?

 

Karen: Magneto arrives at his uncharted Atlantic isle where the Toad excitedly greets him. The first thing the little wretch does is squeal on his comrades, telling Magneto they were fighting. Mastermind tries to downplay it, but when Toad says he tried to hurt Wanda, Mastermind angrily blurts out that he'll make the Toad pay for this. This infuriates Magneto, who grabs Mastermind and reminds him that their personal issues are nothing, only the plan matters. He finds Wanda and Pietro and tells them he must speak to them. Quicksilver says that he doesn't scare him, and that he's taking his sister away and leaving. Magneto then reminds him of the debt that she owes him. Wanda regretfully says that she has to serve him until she has repaid him. Magneto then recounts how he came upon their village "in the heart of Europe" where superstitious villagers were after Wanda, calling her a witch. The flashback shows Wanda standing in front of a burning building, her arms in the air as if in a panic, while angry villagers (one even has a pitchfork!) come after her. In the next panel, Magneto appears and gathers her up, saving her life. Back in the present, the master of magnetism reminds the twins that they are Homo Superior and it's their destiny to rule over humankind. Quicksilver however, has not completely drunk Magneto's Kool Aid -he isn't convinced, although he has no love for humans. But since his sister feels she must stay, he will too. Magneto says now that he has his ship, he will begin his assault on humankind. The five of them will attack and conquer an entire nation!

Doug: Would it be safe to say that since Magneto had found the island and then built an estate on it that it would no longer be "uncharted"? When Jack does the pullback right before the end of this scene, I can see why Magneto would later set up shop on an asteroid. This island is nothing to write home about! But I digress. I love the Toad. He's such a fool, a jester. I suppose one could argue that he's so unfairly persecuted and the butt of every joke as well as the recipient of the lion's share of the aggression from his comrades. But he could be (when written with a degree of reservation) such a great character, present mostly to add color to a typically testosterone-laced scene.

Doug: I am convinced that Europe never left the 19th century. Marvel Comics said so. Everything on that continent exists as it does in the 1931 Frankenstein film.

Karen: Several days later, Professor X is reading the newspaper, which says the tiny South American republic of Santo Marco has been attacked by an unknown ship. The Prof quickly figures out that it has to be Magneto and his allies. He summons the X-Men, who are all shown doing various off duty activities: Hank (the Beast) is solving math problems, holding the pen with his foot; Jean is either dancing or exercising; Warren could be listening to the radio or working on electronics; and Bobby is having a tremendous milkshake. Only Scott is dressed in his uniform. He comes running in from the practice field, yelling at everyone to suit up, it's a red alert. They find the Professor in a trance. But he's whispering, faintly. Professor X has sent his consciousness to the astral plane (although it is not called such here, it later will be) where he confronts Magneto. This is where the gauntlet is truly thrown down between them. Magneto says that only Xavier and his team stand between him and world conquest, but why do they fight their own kind? Xavier responds that he wants to save mankind, to bring about a golden age with humans and mutants living together. Magneto can't comprehend this. He says the only place for humans is as their slaves. If that's how Xavier feels, then they are enemies. Xavier comes out of his trance yelling that the X-Men will stop Magneto -even going so far as to say, "It will be mutant against mutant -to the death, if necessary!" Whoa, calm down there Professor! The X-Men are raring to go after Magneto.

Doug: I'll amend what I said earlier about Hank not being depicted yet as a scholar -- the scene of him working the math equations totally went by me! My eyes fixated on Jean's yoga (or whatever) and Bobby's ice cream soda. Hmmm... I'm sure someone in the audience could do a personality breakdown for me based on that. The two panels where Magneto and Xavier meet on the astral plane were just wonderful. Kirby could do scope and scale, couldn't he? This scene is formative for everything that will come after, for decades.

Karen: Back in Santo Marco, Magneto and the Brotherhood have taken over the the small country. Mastermind uses his illusionary power to whip up a phantom army to keep the people in line. Kirby draws a bunch of jack-stepping goons whose attire, with striking helmet design and 'M' armbands, would have looked like Nazis if they were colored green and not purple. Of course, in 1964 Magneto did not have his origin as a concentration camp survivor, but with that thought in place now it's a little unnerving. Of course, Kirby was using what he knew, and the Nazis would have been a symbol of supreme brutality. It works no matter how you look at it. Wanda questions why Magneto must terrify the people so, but the mutant leader says the humans are sheep, and fear is key to controlling them.

Doug: There's a lot to chew on in these eight panels. First, though -- in the Masterworks the army's uniforms are indeed green with dark green helmets. They resemble the Wehrmacht. And so I wonder if Claremont considered what Lee/Kirby had produced as canon? As we've remarked, this issue is so foundational on several levels, that to ignore any of its trappings seems irresponsible. I agree with you that Kirby perhaps equated all of Marvel's diabolical megalomaniacs with the megalomaniac of the 20th century. Kirby draws a sentry on a road checking for identification papers -- of course Jews had to carry papers on their persons at all times, and their movements could be restricted. So for Claremont to later switch everything in this scene to a polar perspective seems odd at best. I'm not saying the transition in Magneto's backstory isn't good or worthwhile; I merely question the rights of creators to retcon the work of the masters. There's a reason why you're getting a paycheck writing comics, son.

Karen: Soon Magneto is able to take over the government, and he recruits a real army. They are guarding the border when the X-Men drive up, in their civilian disguises, acting as American students on a goodwill tour. They are allowed to pass. Magneto is dispensing 'justice' in the presidential palace when he senses their arrival -somehow he seems to have a residual mental connection to Xavier. He tells the Brotherhood to prepare for them. Likewise, Professor X senses more mutants than Magneto and warns his young charges. They plan their assault on the palace and Beast takes the lead. He climbs a tower but is repelled by the Toad. Beast grabs onto the side of the tower and starts to work his way back up, but Mastermind uses his illusions to make the Beast think the stone tower has turned to smooth glass. The young mutant panics, believing he can't get a grip on the smooth surface. On the other side of the castle, the Angel engages turret gunners, knocking them out (killing them?) by dropping a live wire on them. He flies into the palace to search for Magneto when he runs into Quicksilver. I really get a kick out of how Pietro's speed is depicted here -he's all blurred out, just a bunch of green lines. Angel and Quicksilver race around the hallways, and Quicksilver is definitely faster, but Angel has the upper hand in maneuverability, and makes a sharp turn, avoiding a wall which Quicksilver slams right into. Pietro is out cold, but suddenly Wanda appears and she's upset to see her brother hurt. All Angel can think about though is how hot Wanda looks! The Witch uses her hex and suddenly the ceiling above Angel collapses and crashes down on him. Moments later he's tied up by soldiers and Quicksilver has recovered.

Doug: What do you think of Magneto's mental prowess in this story? The ground certainly seems to be laid for a prior relationship between Magneto and Xavier -- could they have been brothers, old friends, cousins? There's a connection between them that of course was mined in subsequent years. Back to the Hitler comparisons for a moment -- how about the soldier who remarks to his partner, "Strange how he took over our entire government -- so sudden, without firing a shot!" Franz von Papen and his mates felt at one time they could "box Hitler in", or "hire" him. Making him Chancellor was too easy -- a fire in the Reichstag soon after and Hitler declared emergency powers to rule by decree. "Strange how he took over our entire government -- ...without firing a shot!" Yes.

Karen: Well, these two men -Lee and Kirby -lived through WWII, and I'm pretty sure they understood how Hitler came to power. This isn't the only example  of this type of analogy in Marvel books.

Doug: I thought it was interesting that the Beast would go first, but I suppose of the five teens he was the "stealthiest". Angel would certainly be obvious, and one could spot Iceman coming a mile away on his ice slides. I did think it odd, however, that given the size of Hank's feet that he could squeeze those big honkin' toes in between the stones on the tower wall. I also like how Kirby and Don Heck drew Quicksilver in motion. But my single favorite image of Pietro is this one (ha - have to make the jump to see it!). And Warren... ever the prospective playboy. Dummy.

Karen: Magneto arrives to see that the Angel has been captured and is pleased, but this doesn't last long as a powerful beam of read energy comes blasting into the room. Yup, it's Cyclops. It's pretty silly, but Cyclops sends to soldiers spinning heads over heels into the room by the force of his beam. Next he turns it on Magneto who dodges it. Quicksilver runs around behind Cyke and grabs him, but pulls him down, aiming his beam at the ceiling, inadvertently hitting the electrical generator for the castle and knocking it loose. Somehow this causes electricity to flow through the castle, menacing everyone. Cyclops then decides to blow the generator entirely out of the castle and cuts loose with a powerful blast, which blows the machine through the castle wall and away from them. But the strain of the task causes Cyclops to lose consciousness -so typical of these early 60s Marvel heroes.

Doug: I think in regard to Cyke bowling over the soldiers, that just Kirby's mind. I'm sure he was thinking of the most kinetic thing he could draw for a great entrance. Cyke and Magneto have had some cool stand-offs over the years. I always felt, that at least temporarily, Cyke could get Magneto. I don't think it ever turned out that way, but it just seems that when they come into contact Cyke enjoys an upper hand at the beginning of the fracas.

Karen: Everyone's little buddy, Iceman, happens to be in the path of that ejected generator! Luckily he's been practicing -he creates an ice slide to divert its path. Then he uses ice spikes to climb up the wall of the castle, where he frees Angel and wakes up Cyclops -by covering him with slush! Yuck. They're soon reunited with Marvel Girl and the Beast -well, after Jean sends some telekinetically aimed objects at them by mistake - and then the whole team is together. I liked the next two panels as the teens expressed doubt over their ability to handle the situation. Beast: "So far we've used up a lot of time and energy and accomplished nothing!" Yes, these were the heroes. During the midst of their debate, a huge river of fire appears, heading down the hall towards them. The teens run but find themselves cornered. Then from out of the flames comes Professor X! He tells them not to be afraid, it's simply an illusion. Regrouped, with their older and wiser leader, they head back off to find Magneto.

Doug: "Everyone's little buddy" -- Bobby Drake is the Gilligan of this outfit, isn't he? I thought Iceman got some quality screen time on these pages. It was nice to see him making a contribution and not being some sort of mascot. His power, too, would grow over the years. The scene where Jeannie inadvertently fires the medieval weapons at the gang was a throwaway, but at the same time integral to showing her power set as well as that whole clay feet deal that was Marvel at this time -- everyone could screw up, at any time, and we all might end up paying the price. What seems like a silly scene is in reality part of the greater mythos that the Bullpen was crafting!

Doug: I'm going to assume that Magneto's fortress here did not comply with the Santo Marcos version of the Americans with Disabilities Act, so I'd sure be interested to know how Xavier got into the building in the first place! I have enjoyed seeing the Professor's various powers over the course of these first several issues.  

Karen: Magneto is busy at work on two bombs: one a simple bomb to booby-trap the door; the other, a nuclear bomb to blow up the whole country! Quicksilver asks Magneto about all the innocents who will die. Magneto has a bunch of answers for him -they are only Homo Sapiens, they would kill us if they could, and it's really self-defense! Good grief!

Doug: Quicksilver = conscience. Who'd have thunk it? But a question about young Pietro: do you consider him a moral person? I suppose my opinion of him is skewed by his reactions to Wanda's professed love for the Vision. But in these early years he was devoted, and I do believe that he had a hero's heart.

Karen: The X-Men rush at the door to Magneto's lair but at the last second Professor X senses the trap and throws himself in front of the X-Men. He takes the brunt of the impact. Surprisingly, it doesn't kill him -it only renders him stunned. Cyclops blasts through the door as the evil mutants high tail it down an escape chute (!) towards their freighter. Wanda is also shocked that Magneto would kill thousands of innocent people, but she runs off anyway. Her brother, though, has another idea. After Magneto jumps in the chute and commands Pietro to follow him, the speedy mutant says there's something he has to do first. He runs into the other room and defuses the nuclear bomb. The X-Men see him do this, much to their confusion. Quicksilver runs off, saying that although he couldn't let a nation be destroyed, his place is with Magneto. "You are the betrayers of Homo Superior! Expect no mercy next time we meet!" The X-Men return to Professor X, who lies dazed on the floor. Unfortunately the blast has somehow affected his mental powers. He no longer has his telepathic abilities. The team wonders how they can face Magneto without him?

Doug: Xavier's act in defense of his students was incredibly self-sacrificing and noble. It was the high point of the story, because I really felt that not only did he see them as his students or his charges; in a real way he saw them as his children. And I also found it strange that Wanda leapt into the chute. That's some blackmail/debt that Magneto is holding over her head. 

Karen: This was a very entertaining little story, action-packed as you can tell. We could probably consider it one of the key early Marvel issues, seeing as how it introduces some major players, and also sets up the key conflict in the X-Men mythology. One thing I'd like to do is defend Quicksilver. Too often I hear that he was always a jerk. I don't think that's really the case. He had a temper, and he would not let an insult to his sister go unopposed, but in the early days, he was not the unmitigated butthead that he later became. In this story we can see that the twins are not truly bad, but forced into Magneto's sphere by circumstances beyond their control. It would have been terrifically exciting to have been a fan back in those days and have seen them make the change from reluctant villains to heroes.

BONUS

Doug: I'd mentioned above that the coloring in the Marvel Masterworks edition was different from that which Karen was looking at on the X-Men dvd-rom. Below you'll see the re-colored, re-mastered, whatever version of some of the panels that featured Magneto's army on the island of Santo Marcos. See if you think there's a Nazi vibe going on here... which for me, and again we had a bit of this conversation above, is quite compelling given that the copyright date on the Masterworks is 1987 (I have the fourth printing -- not sure that makes a difference). All-New, All-Different X-Men scribe Chris Claremont retconned Magneto's personal history in Uncanny X-Men #150 to state that Magneto had survived the Holocaust. That issue hit the newsstands in 1981. So for the coloring in this version of X-Men #4 to mimic color schemes used by the various military and para-military branches of Hitler's forces seems a bit odd. I'd add that Magneto's entire schtick in this issue (and later stories) smacks of Homo superior as a true "master race" with all other sorts of people as untermensch (subhuman).

Doug: So, since this is after all a post about Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, I have to ask our fellows who still read comics if the fact (now, at least) that Magneto is the twins' father has ever raised issues of their "Jewishness"? From what I've seen, and that would run about through Avengers, volume 3, Wanda has most often been portrayed as Romani (at least that's the implication to me) by various creators. But I don't know that anyone in the Marvel Universe other than Ben Grimm has been characterized as ethnically Jewish. Diversity is the spice of life, and America is certainly known as the "great melting pot"; our comics most often do not reflect that.