Young Professor X battles a psychic pimp.
Originally Published January 1979
For weeks on end, Professor X has been sitting at the X-Mansion, consumed with grief over the news that the X-Men were killed in battle with Magneto. I feel for him, but also for Princess Lilandra, who has had to start mothering him, preparing his lunch and such. It's got to really be putting a damper on her vacation here on Earth, since he's like, the only person she knows here.
Me, I'm glad to be getting a glimpse of the dynamic between the two, even as Charles sulks in his study, because the whole thing of an alien princess who is in love with this man being temporarily exiled on a planet that seems strange to her seems to have a lot of potential, even just for brief sitcom asides, but we have hardly seen them at all. At least here we get her puzzling over this strange process of brewing the Earth Human Elixir known as Coff-ee.
Charles, wracked with guilt, retreats into his memory, thinks back to the beginning. Before Krakoa, before Magneto, even before Lucifer - when he was a young man, backpacking around without a care.
Many years ago, he met young Moira Mactaggart, and fell in love with her, but it was not to be: he was drafted into the Korean war, and she had to return to Scotland. Directionless after the war, and with a family fortune to spend, Xavier first visited the Greek island of Kirinos (which you'll recall is where he brought Lilandra later) and then traveled to Egypt.
There, in the streets of Cairo, Charles had a run-in with a young pickpocket who he realizes now grew up to be Storm. Shqrp memory; I can't even remember the face of the barista who served me today.
As he chased her down, he encountered a powerful psychic force. He followed it to a saloon where he met this hunk of manhood:
This pimp in the fez is Amahl Farouk, and Charles declares him to be an enemy at first sight. He runs the Thieves Quarter of Cairo and in general just has a real gross slimy Trump-esque quality about him. In his establishment, Farouk and Charles have a psychic discussion, with Amahl offering the Xavier a chance to join his organization and take advantage of its "manifold delights" (ie prostitutes.)
Charles declines, saying that Farouk has used his powers for ill and must be brought to justice swiftly. Xavier challenges his new enemy to a duel on the psychic plane.
Charles, at this point a young man who has never met another telepath, nor used his powers in any kind of conflict, is whisked away to a psychedelic battleground - that is, the final level of Super Smash Bros - where they compete in what appears, to us, as a physical contest of trippy effects and fancy samurai armour, but is actually taking place on a thousand different levels at once.
For a while, Farouk seems to be far too skilled and powerful an opponent, but somehow Charles manages to overcome his raw power and slay his enemy - a death that we are told physically only takes an instant, but lasts an eternity in the mind.
Yikes. This is your yearly reminder that, given the opportunity, Xavier will murder you.
Charles walks away, injured but victorious and determined not to let evil mutants have their way with the world, and the seeds of the X-Men were sown.
Lilandra, obviously very moved by this story, points out that there's nothing he can do about the X-Men's deaths now. She'll be returning to rule her Empire soon - why doesn't he join her as her consort? It sounds like a pretty good life for Charles, having failed at his purpose on Earth, so he agrees.
Further Thoughts:
In a brief scene at the beginning of this issue, we catch up with the X-Men on their raft, beset by intense storms at the Strait of Magellan - even Storm's powers are taxed to their limit trying to keep them manageable. They are picked up by a Japanese vessel, observing the law of the sea by picking them up, but refusing to hep them get home as they are on a secret mission. Thus, we have our premise for the next story.
The X-Men aren't the only ones headed to Japan as Jean, in an epilogue, runs into her seldom-seen roommate Misty, who is heading to a mission in Tokyo. Jean herself is also due for a vacation, but we aren't told yet where that will be.
I'm a little flippant about Lilandra's offer to bring Xavier with her to see her empire, but she does demonstrate through her thoughts and actions that she cares for him. She does seem to possess some insight into his feelings, like a Space Bird Oprah. Yes, I pointed out that her point seems to be that his mission, to train the X-Men to use their powers to thwart evil mutants was currently a failure, but it's not wrong for Lil to see that it would break his heart to try again. The offer is a pretty appealing one.
As for the Battle in the Mind that makes up the bulk of this issue, well. It's a pretty impressive sequence, and while it's great to see a visual representation of the Prof's powers, and to see his young self struggle against a powerful evil, but I think something is missing. It's a bit simple to have your character say "I was against incredible odds, it didn't look like I was going to win, but then I did." What special skill did Xavier possess? What extra power let him overcome Farouk? Was it his love for Moira? His determination not to let evil mutants rule Earth? His secret aspiration to one day bed a sexy alien bird lady? Written this way, it just seems like he happened to be the better man. Was it raw power? Does moral fibre make you better telepath, or does might make right? It's fine, it's acceptable, but it doesn't take a ton of extra effort to get that last element in there to make it a full story.
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