The X-Men (1963) #1

 

Cover by Jack Kirby

Cover Date: September 1963

On-Sale: July 1963

Synopsis: Professor X introduces Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) to the X-Men, who currently consist of Cyclops ("Slim" Summers), Angel (Warren Worthington), Iceman (Bobby Drake) and the Beast (Henry McCoy). Magneto attacks a missile base, and the X-Men go fight him until he leaves.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Iceman says here that he's a couple of years younger than the other X-Men. Note that Jean isn't there yet, so this comment doesn't apply to her.

Iceman's age is established as 16 years old.  That puts his birth in either XY -16 or -17 (see my initial post for an explanation of how I'm reckoning the timeline). Combined with his comment from above, that puts Cyke, Angel and Beast at around 18 years old.

The ages of the X-Men are further established, as Beast is said to be the oldest.  Again, Jean isn't on the scene yet. It's possible Cyclops isn't including himself in this comment, but we know from later issues that Beast is indeed the oldest of the original team.

Jean is introduced to the team. Given that she's starting at a new school, I'm inclined to say that places this story either around August/September (the beginning of the US school year) or in January (around mid-year enrolment).

It's also curious given later revelations that Jean doesn't know the nature of the school, but we can assume she and Charles are just being secretive in front of the others.

Xavier gives a very truncated history of how he decided to form the X-Men. His parents having worked on the first A-bomb project has to be written off as a topical reference. In the early days radiation is used as the main explanation for how mutants occur, but this doesn't work as Xavier's origin unless he's only meant to be about 20 years old. But while the reference is topical, we can still use it as a guide for Stan and Jack's intentions, and the placement of later stuff in Xavier's timeline, such as when his parents died.

The first atomic bomb program was undertaken by the UK and Canada in August 1941, called the Tube Alloys project. Assuming Xavier's parents worked on that project, that would have them as both still alive in XY -22 (1941 being 22 years before 1963, the publication year of this issue).  The US atomic bomb program, the Manhattan Project, didn't get going until 1942, so if I go with that - and it is the more likely option - it has them still alive in XY -21.

Finally, check out Xavier lying his arse off in that final panel. Presumably he's talking about a "childhood accident" because he doesn't want to admit to his students that there's a possibility they'll get their legs crushed by a space alien named after the devil.

This is our first look at Magneto (aside from the cover, of course). There's not a lot to go on here, except for Magneto's claim to have been preparing for months. That's vague enough to wedge in just about anything. He later disrupts a missile launch, and a newspaper claims that this is the sixth such launch this "phantom saboteur" has disrupted.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This is the very first X-Men comic, so it happens in XY 0, probably in either January or September to match up with the school year.

• Day 1: Pages 1 to 11, and the first four panels of page 12 take place in a single day, seemingly. There's scope to insert some gaps in here if I need to, and given the number of retcons over the years I suspect that I will.
• Day 2: The last three panels of page 12, and pages 13 to 23, take place the day after Magneto disables the missile.