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FIRST STORY: "The Living Pharaoh" (15
pages) The Pharaoh captures Scott and Alex, and takes
them to Egypt. The other X-Men follow. When the
X-Men fight the Pharaoh, Alex's mutant powers emerge.
The Pharaoh is captured but his henchmen escape.
What you need to know:
Alex's powers emerge, as a sort of generic energy blast
from his hands. And we establish that when Alex is using
his powers, the Pharaoh gets weak. And... yeah, that's
pretty much it.
It's Don Heck's final issue, rounding off a
run which covers most of issues #38-55.
This story has never been reprinted.
A more innocent time:
There's a really odd sequence with Scott and Alex as prisoners
of the Pharaoh. Alex is locked in a sarcophagus.
Scott is wearing a helmet that blindfolds him and shuts down
his powers. But Scott frees Alex by... er, headbutting
his way into the sarcophagus. That doesn't seem to hurt
anywhere near as much as it ought to...
Comments:
Roy Thomas returns and takes over the Pharaoh story in
mid-stream. To be honest, it's pretty forgettable, and
Thomas only did one more issue with this plot before moving on
to something a little more interesting. The most
significant aspect is that Alex starts worrying about his
ability to control his powers, which would be a recurring
theme for the character. But since we haven't really
established how powerful he is yet, it doesn't really come off
that strongly.
FEATURE CHARACTERS
Cyclops, the Angel, the Beast, Iceman and Marvel Girl I
SUPPORTING CHARACTER
Alex Summers
VILLAINS
The Living Pharaoh and his cultists
SECOND STORY: "Where Angels Dare to
Tread"
(5 pages) Warren debuts as a superhero, the Avenging
Angel. He stops crooks from stealing a chemical, but
accidentally breathes in his own sleeping gas, and starts to
act irrationally. He takes the chemical for himself.
When he returns home, the X-Men are waiting to try and recruit
him.
What you need to know:
In fairness to Warren, he isn't really planning to keep
the vial. The running theme in this story is that he's
trying to build a name for himself. Warren figures that
if he returns the vial next morning, that'll be much better
publicity.
This story has never been reprinted.
A more innocent time:
The opening caption tells us that the Angel debuts in
winter 1963, when "a waiting world still basks in ignorance of
names it will shortly idolize." And it gives examples -
Spider-Man, the Beatles, and Barbra Streisand.
Comments:
A drastic change of pace from the boarding school antics
last issue, as Roy Thomas takes over and yanks the story in a
completely different direction.
It's a bit by the numbers, to be honest.
Giving Warren a previous career as a mediocre superhero sounds
potentially amusing, but nothing really comes of it. By
this point, you get the definite feeling that these stories
are being written simply because there's an "Origins of the
X-Men" feature that has to be filled up, rather than because
the writers have any decent ideas for them.
FEATURE CHARACTERS
Professor X, Cyclops and Iceman (all last in the
"Origins of the X-Men" story in issue #46; between pages 4 and
5, they appear in Uncanny Origins #3)
The Avenging Angel (Warren Worthington III; also in
flashback preceding this story)
VILLAINS
The Grady Gang (first and only appearance)
OTHER CHARACTERS
Alma (Warren's landlady; first appearance)
Written: 26 March 2005
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