Uncanny X-Men #4
"The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants"
Written by Stan Lee
Drawn by Jack Kirby

I know it's a Batman-line but "where does he get those wonderful toys?" I mean it, where does Xavier get the gadgets that he outfits his Danger Room with? That room is just intense and it must be a bitch to set-up, not to mention clean up and set up for the next session and that would be true even if he wasn't a parapalegic.

Anywho, this is where the X-Men starts to pick up steam. For instance, the cut between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants eating at the table is the best cut in the series up to this point. But the cut doesn't just look pretty visually, it actually highlights the difference between the tension among the Brotherhood and the tension among the X-Men. The X-Men squabble and fight amongst themselves but they also look out for each other, there is more a mutant unity in their team than in the team that preaches mutant superiority.

The issue also seems to mark the point where Stan Lee realized that Magneto was where the money is and has brought him back with reinforcements. The fighting is top notch, the most fierce it has been so far in the title since the X-Men finally have a foil, that raises the tension and means that they have to defeat the enemy on their own (with only some guidance from Xavier). After the last two issues it's a nice break and it seems to be something that Lee also recognized since he ends this issue with Xavier losing his mental powers.

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