Behind the straightforward superhero battles, the early X-Men comics offer us an insistent subtext concerning manipulation.
In The X-Men 2 (Nov. 1963), Prof. Charles Xavier telepathically robs the super-villain of his powers and identity.
In The X-Men 3 (Jan. 1964), Xavier irradiates criminal carnival workers with his Electronic Mass Influencer, inducing amnesia.
Then, in The X-Men 4 (March 1964), everybody gets into the act.
When Quicksilver wants to take Scarlet Witch away from Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the mutant terrorist manipulates them into staying by reminding them that he once saved her life, which she now owes him.
When the Brotherhood attacks the republic of San Marco, Mastermind manipulates the citizenry by projecting the illusion of an invading army. These goose-stepping troops have a distinctly fascist vibe, reminding us that the men who created the story were World War II veterans.
“Humans are like sheep,” Magneto gloats. “They respond to certain stimuli — and fear is one of the most potent!”
“The cover is a knockout, with the towering villains each revealing a bit of their unique character and personality traits as they loom over the tiny X-Men figures,” observed comics historian Vincent Mariani. “But it is in the potential for later storylines that marks this book as a classic.”
At the story’s climax, Professor X leaps from his wheelchair to save the Beast from a hidden bomb and is knocked senseless. When he revives, he tells his students that he’s been robbed of his powers.
And that was a manipulation.
At the end of The X-Men 5 (May 1964), Xavier informs the team that he only pretended to be powerless so they could prove themselves.
I’m always a little surprised that the X-Men weren’t worried about being mentally controlled by Professor X early on. Being suspicious of what a powerful telepath might be up to would seem only reasonable to me. But then, after all, maybe Xavier was making sure they didn’t think about that…
Joy Christian Juyo:
ReplyDeleteKitty Pryde is right "Professor X is a jerk!"
Gene Lass:
ReplyDeleteOver and over again, Xavier proves himself to be morally ambiguous and kind of a prick. Even when he dies a bit later, the big twist at the end of the original run is that he faked his death and had Changeling take his place, with help from Jean, so he could prep for a massive alien invasion. Years later we find out he manipulated Jean's mind when she was still a child, and he fathered a child (Legion) with a woman he was treating for severe PTSD. But he does these things for the best reasons...
Mark Engblom:
ReplyDeleteFor all of Charles Xavier's self-professed benevolence, there was certainly a spooky side to him as he casually imposed his will over others, whether homo-superior or sapien, whether good, evil, or neutral on his personal moral scale. I honestly *do* think his motives were pure, but like many zealous idealists, his moral blindspots were obvious and potentially just as dangerous as the foes he battled.
I replied:
I agree. Even back then, this spooky vibe came through. I wonder if Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were consciously exploring this theme.
ReplyDeleteRon Petrocco:
That is a very interesting perspective on those issues! Good post!
Mark Engblom:
ReplyDeleteI think (Stan Lee and Jack Kirby) were (consciously aware of it). Kirby took his visual cues from film and stage, and historically anyone with weirdly angular eyebrows was either mysterious and/or not to be fully trusted. The brooding loner aspect of Xavier was also a tip off that he was set apart from his young students in more than just rank and age. I think we were meant to see there was something awry, or hurting within Xavier.. .maybe without Lee and Kirby being as fully aware of it as they might have (or really should have) been.
Andy Sheets:
ReplyDeleteI was recently reading Henry Kuttner's Baldie stories, in which the mutants are all telepathic (and hairless), and that was the central point of conflict between them and the humans with whom they were trying to coexist. You never know if a telepath is going to manipulate you, so the way they made it work was that the mutants would restrict themselves to specific types of work and refrain from various activities or positions in which their mutation would give them an advantage (e.g., they would be completely non-violent, because you can't outduel someone who already knows what you're thinking as you're thinking it).
I replied:
The same point about suspicion is made in A.E. Van Vogt's Slan, too.
Cheryl Spoehr:
ReplyDeleteAs a kid I was shocked by the end of X-Men #2. I loved the team and the concept,but this went too far. If Prof.X could do that,who was safe? X-Men vs. Avengers? Prof. X calms the Hulk and then telepathically convinces the others they should give up their heroic careers....Fantastic Four? Prof. X convinces Reed Richards it is his duty to stop using his powers and spend full time on "curing" The Thing. Sue and Johnny are told to be thankful that their leader has disbanded the team and they can be "normal people" now. You get the idea....I always felt that there should be some big time limits to telepathic powers,otherwise you fall into the kind of "reality" presented by some of the religions at the time....is that your thought or "The Devil"'s? In fact,if he had wished to,Prof .X could have created a personality cult that would take over the human world. He had already played with the thoughts of secret agencies worried about mutants....maybe it was time to manipulate the president of the whole shebang,then run for the office himself? Only time in its history that EVERY adult citizen voted for one man for the office....In an issue of Street and Smith's Unknown, Spider author Norvel Page wrote a story about an evil mutant version of Prof. X. In "Without Horns" he chronicled the futile actions of two F.B.I. agents who try to fight a mind controlling mutant eager to rule....can't help but be thankful the real Prof. X did not go that route.....