X-Men (1963) #46

Cover by Don Heck

Cover Date: July 1968

On-Sale Date: May 1968

FIRST STORY: "The End of the X-Men!"

Synopsis: Juggernaut is returned to Earth by one of Xavier's machines, and goes berserk when he learns that his step-brother's death has robbed him of his vengeance.  After fighting the X-Men, he is eventually sent back to the Crimson Cosmos.  FBI agent Amos Duncan tells the X-Men that they must disband.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 1

It's been weeks since Professor X's funeral, as seen in X-Men (1963) #43.

Page 2, panel 4

Marvel Girl thinks about how Professor X told her weeks ago that he was dying.  For the moment I have to take this at face value, but later on it will be revealed that the Xavier who died was an impostor.  We'll just have to assume that Jean is really broken up about the Changeling.

Page 3, panel 1

FBI agent Amos Duncan is supposed to be the same character as FBI agent Fred Duncan; presumably new writer Gary Friedrich didn't realise that he already had a first name.  Later comics will get around this by calling him Fred Amos Duncan.

Friedrich may also have forgotten that Cyclops and Duncan never met during the origin back-ups in X-Men (1963) #38-42.  I figure that their meeting must have taken place after that story, when Xavier and Duncan were figuring out how their partnership would work.

Page 3, panels 3 to 5

Foggy Nelson shows up to read Xavier's will, which Cyclops arranged between Avengers (1963) #53 and this story.  It's not clear when Xavier had this version of his will drafted, but I figure it has to be after he decided to make Cyclops the team leader in X-Men (1963) #7.  Between issues #6 and #7 makes some sense; Xavier was preparing to go off and search for Lucifer on his own, and you have to figure that he knew there was a chance he wouldn't be coming back.  As for when Xavier told Cyclops about his charitable fund, that could be any time after Scott is recruited.

It's mentioned on page 4.5 that Foggy Nelson is currently running for New York District Attorney.  That subplot runs from Daredevil (1964) #36 to #48, but has very little bearing on the X-Men timeline.

Page 7, panel 1

Professor X apparently created a machine to bring Juggernaut back from the Crimson Cosmos (which he was banished to back in X-Men (1963) #33).  It was built in secret (probably during the big gap between issue #39 and #40), and set to activate at a pre-determined time.

Later on page 14.1, after Juggernaut vanishes back into the Cosmos, Cyclops theorises that Xavier must have made it so that the Juggernaut would be sent back unless otherwise treated.  It's all quite irresponsible behaviour from Xavier, who knew that he was about to die/go into a lengthy hibernation.  Couldn't he have switched the damn machine off?

Page 15, panel 4 to 7

This issue ends with the X-Men disbanding, and heading home to their families (or wherever it is that Scott is going).  Agent Duncan tells them on the previous page that they'll each receive a letter in a few days telling them where the government wants them to operate.  (How the team are going to explain any of this to their parents is a real mystery.  "Dad, our teacher died so the school is closed, and now the government says I have to move to California.  Nope, can't tell you why, seeya!")

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place over a single day, weeks after X-Men (1963) #43.

SECOND STORY: "...And Then There Were Two"

Synopsis: Cyclops and Bobby escape from the mob, and Xavier shows up to mindwipe everyone. Bobby is recruited into the X-Men as Iceman.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 5

There's not a lot to say about this story chronologically speaking.  Iceman's recruitment is the most important scene, and it's interesting to note that Xavier erases knowledge of Bobby's powers from the town as well as his parents.  I have no idea if there's ever a scene where they relearn that Bobby is a mutant, or if this just gets quietly forgotten.

Also, Bobby isn't given his codename during the story.  Presumably he gets it shortly afterwards.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place over a single day, the same day as last issue.

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

X-Men (1963) #45

Cover by John Buscema

Cover Date: June 1968

On-Sale Date: April 1968

FIRST STORY: "When Mutants Clash!"

Synopsis: Cyclops escapes from Magneto and gets in a fight with Quicksilver.  The Avengers show up at the end.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 1

Cyclops thinks that Angel's had enough time to get to New York and return with help, so a number of hours must have passed since last issue.  On the next page he says that he hasn't used his optic blast in hours, which backs that up.  I figure that's good enough to place this the day after last issue.

Page 5

This page is set exactly one hour before the last scene, in which Cyclops made his escape.

Angel has some flashbacks to his encounter with Red Raven from last issue, but they don't reveal anything new.

Page 9, panel 5

One of Hawkeye's spy arrows can be seen at the top of this panel.  Because it's the Silver Age this is pointed out in a caption, rather than left to be spotted by observant readers.  Where the arrow came from will be made clear in Avengers (1963) #53.

Page 13, panel 3

Magneto's description of Cyclops as a teenager is a bit iffy at this point.  We've established that Iceman was 16 in X-Men (1963) #1, and saw him celebrate his 18th birthday in #32.  I have that birthday placed in January of XY 2.  The current storyline is taking place in Fall, so currently Iceman would be a little over 18-1/2.

The letters page of issue #17 said that Cyclops was the oldest, a year-and-a-half older than Iceman.  The rest of the team were two months to a year younger than Cyclops.  This is already incorrect, as we know that Beast is the oldest, but I'm still using it as a guide to how old the X-Men are in relation to each other.

If Iceman is a little over 18-1/2, that means Beast (the oldest) is a little over 20.  The next oldest, at two months younger than Beast, would then be pushing 20.  My assumption is that the second-oldest is Cyclops but I have no evidence for that; it's just my gut feeling.  The second youngest would then be a year younger than Beast, so currently a little over 19.  I assume this to be Marvel Girl (again, no evidence).  That would put Angel somewhere between Cyclops and Marvel Girl, probably 19.

So whether Cyclops is still a teenager depends on where he falls in relation to the other X-Men, and when exactly his birthday would be if he's the second-oldest.  Regardless, it's not like Magneto would know, so it's perfectly fine for him to be wrong.

Page 15, panel 4

The Avengers show up on the last page cliffhanger, and the story continues in Avengers (1963) #53.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place over a single day, probably the day after last issue.

SECOND STORY: "And the Mob Cried... Vengeance!"

Synopsis: Cyclops shows up to rescue Bobby Drake from jail, and they punch on for the entire story.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 3

I have no notes for this story, it's just Cyclops and Iceman having a stupid fight for five pages.  It continues next issue.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place over one day, the same day as the end of last issue.

X-Men (1963) #44

Cover by Don Heck

Cover Date: May 1968

On-Sale Date: March 1968

FIRST STORY: "Red Raven, Red Raven...!"

Synopsis: With the X-Men captured by Magneto, Angel makes a desperate flight to get help. Along the way he gets sidetracked by 1940s hero the Red Raven, because Roy Thomas is writing and of course he fucking does.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 2, panel 5

Magneto designed special "confining apparatus" for each of the X-Men: a lead shield to cover the eyes of Cyclops, hypno-magnetic bands to stop Marvel Girl using her powers, titanium shackles for the Beast, an electrified cage for Angel, and a thermonuclear heat tube (!) for Iceman.

It's also noted on page 3.1 that Magneto had Toad disconnect Cyke's glove controls.  How he found out about them is a mystery, as Professor X only had them installed recently (according to the back-up story from last issue, anyway).

Page 6, panels 2 and 3

Quicksilver recently learned to fly for short bursts, in an issue of Avengers that the editor can't be bothered to look up.  It actually happened at the start of Avengers (1963) #43, which was released at the same time as X-Men (1963) #35.  I'm placing it in the long gap between X-Men #39 and #40.

Page 8, panels 3 and 4

Upon finding Red Raven's island, Angel wonders if it's Hydra's island, which was destroyed "a few months ago" in Strange Tales (1951) #158.  The X-Men had a small cameo in that story, which I have placed in late December of XY 1.  By my estimation that's around 8 or 9 months ago, which is a little outside my definition of "a few months", but it'll do.

Page 11, panels 4 and 5

Here we begin the obligatory origin flashback for Red Raven, who was a baby when his parents crashed their plane into the floating island of the Bird -People.  Red Raven had his own self-titled comic, which ran for one issue that was published in 1940.  In that story, he is given mechanical wings upon becoming an adult, and sent to combat evil in the human world.  Based on later panels in the flashback that would make him 21 in 1940, which puts this flashback around 20 years before that in 1920.

Page 11, panel 6

Red Raven turns 21, and the wingless dolt finally figures out that he's not a bird-man.  This flashback presumably happens just before his adventure in Red Raven Comics (1940) #1, which I assume takes place in its publication year of 1940.  (The original story has this happening on his 20th birthday, so Red Raven may be misremembering the details here.  Regardless, this is an X-Men project, so I'm going with the details given in this comic.)

Page 12, panels 3 and 4

Page 13

The remainder of the flashback, showing Red Raven putting the Bird-Man armies into suspended animation, is said to have happened 20 years ago.  That would place it in 1948.  The way it's written here makes it seem like this happens right after Red Raven turns 21, but that doesn't work with later stories.  There needs to be time for his World War II adventures with the Liberty Legion, mostly depicted in Invaders.  Red Raven's not a character that's tied to the modern timeline, and he spends decades in suspended animation, so putting this flashback in 1948 (rather than XY -18) should be fine.

Page 13.2 mentions that the Bird-People had valves with suspended animation gas installed on their island, as a way to save their race should they ever be defeated in war.  The Bird-People are eventually revealed to be an offshoot of the Inhumans who split off around 500 BC and built their floating island Aerie around that time.  Let's assume they put the valves in then, not that it really matters.

The whole story ends up being moot, as Red Raven knocks Angel out, puts his people into suspended animation, and sinks the island.  Angel continues on his way, and aside from some thoughts next issue he completely forgets about the whole affair and gets on with trying to rescue his friends from Magneto.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place over a single day, the same day as last issue.

SECOND STORY: "The Iceman Cometh!"

Synopsis: Bobby Drake uses his ice powers on a bully, and is thrown in jail by angry townsfolk. Professor X sends Cyclops to rescue him.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 1, panels 1 and 2

It's a Fall night in 1963.  This issue is published in 1968, so that would put it five years ago, in XY -3.  That's a bit too early: it seems unlikely that Bobby was recruited into the X-Men 2-1/2 years before their first fight with Magneto.  I've moved it up into XY -2, which is still stretching things a little but fits well with the origin stories of Beast and Angel (as I'll explain when I get to them).

Bobby has already been on a few dates with Judy.  He'd be around 14-1/2 here, so his declaration of love is perhaps premature (and that's leaving out later revelations about his homosexuality).

We also learn here that Bobby's family lives in Nassau County, on Long Island.  This fits with earlier mentions of his family living in the New York area.

Page 2, panel 5

Bobby uses his powers here to freeze Rocky Beasely, and it's clear that he's already aware of his mutant abilities.  Usually mutant powers manifest at puberty.  Bobby would have turned 13 in January of XY -3, so he probably learns he's a mutant during that year.

Page 3, panel 2

Bobby's parents are also aware of his powers, and have told him never to reveal them for any reason.  (This fits extremely well with their later characterisation, especially with Bobby's father.)

Page 5, panels 6 and 7

The story ends on a cliffhanger that leads right into next issue, with Bobby sitting in jail when Cyclops shows up to rescue him.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This story takes place over two days in Fall.

• Day 1:
• Page 1.1 to 5.3: Bobby goes on a date, freezes Rocky Beasely, and is thrown in jail
• Day 2:
• Page 5.4 to 5.7: Professor X reads about Bobby in the newspaper and sends Cyclops to bust him out

X-Men (1963) #43

Cover by John Buscema

Cover Date: April 1968

On-Sale Date: February 1968

FIRST STORY: "The Torch is Passed...!"

Synopsis: After Professor X's funeral, the X-Men attack Magneto's island and are defeated.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 2, panel 1

As this issue begins, the X-Men are attending Professor X's funeral.  That means it's been probably no more than a few days to a week since last issue.

Page 5, panel 1

Banshee couldn't attend the funeral because he was on a mission.  We'll learn later that Banshee was an Interpol agent, but at the moment all we know about him is that he's some Irish guy who got nabbed by Factor Three.  I don't think this mission is ever revealed, but I'll keep it in mind when I'm placing events in Banshee's backstory.

Page 6

Xavier says that he has known he was dying of an incurable illness for the past few weeks.  During that time he's been working with Marvel Girl to add telepathy to her power set.  Jean's reaction can be read as simple grief, but it also works fairly well with the later revelation that it was the Changeling who died. (Presumably, she was expecting the professor to tell everyone the truth during the video, hence her disbelief when its finished.  As for her tears, she's either a great actor or she's mourning the Changeling.)

The timing of this video is very specific.  It was made right before the "Professor" (actually the Changeling) went to meet his fate at the hands of Grotesk.  The professor has also sensed Magneto's return to Earth, which means that X-Men (1963) #41-42 are intertwined with Avengers (1963) #47-49.  Presumably he recorded this message before Magneto's very public appearance at the UN.

Page 11

A few days pass between the funeral and the attempted attack on Magneto's island by the X-Men.  During this time, Cyclops hatches a plan to stow away on board a ship scheduled to pass by Magneto's island.  The ship is carrying computer equipment, and several other ships bearing similar equipment have been taken by Magneto in recent days.  Angel used his monthly allowance to buy passage for the X-Men on the ship.

Page 15, panels 4 to 6

This issue ends on a cliffhanger, with the X-Men having been captured by Magneto.  It technically continues directly into next issue, but that story will be much more heavily focused on Angel faffing about with the Red Raven.  Look, sometimes Roy Thomas just has to revive a Golden Age character.  He can't help himself.

COUNTING THE DAYS

This story takes place over several days, beginning a few days after the end of last issue.

• Day 1:
• Page 1 to 6: The X-Men attend Xavier's funeral, which is crashed by Quicksilver, and watch his farewell video message.
• Several days later:
• Page 7 to 15: The X-Men attack Magneto's island and are captured.

SECOND STORY: "Call Him... Cyclops"

Synopsis: Cyclops demonstrates his powers to the reader.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

This isn't so much a story as a series of vignettes designed to highlights aspects of Cyclops' powers.  Although it's not chronologically relevant, this is where we learn that his optic blasts are solar powered.

Page 5, panel 2

The other revelation we get is how Cyclops is able to activate his eyebeams without touching his visor.  The buttons in his gloves were supposedly designed by Professor X shortly before his "death".  This doesn't make a great deal of sense, because Cyclops has been seen eye-blasting without touching his visor much earlier than that, but I'll roll with it.

X-Men (1963) #42

Cover by John Buscema

Cover Date: March 1968

On-Sale Date: January 1968

FIRST STORY: "If I Should Die,,,!"

Synopsis: Professor X really for real definitely dies while stopping Gro-Tesk from destroying the world.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES

Page 12, panel 1

If you're looking for evidence that writer Roy Thomas didn't have the Changeling retcon in mind when he wrote this, and genuinely intended this to be Professor X, this panel is probably the best you'll find.  The narration mentions that he's using his mechanized legs to walk, which the Changeling definitely wouldn't need to do.  The retcon fits fairly well with the rest of the story, but this is a glaring discrepancy.  I'll just have to assume that the Changeling was wearing them because he's really committed to maintaining his disguise.

Page 14, panels 2 and 3

Xavier mentions here that Gro-Tesk's race was killed by radiation from underground atomic tests.  I'm not sure if this was revealed last issue, but it's consistent with Gro-Tesk's origin flashback.

While I'm on the subject of Gro-Tesk, he appears to die here, but he'll return in Ms. Marvel (1977) #6, written by Chris Claremont of all people (who should know better).  He makes scattered appearances over the decades, until he gets another apparent death in X-Men: Manifest Destiny - Nightcrawler (2009) #1.

Of more importance is Xavier's revelation of why he's been pushing the X-Men so hard for "these past days": he's dying of an unspecified but incurable illness.  Of course this will eventually be revealed to be the Changeling, who is dying of cancer.  It's admirable how he kept up his ruse, even in his thought balloons, until the very end.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place over a single day, the same day as last issue.

SECOND STORY: "The End... or the Beginning?"

Synopsis: The Living Diamond shatters when he absorbs too much power. Professor X recruits Scott Summers into the X-Men, giving him the codename Cyclops.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 2, panel 5

Professor X says that he has been a recluse for years, seeing virtually no one.  I get the feeling that the word "virtually" is going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting when I get to later origin flashbacks for Xavier.

Page 4, panels 1 to 4

The Living Diamond explodes here, and aside from a brief resurrection as a zombie in Sensational She-Hulk he's never returned.  I guess he could show up on Krakoa in the present-day books, it seems as though every mutant is fair game for that era.

Page 5, panel 3

The narrations says that this costume was previously designed, and has been modified for Cyclops.  I believe this is the first indication we get in this story that Xavier already had the X-Men in mind before reading about Scott in the newspaper.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story mostly takes place over one day, the same day as last issue.  There's an unspecified time lapse on page 5, during which Xavier modifies a costume for Scott.

• Day 1:
• Page 1 to 5.2: The Living Diamond is defeated, and Xavier takes Scott back to live in his mansion.
• Day 2 (an unspecified amount of time later):
• Page 5.3 to 5.7: Scott tries on his new costume and visor, and is given the codename Cyclops.

X-Men (1963) #41

Cover by Don Heck

Cover Date: February 1968

On-Sale Date: December 1967

FIRST STORY: "Now Strikes... the Sub-Human!"

Synopsis: A subterranean prince known as Gro-Tesk, the last survivor of his race, seeks revenge on the surface world. The X-Men fight him.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 1

This story begins explicitly at midnight.

Page 5, panel 2

Vera says that Hank hasn't called her for weeks.  It's possible that writer Roy Thomas intended this to be because he was busy searching for Professor X during the whole Factor Three saga, but the timeline shows that there's a months-long gap after that story where the X-Men aren't up to much.  The one thing that has been going on recently is the whole Xavier/Changeling deal, so I could just chalk Hank's absence up to Xavier working the X-Men extra-hard.

Page 6

Page 7

The flashbacks above detail the origin of Gro-Tesk/Prince Gor-Tok.  His underground race has existed since "time out of mind", warring with other underground kingdoms.  The bit about his people creating volcanoes is something I'll chalk up to poetic license, but the same panel shows humans dressed like stereotypical "cavemen".  That would place the existence of Gor-Tok's people way back in the Paleolithic Era.  It's currently believed that humans settled in America around 30,000 BC, so this flashback should happen somewhere between 30,000 BC and 10,000 BC.

The later flashback shows the destruction of Gor-Tok's people by an underground nuclear explosion.  The first underground nuclear weapons test in America was in 1951.  In 1974, treaties were signed which banned underground testing of bombs with yields greater than 150 kilotons.  The first all-underground series of bomb tests happened in 1961-1962, so I've decided to put this flashback starting in 1962.  If I put it in the Sliding Timeline that would put it in XY -4, but it's probably better suited to take place in non-Sliding time.  Gor-Tok's not really tied to anything crucial, and we have no idea how long his people can live for.  Besides, putting it in 1962 rather than XY -4 makes things a little less cluttered.

Page 10, panels 1 and 2

Jean and Xavier discuss the secret they are keeping from the other X-Men, and the experiments that they are working on together.  At this point, I'm pretty sure that Roy Thomas intended the secret to be that Xavier is dying of an illness, but that ends up being retconned into him being replaced by the Changeling.  As for the experiments they're doing, I assume that this is related to awakening Jean's telepathy.

Page 15, panel 4

This story ends on a cliffhanger, which leads directly into next issue.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place in a single day, starting at midnight.

SECOND STORY: "The Living Diamond!"

Synopsis: Jack O'Diamonds, with the unwilling help of Scott Summers, uses machinery to increase his power, becoming the Living Diamond.

CHRONOLOGICAL NOTES:

Page 1, panel 1

Page 5, panel 6

There's nothing in this story that's of particular chronological note, so I've posted the beginning and the end.  It leads directly into next issue.

COUNTING THE DAYS:

This story takes place over one day, the same day as last issue.