If At First You Don't Succeed...

The problem with many villains is their stick-to-it-itiveness.

How many times has a bad guy come up with a brilliant scheme/device that comes this close to succeeding, only to see the plan thwarted by random chance--and then never try it again?

I understand, from a dramatic standpoint, why you wouldn't want to just do issue after issue of super-villains trying successive iterations of the same plan until it finally worked. Boring!

Yet you would think that some--like Luthor, a scientist in the Silver Age--would not abandon a device that almost succeeded in giving them ultimate power, when they just try to eliminate the x-factor which stopped them earlier.

For example:

Bobby Drake is dying in the hospital, and the rest of the X-Men are trapped in a capsule (slowly) heading into outer space. Magneto has taken over the Xavier School, and he has done so while Warren Worthington's parents are visiting!

So--by analyzing the DNA of the parents of a known mutant, Magneto's device--which he built from scratch--can create an army of mutants, loyal to him, with whatever powers he wants them to have!! Take that, Doom!!

But, unfortunately for ol' Bucket-Head, Iceman recovers (because LASERS!), the rest of the X-Men make it back to earth (because TEAMWORK!), and Professor X mentally summons the Stranger (who had previously captured Magneto and taken him to his home planet for study!), which causes Magneto to flee. So, all is thwarted...

OK, then...but why did Magneto never try this again??

A) There are lots of parents of mutants he could use...or he could just go after the Worthingtons again, once they left Xavier's mansion?
B) He built his machines from crap just lying around the mansion--surely the Master of Magnetism could do it again.
C) It's not as if he lost the knowledge, right? He already knew how to build the machine and make the army?

So if he has the capability to create his Million Mutant Army, loyal to him, with whatever size, strength and mutation he desired, why the hell did he never try that again? The machine worked--it was only the fortuitous recovery of Iceman that stopped his plan from succeeding!! Why not try again elsewhere, with parents not related to the X-Men?!? Why abandon a plan that was this close to conquering the world?

Ah, well, at least he can market the device as a sleep aid on informercials:

From X-Men #18 (1966)