First Appearance: The Stranger

Villain: Magneto & the Brotherhood: Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, the Toad

Innovations: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch abandon the Brotherhood, go legit; CEREBRO picks up the Juggernaut's presence

Gadgets & Technology: Radar-Image Beam

Letters Page: Page One • Page Two

Across town, an odd-looking man with white hair, a white beard and a finely tailored suit checks in to a small apartment, impressing the renter with a fistful of cash he seems to pull out of thin air. On his way out, he tries to assimilate into the population, but gets frustrated at waiting for oncoming traffic, so he glides across the street six feet up in the air. When a furor is created at this sight, he decides to escape public purview by walking into a building- through a brick wall! Inside the building awaits none other than Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

The X-Men, too, are seeking this powerful man. The Angel turns up nothing, but Cyclops overhears a couple of cops talking about the amazing sight they saw earlier. It's a good lead for the team, but first they must get Cyclops out of a scrape involving the police, who think's he looks suspicious and tell him to take his glasses off. He resists, and his glasses are pulled off, causing his optic blast beams to go all over the place. His teammates help get him away from the scene so they can focus on the mission.

Magneto grills the older man with the awesome powers. He identifies himself as "the Stranger." Magneto asks him to join his band of mutants, and he demonstrates his powers of magnetism by wrapping metal around the Stranger. Mastermind demonstrates his powers by causing the Stranger to think he's at the bottom of the ocean or in a lava pit. The Stranger wearies of such treatment and blasts them back, shedding off the metal that surrounds him. Then, he fires a ray which turns Mastermind into a solid block of matter, his mass so great that he falls through the floor!

The X-Men hear the public ruckus when Mastermind falls down through the building's floor, and they go to investigate. They see Magneto and his covetous attention towards the Stranger. The Angel is first on the scene and Quicksilver gives him a good beating before Iceman coats him with a thick layer of ice. Scarlet Witch races to his side to check on his health. With the fight ensuing, the Stranger decides to leave, creating a whirlwind vortex that engulfs him. He invites Magneto to follow, and so does the Toad.

Cyclops and Marvel Girl finally get to the room, and help restore order. Cyke uses his optic blasts to help remove the layer of ice from Quicksilver. Scarlet Witch and her brother declare they are done with Magneto, as they feel they have paid off their debt to him already. Cyclops offers them membership in the X-Men, but they claim they are done fighting and will go back to their homeland.

The Stranger lands with Magneto and the Toad in a wooded area outside of town. Magneto starts in again on demanding the Stranger join him and serve him by his side, but the Stranger has had enough. He grows in size to a couple dozen feet, and then covers the two mutants in a film of "anti-magnetic" membrane. The X-Men, having by this time realized the tremendous power of the Stranger, have tracked him down to the forest. They see Magneto and the Toad bound up and the Stranger comes out to tell them that he is from another planet, and the membrane is designed to protect the two as they journey through space. He tells them that he is a collector of mutations, to bring them back to his planet for scientific study, and he takes his specimens with him and they deport Earth's atmosphere.

The police come to the scene, and the X-Men go to work doubletime to get the Professor out of the area, so he will not be seen and connected with the X-Men. Back at the school, Cyclops and the professor monitor Cerebro, which begins to signal an off-the-charts warning of a super-powerful mutant - - heading their way!

--synopsis and panel images by Gormuu