X-Men (1963) #27

Cover by Werner Roth

Cover Date: December 1966

On-Sale Date: October 1966

Synopsis: The Puppet Master tries to get his revenge on the X-Men by controlling the Mimic.  Professor X, who has sensed a great menace that the X-Men will have to face in the future, recruits the Mimic onto the team.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 5

This issue starts right in the middle of the fight with the Mimic, then has an extended flashback in the middle before resuming where it left off. I'll go over the sequence in more detail below under Counting the Days.

Page 4, panel 4

It's once again confirmed that Iceman is the youngest of the X-Men.

Page 6, panel 5

Cerebro sensed a new mutant menace while the X-Men were in San Rico last issue.  This is the beginning of the Factor Three subplot that will occupy the book for the majority of 1967.

Page 7, panel 7

Ted Roberts says that he introduced Cal Rankin to Jean "the other day". That scene was in X-Men (1963) #26, so only a few days have passed since then.

Page 9, panel 3

The Puppet Master encounters a psychic shield when he tries to take control of Professor X, as he once did in Fantastic Four (1961) #28.  No doubt the professor erected this shield in the wake of that incident.  The shield seems to offer protection against more than just the Puppet Master, as Xavier doesn't immediately think of him when the attack happens.

Page 10, panel 5

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are seen here in their native home of Transia, where they went to restore their powers in Avengers (1963) #30.  The caption says that it has been "many months", but that could just be a bit of editorial hyperbole. That issue of Avengers came out at the same time as X-Men (1963) #22.

Page 12, panel 5

Spider-Man just appeared in Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1966) #3, where he made an ill-fated attempt to join the Avengers.

Page 13, panel 4

It's the weekend. We're starting to see a trend where the X-Men are having their adventures on the weekend so that Jean can participate without skipping class.

Page 14, panel 1

Aha! I was right about the Mimic using Xavier's telepathy to learn how to controls Cyclops' optic blasts.  He did this months ago, meaning there's a months-long gap between this issue and X-Men (1963) #19.

Page 15, panel 1

Presumably Jean redesigned the team's costumes while she was away at college. It's no wonder they haven't changed much, she's only been gone for two weeks.

Page 15, panel 2

Mimic becomes the first new member of the team since issue #1.  He won't last long: he's gone by the end of issue #29.  Any depictions of the team with the Mimic as a member must occur during this small window of time.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This story takes place over two days, following on from last issue. I have it starting the day after the end of last issue, as there has to be enough time for the X-Men to fly back from San Rico between issues.

• Day 1 (probably Friday):
• Page 5.3 to 13.1 flashback: The X-Men return to the mansion with the injured Angel, Cal Rankin's powers and memories return after a lab explosion at college, Professor X tries to recruit some heroes to help with the menace he detected, Puppet Master tries to control Professor X but fails
• Day 2 (probably Saturday):
• Page 13.2 to 15 flashback: Mimic blackmails the X-Men into taking him back to their HQ, everyone gets into costume, Xavier announces that Mimic is joining the team, the Puppet Master takes control of the Mimic
• Page 1 to 5.2: The Mimic beats up the X-Men
• Page 16 to 20: The X-Men recover and track down the Puppet Master, the injured Angel smashes his puppet, Mimic is freed from his control