X-Men #3 (last issue | next issue)
"Beware of the Blob!"
Writer:
Stan Lee
Artist:
Jack Kirby
Inker:
Paul Reinman
Letterer:
Art Simek
Publisher:
Marvel Comics
Cover date: January
1964
Cover price: 12 cents
The X-Men open the book with yet another training session, but it abruptly comes to a halt when
Professor X detects the presence of another mutant. The X-Men put on their street clothes and squabble about who gets to team up with
Jean Grey on their impending mission. Even the Professor has the hots for Jean, though he discreetly keeps that idea in his
thought balloon. (Thankfully, they never developed that idea any further.)
Angel drives off with Jean in his rich boy convertible, leaving the rest of the grumbling X-Men behind.
Iceman and
Beast wander around aimlessly, while
Cyclops finds the mutant at a carnival. For a measly quarter, you two can witness the powers of the enormous
Blob. Strength cannot budge him, bullets cannot harm him! Well worth a quarter.
After the show, Cyke extends an invitation to the Blob to visit the X-Men. The Blob rudely brushes him off. He's not interested, but suddenly becomes interested when Jean and Angel show up. A little too interested, if you know what I mean. Hands off, Blob. The X-Men take Blob back to the mansion where he demonstrates his powers for the Professor. The Blob refuses the Professor's invitation, but since he now knows the secret identity of the X-Men, they can't simply let him go without a mind wipe from the Prof. The Blob won't stand for this, and the combined powers of the team can't stop the big guy from leaving out the front door.
The Blob goes back to the circus, and now that he knows he's
homo superior and not just a mere circus freak, he plans on running the show. He rounds up everyone and plans a preemptive strike on the X-Men. They're not going to let a bunch of rubes push them around, even if they are mutant rubes. The Angel flies by and the carnies scare him off with a barrage of gunfire. Back at the mansion, the Professor is whipping up a device so he can mindwipe the entire circus. The Angel rounds up the rest of the X-Men and suddenly, a
giraffe pokes its head through the window.
Tonight on
Fox,
When Circuses Attack! They attack the front door with a
battering ram while the
tightrope walkers go for the upper floors.
Gorillas!
Cowboys with
lassoes! Men shot out of
cannons!
Elephants! A human
pyramid! Everyone's in on the attack. This may be the most entertaining fight scene I've read in a long time. And the circus wins! They tie up the X-Men and leave them on the lawn while the Blob leads the circus inside.
The Professor has finished his device and telepathically communicates with Jean outside. By telekenetically levitating a knife, she frees the team. In the confined space of the mansion, the team has the advantage and the circus in on the defensive. Professor X activates his device and he uses his now amplified powers to alter the memories of all the attackers, including the Blob. They all shuffle off and go back to the circus.
The Blob's memory would soon return and he would be drafted by
Magneto into the
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in
X-Men #7. He would be a perennial irritant to the X-Men and other superheroes and is, I believe, the only villain to be in every incarnation of the Brotherhood. The second Brotherhood of Evil Mutants became
Freedom Force, the US government's group of pet mutant enforcers.