Dr. K's Waiting Room

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To commemorate the culmination of their long-running and successful X-Men movies, 20^th Century Fox declared May 13^th as “X-Men Day” to celebrate Marvel’s iconic collection of ostracised superhumans.

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Story Title: “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!”
Published: 3 January 1964 (cover-dated: March 1964)
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

The Background:
By 1963, Marvel Comics were hitting their stride thanks to characters like the Fantastic Four, Tony Stark/Iron Man, and, of course, Peter Parker/Spider-Man. To further capitalise on this momentum, Stan Lee dreamed up the idea of “Mutants” to quickly explain away an influx of new costumed superbeings. Working with long-time collaborator Jack Kirby, Lee expanded this concept into the X-Men, misfit teenagers who were hated and feared for their powers, to tackle social issues like racism. Although The X-Men was cancelled with issue sixty-six and wouldn’t return to prominence until a 1975 revival, the X-Men are now an established cornerstone of Marvel Comics and have influenced generations with a much-lauded animated series and massively successful live-action movies. It was in the pages of The X-Men that readers met some of Marvel’s most memorable heroes and villains, most notably the evil counterparts to the superhero team, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this oddball team of dark counterparts and ne’er-do-wells have dogged the Mutant team for decades, often serving as the henchman for the team’s most persistent villain, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr/Magneto, and changing their roster almost as often as the X-Men. Despite their corny name, the Brotherhood led to the introduction of such iconic characters as Raven Darkhölme/Mystique and future Avengers Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Outside of the comics, thee Brotherhood has prominently featured in numerous Marvel and X-Men videogames, usually as underlings and boss battles, were a regular fixture of the X-Men’s various animated adaptations, and served as largely underutilised henchmen in their live-action appearances to give the Mutant heroes someone to punch.

The Review:
As was the style at the time, “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!” begins with Professor Charles Xavier/Professor X putting his Mutant students, the X-Men, through their paces in the Danger Room, a training area specifically designed to hone their unique superhuman abilities and improve their teamwork out in the field. In this instance, the other X-Men – leader Scott “Slim” Summers/Cyclops, Warren Worthington III/Angel, Bobby Drake/Iceman, and Jean Grey/Marvel Girl – are watching with anticipation as their friend and colleague, Henry “Hank” McCoy/The Beast, puts his uncanny agility to the test, dodging missiles, maces, and falling discs. His hopes of beating his best time are dashed, however, when a seemingly innocuous rope turns out to be nothing but paper, dunking him in water and teaching him a valuable lesson to think twice before acting, no matter his confidence. Next, young upstart Iceman takes up the challenge, eager to show off his ice slide ability and immediately paying for his grandstanding when metal weights and a red-hot cauldron threaten to melt his snowy form. Thinking fast, Iceman pole vaults to safety on a makeshift ice pole and even sends the Beast’s heavy weight back at him with an ice slide, only to be humbled by a blast of steam that melts his ice. To make matters worse, Angel then hangs Iceman from an overhead pole by his pants. This proves a suitable test of Marvel Girl’s telekinetic abilities as she easily lowers Bobby to the floor and impresses further by…taking the lid off a box…before Professor X and the other X-Men surprise her with a birthday cake.

While the X-Men enjoy their sweet treat, another group of Mutants struggles to co-exist over their own table of food, primarily because of the uncouth manners of the diminutive Mortimer Toynbee/Toad. Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver admonishes Toad’s obnoxious table manners, though he’s cooled from taking physical action by his alluring sister, Wanda/The Scarlet Witch. Jason Wyngarde/Mastermind isn’t so easily subdued, however, and uses his power to cast hypnotic illusions to turn Toad into the pig he eats like, disgusting the Scarlet Witch almost as much as Toad’s repulsive eating habits. The Scarlet Witch’s “spunk” amuses the leering Mastermind, who has aspirations to make her his bride, but he’s kept from driving Wanda mad with his powers by the timely, super-fast intervention of her brother. Their bickering begrudgingly cools when Toad mentions their mysterious leader, a man whose mere mention is powerful enough for them to cease their petty squabbles. The story shifts focus to the office of a large shipping line where Magneto, Master of Magnetism and hated enemy of both the X-Men and humanity, commandeers an ex-convoy freighter using his awesome control of all things metal and magnetic. He guides the ship to an uncharted island and meets with the group, to whom he is obviously their leader, and immediately reprimands Mastermind when Toad tells of his antagonistic ways. When Quicksilver defies Magneto and threatens to leave with his sister, he’s convinced to stay since they owe him a debt after he rescued them from the witch-hunters of their home village. Though Quicksilver isn’t sold on Magneto’s plans to conquer Homo sapiens, neither he or Wanda have love for humankind and agree to follow along for now.

As fate would have it, Angel happens to spot the freighter while out on patrol. Though he assumes it’s simply an unmanned ship, Professor X senses something unnerving about Angel’s tale. His worries prove to be accurate when the ship attacks the small nation of Santo Marco, which Charles immediately assumes to be the work of “The Evil Mutants”. After summoning the X-Men to his office, Professor X confronts Magneto on a “mental plane” (quite how Magneto can do this is beyond me) where each tries, and fails, to sway the other to their cause. However, when it becomes clear that Magneto will never give up his desire to destroy humankind, Professor X prepares his students to face their old enemy once more. As if Magneto’s freighter wasn’t bad enough, Mastermind uses his powers to force the people’s surrender by conjuring images of an invading army, a tactic Toad relishes but which causes the Scarlet Witch some concern. In time, Magneto establishes a real army, enforcing martial law throughout Santo Marco and punishing any dissension swiftly and harshly. Sensing the arrival of the X-Men, Magneto places his forces on high alert, though they’re easily toppled by the uncanny youngsters. Although Toad strikes a blow against the Beast, he’s forced to flee when Hank tosses rocks at him, causing Mastermind to step in and send the Beast plummeting by making him believe the castle walls have turned to glass. Elsewhere, despite the guard’s firepower and Quicksilver’s incredible speed, Angel knocks out the speedy Maximoff and suffers the wrath of his sister, who casts a “hex” that buries Angel under the ceiling and leaves him their prisoner.

Cyclops takes the direct approach, confronting Magneto with his optic blasts and unintentionally causing a massive electrical feedback to blast through the castle when Quicksilver sends his aim awry. Luckily, Cyclops blasts the generator from the castle and frees Angel, but the effort causes him to black out, so Iceman revives him with some snow to the face. After a brief misunderstanding from the unnerved Marvel Girl, the X-Men regroup just in time to face a wall of boiling oil! Professor X then comes rolling through the flames, dispelling Mastermind’s illusion and confronting Magneto, unaware that he’s rigged two bombs – one a nuclear bomb, if you can believe it! – to destroy the castle, the nation, and his enemies. This act gives Quicksilver pause due to the massive and unnecessary waste of life it’ll cause. When the Beast refuses to heed Professor X’s warnings and dives head-first for the first door, Professor X ushes to shield him from the blast, somehow being left unconscious and dazed but otherwise in one piece (I guess he used his mental powers to shield himself?) With the X-Men in hot pursuit, Magneto activates the nuke and makes his getaway, but Quicksilver has a last second change of heart and deactivates the bomb, sparing the innocent lives but fleeing alongside his comrades. Although Cyclops is eager to pursue, he’s held back when the other X-Men discover that Professor X has been critically injured by the blast. Somehow, the explosion “deadened” his mental powers, robbing him of his “greatest weapon” and leaving him despondent, though Cyclops is no less determined to make him proud the next time Magneto and his cohorts strike.

The Summary:
Well, this was a bit of a mixed bag for me. While the artwork and general storytelling has improved since I reviewed the first appearance of the X-Men, things are still very uneven and rushed at times. “The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!” fails to make the best use of its pages by wasting so much time in the early going establishing the X-Men’s powers and personalities, something that could easily be cut down or reworked to be showcased in their battles against their evil counterparts. On the plus side, Professor X didn’t come across as such a dick this time, though he’s still a strict taskmaster. However, Marvel Girl was basically useless and did nothing in the fight against the Brotherhood. As for the other X-Men, I guess it’s the Beast who takes some of the spotlight here. He’s taught a lesson in the first few pages that, strangely, he doesn’t learn from, resulting in Professor X’s condition by the finale, which seems like the opposite of what you’d want from a character arc. Angel is a grandstanding, lewd douchebag who eventually gets humbled when he’s captured by the Scarlet Witch, at least. However, there are no consequences to Iceman’s childish antics except him getting caught off-guard here and there and Cyclops simply bursts in all eyes blazing with little effectiveness.

The so-called “Evil Mutants” are a bunch of backstabbing, squabbling egos who can barely get on the same page, openly detesting each other and only stomaching the alliance because of their hatred for humanity and fear of Magneto. Toad is the snivelling, loyal underling who’ll do anything to impress his master; Mastermind is the arrogant blowhard whose powers of illusion make him feel superior to his allies; and Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are semi-reluctant followers who join Magneto’s cause to repay a debt but are primarily loyal to each other rather than fully subscribing to his plot of mass genocide. On paper, the idea of pitting the X-Men against a group of morally corrupt evildoers is a good one but the execution feels lacking. The Brotherhood fight amongst themselves more than the X-Men, and I would’ve liked to see more time devoted to them matching their powers against each other. We caught glimpses of this, but we never got to see Marvel Girl pit her telekinesis against the Scarlet Witch’s Hex power, or Cyclops battle Mastermind, or even Professor X confront Magneto. As for the Master of Magnetism, he comes off as a fairly formidable threat, especially with the extra muscle behind him, yet chooses to limit his campaign to one tiny nation no one really cares about. His desire to eradicate anyone inferior to him, Mutants or otherwise, sees him belittle his allies, despite how reliant on them he is for his evil scheme, but again I think I would’ve liked more time spent portraying him as a dark mirror of Professor X rather than just a posturing despot. Ultimately, this was a decent enough read, with some fun Mutant-on-Mutant action at the end, but with a lot of flaws and holes that made it largely forgettable save for the tinges of grey to the Maximoffs, the strange and I guess impactful ending, and for being the first appearance of the Brotherhood.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

What did you think to the debut of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants? Do you also find their name ridiculous and redundant? Which of the group was the most appealing to you and why? Do you agree that the story needed to do more with the concept or were you happy with the conflict depicted? What did you think to the sliver of compassion shown in the Maximoffs and which version of the Brotherhood is your favourite? Which stories involving the Brotherhood are your favourites and how are to celebrating X-Men Day today? Whatever your thoughts on the X-Men and the Brotherhood, drop them in the comments and go check out my other X-Men related content across the site.