50 years after forming X-Men, Professor X dead

[September 13, 2012]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Fifty years after Charles Xavier banded his first class of mutants together as the X-Men, the telepath- turned-team builder has been killed by one of them.

The erstwhile teacher, who trained mutants in Marvel Entertainment's X-Men comics through the years, was felled in the latest issue of "Avengers vs. X-Men" by none other than Scott Summers.

The 11th issue of the limited-series was released Wednesday.

Summers, aka Cyclops, was one of the team's founding members and was a near constant member through its various incarnations.

In the current series, he's been taken over by the Phoenix force and is lashing out, violently.

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso said it was not writer Brian Michael Bendis' initial intent to kill the character off, but "as the story progressed it became obvious that this had to be the last stand of Charles Xavier."

He says the mortal blow will have ramifications that will reach into new titles coming this fall, including "Uncanny Avengers" and "All New X-Men" later this fall.

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[Associated Press]

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