Featuring: X-Men
Release: August 2, 1966
Cover: October 1966
12 cents
Edited by: Stan Lee
Scripted by: Roy Thomas
Illustrated by: Werner Roth
Inked by: Dick Ayers
Lettered by: Sam Rosen
Imitated by: Brand Echh
20 pages
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Come back an’ fight, ya crummy mutant!
At some point, we are faced with the question, are all these heroes interchangeable, or are their distinctions amongst the titles, making some stories more suitable for one title than another.
There are hints here of what I think the X-Men are about. Moments.
The firefighter noting people don’t trust the X-Men because they are mutants.
Jean wondering if she can adapt to life among “homo sapiens”.
Cyclops losing his glasses and a crowd attacking him.
But battling a gem hunter resurrecting an ancient god isn’t what I think the X-Men should be about.
The problem with this type of story is it fails to show what could make the X-Men distinct. The Avengers or Fantastic Four could have faced this Mayan god without changing a beat of the story.
That the X-Men are mutants, distrusted by humans, that the X-Men are young, all early college-aged now, high-school aged when we met them. If you’re not using these aspects, are you telling a worthwhile X-Men story?
The gem-hunter El Tigre finds an ancient pendant in the fictional nation of San Rico which transforms him into the Mayan serpent god Kukulcán.
Interestingly, Kukulcán was a name that Namor’s people referred to him by in the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The X-Men were sent after El Tigre by Cerebro. Which I find odd because they also note he’s not a mutant. Does Cerebro detect other super-powered people as well? If so, it should be going off a lot in Marvel’s New York.
Tangentially/barely related, Paul McCartney came to town. Despite my many requests, he did not perform Magneto and Titanium Man. No mention of the Crimson Dynamo at all that evening.
Rating: ★★½, 49/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in X-Men Epic Collection vol. 2: Lonely are the Hunted.
Characters:
- Professor X
- Angel
- Cyclops
- Iceman
- Beast
- El Tigre/Juan Meroz/Kukulcán
- Marvel Girl
- Ted Roberts
- Ramon
- Toloc
Story notes:
- X-Men escorting Marvel Girl back to Metro College.
- Jean’s parents insisted she go to regular school; she would prefer to return to Xavier’s.
- Abercrombie Orphanage on fire.
- Angel can only carry two children at a time.
- Beast scales building while Iceman climbs ice ladder.
- Children excited to be rescued by the X-Men.
- Jean saves Iceman and children when the heat melts his ice ladder, but the strain weakens her.
- Fireman notes that people distrust the X-Men because they are mutants.
- Professor X notes new orphanage almost built to replace the burned one.
- Ted Roberts greets Jean at school and reminds her homo sapiens aren’t all bad.
- Scott and Warren both jealous of Ted.
- In Central America, EL Tigre finds hidden pyramid of Mayan god Kukulcán.
- El Tigre a gem-hunter who plans to be richest man in San Rico.
- Toloc an Indian. Both Ramon and Toloc despise El Tigre.
- Despite long journey, El Tigre makes his men dig without rest.
- Beneath a slab, they find the sacred gold of Kukulcán
- Toloc warns of a curse on the treasure, but El Tigre dismisses it.
- El Tigre has explored two continents in the search for treasures hidden by ancient tribes.
- El Tigre finds a strange ornament, half missing.
- El Tigre’s men turn on him, consider killing him, but decide to instead bind him and force him to dig the gold for them first.
- Stone gives El Tigre a sixth sense warning of danger, and it seems to make his wishes come true, a lass obeying him.
- Stone allows El Tigre to read the Mayan inscriptions, and learn the story of the Sacred Pendant of Kukulcán.
- Half of the amulet gives him mental powers. To possess the other half gives him power without limit. But also a curse.
- Cerebro warning goes off. Volume turned up to reach into Xavier’s almost soundproof lab.
- Xavier activates mechanical legs.
- Mechanical leg braces fail, but Xavier has failsafe system in place.
- Cerebro is unable to see a being clearly, perhaps because his powers are incomplete. But he’s approaching Manhattan.
- El Tigre and men come to New York in search of the other half of the amulet.
- El Tigre uses mental powers to get passenger out of cab.
- X-Men rented room in Manhattan as base for their so far fruitless search.
- Someone bumps into Scott and his eye blasts go off. Angry crowd thinks a mutant is attacking.
- Riot at night club on 29th street; customers driven to frenzy and brawling.
- X-Men see El Tigre and men in news footage from club.
- El Tigre sensed Xavier trying to probe his mind and erected a mental defense.
- X-Men follow El Tigre to city museum.
- El Tigre’s powers turn museum exhibits on the X-Men, defeating each in turn.
- A guard under El Tigre’s control takes care of Cyclops.
- Combining the halves of the pendant transforms El Tigre into Kukulcán.
| Previous | #612 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Fantastic Four Annual 4 | Reading order | X-Men #26 |
| X-Men #24 | X-Men | X-Men #26 |
This villain’s origin is also a bit too similar to that of Juggernaut.
My first thought was Donald Blake. I note that in the next post.