MUTANT-CREATING MACHINE
Classification: Terrestrial technology (see comments)
Creator: Magneto (Max Eisenhardt)
User/Possessors: Magneto
First Appearance: X-Men I#18 (March, 1966)
Powers/Abilities/Functions: A multi-stage
electronic mechanism, it consisted of a body cell analyzer, six
transparent cylinders, and a selector panel.
The body cell analyzer examined the cell patterns of the parents of
a mutant, then used that genetic information to form artificial
mutants within the cylinders; the operator could control the
desired size, strength, and type of mutation of the artificial
mutants by setting the selector panel.
History:
(X-Men I#11) - After capturing Magneto and the Toad, the Stranger
took the two mutants to his laboratory
world.
(X-Men I#18 (fb)) - During the Stranger's absence, Magneto grew
frustrated by his imprisonment, so he went to the laboratory
world's
"graveyard of old spaceships" and used one of the vessels
to return to Earth, leaving the Toad behind.
(X-Men I#17) - Once back on Earth, Magneto went to Xavier's School for
Gifted Youngsters and individually captured Professor X and all
his students (with the exception of Iceman, who was
hospitalized at the time). The master of magnetism then
placed his five captives in a steel gondola attached to a
high-altitude balloon, which he sent ascending into the
stratosphere. Afterward, Magneto took control of the empty
school-mansion, to use it as his own headquarters. When the
doorbell rang, Magneto opened the front door to "greet" two
unexpected guests -- Kathryn and Warren
Worthington Jr., who had come to the school to visit their
son, the Angel.
(X-Men I#18) - Using his powers, Magneto placed the Worthingtons in a
trance and commanded the couple to go to sleep in one of the
school's guest rooms. Realizing that he now had the parents of
one of the mutant X-Men in his custody, Magneto went to
Professor Xavier's laboratory and began to construct his
mutant-creating machine; he then situated the completed device
over the sleeping Worthingtons, so he could analyze their
genetic structures and duplicate them, with the intention of
creating his own army of mutant slaves to conquer mankind.
Meanwhile, Iceman left the hospital (after having been treated by Dr.
John Thomas) and returned to the school, where he
saw Magneto's artificial mutants beginning to take form.
Realizing that the Worthingtons were the source of Magneto's mad
plan, Iceman hastily formed an ice barrier between them and the
body cell analyzer -- this action temporarily halted the
creation process of the artificial mutants.
When Magneto went to check on the interference, he discovered Iceman,
and the two engaged in battle; but by then, Professor X and the
other X-Men had escaped from Magneto's balloon deathtrap and
returned to join their teammate. While Magneto fought the entire
group of X-Men, Professor X used his telepathy to contact the
Stranger -- Magneto fled as the mysterious cosmic entity pursued
him, but he was eventually recaptured and taken back to the
Stranger's laboratory world.
With
their enemy gone, the X-Men raced to the mutant-creating
machine, before the infernal device could complete the
artificial mutants...
(X-Men I#18 - BTS) - ...but Iceman separated from the group and dashed
to the guest room, where he moved the body cell analyzer away
from the sleeping Worthingtons.
(X-Men I#18) - The X-Men reached the mutant-creating machine just as
the first fully-formed artificial mutant was about to emerge
from its cylinder; but then all six of the nascent creatures
vanished, fading away to nothingness. Seconds later, Iceman
appeared and explained that he had moved the analyzer out of
range of the Worthingtons -- since they were the catalyst in the
mutant production process, he had correctly figured that the
entire machine couldn't function without them.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Werner Roth, and Dick Ayers.
If Magneto could create such a device
as this, then why didn't he build it during his earlier
battles with the X-Men? My guess is that he only learned of
this technology after he was taken to the
Stranger's laboratory world -- Magneto described the world
as being "like an intergalactic museum, with relics from
every part of the universe," so perhaps he found this
advanced alien technology there and studied how it
functioned, then he duplicated it with spare parts in
Professor X's laboratory after he returned to Earth.
This story occurred some time before
Magneto (with some behind-the-scenes assistance from Maelstrom)
learned the secret of creating his own living mutant -- Alpha,
the Ultimate Mutant -- so my guess is that the
artificial mutants weren't actually living beings or clones,
but rather androids/robots.
Magneto never used any specific name
for this device, but Professor X (as well as the Official Index of the Marvel Universe)
referred to it as a "mutant-creating machine".
Profile by Ron Fredricks.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The artificial mutants should not be confused with:
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body cell analyzer
One of the accompanying pieces of instrumentation used by
Magneto's mutant-creating machine, it was stationed over the sleeping
Kathryn and Warren Worthington Jr.
Knowing the Worthingtons were the parents of a mutant
(Angel/Warren Worthington III), Magneto used this device to examine
their cell patterns, then utilized this genetic information in a effort
to create artificial mutants.
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But Iceman temporarily slowed the mutant-creating process
by forming an ice barrier between the analyzer and the Worthingtons.
Iceman eventually moved the wheeled analyzer away from the
Worthingtons, which completely disrupted the creation of the nascent
artificial mutants, and caused them to fade away.
--X-Men I#18
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artificial mutants
Formed within the cylinders of Magneto's mutant-creating
machine, these six beings were based on the body cell analyzer's
examination of the cell patterns of Kathryn and Warren Worthington Jr.
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But before the artificial mutants could fully form, they
vanished into nothingness because Iceman had moved the body cell
analyzer away from the Worthingtons.
(Comment: Since their creation was never completed, any
powers or abilities they may have possessed are unrevealed.)
--X-Men I#18
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images: (without ads)
X-Men I#18, p11, pan6 (main image - Magneto by completed mutant-creating machine)
X-Men I#18, p7, pan1 (Magneto begins to assemble mutant-creating machine)
X-Men I#18, p7, pan5 (Magneto by control panel of mutant-creating machine)
X-Men I#18, p7, pan2 (Magneto by body cell analyzer)
X-Men I#18, p7, pan4 (Magneto places body cell analyzer over sleeping Warren Worthington Jr. and Kathryn Worthington)
X-Men I#18, p13, pan1 (Iceman forms ice barrier between sleeping Worthingtons and body cell analyzer)
X-Men I#18, p12, pan4 (artificial mutants begin to form within cylinders)
X-Men I#18, p20, pan1 (first completed artificial mutant about to emerge; X-Men (background))
X-Men I#18, p20, pan2 (artificial mutants vanish)
Appearances:
X-Men I#18 (March, 1966) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Werner Roth [as Jay Gavin] (pencils), Dick Ayers (inks), Artie Simek (letters)
First Posted: 01/26/2023
Last updated: 01/26/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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