X-MEN #1: Excelsior!

Published: September, 1963

With the advent of the Avengers barely out of our rear-view mirror, it’s natural to want to draw comparisons between these two teams of Marvel superheroes. Who do I like better now? That’s easy to say. Who will I end up liking better? No way to know that yet. Or is this like asking a parent which child they love better? Each has its peculiar charms.

With the Avengers we have a conglomeration of existing, mature superheroes, but the X-Men are mere TEENAGERS. In some ways, that’s good news for readers, since we can all imagine what happens when you put a bunch of teenage boys together…and give them superpowers. Then, introduce a pretty redhead into the mix and VOOM! Soap opera elements multiply exponentially.

Each Avenger has a particular talent, but each talent springs from a different source. In most cases, it’s science gone wrong (or right), but with Thor, we’re dealing with a deity. Most Avengers celebrate and enjoy their powers, but Hulk merely tolerates it.

With the X-Men, however, though each has a different power, it all springs from the same well: genetic mutation. So, even though the X-Men are all different from society at large, and different from each other in regard to their unique manifestations of mutant power, on the most elemental level, they are all the same.

And if their classification as “mutants” binds them together, so much more their devotion to Professor X. In fact, the first thing we learn about the X-Men is that no matter what else might be happening, these young men revere and respect their leader. Each calls him “Sir!” and all fall over themselves to please him. This is probably a good thing, because such an intent focus on teamwork and respect for leadership assures they will be a force for good and not evil. Could you image four young men with such powers being surly and uncooperative?

And soon enough, we soon learn how dangerous mutant powers can be in the hands of evil, when we meet one of the great Marvel villains—Magneto!

The first half of our story serves as a “Getting to Know You,” showing off the X-Men’s powers, and introducing Jean Grey as the first female X-Man. (Though it may be more politically correct to say “X-Person,” I don’t think that phrase has the same oomph as “X-Men.”)

However, once we meet everyone one and firmly establish that superpowers don’t prevent these four young men from getting all googly in the presence of a pretty girl (who can take care of herself just fine, thank you very much), we finally get to the meat of the story.

Magneto, resplendent in red and purple, feels the time has come “to make homo sapiens bow to homo superior” and he’s willing to put metal to the pedal to back up his statement. He interferes with an army rocket launch and makes his presence knows with a message in the sky: “Surrender the base or I’ll take it by force!” Then, as politely as possible, he signs his threatening note with a pleasantly scripted “Magneto.”

So now everyone knows who he is…but in fact, no one yet knows who he is. Until he struts into the military base and uses magnetism to round up, control and blow away his opponents.

Enter the X-Men, thrown into their “baptism by fire,” as Prof. X calls it. They suit up and arrive on the scene. The officer in charge feels like “a danged fool,” but agrees to give them fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes is even less than the X-Men need! Working together like the Alabama offensive line, all traces of horseplay now mutated into a singular purpose, they thwart Magneto until he finally flies away, proclaiming, “You haven’t defeated me YET! I can still escape you!” Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t “I can still escape you,” more or less the same as defeat?

But escape Magneto does, for he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. We know we’ll see much more of Magneto. I just wonder if in the future we’ll see more of him than that red suit, purple cape, and two crazy blue eyes.

In their colorful uniforms, the X-Men look more like a team than the Avengers. Even though Beast has those big hairy feet, and Angel has wings, and Cyclops has his visor and Iceman has, well…ice, he still wears X-Men boots, and the uniform identifies them as a group. Not to be excluded, X-Man Marvel Girl, also wears the uniform, though as the boys observe, “Wowee! Looks like she was POURED into that uniform!”

The X-Men may also end up functioning more like a team than the Avengers, because each knows his place, and is subservient to the leader. With the Avengers, I wonder if we might find all these smart guys and super-egos bumping into each other in an attempt to take charge.

With the X-Men, it’s hard to imagine any of Professor X’s young charges challenging him. The Professor exudes a quiet authority from his wheelchair. He need only speak, or merely THINK, and every X-Man is instantly at his command. I’m reminded now that at in college, I once had a professor of Greek origin, whose impossibly long last name began with the letter X, and insisted all his students refer to him by a shortened version of his name. At the time, I thought it merely a convenience, but now I wonder if he was perhaps a fan of Marvel Comics, and enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek fun of having his students call him “Professor X.”

Also, at the end of the first Avengers story, Hulk decides to join the group, “whether you like it or not,” because he’s “tired of being hunted and hounded.” I suspect Hulk’s journey from misunderstood hero to full-fledged team player is going to be rocky one.

Don’t think we’ll have those kinds of problems with the X-Men.

No, with the X-Men, I suspect we’ll most likely see the fellas bickering about who Marvel Girl likes best, and a continuation of the tomfoolery that punctuates their training sessions.

And I hope we’ll see a quick return of Magneto, along with an expansion of the cast. I guess you could say I’ve been spoiled by the X-Men movies (which, over a decade ago, served as my introduction to Marvel comics). I’m looking forward to meeting more of my favorites, and lots more personal interactions between the characters.

I’m fairly confident we’ll also experience a deepening of the “shunned by society” theme that so identifies what the X-Men are all about—extraordinary kids who exemplify exquisite nobility in exacting justice as they excalate above society’s petty prejudices, exceeding our expectations in setting an excellent example for all cognizant beings, mutant and non-mutant alike.

Now THAT’S what I call being a superhero!