Featuring: X-Men
Release: November 4, 1965
Cover: January 1966
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Layouts: Jack Kirby
Pencilling: Jay Gavin
Delineation: Dick Ayers
Lettering: Art Simek
20 pages
| Previous | #403 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| X-Men #15 | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #69 |
| X-Men #15 | X-Men | X-Men #17 |
In my ignorance, my fear, I created an evil far greater than the menace it was built to destroy!
They are still tweaking the tagline. “The most mysterious fighting team of all time!” Usually, they are “unusual” instead of “mysterious”.
This issue is about the redemption of Bolivar Trask. But we see in the pull quote above, that he still doesn’t quite get it. He figures out that the Sentinels are worse than mutants, but the lesson should be that he was wrong to hate and fear all mutants.
Xavier notes that Trask failed to realize that mutants are both good and bad. Perhaps Xavier fails to realize the world is more complicated and nuanced than that.
As we see when Xavier takes over the wills of people to force them to give him a ride. This is kinda unethical. But it’s a desperate situation, so perhaps justified. The world is grey, Professor.
Getting back to the public reaction to the X-Men being a bit muddled in these early issues, this story is all about the public hating and fearing mutants. Yet Xavier retains powerful allies in the US Government, who order the police to cooperate with him. Whatever the mob thinks, the X-Men still have government backing, as they have from the start.
The X-Men were ultimately pretty darn useless against the Sentinels. Xavier was the only helpful one. But in the end, it’s Trask who saved the day, sacrificing his own life to end the menace he created.
Xavier again shows his willingness to muck with people’s minds when he makes the police unable to see the X-Men. Perhaps a bit of truth and spotlight are what your team needs, Xavier. And perhaps people are right to fear you if you keep messing with everybody’s minds.
“Beware the fanatic! Too often his cure is deadlier by far than the evil he denounces!”
A mysterious shadowy figure awaits X-Men at headquarters. Note this means not too much time can pass before next issue. (And is part of the evidence the wedding had to take place before the Sentinel battle.)
Rating: ★★★★☆, 71/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: X-Men vol. 2.
Characters:
- Master Mold
- Cyclops/Scott “Cyke” Summers
- Professor X/Professor Xavier
- Angel/Warren Worthington III
- Iceman/Bobby Drake
- Marvel Girl/Jean Grey
- Beast/Hank McCoy
- Bolivar Trask
- 7
- T
- 0
- 2
- 4
- 3-D
- 3-R
- 6
- 5
- 1
- F
Story notes:
- X-Men imprisoned in Heavy-Grav Globe.
- Marvel Girl overtaxes telekinetic power.
- Iceman the youngest X-Man.
- Master Mold will destroy a city with disintegrator ray unless Trask makes more Sentinels.
- 3-R is the designation of Sentinel who collapsed in issue 14.
- Giant crystal interfered with transmission to Sentinel.
- Washington ordered police to cooperate with Xavier.
- Trask destroys ionic power source.
| Previous | #403 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| X-Men #15 | Reading order | Tales of Suspense #69 |
| X-Men #15 | X-Men | X-Men #17 |
I forgot how nice the art looked in those issues.
I think it’s mostly Roth you have to thank for that.