When a retired convoy freighter – fully equipped with cannons on deck – is put up for sale in The X-Men #4, it attracts the attention of Magneto, leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Unlike his counterpart Professor Charles Xavier, Magneto believes that the homo superiority of mutants demands that they rule over the rest of the human race and the vessel fits into his plans. Using his abilities to manipulate magnetic objects, he single-handedly steals the freighter.
Magento then maneuvers his stolen ship to the coast of the Latin American nation of Santo Marco, where the mutant known as Mastermind uses his illusionary powers to create a huge army that marches through the streets of the country. “Run for your lives!” the people of Santo Marco scream. “We are lost! They appeared as though by magic!” The Scarlet Witch is impressed, noting that “if I didn’t know better, I too would swear I’m gazing at a real flesh and blood army.” She questions, however, whether the use of fear was really necessary.
“Humans are like sheep,” Magneto replies. “They respond to certain stimuli and fear is one of the most potent.” The deception works, and it isn’t long before the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants have taken control of Santa Marco.
In his 2003 biography An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917 – 1963, Robert Dallek writes that Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev became convinced during the spring of 1962 that the United States was planning an invasion of Cuba. He was also worried that Fidel Castro was intent on moving away from the Soviet Union and embracing China instead. To forestall both possibilities, he decided to secretly install a nuclear missile base in Cuba that could directly threaten the United States while likewise tying Castro more firmly to the Soviet sphere of influence. It was a gamble and there were obvious risks involved, the first being that the United States would get wind of the plan before the missile base was completed.
That’s exactly what happened on October 14, 1962, when a high-attitude U-2 reconnaissance flight over Cuba revealed that three medium-range ballistic missile sites and two intermediate sites were under construction, as well as the existence of twenty-one crated medium range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons. President John F. Kennedy was informed two days later and immediately called a Cabinet Room meeting of his top national security advisors. The group would become known as the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, or ExComm for short.
Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara told the group that any airstrike against Cuba had to be launched before the missile sites were operational. In addition to the sites themselves, airfields and potential storage facilities needed to be targeted as well, resulting in thousands of Cuban casualties. At a second ExComm meeting later that evening, however, McNamara backpedaled and suggested an alternative – “a blockade against offensive weapons entering Cuba in the future.”
It wasn’t long before other members of the ExComm gravitated to the idea of a blockade. If it didn’t work, airstrikes or even a full-fledged invasion of Cuba could follow afterwards. Since there were still those who advocated for an airstrike, the ExComm split into two groups to further develop their positions. After reconvening as a whole, President Kennedy decided on a blockade, although the word “quarantine” – which sounded less like an act of war – was suggested instead. A nationally televised presidential address was then scheduled, during which the existence of the missiles was revealed, the quarantine announced, and a demand made that the Soviet Union dismantle and remove any missiles already in Cuba.
By now Professor Charles Xavier has realized that Magneto is behind events unfolding in Santo Marco. His team of X-Men easily infiltrate the Latin American country and immediately proceed to Magneto’s castle fortress. Magneto is aware of their presence, however, and Angel, Beast, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl are soon bogged down inside the fortress, facing a river of boiling oil heading in their direction. Professor Xavier appears at that point and makes his way through the flames, telling his charges that the fire is simply another illusion manufactured by Mastermind.
“Do not reproach yourselves,” Xavier tells them. “Remember, the evil mutants are as powerful as we, and will stop at nothing to defeat us, and to gain control of all of mankind!”
On October 24, 1962, the quarantine around Cuba went into effect. U.S. forces were placed on DEFCON 2 while the Pentagon sent a message to the Strategic Air Command to go on nuclear alert. Nikita Khrushchev ordered one Soviet ship carrying warheads to turn around, as well as two others whose hatches were large enough to contain nuclear weapons. Other Soviet ships continued towards Cuba, however, including the Yuri Gagarin and Komiles.
At 10:25 a.m., a note was passed to CIA Director John McCone. “Mr. President, we have a preliminary report which seems to indicate that some of the Russian ships have stopped dead in the water,” he said. Seven minutes later, McCone confirmed the news, telling Kennedy, “Six ships previously on their way to Cuba at the edge of the quarantine have stopped or have turned back toward the Soviet Union.”
“We’re eyeball to eyeball,” Secretary of State Dean Rusk whispered to National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy. “And I think the other fellow just blinked.”
Realizing that the X-Men pose a serious threat to his plans, Magneto changes strategy. “I am wiring two bombs,” he tells his followers. “One will be placed in this door to booby-trap it and destroy them when they enter. As for the other, that one will be a nuclear bomb capable of blowing up this entire nation. We will flee now. If the smaller bomb doesn’t stop the X-Men, the large one will – taking all of Santo Marco!”
Quicksilver immediately objects, asking, “But what about all the innocent people that will be killed?” Magneto merely waves the question off, replying, “They are merely homo sapiens. They would kill us if they could. We only fight in self defense.”
The booby-trap almost works when the Beast rushes towards the door without hesitation. Professor Xavier hurls himself in front of his student, however, and while the bomb blast knocks him unconscious, the rest of the X-Men are unscathed. Magneto activates the nuclear device afterwards and orders his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to escape before it detonates.
As the group makes their way to the freighter, Quicksilver has a last-minute change-of-heart and uses his superpowered speed to deactivate the bomb. When confronted by the Beast, he maintains his loyalty to Magneto. “Although I could not allow a nation to be destroyed, my place is still with them,” Quicksilver says. “You are the betrayers of homo superior. Expect no mercy the next time we meet.”
On October 26, President Kennedy received a long, rambling, letter from Premier Khrushchev proposing that the Soviet Union would cease sending missiles to Cuba if the United States removed the naval blockade and vowed to never invade the island nation. The next day, however, the Kremlin released a different version of the letter that added the removal of U.S. missiles from Turkey as a requirement.
Attorney General Robert Kennedy and White House aide Ted Sorenson suggested ignoring the second letter and simply replying to the first, which contained no mention of Turkey. They then drafted a response, writing that in exchange for the removal of all weapons “capable of offensive use” from Cuba, the United States would discontinue the quarantine and issue “assurances against an invasion of Cuba.”
Robert Kennedy hand delivered the reply to Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. The next morning, Radio Moscow broadcasted Khrushchev’s response to Kennedy. “I received your message,” it began. “The Soviet Government, in addition to previously issued instructions to cease further work on weapon construction sites, has issued a new order to dismantle the weapons which you describe as offensive, and to crate and return them to the Soviet Union.” The crisis had been averted.
Anthony Letizia