X-Men (1963) #32

Cover by Werner Roth

Cover Date: May 1967

On-Sale Date: March 1967

Synopsis: Factor Three revives the Juggernaut.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 1

This is a big one: it's Iceman's 18th birthday!  He was 16 in X-Men (1963) #1, and by my timeline it's been almost exactly two years since then.  So Iceman's birthday happened at most a couple of weeks before the first issue of X-Men.  It's also right in the middle of Winter, which seems like an appropriate time for Iceman to be born.

Page 3, panel 1

Angel notes here that he hadn't seen Candy for a couple of years before bumping into her last issue.  This fits in well with it being two years since X-Men (1963) #1, but then again we don't really know how long Angel was on the team before that.  Regardless, there's no reason he can't have seen her since joining the X-Men, even though that's the way their initial conversation made it seem.

Page 3, panel 5

Xavier mentions that he's been keeping what's behind his cellar door a mystery from the X-Men for "these past weeks".  That subplot first appeared in X-Men (1963) #28, which was explicitly set in Autumn.  This would imply that it was in late Autumn, probably November.

Page 4, panel 1

We finally learn what Xavier has hidden in his cellar: it's the Juggernaut!  He mentions that Juggernaut has been comatose for months, ever since they last fought in X-Men (1963) #12-13.  I have that story placed a little over a year ago.

Page 5, panels 2 to 4

There's a flashback to the Juggernaut's origin, and another one to his defeat in X-Men (1963) #13.  Neither of these flashbacks imparts much in the way of new information, aside from some new dialogue here and there.

The narration notes that it took Juggernaut a decade to dig himself free of the rubble; I have it at anywhere between 12 and 14 years, depending on when it happened during the Korean War.  Xavier also notes that after the Juggernaut was defeated, he handed his brother over to the authorities for treatment.  He eventually obtained custody of the Juggernaut, which probably happened between issues #27 and #28, while the X-Men were away on vacation.

Page 6, panel 2

Iceman's party is crashed by the "Satan's Saints" biker gang, led by Rocky Rhodes.  Zelda turned him down for a date last week, and he's not too happy about it.

Page 9, panel 2

Xavier has spent months working on an "energo-transformer", and making arcane studies of the demon Cyttorak.  The machine is intended to drain Cain Marko of the powers of the Juggernaut, so that Xavier can "treat his shattered mind".  In all of this, Xavier never mentions that he's the one who put his brother in a coma, but that's hardly unusual for him.

Page 12, panels 5 and 6

This isn't all that relevant in a chronological sense, but I wanted to post it because it's the closest we get to a "Scott and Jean finally get together" scene.  After this they're just treated as being a couple, like it's no big deal, so presumably at some point after this one of the two finally admits their feelings to the other.

Page 13, panels 1 to 3

Juggernaut refers to the X-Men as teenagers.  I currently have them spanning from 18 (Iceman) to 19.5 (Beast), so it's still true for now.  Angel mentions that Xavier hasn't allowed the X-Men into his basement lab for several weeks.  By my timeline it's been from November to January, which is good enough.

Page 20, panels 5 and 6

This issue ends on a cliffhanger, with Xavier lying in a coma after his attempt to revive Juggernaut went wrong, and the Juggernaut intending to join Factor Three.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This issue takes place over a single day, starting in the evening.