The X-Men (1963) #3

 

Cover by Jack Kirby

Cover Date: January 1964

On-Sale Date: November 1963

Synopsis: The X-Men try to recruit the Blob, but he declines, and returns with his circus buddies to defeat the X-Men and take over the mansion. Professor X saves the day again by wiping the Blob's mind.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

All of the X-Men are described as being teenagers. We already know that Iceman is 16, with his birthday being in either XY -17 or XY -16.  The rest of the male X-Men are older than him, placing their birthdays anywhere from XY -17 to XY -20.  Jean might not be included in this caption, and we have no indication as to how old she is at this point.  Later issues will establish her as roughly the same age as the other original X-Men, so her birthday falls between XY -16 and XY -20.  We'll get more concrete information about all of these in due course.

Xavier's claim that nobody has ever refused his offer to join the X-Men might, I think, be technically true.  There's Amelia Voght, of course, but she was hardly a candidate to become one of Xavier's students, and I don't think any of the shenanigans involving the First X-Men miniseries should count here. No doubt there's some story out there that contradicts this, but it's not coming to me.

This sewer tunnel that runs all the way from the mansion in Westchester into the city could be the Morlocks' Alley, but I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

This is as close as we get to an origin story for the Blob in this issue: he's thought of himself as an extra-strong freak for years.  It gives a vague and very flexible timeline for his backstory, but it does establish that he's been aware of his powers for some time, even if he had no idea that he was a mutant.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This story takes place at any time after X-Men (1963) #2, and probably happens after the X-Men guest appearances in Tales of Suspense (1959) #49 and Avengers (1963) #3.

Day 1: Pages 1-23 and the first six panels of page 24 all take place in a single, jam-packed day.

Day 2: The last two panels of page 24, showing the Blob back working at the carnival, most probably take place the day after his mind-wipe.