Fantastic Four (1961) #28

Cover by Jack Kirby

Cover Date: July 1964

On-Sale Date: May 1964

Synopsis: The Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master manipulate the X-Men and the Fantastic Four into fighting each other. Eventually the two teams realise they've been duped and join forces against the villains.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 2, panel 1 and 2

The list of villains that the X-Men are said to have defeated includes Magneto, the Blob, Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch, the Toad and Mastermind. Sue mentions the Space Phantom, but she's getting mixed up. It was the Avengers who fought the Space Phantom in their second issue, whereas the X-Men fought the Vanisher.  The Sub-Mariner isn't mentioned, which means this story probably happens before X-Men (1963) #6.

The newspaper article refers to the X-Men being involved in a chase through the city (presumably New York).  This could fit the train station fight from X-Men (1963) #5, but I already have Strange Tales (1951) #120 happening right after that.  There's another story coming up that fits perfectly if I'm willing to go out of publishing sequence a little.

Johnny also mentions his team-up with Iceman from Strange Tales (1951) #120, which he says happened a few months ago.

Page 4, panel 1

The Mad Thinker has apparently been studying the X-Men for weeks. It's not clear how he even knows about Professor X, but perhaps he's managed to get access to some of FBI agent Fred Duncan's files. The other possibility is that he's seen footage of the X-Men's fight with the Vanisher on the White House lawn, which was the professor's most prominent public appearance during an X-Men battle.

Page 5, panel 7

Marvel Girl starts wearing a different cowl here, replacing the one that covers the top of her head. She'll try a couple of designs over the next few months, until returning to the original version. Since the new design doesn't become permanent, I won't be using it to place things in continuity.

Page 6, panel 4

This is the first meeting between the FF and the X-Men, aside from Iceman and the Human Torch.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This story should take place a few months after Strange Tales (1951) #120. There are also mentions of the most recent appearances of the Thinker and the Puppet Master, in Fantastic Four (1961) #15 and Strange Tales (1951) #116 respectively. Both of those stories are said to have taken place months ago.

• Day 1: Page 1 to 22. The entirety of this story happens in a single day.