X-amining X-Men (vol. 2) #-1

"I Had A Dream"

July 1997

In a Nutshell

Professor X and Magneto reunite on the verge of their philosophical differences exploding into open conflict.

Writer: Scott Lobdell

Pencils: Carlos Pacheco 
Inks: Art Thibert
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Chris Lichtner & Aron Lusen

Associate Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

Plot

At his mansion, Charles Xavier continues his physical therapy, under the guidance of his nurse/girlfriend, Amelia Voght. She urges him to rethink his plans regarding mutantkind, but he insists they can't simply hide in his mansion and do nothing. He then asks her to teleport him to the remains of concentration camp in Europe, where he knows his old friend Erik will soon appear. Meanwhile, aboard Asteroid M in orbit around the planet, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff discuss their recent alliance with the man known as Magneto Despite having saved their lives, Pietro remains unconvinced Magneto is a good man. Magneto arrives and brings the twins down to the concentration camp, where he finds Xavier and Voght waiting. The two former friends each try to convince each other, for the last time, to give up their respective plans to chart the course of mutantkind's future, with Xavier arguing that places like the concentration camp will rise again if Magneto launches his war on humanity. Both men acknowledge their ability to kill the other, but leave each other in peace for the last time, with Magneto declaring there will be only one onclusion to their conflict, and to the victor will go the spoils. He then scoops up a handful of earth, and returns with the Maximoffs to Asteroid M.

Firsts and Other Notables
The bookend/Stan Lee portion of this Flashback Month issue involves Lee touring the Marvel Bullpen, which gives Carlos Pacheco the opportunity to draw himself. 

He also gets to do a fun "original X-Men/current X-Men" group shot as Lee gives readers a tour of X-Men history. 

The events of this issue are set in the middle of the Amelia Voght flashback in Uncanny X-Men #309, with Voght still on hand at the X-Mansion with Xavier, before she leaves him.

On the Magneto side of things, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have been rescued by Magneto and taken to Asteroid M, but this is before the full-fledged Brotherhood has formed. 

As with Uncanny X-Men #-1, this issue has a variant cover. 

A Work in Progress
Quicksilver gets mad at Magneto for talking to him like a disapproving father. Get it? It's funny cuz he IS Quicksilver's father (at least at that moment)!  

Xavier notes that Magneto's experience in the Holocaust retarded the development of his powers (which is why they didn't emerge until well into his adulthood, as opposed to during adolescence), 

Also worth noting: there's some discussion of Magneto's helmet (this is the first time Xavier sees him wearing it), and also, Xavier's ability to reach in and turn off his mind; this is before the idea of Magneto's helmet blocking Xavier's telepathy made its way into the comics from the 2000 X-Men movie. 

Artistic Achievements
During Stan's tour, Pacheco puts some quick cover recreation sketches on one of the walls. I can see X-Men #16, X-Men #101, X-Men #62, Uncanny X-Men #234, Uncanny X-Men #173, X-Men #94, and X-Men #111.

There's a silent panel in this issue that is one of those I see pop up online in articles and such a lot. 

Austin's Analysis
We're not quite in Classic Claremont Quiet Issue territory — this isn't coming in the wake of a significant story, nor is it a collection of character-focused vignettes — but X-Men (vol. 2) #-1 is a pretty close approximation to one in terms of being light on action and plot. I've always been of two minds on this issue. People standing around talking doesn't exactly play to Pacheco's strengths, especially at this point in his career. It's also not only light on plot, but light on specificity; Xavier and Magneto don't really say anything of consequence; readers can infer from the history of the book and these characters what they're talking about it, but it wouldn't hurt — simply in the interest of drama — for the dialogue to be a bit more specific. 

On the other hand, that lack of specificity lends an air of inevitability to the whole thing (which is reinforced by the fact this is a prequel foreshadowing events we've already experience); because neither Xavier nor Magneto need to speak it details, we understand this is the latest in a long series of philosophical arguments between the two men. What they're arguing about matters less than the weariness of the arguing, and the sense that this last-ditch effort to change course is doomed to fail There's also something fun in the chronological setting of the story, coming after the two friends have had their falling out, but before their ideals have crystalized into didactic "good mutant/bad mutant" gatherings of followers. We see the beginnings of that in Voght and the Maximoffs (with Voght a particularly fun inclusion given what we know of her future loyalties), but this sort of "they know they can't fight their fight alone, but also, they haven't started putting mutants in costumes to fight each other yet" era is a largely unexplored one. 

So you could certainly argue this is a big nothing of an issue, one which does that prequel thing of just rehashing stuff we already know without adding anything to it (without actually rehashing it). At the same time, there's a sense of ambition to it, the feeling of trying to do something different than, as Stan Lee says in the closing panels, the typical "guys in tights beating each other" routine. Certainly, I'll take that swing — even if it is something of a miss — over, say, a story about Havok's adopted mother mistaking him for her dead son that he doesn't even remember. 

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