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Quote1 You thought you had banished me from Earth forever! Quote2
Magneto

Appearing in "If Iceman Should Fail..!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Unnamed nurse
  • Unnamed mutant clone slaves

Races and Species:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • Magneto's metal gondola and balloon
  • Laser-induced hypodermic
  • Magna-Car

Synopsis for "If Iceman Should Fail..!"

Continued from last issue....

Professor X, Angel, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl have all been defeated by Magneto, who put the team into a high altitude hot-air balloon, hoping that his hated foes would perish once it reaches its destination of 100,000 feet. Magneto revels over the victory, magnetically lifting the mansion out of its foundation. He then decides to use the mansion as his own base of power then sets the house back down to the ground. Entering the residence of his hated foes, he then uses his magnetic powers to destroy Cerebro. However, his destruction is interrupted when the Worthingtons -- Warren's parents -- arrive for a visit. Magneto confronts them at the front door and uses magnetic hypnotism to put them under his thrall, ordering them to go sleep upstairs in the upper bedrooms. Magneto then comes to realize that one of the X-Men -- Iceman -- is missing, and waits for him to return to the mansion so that his revenge can be complete. Magneto boasts how Iceman is the weakest of all the X-Men.

Meanwhile, Iceman is still recovering from injuries sustained battling the Sentinels. His doctor injects the unconscious mutant with a new medicine with a special device. It stops the boy's delirious rantings; however, if he will awaken remains to be seen. Meanwhile, high above in the weather balloon that might mean their doom, Professor X exerts all his mental power to try and overload the mental-wave disruptor that has been attached to his head. His ploy succeeds and he revives the rest of the X-Men. They begin to assess their abysmal situation and wonder how Magneto could have returned, after being taken from Earth by the Stranger.

Back at the X-Mansion, Magneto uses his magnetic powers to assist him in constructing a device that can duplicate body cells and create an army of mutant clones, using the Worthingtons as the source material. Probing the situation mentally, the Professor learns of Magneto's plans and tries to revive Iceman, who awakens from his coma and agrees to go out and try and stop Magneto. Marvel Girl is then instructed to use her telekinetic powers as an anchor, preventing their balloon from floating up any higher. The Professor then probes Magneto's mind so that he and the X-Men can learn how Magneto managed to return to Earth:

They discover that shortly after Magneto and Toad were taken to the Stranger's homeworld, Magneto began plotting his escape. One day, they were left to their own devices and Magneto -- taking advantage of the fact that the Stranger allowed them to roam his planet freely -- brought Toad to a location where a number of rocket ships had been collected by the Stranger and put on display in a museum. Magneto then used his magnetic powers to gain access to one of the rockets and after kicking Toad off the entrance ladder, Magneto flew the rocket back to Earth.

Bobby arrives at the mansion and spies on Magneto to learn what his plan is. Seeing Magneto creating Mutant clones from the Worthingtons DNA, Iceman sneaks into the room where they are sleeping and uses his ice powers to stop the flow of information, leaving the clones inert. Furious that his creations have not come to life, Magneto enters the room and attacks Iceman. Magneto underestimates Iceman's ability and Bobby manages to fight off Magneto's attacks, creating an ice slide to send the two of them out of the mansion.

Meanwhile aboard the balloon, the Professor comes up with a solution to get them back on the ground. He orders Cyclops to use his optic blast to poke a pinpoint hole in the balloon so that the helium inside slowly leaks out and they can then safely descend to the ground below. The X-Men safely land on the ground and attack Magneto together, however the Master of Magnetism manages to fight them off. Before they can renew their attack, Magneto magnetically traps Iceman and threatens to kill him if the X-Men don't cease their fighting. Iceman tells the others not to surrender for him, however Angel flies in and manages to pull him free from Magneto's grasp.

The X-Men and Magneto resume their battle until Professor X tells them all to stop fighting and surrender. The X-Men are shocked at this order and Magneto gloats over his "superiority" over the X-Men. However, this only proves to be a delaying tactic on the Professor's part as he has delivered a mental summons to the stars, calling the Stranger back to Earth to collect Magneto. Magneto flees the scene, with the Stranger trailing behind him.

The X-Men then rush inside to stop the machine (which has now begun to operate since Iceman's ice has thawed) before it can bring Magneto's slave Mutants to life. With the machine deactivated, the clones disintegrate and the X-Men destroy the machine.

The next day the Worthingtons awaken from their sleep with absolutely no memory of their encounter with Magneto, and join the X-Men (now in their civilian guises and with their secret identities protected) for breakfast.

Notes

Trivia

  • Magneto once again shows that he has some mental powers in this story. His eye glows while he suggests that the Worthingtons are tiring. They admit they are sleepy and that they should head off to bed.
  • The credits indicate that this is Artie Simek's birthday.

See Also

Recommended Reading

Links and References

References

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