Uncanny X-Men #46Issue(s): Uncanny X-Men #46 Review/plot: FBI Agent Duncan, who calls himself "Amos" this issue instead of "Fred", also arrives to tell the X-Men that they have to split up. The reasoning is that the X-Men living together make too much of an easy target for evil mutants, and also that the team can do more good spread out across the country. The Beast points out that this order is unconstitutional, but Cyclops agrees with the reasoning and agrees without a fight. We've seen a number of shake-ups in this series recently, but breaking up the team reaches a whole new level. We seem to be in the desperate last stages before cancellation, with the hope that some subset of the team will have break-out solo success. But the series actually manages to limp along for a while further. In between Foggy and the disbanding of the team is a return of the Juggernaut. As much as i love a Juggernaut battle... ...this appearance is totally padding. The Juggernaut appears from the Crimson Cosmos thanks to a device of Xavier's that's on auto-pilot... ...and is sent back at the end the same way. In the meantime we see the Juggernaut using his forcefield power (which i already find odd) in weird ways, blasting globules of force at the X-Men. I'm going to chalk that up to having been in the Crimson Cosmos. Marvel Girl is also able to hit Juggernaut with mental bolts, even though Juggernaut is wearing his helmet. I'm kind of a stickler about the Juggernaut's powers. I hate it when writers allow the Juggernaut to be defeated physically just because his helmet is removed, and i equally don't like seeing mental abilities affecting him while the helmet is on. But it seems that his powers are used "wrong" more often than right in his early appearances. Since the issue went out of its way to mention Xavier not having any family, i guess it's only appropriate that the Juggernaut's reaction to Xavier's death be included: As Andrew F notes in the comments, Agent Duncan takes quite a beating when the Juggernaut first shows up. But when he shows up at the end to disband the team, he says that his injures are "nothing that a liniment won't cure". This will be Agent Duncan's last appearance in the regular X-Men series, though. Quality Rating: C Chronological Placement Considerations: It's been "weeks" since Professor X's funeral. Foggy Nelson is currently running for district attorney. References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men vol. 5 Inbound References (4): show 1968 / Box 4 / Silver Age CommentsFOOM#10 called Agent Duncan Fredrick Amos Duncan. Posted by: Mark Drummond | February 24, 2013 4:01 PM Feels like this is the right place to ask this :)...when is the Juggernaut's "can't be hurt by physical means" and "can't be stopped by physical means" really established? It's there in Roger Stern's classic Spider-Man story, but doesn't seem to be other than regular hyperbole in the early Juggernaut stories I've read. Posted by: entzauberung | March 10, 2015 4:31 PM I don't know, i feel like that was the case from the very beginning. The earliest stories play up his "forcefield" more than i, as someone who started reading comics in the 80s, expected, and there are a couple of stories that have the idea that once his helmet is off he can get punched out. I'd guess those things get nailed down by the time of his Claremont appearances. The helmet problem is shown in his Hulk appearance prior to that. But i never felt like he was really just a strong or just partially invulnerable guy until later, if that's what you mean. He always seems pretty unstoppable. Did you have anything specific in mind? Posted by: fnord12 | March 10, 2015 8:59 PM I'd like to know that myself. I haven't read all his appearances before Amazing 229, but none of the ones I've seen seem to state it outright. In his first Hulk fight he dukes it out with the Hulk, but after his helmet's removed he is KO'd by Xavier & Jean, but they specify Cyclops is blasting at the same time. Like Fnord, I get irritated when people get his powers wrong, but now I'm starting to wonder if they weren't defined until Stern, or by the 80s Handbook? Posted by: jonathan | March 10, 2015 9:08 PM By the way, the picture of Juggs reacting to Xavier's death is the same picture already used above. I do want to say I love this site, I have been reading it for a while without commenting, but it's great to read through & reminisce about these old comics! Posted by: jonathan | March 10, 2015 9:15 PM Fixed the image. Thanks for that and the comments, Jonathan! Entzauberung, i'm still not sure if i really answered your question so let me know. Posted by: fnord12 | March 10, 2015 9:38 PM Well, I'm not sure if I have any non-helmet-related examples that actually disproves Juggernaut's invulnerability/unstoppability. It's just that in Amazing #229-230 his powers are very clearly stated (and there's a literal sense about them), while in the earlier X-Men/Hulk/Beast appearances I've read he's just a really tough dude. Posted by: entzauberung | March 11, 2015 3:24 PM I thought this would be the death of Agent Duncan, too...Juggy picks him up by the throat, slams his head into the ceiling, and then tosses him out a closed window. Luckily he shows up later and says he just needs some liniment... Posted by: Andrew F | May 16, 2016 9:15 PM Jesus, Andrew- Now I want to see that Juggernaut Vs. Fred scene. Posted by: JP! | March 19, 2018 2:06 AM I've added a scan. Posted by: fnord12 | March 19, 2018 4:54 PM Apropos of nothing... when analogizing Marvel and DC, the Doom Patrol is often cited as the closest approximation to the X-Men, but half a year after this story is published an issue of Metal Men follows it almost beat for beat. In issue 37, the Metal Men, hunted by an angry, bigoted mob, and without the support of their mentor (Doc Magnus, who is in a coma) are forced to leave their sanctuary and assume civilian identities, guided by a new mentor (in this case, billionaire Mister Conan)... and of course the new job of the only woman in the group is modeling. The real-life comparisons are pretty tight as well: the new direction failed to halt slumping sales, the book was cancelled, going to reprint for a while, and resumed with the status quo restored in the mid-seventies. Posted by: Andrew | June 26, 2018 7:48 AM Comments are now closed. |
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