Appearing in "Holocaust!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- ⏴ El Tigre / Kukulcán (Juan Meroz) ⏵ (Free from Kukulcán's possession)
- Kukulcán (Loses possession of El Tigre)
- ⏴ Toloc (Last appearance)
- ⏴ Ramon Dantas (Last appearance)
- Jaguar
- Alligators
- Boa Constrictor
Other Characters:
- Unnamed Museum Security Guard (Controlled by Kukulcán)
- Anglers
- Numerous unnamed Metro College Students
- San Ricans
- Mayans (Referenced)
- Conquistadores (Mentioned)
- Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) (Mentioned)
- Hawkeye (Clint Barton) (Referenced)
- Thor (Odinson) (Referenced)
Races and Species:
- Mutants
- Ahau
- Humans
- Cows
- Donkeys
- Jaguars
- Caimans
- Boa Constrictors
- Birds
- Fireflies (Mentioned)
- Falcons (Referenced)
- Cats (Mentioned)
- Hawks (Mentioned)
- Ants (Mentioned)
Locations:
- Earthspace
- Heaven (Mentioned)
Items:
Synopsis for "Holocaust!"
Continued from last issue.... Professor X has lost mental contact with the X-Men and through Cerebro, sees that El Tigre has obtained the second part of a mystical amulet that transforms him into the mortal personification of the Mayan god Kukulcán. Held back by a security guard under Kukulcán's control, Cyclops is forced to use his optic blasts to destroy the guard’s gun and push him aside in order to engage his enemy. Cyclops attempts to blast Kukulcán, however it is redirected back at him and he is knocked out.
Kukulcán's hired mercenaries, Toloc and Ramon, enter the room and attempt to take the amulet from Kukulcán's chest so that they might sell it on the black market. The pathetic attempt is easily stopped by Kukulcán by using the power of the sun itself. With his new powers, Kukulcán decides that he must return back to Central America where he will resume the glorious destiny of the Mayan gods. Traveling to the roof of the museum, he creates an energy sphere around himself and uses it to fly back to Central America. While monitoring from afar via his mental powers, the Professor uses his mental powers to revive Angel, Beast, Iceman, and Cyclops and orders them to go after Kukulcán, leaving Ramon and Toloc behind for the police to deal with.
Meanwhile at Metro College, the Professor calls Jean to tell her what's happening with the X-Men. Jean is concerned that the Professor chose to call her on the telephone instead of contacting her telepathically, leaving her to wonder if she is still considered part of the X-Men. Her thoughts are interrupted when Ted Roberts enters the room and introduces her to another student, Calvin Rankin. Jean remembers Rankin during her encounter with him when he became the costumed criminal Mimic. When Rankin inquires if they had met before (having had his memory of his encounter with the X-Men erased) Jean keeps up the ruse, however Calvin secretly begins to doubt the girl’s claim that they have never met.
Jean soon travels to the X-Mansion where the group is briefed on the legends of Kukulcán by the Professor. Xavier tells them that in the past when the Mayan's abused the power of Kukulcán's amulet, it caused a gigantic volcanic eruption that filled their city with molten lava. With the briefing over, Xavier orders the X-Men to travel to San Rico to stop Kukulcán. Jean expresses concern to Scott when she hears that he was injured in battle, however Cyclops has managed to shake off the injuries he sustained battling Kukulcán.
As the X-Men race to San Rico in their jet, Kukulcán has returned to the region and begins to clear it of overgrown vegetation with his vast powers and reveals a gigantic plumed serpent with a gigantic sun stone to further increase his powers. Unearthing the long lost Mayan kingdom, Kukulcán sits upon the pyramid's throne and uses his powers to enslave the people of San Rico.
The X-Men arrive in San Rico and begin traveling through the thick rain forest between them and Kukulcán's kingdom. Along the way, the X-Men use their powers to avoid attacks from the various wild animals in the region. Their arrival does not go unnoticed, as a mystical warning signal alerts Kukulcán of the X-Men's arrival. The group then falls through a pit and is kept at bay by an army of spear wielding natives. However, this proves to only be a minor setback as Cyclops uses his optic blast to dig them a tunnel out of danger, they then knock the natives into their own trap.
Getting past Kukulcán's armed guards, the X-Men try to attack the powerful demi-god but find his powers to be too great for them to face. When the group notices that the sun stone is the source of his power, Iceman uses his ice powers to coat it with a thick layer of ice, blocking the stone from the sun’s rays. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Angel try to keep Kukulcán busy. During the attack, Cyclops accidentally strikes Angel with his optic beams, shaking the group’s leader because his worst nightmare has come true; he's harmed one of his friends with his optic blast. Kukulcán then simply blasts Cyclops aside and attempts to stop Iceman and Beast from further affecting his powers by blocking the sun stone.
This proves to be Kukulcán's undoing as he blasts the base of the plumed serpent causing an underground fault line to quake. The ground then cracks open and swallows up the gigantic statue, cutting off the sun's rays from the crystal and reverting Kukulcán back to the ordinary El Tigre. With the temple crumbling around them, the X-Men tie up El Tigre and flee with Cyclops, carrying the injured Angel. When the others see that Angel is injured, Warren briefly comes around and in a state of delirium accuses Cyclops of blasting him on purpose because he is jealous of Warren's mutual love of Jean before passing out again.
Cyclops knows that this is not true and that Angel is delirious and would like to believe that both Beast and Iceman know this also; however as they walk silently away from the ruins, the X-Men's brooding leader cannot help but doubt.
Notes
- Credits:
- Special Location: On Cerebro
- Editing..Stan Lee
- Script..Roy Thomas
- Art...Werner Roth
- Inks..Dick Ayers
- Lettering...Sam Rosen
- Mayan Headdresses...Irving Forbush
- References: X-Men #19 and Thor #134
Trivia
- Kukulcán's pendant of power is revealed to be cursed. Centuries ago misuses of the pendant caused upheaval and purportedly caused a volcanic eruption that rained lava down on the Mayans.
- The San Ricans speak Mayathan, which Stan Lee graciously states is an ancient Mayan language.
- Cyclops refers to the humans as Homo sapientes. This seems to be a misspelling.
- This is the first issue where someone actually states out-loud how Scott Summers has feelings for Jean Grey.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- This completes a two-part story-arc that began last issue.