Uncanny X-Men Issue 004 - The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

March 1964

In which the X Men celebrate their first anniversary, Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants conquer a whole country and Charles Xavier puts his life at risk to liberate it and save his X-Men.

Cover Story

Issue four finally brings about the unique, dynamic, larger than life covers that I associate with the X-Men comics. Taking center stage is Magneto, looking every inch the majestic super villain. we know from later issues' letters pages that Magneto was popular from his first appearance so its no surprise to see him as the focus of the page. He looks genuinely threatening and of course the smaller sizes and defensive poses of the X-Men help emphasise this. 

Uncanny X-Men Issue 4 Cover
by Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman and Art Simek

Around Magneto are amassed the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, first we have Mastermind peering curiously down at the X-Men beneath him as one might observe an experiment.

Scarlet Witch also looks down on the X-Men but with more curiosity, her expression is one of confusion and perhaps contempt.

Toad is gleeful, wringing his hands with joy at having the X-Men as captives.

Finally Quicksilver is placed a little further back, he does not look at the X-Men, but at Magneto; and he does so with utter contempt. he whole dynamic of the Brotherhood is set up in this one shot.

The X-Men appear small, looking up at the master of magnetism. Iceman and Cyclops in particular have threatened postures, while Beast and Angel look ready for instructions.

Angel appears again at the top of the page alongside the classic X-Men logo which is set against an orange background. The captions are bright, bold and to the point announcing the return of Magneto and the arrival of the Brotherhood.

It is a classic cover and brilliantly composed to convey so much about the content within. The X-Men are clearly threatened and Magneto is beautifully drawn towering above them.   

The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

Happy Families

Credits Written by Stan Lee Drawn by Jack Kirby Inked by Paul Reinman Lettered by art Simek

Beast and Iceman face their trials in the Danger Room, after Iceman is caught unawares by a trap Angel mocks him. Professor Xavier presents a cake to celebrate a whole year of the X-Men being together and the team sit down together to celebrate.


At the headquarters of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are disgusted by Toad's eating habits, Mastermind makes him look like a pig but Scarlet Witch finds this even more repulsive and hexes Mastermind, he retaliates but Quicksilver steps in.

Magneto uses his magnetic powers to steal an old freighter ship and sails it back to base. Angel sees the unmanned ship and takes it for a target vessel, but back at the school Xavier realises there is something more sinister occurring.

The Invasion

At the headquarters of the Brotherhood, Toad tries to get the others into trouble for fighting. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch try to leave the Brotherhood but Magneto reminds them that Scarlet Witch owes her his life.

Days later Professor Xavier learns of the invasion of Santa Marco, realises the evil mutants are behind it and scrambles the X-Men.Professor Xavier confronts Magneto on the Astral Plane but is unwilling to abandon his conquest.

Magneto attacks Santa Marco with an illusory army created by Mastermind. He easily takes control of the country and rules with an iron fist. The X-Men arrive as 'good will' visitors from the USA, Magneto senses their arrival and bolsters his defenses,

The X-Men Attack

Beast is the first to start his assault on Magneto's stronghold but he is stopped by Toad and Mastermind. Angel defeats Quicksilver but is ultimately captured by Scarlet Witch. Cyclops attacks and Quicksilver tries to subdue him, but Cyclops' unleashed optic beam does serious damage to the building and the Brotherhood retreats.

First Appearances Mortimer Toynbee - Toad Jason Wyngarde - Mastermind Wanda Maximoff - Scarlet Witch Pietro Maximoff - Quicksilver

Iceman is next to join the battle and assists Cyclops in releasing Angel. Marvel Girl accidentally attacks the others with Beast, but the confusion is soon remedied. The X-Men flee from a wall of boiling oil, but Professor Xavier reveals it to be one of Masterminds illusions.

Fearing defeat Magneto plants two bombs,, one to destroy the X-Men and a nuclear one to destroy the island. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are disgusted. Professor Xavier is caught in the blast from the first bomb trying to protect the X-Men.

In a crisis of conscience Quicksilver returns and disarms the nuclear warhead. He tells the X-Men that while he could not allow a nation to be destroyed, his place is still with Magneto. The X-Men rally around the injured Professor Xavier and discover he has lost his mutant powers.

Mutant Evolution

Mutant	Power Evolution
Professor X	Professor X visits the Astral Plane for the first time.
Magneto	Magneto visits the Astral Plane for the first time.
Toad	Toad is able to leap like a toad.
Scarlet Witch	Just by pointing Scarlet Witch is able to cause bad luck to befall someone, she is able to control how bad the luck is.
Quicksilver	Quicksilver demonstrates the ability to move at incredible speeds.
Mastermind	Mastermind demonstrates the ability to create illusions that the people around them perceive as real.  Professor Xavier demonstrates some level of immunity.

 

Costume Change

Illustration of Quicksilver
and Scarlet Witch

Returning to the front cover of the issue, it is interesting to note how the costume colours of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants have been changed to aid the composition of the cover. Take Mastermind, who on the cover is portrayed as wearing a green overcoat, while within the pages of the comic his coat is brown.

Toad's costume within the comic is a jester-like blue and yellow one-piece while on the front cover he is relegated to a puce pullover.

Scarlet Witch perhaps has the most unusual and dramatic costume change, as her whole ensemble is rendered in Green instead of her trademark red and pink. Quicksilver too has had a major change with his green overalls becoming blue.

So, is there some major costume conspiracy going on in the covers of our favourite comic-book. The truth is actually a lot simpler. In order to provide some contrast and visual interest, Magneto was kept as the only member in regal red; and with Scarlet Witch now in green Quicksilver needed to change too.

What's In A Name

Beast finally has his first name confirmed as Henry in this issue on page thirteen! That leaves Robert Drake and Charles Xavier with their first names not confirmed. Wanda and Pietro Maximoff both have their first names confirmed in this issue, but not Toad or Mastermind.

We will be waiting some considerable time for the name of Magneto to be confirmed, Although he goes by Erik Lenscherr for some considerable time in the books, eventually his name will be confirmed as Max Eisehardt.

Rival Teams

The first act of this issue offers some interesting comparisons between the X-Men and the Brotherhood.

Just as Angel embarrasses Iceman in the early panels, Mastermind does the same to Toad just a couple of pages later. While Jean is often on the end of romantic intrusions from Angel, Scarlet Witch receives the same unwanted attention from the arrogant Mastermind.

Interestingly while Quicksilver is quick to defend his sister physically Cyclops has thus far only internalised his anger about the way Angel treats Jean.

The X-Men obey Xavier without question and truly believe in his assertion that humans and mutants can coexist peacefully together. Magneto on the other hand rules through fear; Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch both have their doubts about Magneto's superiority and the Brotherhood bicker and clash only when Magnetos back is turned.

As the two teams develop it will be interesting to see how their dynamics change.