Under the ominous threat of the Juggernaut, Professor X decides now is an appropriate time to share his life story.
Stupifying Story By: Stan Lee
Spectacular Layouts By: Jack Kirby
Slam-Bang Pencilling By: Alex Toth
Sensational Inking By: Vince Colletta
The Usual Lettering By: Sam Rosen
Kibitzing By: The Whole Blamed Bullpen!
Originally Published July 1965
Immediately following last issue, the X-Men's mansion base is under attack by a mysterious new force, which the Professor X suspects to be a specific menace from his past, something far more incredible and fearsome than Magneto. The X-Kids set about fortifying the mansion with extra defenses.
Now, inside the mansion is a literal room made of death-traps that they use for training. Shouldn't they be able to come up with something better than logs and a wall of ice? Oh well, if it's good enough to fend off the White Walkers...
Once their task is done, they hunker down and Professor X explains that the man attacking the mansion is none other than his own brother.
Well, stepbrother.
Xavier goes into further detail - perhaps to an unnecessary degree - explaining that his father perished in a nuclear test at Alamagordo, and his research partner Dr. Kurt Marko ended up marrying his widowed mother. Charles resented this, feeling not without reason that Marko was just after Brian Xavier's fortune. And it only gets worse once they are joined by Marko's delinquent son Cain, who already looks like a 40-something-year-old cigar chomping Biff Tannen-type as a teen, came to live with the three, creating a classic evil stepbrother dynamic. Or at least an obnoxious one.
Before long, Xavier's mother passes as well, solidifying the Evil Stepsibling relationship between Xavier and Cain. When Charles confronts Marko about how he profited off the deaths of both of his parents, Cain lashes out in his father's defense and causes a chemical explosion in Marko's lab that kills his father, whose last act is to carry both his son and stepson to safety and admit that while he didn't kill Brian Xavier, he also didn't save him, and he's pretty sorry about that.. And thus, Cain and Charles have lost no fewer than three parents between them in the span of about a year (and we are never told exactly what happened to Cain's mom.)
The X-Men watch from a distance as the Juggernaut lumbers slowly toward them, showing contempt for their laughable attempts to fend him off (I would,) but Charles continues his story, recalling how as he grew up, his mental abilities helped him excel in school, as well as in sports. Charles' impressive trophy case infuriates Cain, leading to further acrimony.
Finally, the two wind up in the same regiment in Korea, where Cain deserts and finds his way into the magic temple of Cyttorak, where he is cursed(?) to become a human Juggernaut, only to be buried in a cave-in, not to emerge until the mid-60's, eager for revenge on his stepbrother, who left him for dead much as his father did to Brian Xavier many years earlier. Full circle?
The issue ends with Juggernaut arriving and coming face to face with Xavier at last.
Further Thoughts:
This is actually a very impressive issue, with the gradual approach of the Juggernaut punctuating the story of his and Xavier's origin. The origin itself is very soap operatic in nature - dead parents, betrayal, magic gemstones. Although it's somewhat irregular: lots of superheroes lose one or two parents. But how many superhero origins feature a triple parental death??
In one scene, Cain attempts to drive Xavier off a cliff. This has been speculated to be Jack Kirby's intended origin for Professor X's paralysis - rather than, as earlier established, at the hands of Lucifer under unknown circumstances. In the end, that bit is just a confusing diversion - if Xavier is already handicapped, he's not the other soldier in Korea, and the scene is better if he is. So it's a little lumpy in that regard (I wonder if there were production difficulties that led to that "Kibitzing" reference in the credits.) but this is otherwise a satisfying and artful way to approach a story.
I would also have to say that the Professor being The Best at Everything as a teen thanks to his unfair advantages and incurring jealousy from his underachiever stepbrother doesn't put Charles in the best light, and it's pretty much only mitigated by the fact that Cain is shown to be more obnoxious and all around worse right from the get-go that you don't feel bad for this poor orphan kid whose stepbrother can't stop rubbing his nose in his success.
TBH, it's hard to see how being psychic helps you run better but whatever you say, Chuck.
The framework serves to draw extra attention to the threat of the Juggernaut, the dread instilled in the X-Men at his gradual approach, the high stakes and personal vendetta against the Prof, and his unstoppable nature. I like also that the most powerful telepath on Earth would have a brother who was the most physically powerful on Earth. Whether or not this threat lives up to the hype, we'll have to see next time...
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