UNCANNY X-MEN #46: The End of the X-Men!

The X-Men end and Juggernaut returns and these two facts are actually unrelated!

Originally published July 1968

Following their affair with Magneto, the X-Men have a moment at last to mourn their late mentor, but real life once again intervenes as the X-Men are quickly called into a meeting with Professor X's lawyer Foggy Nelson (who works with Matt Murdock, AKA Daredevil) for a will-reading. Xavier's will stipulates that the school is to remain open under the care of the five students, which I think might be a problem for accreditation, although it could end up in a scenario not unlike the 2006 docudrama Accepted.

I should actually note that there is no indication that the school is going to continue to function, just that it's bieng bequeathed, and whatever happens happens... but presumably Xavier is expecting the eventual arrival of young mutants who might want to learn to use their powers.

The X-Men are also visited by FBI Agent Amos "Fred" Duncan, last seen (by us) being mentally paralyzed into submission by Professor Xavier in the backup story telling Cyclops' origin.

They had a really special working relationship.

Before Duncan can say his piece, the X-Men are alarmed at a sudden presence in Xavier's secret sub-basement. The Juggernaut has been zapped back to our plane of existence from the Crimson Cosmos where he was imprisoned to float aimlessly in a void in his last appearance - and he's a little miffed!

The implication here is that Professor X had set up this machine to bring Juggernaur back at some predetermined time because he was still dedicated to the cause of reforming him, being that they are each other's only living family. It's a little strange that Xavier didn't change his plans since he knew that he was going to die soon, but I guess the guy had a lot on his plate. At the very least he could have provided a head's up. I can't believe when I was a kid I liked Professor Xavier as a character.

Back on terra firma, Juggy intends on doing a little bit of the ole' wanton murder on Profesor X, and his first act is to destroy the machine he believes brought him back to Earth on the not-unreasonable assumption that it could be used to re-imprison him. He is even more put out to find out from the X-Men that his stepbrother is supposedly dead, and is awash in anger and disbelief at this news.

The X-Men do their best to contend with the Unstoppable One, but to no avail. As usual, their powers are only enough to slow him down but they can't put him away entirely.

Agent Duncan joins the fray but is dismissed with prejudice.

Juggernaut also demonstrates a new ability that is so amazing it is never seen agian because it owuld make him far too much better than any other villain ever. Namely, the ability to do whatever this is:

When Jugs first appeared, they established his impenetrable force-field that actually repelled attacks, but I think they downplayed it later due to similarity to Unus the Untouchable (as a rule, I prefer it when characters don't steal each other's Whole Thing.) However, here it has been overcharged to the mighty unstoppable globules and I like this so much especially since he isn't holding out his hands to zap the X-Men or anything, he just has these dangerous deadly globules emanating from his torso.

At long last, the moment I've been waiting four issues for, Jean remembers she has Professor X's psychic powers. Now, our detail-oriented readers will remember that Juggernaut's first appearance also established that his helmet protected him from psychic attacks, but, well, this will show you for reading too closely:

But at least the writers remembered she could do that. I also like how nobody explained to Juggernaut that this was Jean's power now and he assumes - understandably - that Professor X is still around and doing this to him.

Either way, it's a motto point because just as the X-Men are turning the tide, for some reaosn this happens:

And Juggernaut just blips right back out of existence.

Okay. So apparently, Professor Xavier's Juggernaut-retrieval-machine (not my favourite Cult song) operated on a timer. You would think this timer would be affected by Juggernaut destroying said machine - either he would be sent pack immediately or he wouldn't be sent back at all. But whatever, it's done, it's over, let's move on.

One person who is very ready to move on is Agent Duncan who downplays being defenestrated by the Juggernaut in the most incredible way possible.

Incredible.That FBI training must be intense.

Anyway, with the Juggernaut safely stowed away until he randomly returns again, Duncan is finally able to get down to brass tacks and deliver his news: the X-Men are being disbanded! Or rather, "split up."
 
I guess because he is Xavier's government contact he has the authority to do this, but essentially what he's talking about is a top-down restructuring of the organization, so they will function as solo operatives - for the time being they are to leave Westchester and await further instructions for their individual assignments. The reason given is that it's "too dangerous" for them to remain in the same place.

Reluctantly, the X-Men comply, and we are left on an ambiguous note as the lot of them contemplate their uncertain future. To be continued!

Further Thoughts:

There's a lot to unpack here, so let's do our best with it.


So the X-Men are splitting up. In-story, the rationale is pretty flimsy but let's not worry about that yet. Also in-story, we were just told moments earlier that the X-Men were to take control of the school, but obviously that isn't happening.

I think by this point, the idea was to freshen the X-Men up. For the past few weeks we've been seeing this strange trend of cover-design that downplays the book's logo and instead hypes an individual facet of the issue. I actually think this is a really interesting idea, but the fact that it didn't catch on indicates it didn't work. It also kind of requires every issue to have something really special about it. This is all well and good when you can promise "THE DEATH OF PROFESSOR X!" or "THE END OF THE X-MEN!" but maybe less so when your selling point is "ANGEL IS IN THIS ONE!"

That said, this potential new direction plays into that, and despit enot liking how we get there, I actually saw some potential in this premise: a "team book" where the whole team doesn't always, or even usually, appear sounds weirdly cool to me, maybe ahead of its time. Spoiler alert: That doesn't last long either, and we'll talk about the results as they develop.

Getting a bit ahead of myself, Chris Claremont actually takes this exact approach on and off strarting midway through his run... about 15 years later. We'll get to that, too. (I promise.)

As far as the actual story goes, well, despite wha tthe cover implies Juggernaut is not directly responsible for the end of the X-Men, but it makes for a more dynamic cover than depicting Agent Duncan ripping the team up. This is only marginally more misleading than an average comic cover, so whatever.

So far, Juggernaut has actually been in my top tier of X-Men villains, but this is his most disappointing outing. For the most part his gimmick of being physically unstoppable has been well-established and protected, to where they have needed outside help to beat him (Human Torch, Dr. Strange.) Even more surprisingly, both of his appearances have been credible victories for the heroes.

Here, he shows up for reasons I already tore apart, and disappears just as abruptly, with the X-Men not coming off particularly well in the fight. It's disappointing, but I guess Juggernaut has more marquee value than if the Blob and Unus showed up on the X-Mansion Doorstep looking for a fight.