Major Issues: First Appearance of Caliban

Hundreds of comic book characters are being portrayed in film and television, and with each new [...]

By Dallas Jackson - March 7, 2017 10:47 am EST

Hundreds of comic book characters are being portrayed in film and television, and with each new day more are being announced.

Major Issues -- a ComicBook.com original video series -- will speak to true comic book hobbyists as well as new fans in a short, fast-paced digital series featuring the first appearances of characters we all love. Each episode will feature the actual comic book, info on the creators, and the backstory on the creation and legacy of the character.

The next in our series is a look at the first horseman of the apocalypse, Caliban.

The origin story is told as such from the Marvel Database: Caliban was a mutant who was born with a freakish appearance which caused his father to name him (or possibly only nickname him) after the grotesque being in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. At some point, Caliban was recruited by Callisto, to use his superhuman ability to locate other mutants for her, whom she organized into the underground community known as the Morlocks. Caliban found Leech and took him to Annalee, who raised him and several other young mutant orphans as her children. Caliban lived beneath the Manhattan streets with them, in The Alley, but felt lonely, even among his fellow mutant outcasts. One evening Caliban sensed the presence of mutants in a New York City nightclub and entered, only to find himself in combat against Dazzler, Storm, Sprite, as well as against the original Spider-Woman. Caliban attempted to kidnap Sprite and the battle ended peacefully, with the four women allowing the pathetic Caliban, who only sought friendship, to return to his underground home.

Originally published as The Uncanny X-Men No. 148, the database sums the story as such:

Scott Summers and Lee Forrester are investigating a city that recently arose from the Caribbean depths. Lee kisses Scott, but Scott isn't ready for intimacy, which leads to Lee running off. The sightless Scott, his eyes bound with cloth to prevent him from using his optic blasts, vents his frustration, but Lee eventually comes back and they make up. On the Caribbean island, Lee and Scott are hungry and hoping to be discovered. And discovered they are -- however, their "rescuer" fills Scott with more fear than pleasure, for he is none other than... Magneto!

Be sure to check out our other Major Issues.

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