Written by Stan Lee – Pencils by Jack Kirby – Inks by Paul Reinman – Letters by Sam Rosen

The X-Men return, and Lee and Kirby spend the opening pages reminding us who everyone is. The team gets into costume, demonstrates its powers, and introduces itself all over again. It’s a very Marvel way of bringing readers up to speed, even if we’ve only been away for one issue.

The interesting thing is that, at this point, everyone seems to like the X-Men.

Angel is mobbed by teenage girls who treat him like a celebrity. Cyclops and Iceman rescue construction workers, who seem delighted to meet them. Even an ice cream vendor gives the team a ride back to Westchester after their trip to Manhattan.

These are mutant superheroes, and apparently nobody has a problem with that.

That’s worth noticing because the X-Men concept seems to be built around the idea that mutants are a new kind of human being. The first issue introduced Homo superior and established that mutants are appearing around the world. But so far, Lee and Kirby haven’t really explored what that means for the people who possess these abilities or the people living alongside them.

For now, the X-Men are simply another superhero team. They’re popular, the public welcomes their help, and the government is happy to work with them.

Professor Xavier introduces the team to its latest opponent, the Vanisher, a mutant who can teleport himself from place to place. He’s been robbing banks and now threatens to steal military defense plans.

Before the team can do anything about it, we get another training sequence. The X-Men demonstrate their powers, and Xavier explains more about their abilities. It’s the second issue in a row where the book seems determined to show us everything these characters can do, even when those demonstrations don’t have much to do with the story.

Vanisher himself is an odd villain. He announces his plan to steal military secrets, and a whole crowd of gangsters shows up at his home, apparently hoping to get in on his plans for world domination.

The government calls on Xavier to help, and the X-Men confront the Vanisher. Their first attempt goes badly, and the villain escapes with the defense plans.

So the team gets another shot at him, this time with Xavier joining the action.

Xavier uses his mental powers to incapacitate the Vanisher, effectively neutralizing him without needing the X-Men to overpower him physically.

But the story isn’t finished. The Vanisher has brought along a plethora of old-fashioned gangsters, and the X-Men have to fight their way through them. They win, the threat is stopped, and the military personnel on the scene express concern that Xavier shouldn’t be putting himself in danger.

It’s a strange ending to an already strange story.

The issue keeps jumping between different ideas: mutant celebrity, training exercises, government cooperation, military secrets, psychic powers, and a gang of criminals who look as though they’ve wandered in from an earlier decade of comics.

There’s plenty of action, and Kirby gives the team a lot to do. But the pieces don’t quite fit together yet.

The X-Men are only two issues into their existence, so it’s hardly surprising that the book hasn’t found its identity. Still, the contrast with some of Marvel’s other titles is noticeable.

The X-Men have the beginnings of an interesting premise, but Lee and Kirby haven’t yet figured out what makes that premise different from any other superhero team.

Marvel in the 60s – Entry #96