Super Speed vs. Force Blast

 

cover art by John Buscema

X-Men #45 (June 1968) takes us back to Magneto's Island, where Cyclops gets worried that the Angel is taking too long and engineers his own escape.

Writer Gary Friedrich and artists Don Heck (layouts) and Werner Roth (finished pencils) give us a great scene here. A lead mask is blocking Scott's optic beams, but he decides to try concentrating those beams on one tiny part of that mask.

It really is a cool sequence, which will soon be followed by a cool fight scene.

It takes a few pages to get to those fight scenes, but it is time well spent. The story does switch back to Angel long enough for us to see he's reached New York and is only minutes away from Avengers Mansion. When Toad sees that Cyclops is free, he tells Magneto and a brief scene in which Magneto essentially tortures his annoying but loyal minion for allowing an escape reminds us that the man is simply evil. 

So when Pietro encounters Scott and tries to convince him that Magneto's plan for a mutant sanctuary is on the up-and-up, we know that Pietro is still fooled (or, by this time, simply fooling himself). Scott whill have none of it--he's been taught too well by Professor X to be fooled or to condemn all of humanity for the sins of a few.

So the two begin fighting. Magneto simply watches like a Darwinian judge, figuring if Quicksilver isn't skilled enough to win on his own, then he's no great loss if Scott beats him. (Yet another example of his ruthlessness.) Wanda watches as well, but is still confused by the effects of the bullet that grazed her head way back in Avengers #49. So she also just watches. 

It's a really neat fight scene, with both men using their powers in tactically intelligent ways. In the end, Quicksilver is taken down by a richocheting optic blast.

Naturally, the Avengers show up at just the right moment to misunderstand the situation. The story continues in Avengers #53, which we'll look at next week. At which time, I will undoubtably whine over a crossover story that FORCES people to buy a second title to get the entire story, rather than just have one team guest-star in the other team's book.