Uncanny X-Men 009 - Enter, The Avengers

January 1965

In which the X-Men rush to the aid of Professor Xavier in his battle with the evil Lucifer, and due to a creative misunderstanding end up battling Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers to save the life of their enemy.

Cover Story

Well how dramatic is that for our classic logo, yellow on black with the drop shadow in blue. It gives an unusual, somewhat mysterious and dark feel to the cover, somewhat in contrast to the art below, but definitely in keeping with the issue.

Uncanny X-Men 009 Cover
Jack Kirby, Chic Stone, Sam Rosen

Intriguingly all but one of the main characters are present here, the question is where is Wasp? We'll answer that question a little later if we can, but lets focus on who is present. We have a split cover this issue with battles going on above, and below ground.

Above, the X-Men Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl face off against the Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, Giant Man and Thor. Cyclops and Angel lead the offensive for the X-Men with Beast close behind. Iceman uses a wall of ice to defend and Marvel Girl, well she is serenely floating with not a lot to do in a ridiculous cross legged pose.

Apart from Marvel Girl the X-Men are posed brilliantly, especially considering the limited cover space they have. The Avengers on the other hand, look a little lost, hemmed in but fighting valiantly, it stands to reason that the X-Men should be the stars of the cover, but the Avengers just look a little disappointing for Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Below the fight Xavier, in his tank tread, monster truck wheelchair aims a gun at Lucifer. It's an interesting cover, guns are rare in X-Men until the arrival of the likes of Cable and Bishop in the nineties. The Xavier of the sixties however is still incredibly bitter about the loss of use of his legs; and it stands to reason that he would bear such a grudge against Lucifer.

The only downside to this scene is how static it seems, compared to the dynamic style of the scene above. At this stage the artists are clearly still unsure at how to portray a wheelchair user in the Marvel style, eventually however that will change.

Overall its a cover of two halves, artistically it doesn't hold up as well as some of the other covers, but it terms of tone and drama, it is the perfect introduction to the book. 

Enter, The Avengers

Europe Bound

Credits Written by Stan Lee Drawn by Jack Kirby Inked by Chic Stone Lettered by Sam Rosen

The X-Men are on a ship bound for Europe; Cyclops uses his optic blast to prevent a collision with an iceberg, and is so fatigued the others have to assist him.

Professor Xavier contacts the group telepathically and informs them that he has found Lucifer's lair, and intends to confront him, should he die they must take up the battle. Xavier is captured by Lucifer and in their confrontation Lucifer reveals if he is killed then the world is doomed.

Wings and Monsters

Uncanny X-Men 009 P7.3

Guided by Thor's hammer Mjolnir, the Avengers arrive in Europe on the trail of Lucifer. The group have a comedic encounter with a civilian who they urge to leave for safety. The civilian encounters the plain-clothed X-Men and tells of giants, monsters, shields and wings. Angel flies off to investigate and the terrified civilian flees.

Lucifer reveals a bomb to Xavier, attuned to his own heartbeat such that if Lucifer is harmed, the bomb will destroy the world. Lucifer hurls an ionic ray at the X-Men; Xavier sends his astral form to warn them and they scatter just in time and prepare for combat.

A V X

Xavier's astral form informs the X-Men that they must prevent the Avengers from reaching, and harming Lucifer. Cyclops tries to reason with the Avengers but Thor is determined to destroy the source evil emanations.

First Appearances Lucifer The Avengers Steve Rogers - Captain America Tony Stark - Iron Man Thor Odinson - Thor Dr. Hank Pym - Giant Man Janet van Dyne - Wasp

The X-Men and the Avengers battle, with the X-Men able to defend themselves ably against the Avengers for some time.

In Lucifer's base, Professor Xavier uses is enormous mental power and skill to incapacitate Lucifer without affecting his heartbeat.

Meanwhile the X-Men are at risk of losing the battle with the Avengers when Xavier mentally contacts Thor and explains what has been happening. The Avengers depart, leaviong the X-Men to deal with the threat of Lucifer.

Underground in Lucifer's base Professor Xavier explains the situation to the X-Men, but he has a plan to diffuse the bomb. Professor Xavier mentally assesses the bomb and it's possible impact on the Earth. Xavier gives Cyclops instructions on exactly where and how to use his optic blast to destroy the bomb.

The X-Men destroy the bomb just as Lucifer's heartbeat begins to slow, Professor Xavier releases his mental grip on Lucifer. Lucifer mourns the loss of his life's work,  but Xavier reminds him how he cost Xavier his legs; however Xavier let's him go as the X-men are pledged never to cause injury to another human being.

Mutant Evolution

Mutant	Power Evolution
Cyclops	Cyclops demonstrates the ability to adjust the position of his optic beam to a high degree of accuracy at Xavier's command.
Professor Xavier	Professor Xavier's astral form takes time to travel between places physically, and it takes error to propel the form to go faster.
Marvel Girl	Wasp covers Marvel Girl's eyes to prevent her using her telekinetic powers, however we know from a previous issue that Marvel Girl is capable of quite complex tasks using her powers with her eyes closed. So perhaps it simply takes a much greater degree of concentration to use them when blinded.

 

Where's Waspy?

The stats for this issue tell numerous stories, but perhaps the most important story is that of female super heroes, or perhaps the lack thereof. It's an issue which still persists today in the cinematic Marvel universe but one which thankfully, isn't so persistent in X-Men.

While other Marvel comics had trouble depicting its female characters as strong, powerful women in the 1960's as time went on, X-Men would pull away from the idea of the female characters standing around doing little and being pretty. Arguably the most powerful characters in X-Men are women, and it wont be all that long before Marvel Girl proves what an asset she is. There might be a long way to go on the road to equality, but X-Men definitely hits above its weight.

Lack of equality isn't the only story being told here, Angel is slowly shrinking into the background of the X-Men comics, mainly I feel because his power just isn't as dynamic as the others. So far of the five core characters he ranks fourth in terms of appearances, just above Marvel Girl.

After a couple of issues with few appearances, Xavier is back in force with the most appearances, bringing him out of the school and into combat really helps with the development of the character, and brings out his teamwork skills.

Great news on another statistic front, in such a jam packed issue Cyclops doesn't have time to brood about anything, I'm sure he will catch up.

Pin-Up Parlour - Marvel Girl

Marvel Girl Pin-Up
Uncanny X-Men 009

After Beast and Cyclops finally we get the inimitable Marvel Girl as the issue pin-up. Posed in what looks to be Xavier's school she stands in the classic dynamic Marvel pose of being ready to leap into action, which actually doing very little.

What her body isn't doing is more than made up for with what she is achieving with her mutant power. She casually levitates a photo of Charles Xavier, a vase of flowers and a trinket box from a nearby table.

Illustration of Marvel Girl
David Cooper

One interesting thing about Marvel comics physiology is very notable here, compared to regular human beings Marvel characters have longer limbs, they are also generally a whole head taller than regular human beings. This is apparent when you consider that, if Marvel Girl had her arms flat here, they would reach to mid-thigh.

I had a go at recreating this piece in watercolour over ink and the main battle I had was in not trying to make her normally proportioned, high waist and long limbs is definitely the Marvel standard, and unusual as it may look, it would look even more unusual if she were portrayed in normal proportions. 

Fan Service - The Demise of the Brotherhood

Illustration of Scarlet Witch
David Cooper

This issue's letters page has a clear and somewhat prophetic theme to it, everyone is fed up of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The one reader who wants more Magneto is answered with the brilliant editorial repose; "Stevey, according to most of our mail, if we keep 'em coming we'll emd up with the most fully developed characters around - with no readers.".

No suprise then that the days of the Brotherhood are numbered, and that we encounter far more mutants with their own agendas in the coming issues.

There's also a helpful little announcment section detailing some of the other oppinions they have recieved. Almost everyone was in favour of Cyclops being the team leader, it's hard to imagine anyone else pulling it off really. The fans also really weren't happy about Iceman no-longer wearing boots into battle, but of course he can ice-slide much better without them. 

Where Are We Anyway?

Uncanny X-Men 009 P4.1

It's hart to tell where exactly this issue is set, mainly because the even the great Stan Lee isn't sure, or maybe we should blame it on the letterer?

On page four, panel one Xavier is contacting the X-Men from Lucifer's hidden cave 'in the heart of the Balkans', the Balkans are in Eastern Europe and include countries like Romania, Albania, Greece and Macedonia.

Uncanny X-Men 009 P6,1

When we get to page six, panel one we are told the X-Men are in a 'nearby Bavarian Village' which is all well and good, but Bavaria is a region of Germany, and most definitely isn't near the Balkans by any stretch of the imagination.

The question is, were the editors just unsure of their European geography, was is just a typographical error, or is the Earth where X-Men takes place, set up just a little differently to our own humble abode.