X-Men (1963) #48

Cover by Sal Buscema or John Romita
(sources differ)

Cover Date: September 1968

On-Sale Date: July 1968

FIRST STORY: "Beware Computo, Commander of the Robot Hive!"

Synopsis: Cyclops and Marvel Girl, now operating out of New York, defeat the villainous android Quasimodo and his army of robots.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 2, panels 1 to 4

Since the X-Men were forced to split up last issue, Jean has taken on a job as a model, using it as an excuse to her parents for not coming home.  She and Cyclops have been ordered by the FBI to operate out of New York; Beast and Iceman have been sent to California; and Angel will be working as a "roving agent".  Don't get too attached to this exciting new set-up folks, it'll be over by next issue.

The above sequence also features what I believe is the first thought balloon from Jean that contradicts the upcoming Xavier/Changeling retcon.  She's been pretty vague in her mourning so far, but here she specifically thinks about how "the professor" sacrificed himself to stop Grotesk.  It's going to be difficult to reconcile that with the idea that she knew Xavier was alive all along.

Page 3, panels 3 to 5

Since she started working as a model, Jean has averted three near-disasters.  Note that she's described as new to the job on the first page; what kind of a workplace are these people running?

I'm not gonna lie, I included this page just for the last panel.  That's Cyclops of all people being swooned over by a bunch of bikini models.

Page 6 panels 1 to 4

Cyclops has only just landed a job as a radio reporter (or he got the job a while ago and has managed to keep it a secret from Jean, which seems unlikely).  He just recorded his first report a few hours ago.  It sounds about as exciting as you'd expect a Scott Summers radio report to be, but I really do wonder how he managed to walk into a job like that.

Page 14, panel 7

In this issue Cyclops and Marvel Girl face an army of robots called Cybertrons, under the command of a bigger robot called Computo.  They're stealing technology from Scott's radio station for uhhh... reasons.  Behind the scenes, the real mastermind is Quasimodo, the Quasi-Motivational Destruct Organism, who makes a quick getaway once he's been exposed.

Quasimodo first appeared back in Fantastic Four Annual (1966) #4, around the same time as X-Men (1963) #26, where he was created by the Mad Thinker as part of a plot to destroy the FF.  At that point he was just a computer, but in Fantastic Four Annual (1967) #5 (circa X-Men (1963) #38), the Silver Surfer came along and gave him a misshapen android body.  Quasimodo went on a rampage, and at the end of that story the Surfer transformed him into a stone gargoyle on a clock tower.  How Quasimodo got from that state to commanding an army of robot drones is a mystery that has never been answered.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This story takes place over a single day (probably a weekday, as Cyclops says it's a business day on page 11.2).  It can't be more than a few weeks since the last issue, as Scott and Jean are only just now settling into their new lives since the team disbanded.

SECOND STORY: "Yours Truly, the Beast"

Synopsis: The Beast explains his powers and abilities to the reader.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 4, panel 1

As with the spotlights on Cyclops and Iceman, there's very little in this story that's of chronological relevance.  It's interesting to note that Hank claims to have 37 US patents at this point in time.  What they are is anyone's guess: the only thing we've seen him invent so far is the ray that increased the power of Unus the Untouchable.