Doctor Strange (1968) #182

Cover by Gene Colan

Cover Date: September 1969

On-Sale Date: June 1969

Synopsis: Doctor Strange temporarily frees the Juggernaut from the Crimson Cosmos to help him defeat Nightmare.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, April

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

This story continues from the last issue of Doctor Strange, and a bunch of stuff happens to set it up that's not really relevant to the X-Men.  After Eternity's battle with Dormammu in Strange Tales (1951) #146, Nightmare captured Eternity and held him prisoner.  (This would have happened somewhere around X-Men (1963) #22 if we go by publishing dates.)  Strange recently discovered this, and went to Nightmare's realm to rescue Eternity, leaving behind a psychic shell to connect him with the real world.  Nightmare trapped Strange by using his own amulet against him, and that's where this issue begins.

Eternity mentions on page 18.4 that he was imprisoned for months.  The X-Men issues published around the same time happen in the middle of XY 1, which is plenty of time for that months-long captivity.

Page 8

Of more relevance is the reappearance of the Juggernaut, who was last seen being sent back to the Crimson Cosmos in X-Men (1963) #46.  Here, he is summoned by Strange to distract Nightmare so that Strange can rescue Eternity.  Once rescued, Eternity consigns both Nightmare and the Juggernaut to "oblivion".  He'll next show up in Amazing Adventures (1970) #16, where he returns to Earth from oblivion only to be sucked back through another dimensional portal.  The poor guy just cannot catch a break.

It's interesting to note that the Juggernaut is said on page 10 to have gained certain mystic abilities during his exile in the Crimson Cosmos.  He does display some odd powers during his earlier appearances, including some spellcasting here, whereas later he is almost entirely a super-strong brute.  It's nice to see writer Roy Thomas writing those powers off as a result of his dimensional imprisonment. Presumably those powers wear off later.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story happens over a few hours at most.  In publishing terms it's concurrent with X-Men (1963) #59, but really it can happen any time after #46 and before Amazing Adventures (1970) #16.  The large gap between X-Men (1963) #52 and #54 looks like the best place to squeeze it in.

X-Men (1963) #59

Cover by Neal Adams

Cover Date: August 1969

On-Sale Date: June 1969

Synopsis: The X-Men rescue their friends, and Cyclops tricks the Sentinels into flying into the sun.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, May

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 4

Judge Chalmers reveals here (in panel 2) that Larry predicted the very hour of his mother's death when he was only five years old.  Larry's father created a medallion to erase Larry's memory and negate his mutant powers (which rules out my conjecture from last issue about Mrs Trask possibly being a mutant).  I have Larry at age 5 in XY -13, and I'm currently assuming that his vision and his mother's death happen in the same year.

In the third panel, Judge Chalmers explains that Bolivar Trask was motivated to create the Sentinels by fear of other mutants discovering Larry's powers.  I'm not sure it makes sense for him to then go on to create a bunch of robots that would be bent on imprisoning his son, but zealots aren't always logical I guess.  Judge Chalmers then carried on with Bolivar's work in the belief that he could protect Larry.

Knowing all this, I do wonder what was going on last issue when Judge Chalmers ripped off Larry's medallion.  He knew it would reveal him to the Sentinels, which can't have been what he wanted.  Maybe in his crisis of conscience he was trying to stop Larry from taking things too far, but he was a little too late for that.

Page 6

Panel 1 of page 6 shows the Sentinels capturing the Blob, Unus and Mastermind at a circus.  They were last seen as a part of the villainous group Factor 3 back in issues #37-39, and it makes sense for the Blob and Unus to go back to the circus after that fiasco.  I guess Mastermind tagged along with them as well, not really having anywhere else to go.  I think these three will work as a trio during the years where the X-Men don't have their own title (but I could be thinking of X-Men: The Hidden Years here).

Panels 3 and 4 present a curious mystery: who is the mutant presence that is detected on the south face of the base?  It can't be Cyclops, Marvel Girl and Beast, as they are coming in through the north face.  Most of the other known mutants are accounted for in this story, except for Magneto, Changeling and Professor X.  Magneto's currently hiding out in the Savage Land, so it's unlikely to be him.  Changeling is dead, and also not especially powerful.  Professor X is currently believed to be dead, but he's actually in the basement of the mansion preparing to fight off the alien Z'nox.  I think he's the most likely candidate, perhaps appearing here in his astral form to help out his students, but it's a mystery that's never been answered.

Page 19

Cyclops ends the Sentinel threat by using a logic trap to convince them to destroy the source of all mutant powers (i.e. the sun).  Operating on the reasonable assumption that Sentinels fly at roughly the same speed as a jet plane, it should take them a very long time indeed to traverse the 150 million kilometres between the Earth and the Sun.  This wouldn't be a problem for my timeline, except that the buggers come back in an issue of Avengers a few years down the line.  So while this page probably should happen many years in the future as far as my timeline is concerned, I have to ignore logic here and assume that somehow the Sentinels just got there and back very quickly.  Luckily for me, Marvel Science can handwave a lot.

Page 20

This is the introduction of Dr. Karl Lykos, better known as the villain Sauron.  Here he claims to be a colleague of Charles Xavier, though no other details are given.  Those will be forthcoming in the next two issues.

COUNTING THE DAYS

All of this issue except for page 19 happen on the same day as X-Men (1963) #58.  Page 19 should happen at some point in the future.  Looking ahead I have the return of these Sentinels in Avengers (1963) #102 placed in June of XY 4, over a year in the future.  I guess the Sentinels could reach the sun about halfway between the two stories, in November or December of XY 3.

X-Men (1963) #58

Cover by Neal Adams

Cover Date: July 1969

On-Sale Date: May 1969

Synopsis: Iceman and Angel are captured by Sentinels as the rest of the X-Men prepare to assault the Sentinel base. Larry Trask is revealed as a secret mutant just after he gives his Sentinels the order to destroy all mutants.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, May

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 6.2 reiterates what has already been well established: Iceman is the youngest of the X-Men, and Beast is the oldest.  It's hardly worth mentioning at this point, but I like to be thorough.

Page 9

Since his capture on page 7, Iceman has been placed in a steam tube that was specifically designed to rob him of his powers for four hours.  I'd thought that maybe this info would be relevant in determining a timeframe for the rest of the story, but Iceman spends pretty much all of this issue and next in suspended animation.

On the last panel Larry claims that he vowed to make the X-Men pay three years ago.  This is consistent with the timeframe he quoted last issue, but as before it doesn't work with my timeline (which has it closer to two years).  I have to write it off as a reference to the real-world publishing dates.

While I'm on the topic of Trask's past, Judge Chalmers says on page 8.5 that he was once Bolivar's closest friend.  It's not clear when that friendship was a going concern, and why he refers to it in the past tense.  The most likely reasons are either Bolivar's death, or a disagreement over how zealously to pursue the mutant issue.  Possibly Chalmers got mad at Trask for activating the Sentinels before he was finished with his five-year study into the mutant issue.

Page 10, panels 2 and 3

After Havok's capture last issue, he was taken by the Sentinels to their headquarters, where he agreed to put on a costume provided by Trask in exchange for a promise not to harm the X-Men.  This costume serves to regulate Alex's power levels, and he'll wear it for the better part of the next 20 years worth of comics.  Trask also gave him the codename Havok, so this is a pretty significant moment for Alex (and him getting his entire superhero identity from someone else really does play into his ambivalence about the whole deal.)

Havok says on page 11 that he also made another deal with Trask.  When Lorna was captured she was delirious, and unable to defend herself; Havok agreed not to fight back in return for a promise to leave her alone.  This is another moment that will define Havok as a character, as he and Lorna become an inseparable couple for quite a long time after this, and this is their first interaction.

As with Havok and Iceman, Lorna has had her powers neutralised.  Page 12.3 shows that she's been fitted with anti-polar armbands after her capture last issue.

Page 16

Remember that weird Magneto/Mesmero story from X-Men (1963) #49-52, where Magneto raised an army of mutants and claimed Lorna was his daughter?  Here it's revealed that that Magneto was actually a robot.  I have no idea why creators Roy Thomas and Neal Adams decided to retcon this version of Magneto into a robot, but it does help to make my timeline a little more plausible.

The question of who built this robot won't be answered for quite a long time.  Initially it's suggested that the robot was built by Magneto himself; certainly that's what Larry Trask seems to think on the page above.  Much later in Captain America (1968) #247 it's suggested that the robot was all part of a plot by the villain known as Machinesmith.  I don't think the specifics of this plot have ever been revealed, so I guess we'll file it under "nonspecific villainy".

Mesmero claims that he's spent "lonely months" serving this robotic Magneto.  I have a half-year gap since their last appearance, so that fits.  With this "Magneto" now decoupled from the real Magneto's timeline, there's also room for it and Mesmero to have spent more time together before X-Men (1963) #49.

Page 17, panel 1

It's suggested here that, after the new Sentinels were activated, their own logic systems told them to build their current headquarters.  This was done with little to no input from Larry Trask, and this is the first time Judge Chalmers has seen it.  All of this, of course, was accomplished well before this story started last issue.

Page 18, panels 4 and 5

This flashback shows Bolivar Trask giving his son Larry a medallion that belonged to Larry's mother on the day of her death.  At his father's behest Larry swears to never take it off, and apparently the poor guy never has: luckily for him he's managed to be alive in the late 1960s, the only era of modern history where men wearing medallions is socially acceptable.  It'll be revealed later in the issue that the medallion's purpose is to hide the wearer's mutant powers from Sentinel detection.  This raises the question: if the medallion did in fact belong to Larry's mother, was she a mutant as well?  Or is Bolivar totally bullshitting his son into wearing the thing?  Mrs Trask hasn't appeared in any comics as far as I can tell, so it's all conjecture at this point.

Next issue reveals that Larry had his first prophetic vision (courtesy of his mutant power) at age 5.  I have him leaving for college at the beginning of XY 1; assuming he would have turned 18 the year before, he would be 5 in XY -13.  I'll place this flashback shortly afterwards, although there's nothing to say it can't happen later.

Page 19, panels 1 to 3

The Sentinels spend a chunk of this issue rounding up mutants, and one of those mutants is the Banshee.  He was apparently captured earlier in Ireland, where he gave up without a fight.  Presumably he did so in order to get into Sentinel HQ, not that it worked out so well for the guy.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

On page 13.1, there's an evening news report that claims the Sentinels have been patrolling America since early this morning.  This would suggest that everything since Lorna's capture at the start of last issue happens on the same day, but it's very hard to make that work.  For one thing, Cyclops, Marvel Girl and Angel fly from Cairo to New York during this issue, a 10-hour flight in our world.  Between those scenes we have a 6 o'clock news broadcast from last issue, and an evening news broadcast in this issue.  I guess I have to say that the Sentinels started officially operating in the US that morning, but the attack on Lorna was done before as a covert operation.  I have the timeline for recent issues working as follows:

• Day 1:
• X-Men (1963) #54 (Alex's graduation attacked by Living Pharaoh)
• Begins on a Spring day, probably takes a few hours
• X-Men (1963) #55, p1-8 (Pharaoh captures Alex/Scott, leaves for Egypt)
• Continues from last issue
• Day 2:
• X-Men (1963) #57, p1 to 2.1 (Lorna captured by Sentinels)
• Dawn in NYC, would be midday in Egypt
• X-Men (1963) #55, p9-15 (X-Men fight Pharaoh in Egypt)
• The X-Men have flown from NYC to Egypt, so a gap's needed here
• X-Men (1963) #56 (X-Men defeat Pharaoh/Monolith) 
• Follows last issue
• X-Men (1963) #57, p2.2 to 15 (Sentinels kidnap Havok, Iceman/Beast return to NYC)
• Initial scenes are at night in Egypt, which would be midday or afternoon in NYC
• X-Men left Lorna's house "not two days ago"
• The last scene in NYC happens during the 6pm news
• Beast and Iceman fly back to NYC during this sequence, but I'll give this one leeway because it's the only trip not reliant on a commercial passenger plane
• X-Men (1963) #58, p1-8.4 (Sentinels fight Iceman/Beast, other X-Men decide to return to NYC)
• Follows last issue
• Day 3:
• Sentinels officially start operating in the US
• X-Men (1963) #58, p8.5 to 20 (X-Men arrive in NYC to attack Sentinel HQ)
• Evening news says Sentinels started patrolling US this morning
• X-Men have taken passenger plane from Egypt back to NYC, so time lapse needed

X-Men (1963) #57

Cover by Neal Adams

Cover Date: June 1969

On-Sale Date: April 1969

FIRST STORY: "The Sentinels Live!"

Synopsis: The Sentinels are back!  Working for Larry Trask, son of their original inventor, the Sentinels kidnap Lorna Dane and Alex Summers.  Iceman and Beast go to try and find her, while the rest of the X-Men stay in Egypt to look for Alex.  Meanwhile, Judge Chalmers - an old friend of the Trasks - is stirring up anti-mutant sentiment.

Proposed Placement: XY 3, May

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 1

Lorna notes here that she's recently moved to a new apartment in Manhattan, and that her magnetic powers have been fading.  Her last appearance was in X-Men (1963) #52, which I have occurring back in November of XY 2.  I have #57 taking place in May of XY 3, which is plenty of time for Lorna to set up a new life.

Her fading powers mentioned here serve as a good explanation for what happened to the army of mutants created by Mesmero in issues #49-52.  Their powers slowly faded away, but for some reason Lorna kept hers.  Let's chalk it up to repeated usage under pressure, later training from Professor X, restoration by some kind of outside factor (a machine or something), or a combination of all of these.

On page 9.3, Iceman says that the X-Men left Lorna's place "not two days ago", which would be shortly before they attended Alex's graduation in X-Men (1963) #54.  They may have been helping her move in, or having a housewarming party, but those are pure conjecture.

Page 3

The flashback on this page, which shows Alex using his power to blast free of the Pharaoh's prison, takes place during the last issue.  I've placed it between page 14.1 and 14.2 of X-Men (1963) #56/1.

Page 4, Panel 5

The Living Pharaoh adds another small piece to his backstory, mentioning that he unearthed the temple that he'd imprisoned Alex in last issue.  Presumably the technology seen in previous issues was built by him or his lackeys (although with the amount of time travellers and immortal mutants in Marvel's ancient Egypt you never know).  I've lumped the beginnings of the Pharaoh's story all in XY 1, but there's no indication of a timeline here beyond the generic "years ago".

Angel mentions on page 2.2 that "it took an army of slaves decades to build that ancient temple", but that's hardly worth adding to the timeline.

Page 13

A couple of things on this page are of relevance.  First, it's mentioned on Panel 2 that Cyclops has a place not far from Lorna's.  This makes sense: he and Jean were working together in the New York area when the X-Men were split up between issues #47 and #49.  This would indicate that while they are definitely a couple, they're not living together just yet.

The last panel introduces Judge Chalmers, an old friend of Bolivar Trask who has been conducting a five-year study on "the mutant menace".  Counting back five years from where I've placed this issue indicates that the study was started in XY -2, which coincidentally enough is where I've placed all of the X-Men origins flashback stories.  The origin of Cyclops works perfectly as a catalyst for this study, so I'll put the start of it just after that story.  (I love it when things fit together like this.)  It's possible that Trask started building the Sentinels around the same time, but that's purely conjecture based on the shared backstory of Trask and Chalmers.

Chalmers has recently founded a Federal Council on Mutant Activities, following the conclusion of his study.  I have this happening in the gap between X-Men (1963) #53 and #54.

Page 14, Panels 4 and 5

The first of these flashback panels shows Bolivar Trask activating the first Sentinel, while his son Larry watches proudly.  There are no placement guidelines for this scene, except that it obviously must take place before the first Sentinel story in X-Men (1963) #14-16.  I've placed it in XY -1, the same year that the X-Men start their training, and two years before the first Sentinel story.

The second panel happens on the same day that Larry leaves for college.  It's mentioned on page 15.1 that this is the last time Larry sees his father alive, so I'd like to get it as close to Bolivar's death in X-Men (1963) #16 as possible.  I have that issue taking place in April of XY 1, so I'll put this flashback in January of XY 1, and say that Larry started college during mid-year intake.

Page 15, Panel 2

The flashback here shows Larry standing over his father's corpse, which was crushed by the Master Mold in the final scenes of X-Men (1963) #16.  I have it placed during #17, somewhere between pages 3.1 and 3.2, while the X-Men are being treated for their injuries in hospital.

Larry also mentions on page 15.3 that he's spent "years" collecting evidence to help document his and Judge Chalmers' case against mutants.  The original Sentinel story takes place in XY 1, about two years before this issue, which fits perfectly.

What doesn't fit is the bit on page 14.2 which says that Trask was killed 3 years ago.  This just about works in terms of when the stories were published (cover dates January 1966 and June 1969) but the gap is only two years in my timeline.  Either Larry Trask misspoke, or it can be written off as a real-world reference to the publication dates.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This is a bit of a screwy one, because the story is split between Egypt and New York.  Page 2.2 states that it is dawn in Manhattan (in a roundabout poetic fashion).  Page 6.3 says that it is night in Egypt.  Egypt is ahead of New York by about 6 hours, so assuming these scenes happen concurrently it should be the middle of the day in Egypt (I think).  Later, when Iceman and Beast return to New York, they watch the 6 o'clock news.  This only works if the Lorna scenes take place quite a number of hours before the rest of the issue.  I can't see anything that rules this out, so I'm going with it.

Otherwise, it's very tempting just to throw my hands up at all the time-zone shenanigans and declare that this all takes place on the same day as the last issue.  It's ultimately not that important, but it does fit with Iceman's comment on page 9.3 that they left Lorna's house less than two days ago.

SECOND STORY: "The Female of the Species!"

Synopsis: Marvel Girl demonstrates her powers and also her feminine hotness.

Proposed Placement: Nowhere, as this isn't a story.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

There's little to say here, as this is more a showcase of Jean's powers and character rather than a story.  I guess I could try and fit some of the vignettes into the timeline, but it's not as though they've been referenced in any later stories.  This one's entirely non-canon.