X-Men Outsmart Their Enemies

Charles Xavier can be the X-Men’s worst enemy at times, and “X-Manhunt” is showing why that it is. After his actions in the Krakoa Era, pretending to work with Orchis and helping them to destroy humanity in an attempt to give the X-Men time to beat them, he was imprisoned in Graymalkin Prison, the former X-Mansion. However, Xavier’s sins are coming home to roost, as his Shi’Ar daughter Empress Xandra is attacked by those who hate her half-human heritage in deep space. Xavier sensed the attack and went on a rampage, escaping Graymalkin Prison and running through Rogue’s X-Men team like a hot knife through butter. However, the whole situation is complicated by a brain tumor Xavier has developed, making controlling his powers, or even just seeing what is right in front of him, very difficult. Xavier talks Storm into helping him, leading them to San Francisco on a mysterious mission.

X-Men #13 sees Cyclops’s X-Men team enter the fray, battling against Xavier, Storm, and former X-Man Maggot. As powerful as Cyclops’s team is — with heavy hitters like Quentin Quire, Magik, and Juggernaut — they’re facing off against the most powerful telepath in the world and Storm, whose already amazing mutant powers are supplemented by the cosmic entity Eternity. Add to that Cyclops being taken out of the fight early, and the X-Men are in for a fight. However, Cyclops has taught the team well, leading to them using a rather wild — but highly effective — strategy to take down two of the most powerful mutants on the planet.

The X-Men Have Mastered Thinking Outside the Box

Storm and Xavier brought Storm’s mobile base, the Storm Sanctuary, to San Francisco. After Storm took out Cyclops, she started channeling the power of Eternity, completely owning Magik, Juggernaut, Psylocke, and Temper. Meanwhile, Beast was able to get away and into the Storm Sanctuary’s engine room, in order to sabotage the Storm Sanctuary. However, Xavier was there waiting for him, and takes control of Beast’s mind. Luckily for Beast, Quentin Quire is there to counter Xavier, but while Quire has the power, he doesn’t have Xavier’s experience in psi-combat. Xavier is able to lock Quire down, all the while pointing out the weaknesses that have defined Quentin and his life since coming to the Xavier School.

Things get just as bad for the rest of the X-Men as well. Storm’s Eternity given powers have made her even more dangerous than ever, leading to her wiping the floor with the Juggernaut. Magik, aware of Xavier’s attack on Beast and Quentin, teleports to the X-Men’s base and grabs Magneto’s helmet. She takes it back to Storm Sanctuary and drops it on Beast’s head, allowing him to go back to sabotaging the engines. Psylocke, thinking fast, realizes that Storm is more dangerous when possessed by Eternity, so she decides to take an out of left field approach to the situation. She threatens the life of Maggot, already taken down by the X-Men, forcing Storm to retake control of her body. Finally, Quentin unleashes his secret weapon against Xavier — Cassandra Nova. Quentin was able to copy some of her psionic imprint, unleashing it on Xavier, who the Cassandra Nova copy throws into the Black Bug Room. The X-Men are able to pull a win from the jaws of defeat by using tactics and ideas that no one would have expected.

The X-Men Are Marvel’s Smartest Team

Marvel has some of the greatest superteams in comics. Each of them have their advantages. The Avengers consist of the most powerful heroes, led by people who are experts in battle. The Fantastic Four’s greatest strengths isn’t their power level, but the familial bond they have gives them reservoirs of strength that most teams just don’t have. The X-Men aren’t the most powerful team, but the one place where they have everyone else beat is battlefield know how. Being an X-Man means spending hours training, not only learning to master their powers but also how to work together as a team. Cyclops is one of the greatest tacticians around, and that’s rubbed off on his current team of X-Men.

They were facing off against almost insurmountable odds — Xavier is THE Omega telepath and Storm is possessed by the embodiment of the universe itself — but they were able to survive because they used their brains. Magik and Psylocke both were Captains on Krakoa, leading teams into battle, and have taken Cyclops’s tactical example to the extreme. Quentin Quire always wants to be the most powerful person on the field, and him keeping some of Cassandra Nova’s essence gave him a weapon no one expected. The X-Men were able to take a nearly impossible situation and turn into their advantage, capturing Xavier and showing why they are Marvel’s smartest team.

X-Men #13 is on sale where ever comics are sold.

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2025-03-15 15:12