We continue our debate on two of
the best known characters from the Marvel Universe and the question as to who
is the true villain in the X-Men series.
Last time we explored the Silver
Age X-Men stories and arrived at the conclusion that Professor Charles Xavier
was the bigger villain. It was a close call, as Magneto is no boy scout. Still,
I felt it was sufficient to say that the Silver Age Xavier was just a bit too
creepy to warrant anything other than the label of biggest villain. However do
not despair loyal Xavier fans, this is a marathon not a sprint and we are only
beginning round two of our inquest into the biggest villain of the X-Men
series.
Just to re-cap the rules;
There are three rounds (we are about to explore round two) each round
represents a specific era for comics. In order to determine the biggest villain
of each round I will base my conclusions on the crimes, damage and deaths attributed
to each character. Simple.
So without further ado, let’s
jump into…
Round 2; The Bronze Age
(1970-1985)
A decline in sales of Uncanny X-Men in 1970 left the series in
hiatus until its re-launch in 1975 with Giant
Sized X-Men, #1. That issue re-introduced Professor Charles Xavier, but
this time as the mentor of an international cast of mutants including Storm,
Colossus, Nightcrawler and Wolverine. The creative team who rescued Uncanny X-Men from languishing in
reprint hell were writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum. They handled the
re-launch and the initial issues of the series before the writing duties were
assumed by Chris Claremont who went on to achieve a decade spanning influential
run on Uncanny X-Men. Our debate will be based mainly on the stories from Uncanny X-Men from 1975 to 1985, so
let’s begin by exploring the behaviour of Charles Xavier.
Top Reasons why Professor Xavier is the biggest villain of The
Bronze Age (1970-1985)
1.
The Death of Thunderbird (Uncanny X-Men #95 & #96)
John Proudstar
AKA Thunderbird was one of the mutants Xavier recruited in haste to rescue his
original students trapped on the island of ‘Krakoa.’ When we first meet
Thunderbird in Giant Sized X-Men, he
was wrestling a bison. It is apparent that Thunderbird has insecurities about
the treatment of the Native American people, Xavier appears to play on these
insecurities. When Thunderbird initially refuses to help Xavier he says, “Then perhaps what they say is true! Perhaps
the Apache are all frightened selfish children.” It is enough to persuade
Thunderbird to join the X-Men but using racial slurs does not seem to fit with
Xavier’s ideology for his school. Instead it portrays Xavier as being ruthless
in achieving his goals by any means necessary.
Thunderbird
died on his first mission, post Krakoa, when the X-Men fought Count Nefaria.
While Nefaria attempted to escape on board a jet, Thunderbird attacked the jet
as it took off and caused it to explode mid-air, killing both Nefaria and
himself. Just before the jet exploded Thunderbird can be heard shouting, “I’m a man Xavier, a warrior of the Apache—and
today I’m going to prove it!” It seems on this evidence that Xavier’s
goading of Thunderbird to join the X-Men really played on his mind.
The issue was
never really sufficiently addressed until one hundred issues later when
Thunderbird’s brother James sought out Xavier for revenge in Uncanny X-Men #193. When James Proudstar
confronts Xavier he believes that he controlled Thunderbird’s mind and tricked
him into joining the X-Men. Xavier defends himself by saying, “He joined me of his own free will, James,
and of the same free will, he chose the moment and manner of his death.” In
the end James Proudstar believes Xavier, however the events cast doubt over
Xavier’s integrity, especially in how he recruited Thunderbird and how he
deployed him in a mission when the team had very little training together.
2. The
Dark Professor (Uncanny X-Men #106)
The M’Kann
Crystal story arc featured a version of Charles Xavier which would have
particular significance for the character long term. Uncanny X-Men #106 featured a twisted and evil astral projection of
Professor Xavier representing the dark side of his psyche.
During a
training exercise in the Danger Room the current X-Men are attacked by astral
versions of the original team. It is then revealed that the dark side of
Xavier’s psyche is controlling them. In the end the true Xavier vanquishes his
evil side by using his mind to turn the astral X-Men against their controller.
When they
disappear back to the astral plane Xavier tells his team, “That was my…evil self, X-Men. The Charles Xavier who would use his
powers for personal gain and conquest—the Mr. Hyde to my Dr Jekyll, usually I
have no trouble keeping that part of my psyche in check.”
The Dark
Professor only features for half a dozen panels but it provides a talking point
for fans to discuss if Xavier’s actions are motivated by purely honourable
ideas. Furthermore his dark side manifests itself with the intention of
murdering his students. It’s more than a bit worrying that in his own words, he
has to keep that part of his psyche in check. It begs the question how hard is
it for Xavier to hold back from being a murderous villain?
3.
Xavier murders the Shadow King (Uncanny
X-Men #117)
Following a
battle with Magneto in his Antarctic base, Xavier believes his new X-Men are
dead. Luckily they’ve survived in the Savage Land and are making their way home
by the opening of Uncanny X-Men #117.
That issue sees a reflective Xavier flash backing to his time in Cairo. During
that time he meets Amahl Farouk a powerful telepath, and the future x-villain
Shadow King in the thieves’ quarter of Cairo.
Xavier
resolves to bring the criminal to justice and he becomes locked in a battle on
the Astral Plane with Farouk. At the time Xavier was a novice in terms of
fighting on the Astral Plane but he manages to defeat Farouk by shooting a
laser of telepathic energy into his brain.
The incident
provides another talking point for fans. Xavier commits murder, albeit in
self-defence, but it is his views on Farouk that are the most interesting. He
describes him as the first evil mutant he ever met and how he made him realise,
“how deadly mutant powers could be in the
wrong hands.” It sets Xavier up as an extremely arrogant individual, he
sits in judgement of other mutants yet he has little consideration for the
moral and ethical use of his own powers.
4. An
inappropriate relationship with Gabrielle Haller (Uncanny X-Men #161)
While Xavier
was lying in a catatonic state fans got the opportunity to see a flash back to
his first meeting with Magneto. At that time Xavier was assisting his colleague
Daniel Shomron in Haifa, Israel with the treatment of survivors of Nazi
concentration camps. It was then that we met Magneto, then known as Magnus who
was working as a volunteer in Dr Shomron’s hospital.
Fans were also
introduced to Gabrielle Haller, a young woman who was in a catatonic state following
her experiences in Dachau. Xavier uses his telepathic powers to enter
Gabrielle’s mind and break down her defences before learning of the horrors she
faced in the concentration camp at the hands of the SS. Gabrielle regains
consciousness and over the following weeks Xavier begins a relationship with
Gabrielle. What makes this situation worse is that Xavier acknowledges that
this is a bad idea, but he does it anyway and he says, “I should not do this. But if it makes us both happy and brings us the
solace we seek what then is the harm?”
Well the harm is in breaking the professional boundaries of the
patient-doctor relationship, for a start, and furthermore, entering into a
relationship with a vulnerable person.
Gabrielle
suffers a further ordeal when she is captured by Baron Von Strucker’s Hydra and
forced to reveal the location of Nazi Gold. Xavier and Magneto rescue her from
Hydra and that is where the flashback ends. Xavier’s actions cast doubt over
his suitability for operating a school for gifted youngsters. To make the
matters worse, fans would later learn that the relationship with Gabrielle
Haller begot a son; Legion, who Charles was unaware of for many years. Legion
would have a profound impact on the X-Men’s universe and perhaps this should be
seen as karma for the actions of Charles Xavier.
5. Generally
being nasty to everyone throughout the entire Bronze Age.
If it’s one
thing that the Bronze Age demonstrates it’s that Charles Xavier is generally a
selfish individual, he treats others unfairly and he has a habit of abandoning
the X-Men on a regular basis. It seems a harsh statement about the founder and
mentor of the X-Men but the evidence stacks up. Following Giant Sized X-Men #1, Xavier pitted his untrained new team against
Count Nefaria, which results in the death of Thunderbird. As leader of the
team, Cyclops takes the loss of Thunderbird particularly badly, blaming himself
for the events leading up to his death. In contrast Xavier does not share the
same level of grief and instead is worried about Cyclops and the amount of
mistakes that he is now making (Uncanny
X-Men #96). It sets up a precedent with Xavier that he takes his
frustrations out on Cyclops.
Xavier’s
behaviour is not exclusively aimed at his students. Believing the X-Men have
been killed in battle with Magneto in the Antarctic (Uncanny X-Men #117) Xavier travels with his new girlfriend Lilandra
to the Sh’iar’s home planet and generally spends all of his time being bored,
or feeling inadequate, even though he is spending his time with the woman he
loves (Uncanny X-Men #122 & #125).
When Xavier
return in Uncanny X-Men #129 he
resumes his duties as leader of the X-Men but not before criticising Cyclops
leadership style. He belittles Cyclops as he believes he has not made the group
gel as a team. It’s almost as if Xavier enjoys bringing Cyclops self-esteem to
new depths, and he does it consistently as during the conclusion of The Dark Phoenix Saga, Xavier challenges
the Shi’ar to a duel of honour with the X-Men. The battle results in the defeat
of the X-Men and the apparent suicide of Jean Grey. It leads to Cyclops leaving
the team which at that point seemed like the best decision he ever made
considering all the strife caused by Xavier.
Xavier also
leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to how he administers his school. In
Uncanny #149 he lambasts Kitty Pryde for phasing through his computer as he
insists on never being disturbed while working on his computers. It sounds a
bit suspect to me. What is even more concerning is that Xavier is a Professor
in a school for gifted students yet he never teaches anything. When Kitty Pryde
receives the letter from her parents confirming her transfer to Emma Frost’s
Massachusetts academy all the students are standing around, some of them in
their bathing suits in Xavier’s office. It hardly seems appropriate to be in
your principal’s office in your bikini.
One unsavoury
characteristic left over from the Silver Age that remained present in Xavier’s
personality during the Bronze Age was his misplaced affection for his female
students. Xavier re-affirms the fact that he once thought he loved Jean Grey (Uncanny X-Men #101), he also receives a
honeymoon photo from Cyclops and Madylene Pryor of both of them in bed (Uncanny X-Men #178) and he also has
thoughts about Storm’s attractiveness (Uncanny
X-Men #180). It is an unusual character trait, and it’s one that casts
Xavier as a creeper, almost predatory individual. As a fan I understand that
this period in comics was written by middle-aged men and perhaps there are
large elements of the male fantasy being played out. However it still leaves me
feeling that Xavier is a sleazy character in this respect.
Aspects of
Xavier’s character such as his misplaced affection for others wouldn’t be such a
problem if he had other more redeeming characteristics. He is almost ego-centric in
his pursuit for the peaceful co-existence of human and mutants. When the time displaced Rachel Summers
recounts future events to the present day X-Men, in Uncanny X-Men #188 readers would have seen a tearful and morose
Xavier, but his emotions belie his true thoughts. He isn’t crying for the loss
of any individual but because Rachel’s future means the end of his hopes and
dreams. It is worrying that an individual such as Xavier would put dreams,
ideas and theories above the lives of others.
By the end of
the Bronze Age, represented by Uncanny X-Men #200 Xavier is again facing
certain death as a result of a mugging in Uncanny
X-Men #192. Initially Xavier is healed by the Morlocks following the
mugging but this is only temporary, and the exertion of leading the X-Men
coupled with the trial of Magneto (Uncanny
X-Men #200) leaves him at death’s door if not for the intervention of
Lilandra and the Starjammers. At the end of the Bronze Age, Xavier is whisked
away to the Shi’ar’s home planet. The X-Men are again without their mentor, yet
somehow from my point of view it doesn’t seem such a bad position to be in.
Now in the
interest of fairness and equity let’s examine the Bronze Age Magneto.
Top Reasons
why Magneto is the biggest villain of the Bronze Age
1. Magneto
almost obliterates the X-Men (Uncanny
X-Men #104)
Although Uncanny X-Men went into hiatus in 1970,
both the X-Men and Magneto periodically appeared in other Marvel titles. During
the interim Magneto fought Professor X and the Defenders (Defenders #15-#16) using alien technology he created Alpha the
ultimate mutant. Alpha rebels against Magneto and reduces him to infancy.
Professor X then places the infant Magneto in the care of Moira McTaggart on
Muir Island.
When Magneto eventually
returns in the revamped Uncanny X-Men he has been restored to the physical peak
of his adult life by a Shi’ar agent posing as, ‘Erik the Red.’ Magneto escapes
his cell on Muir Island and engages the newly formed X-Men in battle. As this
was the team’s first meeting with Magneto they had not been trained for facing
him. Magneto begins by magnetically pulling apart the X-Men’s hovercraft as
they travel to the island, he dispatches each of the X-Men one by one, either
by dropping large piles of equipment on them or in the case of Banshee encasing
him in metal.
The X-Men are
soundly beaten and reluctantly retreat under the order of Cyclops. Magneto
takes a moment to enjoy his win before departing Muir Island. Unwittingly,
during the battle Magneto has freed another captive individual; Mutant X who is
later revealed as; Proteus the reality warping mutant son of Moira McTaggart.
Freeing Proteus led to the death of several people in Scotland including
Proteus own father, as well as a great deal of emotional pain for Moira McTaggart.
It is enough to assume that Magneto brings pain and destruction wherever he
goes.
2. Magneto
Triumphant! (Uncanny X-Men #112)
It seems being
reduced to an infant and being cared for on Muir Island really bothered
Magneto. So much so that he blamed the X-Men even though he created the mutant
that turned him into a child and he was battling the Defenders when it
happened. Still, super irrationality seems to be a characteristic of
super-villains.
Nevertheless, Magneto extracts his revenge on the X-Men by
initially gate crashing another villain’s scheme. In Uncanny X-Men #111 the X-Men are captured by Mesmero and are being
mind-controlled by him in a travelling circus. The Beast who was with the
Avengers at this point investigates and manages to free the X-Men but before
they can confront Mesmero, Magneto crashes the party and kidnaps the X-Men
taking them to his sub terrain Antarctic base. He defeats the X-Men one by one,
then shackles them in chairs that reduces them to the physical capabilities of
an infant. Magneto even has a robot ‘Nanny,’ who cares for the X-Men. He
describes it as their prison, relative to his own imprisonment as an infant on
Muir Island. It’s a rather elaborate plan and it is eventually foiled by the
X-Men but it shows Magneto’s mean streak.
3. The
Sinking of the Leningrad & the destruction of Varykino (Uncanny X-Men #150)
Up until Uncanny X-Men #150 Magneto’s plans as a
super-villain had been elaborate and usually involved blowing up South American
countries or building mind control devices. Uncanny
X-Men #150 marks a key change in the development of the character of
Magneto. In this particular issue Magneto’s plan is the nuclear and
conventional disarmament of the world’s nations. Magneto’s rationale is that
the politics of the Cold War is not only the biggest threat to the human race
but also Mutant-kind.
As expected
the world’s leaders do not take Magnetos demands kindly. The Russians send a
nuclear submarine; The Leningrad to attack Magneto on his island base. He uses
his magnetism to destroy the submarines controls and sink it. The vessel is a
Delta II class fleet submarine, it carries a complement of 130. There were no
survivors. In retaliation for the Russian attack, Magneto levels the soviet city
of Vary Kino, by creating volcanic eruptions in the city. He holds back long
enough to allow the city to be evacuated but not before threatening the
Russians that Moscow will be next.
Up until that
point the act of aggression against the Russian sailors marks the single most
evil act committed by Magneto. It also marks a turning point for Magneto, the
climax of issue #150 involved Kitty Pryde phasing through Magneto’s computers
(as she had previously done on Xavier’s), it has the desired effect of
scrambling Magneto’s records. Magneto turns on Kitty, but crucially he does not
kill her, in fact he has a moment of clarity stating, “In my zeal to remake the world, I have become much like those I have
always hated and despised.” This single issue denotes Magneto as a
conflicted, and perhaps, sympathetic character. In the years that followed
Magneto would grow into the role of an anti-hero and become a permanent fixture
within the X-Men series.
4.
Stealing Nazi Gold (Uncanny X-Men #161)
During Uncanny
X-Men #161 the readers are witness to the first meeting between Magneto and
Xavier in flashback form. In that issue Xavier’s lady friend Gabriel Haller is
kidnapped by Hydra because of her knowledge on the location of a stash of Nazi
Gold. Magneto and Xavier team up for the first time to rescue Gabrielle. During
the rescue mission Magneto battles the Hydra leader Baron Von Strucker; armed
with his ‘Satan Claw,’ in a cave. Magneto defeated Strucker, gave him a brief
speech about how Mutants will inherit the Earth, then he stole the gold,
promising to put it to good use and then collapsed the cave on Von Strucker.
The idea of
stealing gold from the Nazi’s seems an honourable deed in theory. However the
historical context to the Nazi’s gold casts Magneto as an even bigger thief. During
World War II the Nazi’s acquired Gold through looting assets from Austria, Czechoslovakia
and Danzig as well as expropriating gold from Belgium and the Netherlands. The most
sinister means of acquiring gold came from the concentration camps, where
property was taken from the camp victims such as wedding rings, jewellery and
gold teeth. These effects were melted down for gold bullion.
In effect
although Magneto is stealing from the Nazi’s he is really stealing from the
aforementioned countries and his own people, those who suffered with him in the
concentration camps. If Magneto feels the best use of the gold was for the
building of asteroid space stations or attacks on world nations then he
probably is a lot more deluded than first thought.
5.
Being the absentee father of Quicksilver &
Scarlet Witch (Vision & Scarlet Witch
#1-#4)
Quicksilver
and Scarlet Witch were the long suffering brother and sister who were part of
Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. During the Silver Age it had been
generally accepted that they were the children of the Golden Age heroes The
Whizzer and Miss America. During the Bronze Age their back story became all the
more convoluted.
By the 1980s
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were part of the Avengers team. Avengers #186 provided a new back story
for the siblings. They were raised by the High Evolutionary’s cow-human hybrid
servant Bova. The sibling’s real mother had sought sanctuary in the High
Evolutionary’s Wundagore base from her husband who she described as acquiring
powers and being driven mad with taking over the world. Their mother, named,
Magda fled Wundagore after giving birth. The High Evolutionary decided it was
best to place the new born twins with a couple who were already expecting a
child; the Whizzer and his wife. The Whizzer’s wife died in child birth and the
grief was too much for him to raise children so the High Evolutionary eventually
decided to place them with the nearby travelling family; the Maximoffs who had
recently lost their children.
Readers of
both The Avengers and Uncanny X-Men at this point in comics
history would have picked up on Magneto’s connection to the story as in Uncanny X-Men #125, Magneto while
recovering from a recent battle reflects on his long lost wife; Magda.
The connection
is finally officially revealed in The Vision
& Scarlet Witch #4. Magneto had been unaware that Magda had been
pregnant, but he had learned the truth from Bova upon a return to her cottage
in Wundagore. This was at a time when Magneto was entering his anti-hero phase
and was more remorseful for his past transgressions. He reveals the truth to
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as Crystal and Quicksilver present their new born
baby; Luna.
An argument could
be made on behalf of Magneto that he did not know that Magda was pregnant when
she fled. However it also highlights his own irrational behaviour that his wife
would leave him in the way she did. Furthermore the problem doesn’t lie in not
knowing Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were his children but more in the fact
that upon learning this he does not interact with them. There appears to be
very little significant stories featuring the family together. In this sense
Magneto is cast as a deadbeat father. It is perhaps less significant in the
modern era as the back story to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch has been
retconned again, and currently Magneto is not the sibling’s father after all.
So now after
round two the verdict is…
Magneto is the
biggest villain of the Bronze Age!
It hardly
comes as a surprise this round, but it was close. Xavier has highlighted yet
again that his actions are often questionable and he is capable of very dark
deeds such as murder, even if it is in self-defence.
Magneto on the
other hand is declared the biggest villain of the Bronze Age because he
murdered 130 sailors on the Leningrad submarine. It’s interesting because
Claremont explored the consequences of that particular course of action during
the ‘Trial of Magneto,’ in Uncanny X-Men #200. It could be argued
that by the end of the Bronze Age, Magneto is more of a hero than he has ever
been before, especially following his story arch in Secret Wars I, when he began questioning his human hating ways.
Readers also got to see more of his history as a heroic Nazi hunter and
liberator of the Jewish people during World War II when Kitty Pryde and him
visit the Holocaust Memorial in Uncanny
X-Men #199. However his past transgressions leading up to his epiphany were
enough to convince me that he is the greatest x-villain of the Bronze Age.
Interestingly,
we have the contest level at 1-1, so join me next time for the third and final
round; The Modern Age!
On the 17th February
2015, British Comic Book artist Brett Ewins passed away. Ewins best known for
his work on ‘Judge Dredd,’ ‘Rogue Trooper,’ and ‘Bad Company,’ in the anthology
magazine ‘2000AD,’ was only fifty nine years old when he died. He was a
respected artist within the industry as well as being a significant influence
on street artists.
