I always knew I'd use this page for retro reviews some day; I just wasn't sure which comic I would be reviewing first. Retro, to me, can be from many decades ago; or five years ago. Anything that's half a decade old or more I consider to be "old" enough.
I was browsing through my monolithic collection of comics and found myself at a loss. Should I do a Deadpool 101? Should I do a Silver Surfer 101? I wasn't sure whether to do a retro review on an actual comic, comic series or a character 101.
The decision I came to hit me while I was in Comicana; a nifty little comics store that specialises in back issues and older comics. Sitting in a sleeve on the wall was the comic I had been eye-ing for a while now. It wasn't in great condition, which bothered me considering I had paid £33 for it. The letters page is the only thing missing, and the pages themselves are readable. All things considered, I considered it a fair enough purchase.
Upon reading it again (My friend owns it; I've never owned it myself) I decided that this would make quite a neat review to do. It's not going to take long, but it involves a fairly central character in Marvel lore and happens to be a very good read.
So, without further ado I present to you;
X-Men #12.
You may be asking yourself: "What is so special about issue #12 of X-Men, Sir Mast?". It's special because not only is this issue - all the way from July, 1965 - the first appearance and origin of the infamous Juggernaut, but it's also the origin of Professor X.
The issue opens with the X-Men running to the war room to find a distraught Professor X trying to turn off Cerebro's alarms. Upon asking what has him so spooked, Professor X tells his X-Men that they are about to face a foe unlike they've ever faced before. This leads into a flashback story, which is essentially what the comic is.
At his father's funeral (He was killed in a bomb blast) we see a young Charles talking to himself, recounting what has happened. His father's collegue survived and soon begins to romantically approach Charles' mother, Sharon. His father's collegue was Dr. Kurt Marko, father of Cain Marko; a pig nosed, red-haired bully.
Cain hates Charles. Bullying him every chance he gets, Cain attempts to make Charles' life a living Hell. As they both attend school, Charles' powers begin to blossom. He is a success in all classes and all sports as a result of being psychic. This leaves Cain even more bitter and hateful toward him.
Soon after the marriage Sharon discovers that Kurt is only interested in her for her fortune. She dies soon after and Charles interrupts Kurt and Cain discussing the inheritance. A fight breaks out in the laboratory and a mass of dangerous chemicals are spilled. Dr. Marko saves the boys, but dies himself; giving Cain all the reason he needs to solidify a life-long hate grudge against Charles.
One day, Cain offers to give Charles a ride to school. Charles accepts, ever naive, and discovers that Cain's kindness was nothing but a ruse. Cain drives the car over a cliff in an attempt to kill Charles, but is not successful.
I should mention that in between these flashbacks, the alarms all around the mansion are going crazy as the menace approaches. Charles sends out the X-Men to set up all kinds of perimiter defenses and booby traps before they return and he continues with the story.
Time passes and both Cain and Charles end up serving in the Korean war. During a rather heavy firefight in which they are both pinned down, Cain runs off and hides in an immense cave. Charles pursues him and discovers that it's the legendary (Despite NOBODY having heard of it before. Oh Stan Lee and you '60s writers!) Temple of Cyttorak.
Cain is drawn to a ruby sitting atop a pedestal and, against Charles' warning, grabs a hold of it. This is, to NOBODY'S shock, the ruby of Cyttorak. Cain reads the inscription on the ruby (I know it off by heart because I am a mega geek) and thus becomes the Juggernaut. We do not see this, we just see him surrounded by energy and the temple falling down as Charles escapes.
At this point and just before this point, we are brought back to the present. The approaching menace has torn through every defense the mansion has, and had found a way inside. The X-Men seal off the war room and even the gigantic steel door is broken apart by the intruder. In defense of Charles, the X-Men advance on the enemy only to be swiftly beaten back.
The enemy is revealed to be none other than Cain Marko himself; the Juggernaut. As he faces down Charles for the first time since Korea, he makes clear his intentions to kill him as the issue ends.
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The problem with issues as old as this is the writing; it's SO dated. The writing style stinks almost as bad as my actual copy of the issue does. Maybe I'm overreacting; it doesn't stink. It's just very campy, very dated and tremendously laughable in some areas. Stan Lee changed the face of comics with the way he created and wrote his characters, but his dialogue is frozen in time.
Time-related flaws aside, this is actually a very exciting and enjoyable read. It does very well to set up one of the more hate-filled feuds in Marvel history, and doesn't take more than one issue to do so. It also does a fantastic job of really hyping Juggernaut.
As far as obtaining this little gem goes, there are a few ways you can do it:
1). If you can pick up the Essential X-Men Vol. 1 paperback, it should be contained therein.
2). Download it (You CAN, but don't. I swear to God).
3). If you're a collector and want the issue, that'll be harder. Mine is fine if you just wanna read it and own it, but if you're looking for re-sell value or good to excellent condition this comic will set you back well over £160. That's far over the $200 mark if you're American.
Regardless of how you read it, definitely get around to reading it at some point. It's truly a timeless classic (Aside from the dialogue).
I may pop up again before Thursday, you never know.
Until then, peace.
-The Mast
*I've decided my opening line will come from one of the many comedies I enjoy.
