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Quote1 And now -- That my name shall be the final thing you hear! Prepare to die -- For daring to oppose that which no mortal can comprehend! Quote2
Lucifer (Agent One)

Appearing in "I, Lucifer..."

Featured Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Mr. Philbert (First appearance)
  • Unnamed bank personnel, patrons & guards
  • Unnamed policemen
  • Unnamed carnival workers and carnival-goers
  • Mabel & Herman (First appearance)
  • Unnamed New York citizens
  • Unnamed Tibetan citizens

Races and Species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • Mr. Philbert's limousine
  • X-Jet (First appearance)

Synopsis for "I, Lucifer..."

Wearing X-Men costumes, Blob and Unus the Untouchable are holding up a bank so that the X-Men would be implicated for the crime. Neither the bank security guard or the police prove to be a match for the untouchable and unmovable duo, who succeed in robbing the bank.

While at the X-Men's mansion, Scott, afraid of his uncontrollable optic blast and the fact that he cannot bring himself to tell Jean his true feelings for her, decides that he must leave the X-Men. Without telling anyone, Scott packs a bag and leaves the mansion on foot. Warren, Jean, Bobby, and Hank are relaxing in the study when a news report about the Blob and Unus' bank robbery comes on the air. With the X-Men implicated in the robbery, the team rushes down to the Professor's study where Charles has just finished building a new Cerebro machine. The machine then reveals the identity of the two "X-Men" that robbed the bank and Hank recognizes them as Blob and Unus. The Professor senses a third adversary involved in this crime and attempts to use his mental powers to learn who that is, but finds that some force prevents him. To make matters worse, Bobby enters the room after failing to find Scott and hands over a note written by Summers explaining to the Professor that he left the team. Unable to devote the time to finding Scott, the Professor sends out the other X-Men to get ready to face their enemies.

Far away, the X-Men's unknown foe is none other than the alien being that was responsible for crippling Professor Xavier: The evil Lucifer. With his plan in motion, the evil alien muses over how he manipulated Blob and Unus from afar. Some time ago, his scanners detected the meeting of Blob and Unus when the two men challenged each other to see who would win: The untouchable man, or the unmovable Blob? The match ended in a stalemate when the two men found that their powers were evenly matched. After the bout, they were manipulated from afar by Lucifer's machines to team up and work together as crooks, robbing whatever they wanted.

As Lucifer continues his plot, Scott happens by the Blob and Unus as they are robbing an armored car. Realizing that the two evil mutant's actions would reflect negatively on the X-Men, Cyclops changes into costume and confronts his two foes. However, instead of being able to stop Blob and Unus and expose their frame up, Cyclops only succeeded in enraging the crowd of people into a mob. In a fit of anti-mutant hysteria, the crowd chases Cyclops away, rationalizing that he is the most dangerous of the three mutants.

Watching the scene on his monitors, Lucifer is angry that their activities only revealing one X-Man. However, he becomes satisfied when he spots the other members of the team arriving on the scene (minus Marvel Girl, who remained with the Professor). Beast arrives first and uses the device he previously used to increase Unus' powers, however Unus has since become immune to the rays effects thanks to the secret machinations of Lucifer. The X-Men try their best to fight off the two evil mutants. However, the crowd and police impede the team's efforts as they fail to realize that the X-Men are fighting against the impostors and think that they are all in league together, much to the joy of Lucifer. The battle takes a pitch in the opposite direction when Cyclops returns to the scene and knocks the two foes off their feet when he blasts the ground out for under them. Unfortunately, this causes the two to fall down into the subway tunnel below onto a subway train that just happened to be passing by. With an angry mob chasing them, the X-Men welcome Cyclops back into the fold and seek a hiding place until the mob subsides.

Back at Lucifer's base, the alien mastermind is alerted that Professor Xavier is attempting breaking through his mental screens. Prepared for this contingency, Lucifer prepares a gigantic weapon that fires a powerful disruption beam, attacking the Professor's mind, putting him in a coma like state. Still conscious but rendered inert and weakened, the Professor telepathically orders Marvel Girl to get and wear his mental-wave amplifier so she can hear his thoughts. In doing so, the Professor learns that the mastermind behind this attack against the X-Men is Lucifer.

Professor X then tells Jean the story of how he first encountered Lucifer: Years ago, while traveling through Tibet, the Professor became investigated a walled off city. When he is barred from entry, he coaxes the guards into letting him in with his mental powers. His presence in the town attracts the attention of it's ruler Lucifer, who was monitoring the strange visitor. The Professor learned that the people in the town live in fear of it's ruler and with his mental probes, he learns that Lucifer's castle has a cache of weaponry and machines from another world within. The Professor organized a group of villagers and tried to convince them to follow him in a revolt against Lucifer. They remained unconvinced until Lucifer attempted to kill them. With an army at his command, the Professor stormed Lucifer's castle and destroyed much of the machinery inside. Lucifer is then contacted by his leader and is told to abandon this base and to go to another sector that is key to their invasion plans for Earth. Fleeing the scene, the alien crossed paths with the Professor. Xavier attempted to stop Lucifer from escaping but Lucifer activate a trap: dropping a stone block on Charles, crushing his legs and confining him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Lucifer escaped and ending his story, the Professor explains that part of his reasons for forming the X-Men were for the purposes of dealing with the threat of Lucifer, should he appear again.

Back at his secret hideout, Lucifer muses on how his devices have been able to sway the behaviors of an entire town and that soon he will build a device which will affect the entire world and put the entire human race under his control. With his plans almost coming to fruition, Lucifer calls his masters and request that they send Dominus, who is part of the final phase of their conquest of the Earth.

With the hysterical mob now gone, the X-Men leave their hiding place and return to the X-Mansion where they learn of the Professor's situation and Lucifer's involvement in the days events. In order to face Lucifer with their leader by their side, Beast creates a mental-distorter which protects the Professor from the effects of Lucifer's weapon. With the Professor restored to normal, the team loads up supplies in their jet and flies off to the location of Lucifer's base to stop his planned conquest of the Earth, unaware of the danger which faces them there.

This story is continued next issue....

Notes

  • Werner Roth penciled this issue under the pseudonym Jay Gavin.
  • This issue is reprinted in many other comics and books, see references for more info.[1]
  • credits:
    • Another Mighty Marvel Bullpen Surprise!
    • Expertly Edited by Stan Lee
    • Skillfully Scripted by Roy Thomas
    • Perfectly Penciled by Jay Gavin
    • Ideally Inked by Dick Ayers
    • Laxly Lettered by Artie Simek
  • references: X-Men #18, X-Men #8, X-Men #9, and X-Men #7

Trivia

  • The Beast is incorrectly called "Warren" and Iceman is incorrectly named "Bobby Blake" in this issue.

See Also

Recommended Reading

  • This begins a two-part story-arc that ends next issue.
  • X-Men #9 - first appearance of Lucifer.

Links and References

References

  1. Reprinted in the following comics/TPB's:
    • Essential Uncanny X-Men #1
    • Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men 2nd Edition HC #2
    • Marvel Masterworks: X-Men HC #2
    • Uncanny X-Men #71
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