X-Men (1963) #26

Cover by Werner Roth

Cover Date: November 1966

On-Sale Date: September 1966

Synopsis: The X-Men stop Kukulcan, and Cyclops accidentally on purpose hits Angel with his optic blast over their rivalry for Jean.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 2, panel 3

Kukulcan says that he is walking the Earth "after a millennium". This would put his last appearance circa 900 AD.  Coincidentally enough, this is around the collapse of the "classic period" of Mayan civilization, which works for me.

Page 4, panel 5

The Pendant of Kukulcan has apparently lain dormant since the conquest of the Mayans 400 years ago. As I understand it, the conquest of most of Mayan civilisation happened by 1546.  The remaining Mayan kingdoms were conquered in 1697, but I assume that writer Roy Thomas was using the prior date, which is indeed around four centuries ago from this story.

Page 6, panel 4

Calvin Rankin started at Metro College during the summer, some time between X-Men (1963) #19 and #24.  It's also noted that Professor X removed some of Calvin's memories after issue #19, which wasn't depicted in that story.

Page 7, panel 5

Legends tell of a time when the misuse of the pendant resulted in a violent volcanic eruption.  There's no time period given here, so I've decided to pair it with the last time that Kukulcan walked the Earth, circa 900 AD. I figure that this was the reason the pendant was split in two.

Page 20, panel 5

Angel is injured after being blasted by Cyclops at the end of this story, as a way to ramp up the drama in the Cyclops-Angel-Marvel Girl love triangle.  This leads directly into next issue, so there's not much of a gap in between.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This story takes place over two days, starting on the same day as last issue.

• Day 1:
• Page 1 to 6.1: Kukulcan beats up Cyclops and travels to San Rico, Professor X telepathically wakes the X-Men
• Day 2:
• Page 6.2 to 20: The X-Men go to San Rico and stop Kukulcan, Cyclops blasts Angel "by accident".

Here's a brief history of the pendant of Kukulcan:

• The pendant is created around 500 AD (according to a plaque from last issue).
• Around 900 AD, the power of Kukulcan is misused, resulting in a volcanic eruption that showers a city in molten lava.
• Conjecture: This is when the amulet is broken in two, and will be the last time Kukulcan appears on Earth until the modern day.
• Mayan civilisation is conquered in 1547, and the two halves of the pendant lie dormant from that time until the present day.