Magneto most certainly does not triumph in the X-Men's first adventure worthy of Camus.
X-traordinary Script by: Stan Lee
X-travagant Art by: Jack Kirby
X-ceptional Inking by: Chic Stone
X-emplory Lettering by: Artie Simek
Originally Published May 1965
The X-Men get word that Magneto has summoned, somehow, a mysterious and super-powerful ally, and they decide to investigate. When we meet this Stranger he has done a very strange thing indeed... rented a room from an old lady. And he looks like Mark Twain with a hipster mustache.
The Stranger walks around the city a while, hovering above an awestruck crowd and walking through walls, until he is drawn to Magneto and the Brotherhood, who have recently gone from having their own island to renting office space in Midtown Manhattan. Magneto bids the Stranger to join his group, demonstrating his magnetic powers and having Mastermind show off his illusions. Unfortunately, this Stranger does not like being toyed with and retaliates by turning Mastermind into stone.
Angel, Beast and Iceman show up for a fight, and as the Maximoffs grapple with the X-Men, the Stranger literally just stands around without a care, eventually making his exit with Magneto and Toad in tow. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, feeling like they've repaid their debt to Magneto plenty, decide to quit the whole "evil mutant" scene and go home.
Elsewhere, the Stranger and Magneto discuss who will be joining whom.
The Stranger reveals the fuller extent of his power by subduing the villain pretty handily, encasing Magneto and his lackey in a cocoon of white goop. The X-Men, examining the petrified remains of Mastermind (still alive, since people didn't die in 60's comics, which somehow seems more horrifying) realize they are dealing with a seriously powerful extraterrestrial being and go to see him - although I'm not entirely sure what their endgame is there.
When they find the Stranger, he explains he is indeed from another world, collecting mutated specimens, and has decided to take Magneto and Toad home with him, much like the class guinea pig - where they will likely die, much like the class guinea pig.
And so, the X-Men return home, satisfied that their greatest foe has been punked out in minutes by an alien science wizard god.
Further Thoughts:
There is something genuinely absurdist about this story. After all, what good is the greatest superpower on Earth if someone can come from the stars and overwhelm you with hardly a thought? Does the battle between good and evil have any true meaning beyond might-makes-right? Should the universe care a whit for our petty squabbles and prejudices? Are we more than ants in the grand scheme of things?
I don't know how deeply I'm meant to read into this story where the X-Men go up against an insanely-powerful figure they can't even begin to reckon with, who beats their archnemesis for them and flies back to his home planet - but I did enjoy it because it's freaking weird. It's very likely a throwback to one of those old monster/alien-invasion Twilight Zone anthology stories Stan and Jack were creating before the Fantastic Four ever hit the shelves, and it does a lot to recommend the Marvel Superhero comics that something so out-of-nowhere could come in and disrupt the whole good vs. evil dynamic. I'm only a bit sad knowing that the Stranger did end up occasionally re-appearing in Marvel Comics instead of being this mysterious one-off figure who came in, did his business without a care for us mere mortals, and disappeared never to be explained.
The status quo has now been sufficiently altered - there is no more Brotherhood of Mutants, evil or otherwise - after five battles in 11 issues, it's hard to believe (but probably for the best) the X-Men will have to look elsewhere for their foes. At least we have a few iconic (and some not-so-much iconic) characters lurking just around the corner. In fact, this issue ends with an alert of a new threat approaching the X-Mansion...
SHALL NEVER RETURN.
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