Editor’s note: Bronze Age Essentials uses Marvel’s inexpensive B&W Essentials volumes to sequentially review extended runs of Marvel comics from the 1970s and ’80s.
X-MEN #102 (Cover by Dave Cockrum)
A better title would have been “Rivalry!”: Banshee vs. Black Tom, Wolverine vs. Colossus, Storm vs. her debilitating Achilles’ Heel (including a beautiful page 9), Juggernaut vs. his “half-brother”* Xavier and Xavier vs. Cyclops. Query: Is Scott just misunderstood or deep down a jerk? Nightcrawler gets a cool power upgrade, and Misty Knight (Jean Grey’s roommate?!?) and Lilandra (as a face in a mirror) are introduced. Marvel would take 6 issues to do all this now!
*What? How? Is this proto-retcon? Or secret history? Did they share the same mother, or father? How did Juggernaut come to hate Xavier so? Help!
Grade: B+
Collected in:
Wasn’t Cain Marko pissed because he blamed his half-brother for not rescuing him from a cave-in while they were on patrol during the war? At that point Marko found the crystal of Cyttorak and became the Juggernaut–so maybe it was the crystal’s influence that just magnified Marko’s disposition toward Xavier. (This is all from memory, so I may have some details wrong. I think that it can all be boiled down to Xavier and Marko never being that close to begin with.)
Cain Marko (the Juggernaut) is Professor X’s step-brother, not half brother…they’re not actually related by blood. Marko is the son of Xavier’s mother’s 2nd husband.
Their relationship is not a retcon. It was established in Juggernaut’s very first appearance in X-Men #12.
Oh, and as to your question about Scott—he’s a jerk
Hi Ray and Comicsfan–
Thanks Comicsfan for the Juggernaut history. And Ray, I checked, and you are correct–on the last page of X-men 101, and on page 15 of 102, it is indeed “step-brother”. Where I got the ‘half-brother’–especially since I had it in quotes–I don’t know! Regardless, I had been unaware of the familial connection between them, and so was taken aback when I read of it in these issues.
As for Scott–I can understand how someone like Emma Frost might find Scott attractive, but Jean?
Cheers!
Tom K.
Ferget the episode see a shrink. Wolverine should go berserk and slice up Jugg work together boys Wolvie has training and they should know that. Ciclops should have gone no doubt. Screw up.s all around. better luck next time gang.