Avengers(1963) #53

 

Cover by John Buscema

Cover Date: June 1968

On-Sale Date: April 1968

Synopsis: The X-Men and the Avengers fight then team up to stop Magneto.  Magneto is betrayed by the Toad and falls into the ocean just before his island explodes.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 3, panels 3 and 4

Last issue ended on a cliffhanger, with the Avengers showing up on Magneto's island and confronting Cyclops.  Of course there's a misunderstanding, and they have to fight it out.  The story then flashes back to show Angel recruiting the Avengers and taking them to fight Magneto.  See "Counting the Days" below for how the various scenes in this issue fit together.

Page 6, panel 1

Black Panther takes a moment to introduce himself to the Angel, as this is the first time they've met.  The Panther only joined the team a few days ago, after helping them defeat the Grim Reaper in Avengers (1963) #52.  I figure that story happened during X-Men (1963) #43, in the days-long gap between Xavier's funeral and the X-Men attacking Magneto's island.

Page 6, panel 3

It's football season.  My understanding is that football season in America runs from September to January.  This story takes place explicitly in the Fall, so that fits perfectly.

Page 8, panels 1 to 3

Here we get the explanation for the spy arrow that was seen on page 9, panel 5 of X-Men (1963) #45.

Page 8, panels 4 and 5

It's revealed here that Magneto deliberately allowed Angel to escape, and had a monitor device planted on him to sow dissension between the Avengers and the X-Men.  This explains the very convenient disintegrator that was left on the floor just outside of Angel's cell in X-Men (1963) #44.

Page 12, panel 3

Magneto's plan is revealed here: after using his machines to control the X-Men, and getting them to destroy the Avengers, he will use the same machine to enslave the will of every homo sapien on Earth.  Presumably this machine is what he's been building with the computer parts he was said to have been stealing in X-Men (1963) #43.

Page 18, panel 4

The Avengers reveal here that they've been playing Magneto all along, having realised that the tracking device planted on Angel was a fake.  It's all a bit implausible to be honest, but at least the Black Panther is there to make it a bit easier to take.  I'd never believe this plan for a second if Hank Pym came up with it.

Page 20

Supposedly, Magneto built an escape craft out of non-metallic materials, just to prove he could do it.  So what, did he build it with his hands?  Or did he use his powers?  It's been shown numerous times that his magnetism works on just about anything.  If he did use his powers, why can't he affect the ship now?  It's all a bit muddled, and I suspect that this is Roy Thomas using dialogue to cover a glaring plot hole.

Magneto vanishes into the ocean and is presumed dead.  Where does he show up next?  Well, that's a bit muddled as well.  The next time we see Magneto will be in X-Men (1963) #50, when he claims that Polaris is his daughter.  The creators at the time intended this to actually be Magneto, but it's later revealed that this Magneto was actually a robot.  Even later still we learn that this robot was created by the villain Machinesmith.  The real Magneto doesn't show up again until X-Men (1963) #62, where he's hanging out in the Savage Land calling himself the Creator.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place over a single day, the same day as X-Men (1963) #45. A lot of these two issues overlap, so I'm going to break down how I see them fitting together.

• Day 1:
• X-MEN (1963) #45, page 5: Angel approaches New York.
• AVENGERS (1963) #53, page 3.4 to 6.3 flashback: Angel recruits the Avengers and they take off in an aero-car.
• X-MEN (1963) #45, page 1 to 4: Cyclops escapes, and is spotted by the Toad.
• X-MEN (1963) #45, page 6.1 to 6.3: Still chasing the Toad, Cyclops chooses one of three tunnels.
• AVENGERS (1963) #53, page 6.4 to 7.3 flashback: As the Avengers near the island, Wasp spots an electronic bug on Angel's wing. They restrain the Angel, accusing him of being a spy for Magneto.
• X-MEN (1963) #45, page 6.4 to 9.2: Cyclops encounters Quicksilver, and after a brief scuffle they agree to talk.
• AVENGERS (1963) #53, page 7.4 to 8.2 flashback: The Avengers land, and Hawkeye fires a spy arrow into Magneto's fortress. It shows Cyclops talking to Quicksilver.
• The Avengers tie Angel loosely, and tell him their plan.
• AVENGERS (1963) #53, page 8.3 flashback: The Avengers leaves Angel tied up in their aero-car.
• X-MEN (1963) #45, page 9.3 to 15.4: Cyclops and Quicksilver resume their fight, Cyclops wins, the Avengers show up
• AVENGERS (1963) #53, page 1.1 to 3.3: Cyclops escapes from the Avengers
• AVENGERS (1963) #53, page 8.4 to 20.6: The Avengers pretend to fight to lure Magneto into a premature attack, Magneto controls the X-Men to fight the Avengers, the Avengers win and attack Magneto, Toad escapes with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, Magneto is cast into the sea by Toad just as his island explodes