The X-Men #4
The X-Men #4 is the single most character-dense debut issue of the original Lee–Kirby X-Men run, introducing five new players at once — Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Toad, Mastermind, and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants as a team — and in doing so gave Marvel's mutant corner its essential dramatic architecture: two rival factions, one heroic and one antagonistic, with overlapping moral complexity. What made the issue genuinely ahead of its time was Lee and Kirby's refusal to make the Brotherhood simply evil: Wanda and Pietro are portrayed from their very first panel as reluctant members serving Magneto out of a debt of survival rather than ideology, a nuance that paid off enormously when both characters reformed and joined the Avengers in Avengers #16 (1965). The issue also stages the first on-page ideological confrontation between Charles Xavier and Magneto — the philosophical fault line that would define X-Men storytelling for the next six decades — and it marks Magneto's second appearance overall, cementing his role as the franchise's defining antagonist.
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Published with a cover date of March 1964 but placed on sale January 3, 1964, the issue was written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Paul Reinman, and lettered by Artie Simek, with Stan Lee also serving as editor. It was produced during the earliest, highly experimental phase of the X-Men title — only the fourth issue of a series Lee had described as built around the concept of two teams of mutants in perpetual ideological conflict — and Reinman's scratchy inks over Kirby's pencils gave the issue a noticeably rougher visual texture than surrounding issues in the run. The cover famously miscolors Scarlet Witch's costume green, while the interior correctly renders it red — an error that has made the cover itself an enduring collector talking point.
Trivia · 10 facts
- First appearance of Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; cover date March 1964, on-sale date January 3, 1964.
- First appearance of Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), also created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in this same issue.
- First appearance of Toad (Mortimer Toynbee) and Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), both debuting as members of the Brotherhood.
- First team appearance of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, with Magneto returning for his second overall appearance (after X-Men #1).
- First on-page meeting between Professor X and Magneto — depicted as a clash on the astral plane — though later continuity has since retconned the characters as having met much earlier in their lives.
- Wanda and Pietro are established from the outset as morally ambiguous: they serve Magneto only because he once rescued Wanda from a mob that tried to kill her after her powers accidentally caused a barn fire in her European village.
- Quicksilver disarms a nuclear bomb Magneto planted to destroy the nation of Santo Marco, signaling the twins' moral separation from the Brotherhood even in their debut issue.
- The issue has been reprinted in numerous collected editions including Essential Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1, Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men Vol. 1, The X-Men Omnibus Vol. 1, X-Men Epic Collection: Children of the Atom, and received an official Marvel Facsimile Edition (first printing January 2021, new printing January 2024).
- Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver went on to join the Avengers in The Avengers #16 (May 1965), becoming foundational members of Marvel's second-generation Avengers roster.
- Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde) — introduced here as a minor Brotherhood illusionist — later played a pivotal role in the Dark Phoenix Saga decades later.
Cast · 22 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Magneto and his new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants steal a freighter and use it to take over the South American nation of Santo Marco. The X-Men invade and take the country back. Xavier is caught in an explosion and loses his mental powers.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).