X-Men (1963) #66

Cover by Marie Severin

Cover Date: March 1970

On-Sale Date: January 1970

Synopsis: The X-Men fight the Hulk then go on hiatus for five years.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, May

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 1

Professor X has returned after "many long months".  I have his "death" in September of XY 2 and his return in May of XY 3, a gap of 8 months.

Page 2, panels 1 and 2

Lorna has only known Xavier for "a few days", which fits pretty well with the established timeline.  Xavier must have emerged from hiding shortly after the X-Men left to chase Sauron to Tierra del Fuego in issue #61.

This is also setting up the long-term, inseparable pairing of Havok and Lorna, and breaking up the young Iceman/Lorna relationship.  At the very least it's setting up a love triangle, which seems like an odd thing to be doing just as the series is ending.

Page 3, panels 2 and 3

The device that the X-Men think will revive Xavier is based on articles published by Hank Pym.  Xavier apparently finished building the mind-probe shortly before his "death" (which would be in the gap between X-Men (1963) #39 and #40).  The footnote above would suggest that this issue takes place some time after Avengers (1963) #68, although that's probably not going to be relevant to this project.

Page 11, panel 3

Xavier and Bruce Banner apparently exchanged correspondence years ago, on "the gamma-ray treatment of mental exhaustion".  Banner apparently built a device based on their mutual theories, and this is what the X-Men need to save Professor X.

The question of when this all happened is up in the air, aside from being "years ago".  We already know that Xavier spent some time working with Karl Lykos before forming the X-Men, so there's an established period where he was openly collaborating with other scientists.  I have Xavier working with Lykos in XY -4, and it makes sense to put his correspondence with Banner around the same time (a period when he is thinking about creating the school but hasn't recruited any X-Men yet).

Page 20

This is, of course, the final issue of X-Men to feature new material for quite some time.  Sales had dwindled by this point, and for the next five years the book will be a reprint title.  The X-Men will still be guest-starring all over the place, and I'll cover all of those appearances, but for now they've been demoted from starring roles to background parts.  It's as good a time as any for me to update the timeline, and then I'll move on to the "hidden years" of 1970-1975.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This issue takes place over a single day, following directly on from last issue.

X-Men (1963) #65

Cover by Marie Severin

Cover Date: February 1970

On-Sale Date: December 1969

Synopsis: Professor X comes out from the basement where he's been pretending to be dead, and sends the X-Men to fight the alien Z'nox.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, May

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 7

Let's kick off with this issue's big retcon: Professor X wasn't the one who died at the hands of Grotesk in X-Men (1963) #42, it was actually the Changeling in disguise.  The Changeling, having just discovered he was dying, went to Xavier hoping to find redemption.  This just happened to coincide with Xavier discovering a vast alien threat, and wanting to go into hiding.  So the Changeling impersonated Xavier for a few weeks (according to Xavier on page 8.1), and died heroically. So it goes.

This flashback has to happen after the Changeling's villainous turn in the Factor Three saga (in X-Men (1963) #37-39).  The X-Men were already noticing oddities in Xavier's behaviour in issue #40, so Changeling's diagnosis and this flashback must take place in the gap between issues.  I have a gap from February to September of XY 2 between those issues, so there's plenty of time for Xavier and the Changeling to cook up this plan.  Changeling's time impersonating Xavier covers issues #40-42, all of which I have taking place in September; this is consistent with Xavier's claim that Changeling led the team for a few weeks.

As for Xavier's star-scanning, I assume he's doing it as a direct result of his confrontation with the alien "Mutant Master" in issue #39.

Page 6

Some of you may recall that Marvel Girl was also in on Xavier's secret plan.  Back when he "died" she claimed that she'd known all along that he had an incurable illness, but now she has to admit that she's been pretending Xavier was dead for months (since September XY 2).  Xavier swore her to secrecy, and she's done a pretty good job of keeping this from the other X-Men, even down to some convincing tears after his funeral.  Let's just assume she was mourning the Changeling, shall we?  After all, she must have gotten to know him reasonably well while they were planning for this ruse.

Page 8, panel 1

Xavier claims here that he split his powers between Marvel Girl and the Changeling.  Not only does this explain how Changeling could use telepathy while impersonating Xavier, but it explains Marvel Girl gaining telepathy around the same time.  None of this make sense from a modern perspective, if only because Xavier's powers can't just be passed around like this.  We'll learn in Bizarre Adventures (1980) #27 that Jean already had telepathy that was suppressed; rather than giving her his powers here he's removing the blocks on her own power, so that's her covered.  As for Changeling, he's not a natural telepath as far as I'm aware, and I don't think this has ever been dealt with.  My personal head-canon is that Xavier taught him to use his shape-changing to stretch his brain, giving him low-level psychic powers.  It's all conjecture though, and really no more plausible than the explanation that the comic gives.

Page 4

The villains of this issue are the Z'nox, an alien race so dangerous that Xavier had to go hide in his basement for half a year to prepare for them.  Far back in their history, their evolution "soured", and produced a race completely lacking in compassion.  They've been perfecting conquest for eons, and about a millennium ago they built a gravity transformer drive that they can use to pilot their home planet around the universe.

According to page 5.3, a Z'nox craft landed at the south pole last night to act as a homing beacon for the rest of their race.  The remainder of the story has the X-Men driving these Z'nox out, while Xavier hits the Z'nox planet with a concentrated beam of compassion collected from millions of human minds.  A bit of a sappy "power of love" ending, but surprisingly enough this moment will be very important to the first few years of Chris Claremont's run on the book.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This issue takes place over a single day.  I have it happening the day after last issue's battle with Sunfire.

X-Men (1963) #64

Cover by Sal Buscema

Cover Date: January 1970

On-Sale Date: November 1969

Synopsis: The X-Men battle Sunfire, a Japanese mutant who's still mad about World War 2.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, May

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 7, panel 6

This is the first appearance of Sunfire, who's introduced as a young mutant being manipulated by his xenophobic uncle into hating America.  He gets an extensive origin flashback, and we've already hit a huge chronological problem in the first panel: Sunfire's mad because his mother was caught in the radiation from Hiroshima, causing her to die a few years later.  This wasn't a problem at the time of publication of course, but when you're looking at X-history as a whole it stretches Sunfire's timeline out quite implausibly.  There are a lot of Marvel characters with origins tied to World War 2, and most of them have explanations as to how they can still be alive and vital here in 2022, but as far as I can tell that's never been done for Sunfire.  For the moment I'm just going to leave it as is: Sunfire's mother got irradiated by the Hiroshima bombing in 1945, and she died years later when he was born.  Sure, it becomes increasingly implausible as time goes by, but that's Marvel for you.

Tying the origin of Sunfire to Hiroshima does allow us to pin down his approximate age, however.  This issue was published in 1969 and cover-date 1970, which would put Hiroshima in XY -24 or -25.  If Sunfire's birth happened a few years after that, then he'd be around 20-21 as of XY 3.  For the sake of easy math I'll say he's 20, and put his birth in XY -17.

Page 8

Page 9

The rest of the flashback involves Sunfire gaining his powers, and being raised and brainwashed by his uncle.  I've assumed that Sunfire is 18 when his powers activate, based on his uncle's comment about him coming of age on page 9.2.  That would place this flashback in XY 1, and his training montage spans the two years leading up to his debut story.

By the end of the story Sunfire has accidentally caused the death of his father (a peace-loving ambassador), and renounced his uncle's evil ways.  He'll be a hero from this point forward, albeit one who is a bit of a prick.  His main claim to fame is being part of the team in Giant-Size X-Men (1975) #1, before he buggers off back into semi-obscurity.

Page 7, panel 1

As for the X-Men, they don't have a lot going on in this story other than being there to fight Sunfire.  It's worth questioning why they didn't head right back to the mansion upon returning from the Savage Land though.  After all, when they left Havok was still recovering from his injuries, and you'd figure Cyclops at least would want to check in on him as quickly as possible.  Then again, it is Cyclops, who's not known for his emotionality.  (The real-world reason is that there's a big reveal coming when they do get back to the mansion, but that's a discussion for next issue.)

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place over a single day.  I've placed it the day after last issue (being generous about travel times from the Savage Land), but it could easily be two or three days later.

X-Men (1963) #63

Cover by Neal Adams

Cover Date: December 1969

On-Sale Date: October 1969

Synopsis: Magneto creates a sexy lady mutant to hypnotise the X-Men, but is defeated because Marvel Girl is only attracted to manly men.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, May

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 10

This flashback shows how Magneto survived falling into the ocean at the end of Avengers (1963) #53: he used his powers to burrow beneath the Earth's surface, where he found caves that eventually led him to the Savage Land.  Magnets can solve anything!  This apparently happened months ago.  I have that Avengers story placed in September of XY 2, about half a year before this issue, so it fits well.

There's another flashback that recaps Angel's story from last issue, but it doesn't add anything new.

Page 16

This is Lorelei, the aforementioned sexy lady mutate that Magneto creates to hypnotise the X-Men. She was just another "swamp savage" a short time ago, but Magneto has turned her into a "neo-mutant" by harnessing the power of the south magnetic pole, just as he did the other Savage Land Mutates.  Unlike the rest of the group that debuted in this story, Lorelei will pretty quickly fade into obscurity (which is a minor miracle given the predilections of long-term X-Men scribe Chris Claremont).

Page 19, panel 1

Magneto is wearing this weird costume with the arm-tubes to drain off his magnetic powers, as they will interfere with the delicate apparatus he is using to create his mutates.  Last issue it was said that he was wearing them as mechanical support for his arms, but that must have been a lie he's been telling to keep up his disguise.

By the end of the story Magneto is crushed under some machinery and presumed dead (although none of the dimwit X-Men bother to check whether he's alive under a big pile of metal).  He'll next be seen being rescued by the Sub-Mariner in Fantastic Four (1963) #102 (although much later a story will be wedged in between in X-Men: The Hidden Years). The Savage Land Mutates revert back to normal at the end of the story, but they'll regain their powers within a few years in Avengers (1963) #105.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

It's difficult to tell in the Savage Land, but it seems as though the whole issue takes place in a single day following directly from last issue.

X-Men (1962) #62

Cover by Neal Adams

Cover Date: November 1969

On-Sale Date: September 1969

Synopsis: The X-Men search for Sauron, and end up in the Savage Land.  Angel's life is saved by the mysterious Creator, who is actually Magneto in disguise.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, May

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 3

Page 4

Last issue Angel had a bad run-in with Sauron, so the X-Men left him behind when they went to Tierra del Fuego.  This flashback explains how he caught up and followed them into the Savage Land, and it's all intertwined with events from last issue.  I have the page 3 flashback happening between page 18 and 19 of last issue, after Sauron has flown off to Tierra del Fuego and the X-Men are preparing to follow.  The page 4 flashback all happens after the end of last issue, as the X-Men have already gone down the cliff looking for Karl Lykos.

Page 6

This is the Creator, who is actually Magneto in a cunning disguise - he's taken off his helmet (and yes, this really is the first time he's ever been seen without it).  He mentions entering the Savage Land through "the endless abyss", just as Angel did, but next issue will show that he took a much different route.

With him is Amphibius, one of the Savage Land Mutates (a little more on them later).

Page 14

Gathered above with Magneto are some of his Savage Land Mutates, making their first appearance here.  It's mentioned in panel 1 that Magneto created them by mutating "swamp savages"; we'll see the machine that he used next issue.  The Mutates will be a staple of Savage Land stories going forward, although their roster will vary.  Appearing in this issue for the first time are Amphibius, Barbarus, Brainchild, Equilibrius, Gaza, Lupo and Piper.

Brainchild says that Magneto needs mechanical support for his arms, but next issue it will be revealed that the devices he's wearing serve to drain his magnetic power so that it won't interfere with his machinery.  I guess he's just lying to the Mutates to maintain his cover, not that it really makes much sense for him to do so.

Angel also gets a new costume on this page, given to him by Magneto.  Not only is this one of the best costumes he's ever had, but the reason Magneto gave it to him actually comes up as a plot point in an Avengers arc a few years down the road.

Page 16

While Angel is off being duped by Magneto, the X-Men spend their time teaming up with Ka-Zar and helping him fight against the Savage Land Mutates.  This is Ka-Zar's first appearance in the book since issue #10, but he's been all over the place since then, most notably in Daredevil (1964) #12-14 where he discovered his true identity as an English nobleman named Kevin Plunder.  None of that comes up here, so I'm not including it in the timeline, but it does explain why he's a little more well-spoken than he was way back when the X-Men first met him.  As this issue begins he's tracking some swamp savages led by the Savage Land Mutates, who have been capturing the "water people".

COUNTING THE DAYS

I have this issue all happening in one day (although it's difficult to tell in the Savage Land).  It follows almost directly after last issue.

Iron Man (1968) #20

Cover by George Tuska

Cover Date: December 1969

On-Sale Date: September 1969

Brief Synopsis: Lucifer tries to escape from dimensional exile by possessing a depressed Stark employee, but Iron Man and the employee's wife stop him.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, June

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 5

Hey, remember Lucifer?  You know, the ultra-important X-Men villain who put Professor X in a wheelchair?  He's back!  In an issue of Iron Man for some reason!

Lucifer's an odd duck in the X-Men rogues' gallery.  As the guy who crippled the team's leader he should be one of their most significant villains, but the honest truth is that he sucks, and nearly every writer who's touched the franchise since the 1960s has ignored his existence.  Sure, he shows up here in Iron Man, and I think in some Captain America stories as well, but I don't think he appears in an actual X-Men story again until 2019.  This probably raises the question of why I'm bothering to cover the guy's appearances, and for that the answer is twofold: 1) he's made very few appearances so tracking him isn't a bother, and 2) it makes today's post really quick to write up.

Anyway, Lucifer tries to get out of the nameless dimension he was exiled into in X-Men (1963) #21, he fails, the end.  See you in five years, Lucifer!

Page 6, panel 3

Lucifer was supposedly being exiled into an empty void at the end of X-Men (1963) #21, but apparently not because he was able to use his time there to cobble together a dimensional transmitter.  I guess the masters of his race use this dimension to throw out their old computers as well as to exile their failed conquerors.

Page 7, panels 1 to 3

Lucifer's people supposedly used the power of ionic energy to conquer galaxies.  Previously it had been established that they made their conquests using the mind-controlling Dominus computer, but I suppose there's no reason they couldn't have used both.  Lucifer's statement that he had to "rebuild" and "redevelop" these powers makes me think that maybe these are powers his people once had but then lost.  Certainly he never displayed them before, as most of his abilities came from technology in his previous appearances.

Lucifer notes that he has been in exile for years.  This fits with my timeline: I have X-Men (1963) #21 in June of XY 1, and this issue two years later in June of XY 3.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This issue takes place entirely in one day.  It was released circa X-Men (1963) #62, but given how interconnected X-Men #54-66 are I'm placing it after #66.

X-Men (1963) #61

Cover by Neal Adams

Cover Date: October 1969

On-Sale Date: August 1969

Synopsis: The X-Men chase Sauron down to Tierra del Fuego, where he jumps off a cliff rather than hurt his girlfriend.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, May

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

I didn't mention it last issue, but the "Strangest Teens of All" tag-line has started appearing on the covers.  As far as my timeline goes, this is only true for about half the team.  As of May XY 3, I have Beast at age 20 (about to turn 21), Cyclops and Angel also 20, and Iceman and Marvel Girl at 19.  Havok and Lorna would also be around 18 or 19.

Page 14, panel 1

Tanya says here that she's now "of age", which would put an absurdly large age gap between her and Karl if she's just turned 18 and he's been through medical school and established his own practice.  As I said last time, I just have to assume that her father's very controlling, and that she can't marry until she's 25 or some such ridiculousness.

Page 16, panel 1

Professor X's notes state that he discovered Lykos was a "non-mutant variant" while they were working together.  Presumably a non-mutant variant is any super-powered being that's not a mutant, and would include such luminaries as Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.  I don't know that I've ever seen it used outside of this story, so it may be exclusive to Xavier.  As for whether this discovery caused them to stop working together, that's unclear.  I can't see Xavier being okay with Lykos going around draining people, but it's also difficult to see him learning about it and letting Lykos roam around free afterwards.

Lykos' backstory and his connection with Xavier remain frustratingly vague.  Xavier's not around in this story to shed light on the matter, and future Sauron arcs tend to focus more on his status as a pterodactyl-man than a doctor.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This issue continues directly from last, which ended in the evening.  It proceeds as follows:

• Day 1:
• Page 1 to 18: The X-Men fight Sauron and encounter the Anderrsens. Sauron flees to Tierra del Fuego.
• Day 2:
• Page 19.1 to 19.5: Sauron flies south to Tierra del Fuego and reverts back to Karl Lykos.
• Day 3:
• Page 19.6 to 20.6: The X-Men and Tanya Anderrsen arrive in Tierra del Fuego, and Karl Lykos appears to commit suicide by jumping off a cliff.