X-Men Vol 1 21

X-Men Vol 1 #21 Published June, 1966 Editor-in-Chief Stan Lee Cover Artist Werner Roth Dick Ayers "From Whence Comes...Dominus?" Writer Roy Thomas Penciler Jay Gavin Inker Dick Ayers Letterer Artie Simek Editor Stan Lee Previous Issue Next Issue X-Men #20 X-Men #22

Appearing in "From Whence Comes...Dominus?"

Featured Characters:

• X-Men
  •  Cyclops (Scott "Cyke" Summers) 
  •  Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) 
  •  Angel (Warren Worthington) 
  •  Beast ("Hank" McCoy) 
  •  Iceman (Robert "Bobby" Drake) 
•  Professor Charles Xavier 

Antagonists:

•  Dominus  (First appearance)
• Quists
  •  Lucifer  (Main story and flashback)
  •  Supreme One (Appears on a computer screen, TV, or hologram only) (Last appearance)
• Ultra-Robots (Main story and flashback)
  • Robot Alpha (First appearance) (Destruction)
  • Robot Beta (First appearance) (Destruction)
  • Robot Gamma (First appearance) (Destruction)
  • Robot Delta (First appearance)
  • Robot Epsilon (First appearance)
  • Robot Zeta (First appearance) (Unnamed)

Other Characters:

• Porter Mack (Only appearance)^[1]
• Smith (Only appearance)^[1]
• Unnamed ranch hand
• Unknown Sirians (First appearance) (Only in flashback)

Races and Species:

• Humans
• Mutants
• Quists
• Robots
• Sirians

Locations:

• Earth
  • United States of America
    • Unidentified Southwestern desert
      • Buchanan's Butte (First appearance)
        • Lucifer's headquarters
• Sirius (First appearance) (Only in flashback)

Items:

• X-Uniform
• Cyclops' Visor, version 1
• Cosmic Crystalline Cube

Vehicles:

• X-Jet
• Professor X's hovercraft
  
  

Synopsis for "From Whence Comes...Dominus?"

The X-Men are racing toward the secret hideout of their alien foe Lucifer when their ship is suddenly deflected by a strange force field. Flying away from the scene to find another way through, the team notices strange objects being pulled out of the sky into the mysterious base. Also witnessing the spectacle is Porter Mack, the owner of a Dude Ranch near Buchanan's Butte, the location of the disturbance. Feeling that the strange goings on will drive away his customer base, he takes some of his best men out to investigate the disturbance to try to find some way to stop it.

Meanwhile, the X-Men circle the butte until the strange light source disappears. Upon approaching the butte, they cannot get any closer because it suddenly starts spraying a geyser of hot water at them. The X-Men land further away and spot a nearby stream that goes under the butte. The X-Men decide to investigate to see if it's a safe passage into their foes hideout. Leaving their plane, the team leaves the Professor behind as they begin to search for a way into the base. Along the way, they are spotted and attacked by Porter and his posse, who think there may be a reward for the X-Men since they are still wanted criminals back east. However, the X-Men make short work of their would-be attackers, sending them sprawling into the river below where they retreat. They seal Porter in an ice block around his arms and load the would be attacker on a horse, sending him packing back to his ranch.

Continuing to search for an entrance, the X-Men make their way to the river and have Iceman create an ice raft for them to ride along. They follow the river to the underground opening and find themselves caught in a whirlpool. As the X-Men are swept away, the Professor is shocked to find that telepathic contact with his students have been severed. Before Xavier can do anything about it, he is confronted by two robots commanded by Lucifer who capture the Professor and carry him away into the base. Taken before Lucifer himself, the Professor is put at the alien's mercy with the robots inquiring if they can destroy the telepathic mutant. Lucifer refuses the request, telling the robots and the Professor that he prefers that Xavier lives so that he can witness as the Dominus super-computer enslaves the entire world.

Elsewhere in Lucifer's base, the X-Men are separated and Angel, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl get captured in a transparent cage. Beast and Iceman, meanwhile, are attacked by another Dominus robot that attempts to capture them, but fails to stop the young mutants. They manage to escape the robot but then run right into a metal wall that knocks them out, allowing them to be captured.

With all the X-Men his prisoners, Lucifer gloats over his victory. He intends to use the Dominus computer (operated by the robots) to activate a device that would strip humanity of their individual wills and turn them into slaves that would toil and work as slaves of the Quist aliens that Lucifer is a member of.

Meanwhile, the X-Men attempt to break out of their prison, to no avail. When the Dominus robots place Iceman and Beast into their cell, they fail to free themselves as they are pushed back by an incredible force. However, the X-Men manage to free themselves when Jean uses her telekinetic powers to operate the release switch on the cell's control panel. Freed, they ambush the one robot left to guard them and race toward Lucifer's control room. With the alarm sounding, Lucifer sends his robots out to try and stop the X-Men. The X-Men duck out of sight to avoid detection and then rush Lucifer.

They get a mental command from the Professor telling them not to damage the computer, however Iceman and Angel don't believe the command came from the Professor and attempt to destroy it anyway, but Marvel Girl and Cyclops stop them. This leads to a brief scuffle between teammates until they all decide to hold off on destroying the computer until after they have dealt with Lucifer and his robots. The X-Men destroy all of Lucifer's robots and with his robots destroyed, Lucifer stops the battle and rushes to his communication device for more orders. When the Supreme Leader appears on the screen, he informs Lucifer that with the ultra robots -- the only things that could operate the computer, destroyed, their mission is a failure. He tells Lucifer to return to their home planet to be punished. Suddenly, right before the X-Men's eyes, Lucifer and all of his equipment are teleported away.

With the threat passed, the Professor explains to his students that through his mental probing he had learned that the Dominus computer has a specific defense mechanism: it would redirect any force thrown against it right back at it's attackers, putting his students at risk, and thus the reason why he ordered them not to attack the computer directly. With all explained, the X-Men and the Professor depart the base to return home, unsure where Lucifer came from or if the aliens he represented will threaten the Earth again.

Notes

• Werner Roth penciled this issue under the pseudonym Jay Gavin.
• credits:
  • Exemplary Editing by: Stan Lee
  • Extraordinary Writing by: Roy Thomas
  • Exceptional Art by: Jay Gavin
  • Exhilarating Inking by: Dick Ayers
  • Exasperating Lettering by: Artie Simek

See Also

• Write your own review of this comic!
• Discuss X-Men Vol 1 21 on the forums
• 13 Images from X-Men Vol 1 21
• 4 Reprints of X-Men Vol 1 21
  

Recommended Reading

• This completes a two-part story-arc that began last issue.
• X-Men #9 - first appearance of Lucifer.

Footnotes