UNCANNY X-MEN #309: ...When the Tigers Come at Night!

Xavier in X-amination!

Originally Published February 1994

We begin with a cold open... of sorts...

...as Charles, in this undeniably rad-as-hell chiaroscuro form, is re-living his misadventure in X-Men Unlimited #1, wherein he was stranded alone in an Antarctic wasteland, only to be taken in by a mysterious benefactor and returned to his X-Men. As he relates the story to an initially unseen party, he has no choice but to conclude that the man who saved his life was none other than Erik Magnus Lehnsherr -- aka Magneto, the very same one whom Xavier had recent put out of commission by wiping his entire psyche clean as a sheet.

But if you think Magneto is completely off the table, wait until you find out who Charles is talking to...

Charles is as surprised to Magneto as we are, of course, but there's at least a rational explanation for the master of magnetism's reappearance: it's a dream. A lucid one, but still, just a dream. In the recesses of his subconscious, Charles is trying to come to terms with the guilt -- or at any rate rationalize -- his behavior towards his onetime friend and longtime foe. He notes that Magnus was gifted with a godlike power, and he abused it. Dream!Magnus asks whether Charles has ever "abused" his power in any way. Charles responds with a flat-out no. 

That's obviously a lie, but anyway.

Magnus, playing the part of psychiatrist, probes a little further. Have there been any life developments that may have upset Charles and triggered some sense of loss?

Yes, it does seem Charles is harboring some kind of resentment toward his former students for their romantic success. What, Magneto wonders, could be at the root of this? They go back to Charles' childhood, watching as Sharon Xavier is abused by Charles' stepfather Kurt Marko, with the young Charles unable to do anything to help.

Next, they tour Charles' romantic history: beginning with his wildly inappropriate and unethical relationship with Gabrielle Haller, which ended virtually the moment she stopped needing him. Next was Moira, which is portrayed as, despite Charles' insistence to the contrary, a one-sided infatuation and a total misreading of the situation. Moira married another man instead (and we know how that went) and let Charles down coldly via letter (as ghosting had not yet been invented.) 

Thank U, Next

Charles rebuts that he had a very successful long-term on-again-off-again situationship with the Empress of an intergalactic empire, but Magneto notes that her inaccessibility makes her somewhat the ideal partner for Charles, who is, to put it mildly, not great with people.

And then there's... her.

Charles met Amelia Vogt in India, at the hospital where he was air-lifted after having his legs crushed by Lucifer. She was young, charming, and basically throwing herself at him, whether due to some kind of genuine attraction, or a Florence Nightingale effect, or due to the fact that he was the only other American in the place.

She finds herself utterly enthralled by this psychologically broken and emotionally unavailable man, until one night...

Amelia stumbled upon Charles' plan for Cerebro, a device to locate Homo Sapiens Superiors, and assumes that it is for nefarious purposes, and that those ill intentions are what brought Charles to her. It's all a ha-ha-larious misunderstanding as Charles had no idea Amelia was a mutant at all and he has somewhat more personal (and at least somewhat benevolent) reasons for studying up on mutations, as he demonstrates his own power.

From then on they became something of a mutant "It" couple as Charles completed his studies at Columbia and they set about compiling profiles of mutants likely to associate with them. As it turns out, Amelia doesn't really approve of what she senses is a burgeoning arms race between Charles and Magnus as to who can amass the biggest army, finally calling it quits on the night young Scott Summers first arrives at the mansion.

Incidentally, that means this conversation happens just hours after Charles has effectively murdered a guy.

In Charles' first runthrough of the memory, Amelia tells him off and walks out, declaring her intention to keep a low profile as she thinks all mutants should do, but Erik nudges him to go a little deeper.

In a replay, Charles fires back, that a conflict is coming whether he wants it or not, and it is unconscionable to simply watch idly by as Magneto consolidates his power with the intent to unleash havoc on the homo sapiens world and not act in response. She remains unconvinced and goes.

But on the third go-round, it turns out there was one important detail Charles had omitted.

In a "passing madness," Charles mind-blasts Amelia in a last ditch effort to force her to stay, the equivalent of a physical slap combined with psychological gaslighting. Ultimately, the gesture does nothing but leave Ames with a sour taste in her mouth as she leaves, but Charles, who was fighting a losing battle anyway, basically confirmed to Amelia that he couldn't be trusted with his phenomenal power any more than Magneto could.

Oh, and she leaves him with a richly-deserved parting gift

Today, Charles reflects on it as a moment that made him no better than his stepfather, and is contrary to everything he was working toward. But what separates his abuse of power from Magnus' is that he feels remorse. Erik says, in effect, "d-doy," and affirms that Charles is a good guy after all -- which, let's not go nuts. This may have contributed to Charles closing himself off from others in order to dedicate himself to the cause. Dream!Erik points out that it remains possible for him to have his dream of mutant freedom and a personal life, and that his belief otherwise has manifested in some pretty open resentment of Scott and Jean.

Charles awakens -- having been snoozing upright in an easy chair -- to find Jean helping him with a blanket. Having a moment of clarity, he apologizes for letting her down, and she admits that she does understand about taking Sabretooth in, and that in the big picture, Charles has been a positive force in her life and the lives of all the X-Men. He concludes by offering his blessing and his wish that Scott and Jean love each other, because in the big picture, that's what it's all about.

Further Thoughts:

For content, but more importantly for style, this is one of the most impressive issues of Uncanny X-Men I've read -- and in that I mean for the entire 30-year run to date. I make no secret of the fact that I am a huge proponent of John Romita Jr's clean, linear style, and I think it's deployed to great effect in the dreamlike sequences of Charles and mental-Magneto bantering, along with those moody, heavy inks from Green and Holdredge and perfectly executed colors by Buccellatto. All of that enhances a story where we get an intimate look at an inherently distant figure in Charles Xavier.

We've long made light of the fact that Professor Xavier is, famously, a jerk. His actions in this issue wouldn't be the first or worst abuse of his mind-boggling power in the pages of X-Men comics: you'll recall way back in issue #2 he famously wiped Vanisher's mind to keep him from succeeding at his crimes. But that was portrayed as heroic and unproblematic, and not a reason for all the X-Men to keep looking over their shoulders at their mentor at all times. Xavier's powers have always carried with them the potential for abuse and corruption, but it's only now that we are examining that, in the wake of his actions against Magneto. Lobdell lets the ostensibly benevolent mentor of the X-Men do something that we are supposed to interpret as sketchy, albeit far in the past and depicted as something he's been remorseful for ever since. 

As much as I find the current X-Men writers' fixation on the early days of the X-Men trying, it makes sense that Lobdell conjures up a new secret history for Xavier (even though his past is already pretty crowded, as we acknowledge by referencing Gabrielle and Moira and Charles' other wanderings) and a newly-revealed flashpoint to examine Charles' negative potential, rather than re-examining a pre-existing one like the Vanisher. That gives Lobdell a chance to set the terms rather than re-contextualizing what has already been written, which is what often happens in comics.

Lobdell has clearly been interested through his tenure so far in foregrounding Xavier, not as a saint but also not as a totally shady dealer or an unfair martinet. I think he likes having Xavier on stage more than Claremont did and has a lot of interest in the psychology behind a man who does what he does and has been through what he has, and what having his power would mean for him. This issue goes a long way toward bearing that out as Lobdell's Charles proves a complicated, frustrated and haunted man, who wants good, noble things and also wants not to succumb to the same temptations that claimed his enemies and former friends. this issue is a strong execution of an intriguing idea and feels like Lobdell's interpretation of Uncanny has kicked into a new gear.