UXM #45: "When Mutants Clash!"

(That should be "sense-shattering", surely?)

Comments

This issue is actually the first half of a two-part story that concludes in Avengers #53.  Well, really it's the third part of an X-Men storyline that concludes in Avengers #53 - which is a pretty shitty way to treat your readers - but either way it means I thought it a good idea to read the aforementioned Avengers issue immediately after, even if it isn't part of our study.

It's a good job I did, since not only does the story end there (with Toad finally getting pissed off enough to abandon Magneto, and Mags himself falling into the Atlantic and presumed drowned), but it offers a few words of explanation as well. It turns out the disintegrator ray left beside Angel's cage was deliberately put there to allow him to escape.  That's nice to hear, at least, since it retrospectively makes issue #44 look a little less terrible, and that book can use all the help it can get.

After that, though, everything gets ridiculous again.  Magneto boasts that he deliberately placed a homing tracker on Angel so as to arouse suspicion amongst the Avengers.  But why assume Angel would head for the Avengers at all?  It's hundreds of miles to Avenger's mansion (see below); is it really a slam-dunk to conclude that's who he'll ask for help?

On top of that, whilst Magneto's plan to hypnotise the X-Men into attacking the Avengers is pretty cool (a bit over-elaborate, but certainly fun to watch), he laments the fact that Angel escaped too soon for the conditioning to take hold.  So why let him escape so soon?   Why not hypnotise Angel first, then send him out without a homing beacon at all?  Or even get the X-Men to call the Avengers by telephone?  And why start torturing Toad because Cyclops escaped, which is pretty much exactly what Magneto wants?

I suppose the answer to that last one might be that Magneto didn't want Cyclops running around until Magneto had had chance to get his hypno-beam or whatever working.  Indeed, the whole plan might not have worked at all if when Cyclops bumped into the Avengers immediately after they arrived (before Magneto activated the X-Men's post-hypnotic suggestions), he hadn't chosen to be a thoroughly petulant prick.

(Mind you, if this issue is anything to go by, attacking people because they ask him to stand still for a minute is very much what Cyclops does.  "[N]o-one tells Cyclops to halt--", "[N]obody tells an X-Man what to do!"; it's a master-class in aggressive childish preening.)

By that point we're in Avengers #53, which makes it all Roy Thomas' fault (again), but the only thing more irritating than watching one superhero pick a fight for absolutely no reason is for that superhero to then flee the battle he initiated, asking himself "Why did they treat me like an enemy... WHY??

One interesting development amongst the chaos: the conversation Quicksilver has with Cyclops (once the latter has stopped trying to chop Quicksilver into chum on general principle).  Not only is it another example of pre-Claremont argument on how mutants should treat humans (which once again takes baby steps towards developing an honest-to-God theme), but the idea of Cyclops angrily rejecting the idea of a mutants-only island where homo superior can exist away from the press of humanity is brilliantly ironic, even if it took 40 years for that to become apparent.

Once again, the issue ends with a back-up strip about the X-Men's formation.  We're still following the events that led to Iceman signing up.  This is a deeply strange story, actually.  Iceman is arrested, basically for walking whilst mutated, but decides to sit and wait for charges to be pressed so he can clear his name in court.

Cyclops, though, has decided that the law of the land can't be trusted, and so breaks into Iceman's cell and, when Bobby refuses to leave, actually tries to knock him unconscious so that he can be dragged to freedom!

That, to me, sounds an awful lot like something an X-Man villian would do, and raises all sorts of questions about where Xavier sees  the team's position in the grand scheme of things.  Indeed, all Cyclops' manages is to badly beat Bobby up, and cause an angry mob armed with shotguns to give chase.  The issue ends with the sherrif - who was adamant that Bobby would get a fair hearing up until Cyclops staged a jail-break - threatening to shoot Iceman if he doesn't immediately surrender.  I'm not sure whether we're actually supposed to be rooting for Cyclops here.

Mind you, that's not exactly the rarest of circumstances...

Clues

This issue starts very soon after the last one ended.  Angel has now arrived at New York.  How long the flight took isn't discussed, but we learn in Avengers #53 that it takes a quinjet less than half an hour to find Magneto's hideout.  A half-hour flight at full speed for a quinjet would cover about 800 miles.

Comparing that to (what else?) the velocity of an unladen swallow, it would have taken Angel 19 hours to fly that far, assuming top speed could be maintained indefinitely. 

Of course, Angel bigger than a swallow, but that's not to say he's necessarily faster (though he'd presumably need fewer rests).  There's also the stop at Red Raven's base to consider.  All in all, it seems reasonable to assume that this issue takes place the day after the previous one.

Date

Wednesday 23^rd April, 1980.

X-Date

X+754.

Compression Constant

1 Marvel year = 2.30 standard years.

(Iceman is 36 years old.)

Contemporary Events

The brilliant named Nicolas Douchez is born.  He doesn't seem to be very famous, from what I can tell, but then I used up all my football knowledge with that Brazil crack yesterday. 

Standout Line

"[A]s Cyclops ponders what may well be the most fatefully important decision in his career..." Sometimes, the level of insane hyperbole this comic generates is quite exhausting.  Cyclops most fateful decision so far?  Which of three doors he should enter to follow the Toad. 

I'm not saying stopping Mortimer before he can tell his master about the escape would be a bad idea, mind you.  Just maybe slightly less important than deciding whether to trust a man claiming to be Xavier when he tells you how to save the world from eternal slavery.

UXM #44: "Red Raven, Red Raven...!"

(For the love of God, why?)

Comments

At long last!  This issue marks the end of Roy Thomas' reign (Friedrich wrote the script for this one, but it's Thomas at the helm). Truly it was an era of mediocrity.  Not to mention time-wasting.  If Roy Thomas was a female footballer, even the Brazilians would think he was milking it.[1]

Let's look at the board, shall we?  Stan Lee penned 19 issues that took place over seven months, from the X-Men's point of view.  Roy Thomas penned 25 issues that took place over seventeen months.  That's a truly miserable compression constant of 1.47 standard months to every Marvel month!  And it would have been even worse than that if the Factor Three story (and its later references) hadn't allowed me to ignore Thomas' increasingly ludicrous attempts to tie his storylines into real-time events.

It's safe to say this was not one of my favourite eras for the comic, even when taking into account the time in which it was written.  Goodbye, Roy Thomas: we hardly liked ya.

It would be nice if I could at least say that Thomas went out on a high, but that would be a lie.  In fairness, messy handovers are very common in comics, so I'm prepared to cut it at least some slack.  It's still unrelentingly stupid, though.  We start where we left the action in issue #43, with Magneto towering over our fallen heroes.  Initially he plans to kill them, but then Quicksilver - the same Quicksilver who only last issue Magneto promised to punish and then didn't for no reason at all - objects.

Magneto then flies into a rage, immediately reverses course ("I must have time to savor the sweet nectar of victory!") and puts the X-Men in the individualised prisons he had already built for them.  Why were they there if the plan was to kill the X-Men as soon as super-humanly possible?  How are we supposed to take Magneto seriously if Quicksilver can say or do anything and without him doing more than bellow and bluster?   Why does Magneto change his mind again when Toad notes the X-Men have been arguing with Quicksilver?  Why doesn't he do anything about it? 

(Also, why the hell is there a cutting torch lying around the X-Men's cell?  I'm guessing it's been planted there, probably by Scarlet Witch; we'll have to wait and see).

Once we get past all of this lunacy, Angel manages to escape Isla de Magneto and head for help (specifically the Avengers, who Angel is very chuffed about thinking of, despite the fact Cyclops had already ordered him to find them), and then things somehow conspire to become more stupid.  Angel takes shelter from the storm on a tiny atoll that then becomes an island, and he decides he'll go exploring because, quote "...Magneto wants us to join him!  He won't harm the others for a while!"  You know what might have changed his mind on that, Warren?  The fact you've escaped!

At that point, he really deserves getting a beating from Red Raven, one of the self-described "supreme race of birdmen!" (not so supreme that you're not functionally extinct, Tweety!).  That fight lasts for all of two pages before Raven decides he can trust Angel ("I can sense that you also are different from ordinary humans!") and starts laying out the specifics of his secret and sacred duty.

WHAT THE FUCK?  If you're the sole hope of reviving your race, what could possibly possess you to spill the beans to a guy who a) you met three minutes ago, and b) spent two minutes and fifty-five seconds of that trying to punch you in the face?  Hell, whilst we're on the subject, why not take the simple but effective security precaution of locking your front door?

Of course, this is a man who took twenty-one years to realise he wasn't actually born one of Superioraceofbirdmen, despite the fact that he hasn't got any sodding wings!

The whole thing is one long, stupefying explosion of plot and character logic filmed in slow-motion by  a swine-flu afflicted David Lynch .  Only without even any hot lesbians. 

Clues

This issue picks up directly from the last one.

We learn something from the back-up strip this issue - Iceman first came to Xavier's attention in 1963, during late autumn or early winter.  Since the first issue of The X-Men was published in September '63, this winter is presumably meant to be January or Febuary of that year.  That means the birthday cake Xavier unveiled way back in issue #4 must indeed represent a year since Cyclops first joined him.

We'll have to fiddle with these ideas to fit them into our timeline, but we put the beginning pages of issue #4 as taking place on the twenty-third of April, 1978, we'll put that day in 1977 as being the day Scott and Xavier did battle against Jack of Diamonds, and have them discover Bobby Drake in October of that same year.

Date

Tuesday 22^nd April, 1980.

X-Date

X+753.

Compression Constant

1 Marvel year = 2.26 standard years.

(Iceman is 37 years old.)

 Contemporary Events

Canada announces it will boycott the Moscow Olympics, following the USSR invasion of Afghanistan.

Standout Line

"But, since I know now I can lick your weight in hobbits any day..."  I... what?  Just... what?

[1] Eat my timely sporting reference!  EAT IT!

UXM #43: "The Torch Is Passed...!"

(Worst... reimagining... ever!)

Comments

Xavier's funeral seems remarkably sparsely attended.  His five X-Men and a priest?  I realise that there's still decades to go before we learn of Moira MacTaggert, Amelia Voght, and Gabrielle Haller, but surely someone should have shown up, Xavier's years as a recluse notwithstanding [1].  Hell, even Cain Marko might have wanted to be there, if only to check his half-brother was definitely dead.

At least Quicksilver shows up (somewhat late, because nothing suggests problems with punctuality like super fucking speed), which is a nice touch, and a reminder that Xavier's influence extended beyond his five students.  Of course, having Pietro take a moment to pay his respects just makes Magneto's ranting look even more ridiculous.  "My only regret is that it was someone else who snuffed out his worthless life... and not I, Magneto!"  Man, that is some classless bullshit, right there.

Apparently Magneto has himself another secret island headquarters.  At a certain point, you'd be expecting people to be monitoring those things, wouldn't you?  Or is everyone tied up with staking out volcanic cave systems?

In addition to his new digs, Magneto seems to have regained the Toad from his interstellar exile.  Ordinarily such unexplained developments annoy me, but I have to confess that "The Intergalactic Flight Of Toad The Adventurer!" doesn't really sound like a particularly engrossing tale.  Even if he does get chased through the stars by an implacable, emotionless foe, BSG it ain't.

"Stop staring at my arse, Callis, you slippery nonce!"

 Using previous ship losses to triangulate Magneto's whereabouts and then head off on a ship filled with tempting cargo is quite a nice idea, actually.  Cyclops gets points for that.  On the other hand, if that was your plan, wouldn't you put at least a little effort into ensuring Magneto couldn't actually use the cargo of massively powerful computers you're using as bait?  Not to back-seat super-hero, or anything.

Clues

The trees seem bare right now, but that could still be the after-effects of the strange blight that's been bothering them for weeks.  In any case, the publication date of this issue is all of a fortnight earlier than our estimated date of Xavier's death, so even if Thomas' is up to his old trick of synchronising seasons, we should still be alright.  I've assumed arranging Xavier's funeral took about a week, which doesn't seem an unreasonable period.

The X-Men's encounter with Magneto takes place "a few days later", which would put it on the Tuesday.  I guess Jean Grey is taking some time off from college, though that doesn't seem too unreasonable given her loss.

Date

Saturday 19^th to Tuesday 22^nd April, 1980.

X-Date

X+750 to X+753.

Compression Constant

1 Marvel year = 2.22 standard years.

(Iceman is 37 years old.)

Contemporary Events

A general strike breaks out in Algeria in protest against the co-ordinated arrests of various Berber activists, students and doctors.

Standout Line

"Quiet, all of you!  We've got to hear every word of this!"  For once, Cyclops is entirely right to harangue his fellows.  You know what you keep your mouth shut during?  Your mentor's video will.

[1] In fairness, they do mention that both Agent Duncan and Banshee were on the guest list.  That still doesn't explain why there were no generic mourners.  Generic mourning is critically important!

UXM #42: "If I Should Die..."

("Except it's a hoax, obviously.")

Comments

Hmph.  This is frustrating.  After several issues putting together what we might term a "plausible deniability" scenario regarding Xavier's death, they make it abundantly clear in this issue that the man who dies in Angel's arms is very much the real deal.  His thought bubbles make it clear he has access to psychic powers, which he then uses later on against Grotesk.

I suppose you could just about forge a twisted argument that says Changeling is deliberately thinking like Xavier in case Grotesk has psychic powers, and that the real Xavier is monitoring the situation and using his own powers when called upon, that would rather defeat the point of Xavier building his psi-proof chamber to sit in whilst Clarence pretended to be him.

It's a real shame, because it would have worked perfectly with a little tweaking (most obviously a vaguer internal monologue from Xavier, and an alternative to trying to mind-punch Grotesk).  It would also have made the idea of "Xavier" wearing the latex mask to get into the lab pretty cool: Clarence having to wear a normal disguise to disguise the fact he's a master of disguise.  That's a brilliant little multi-layered idea.

Alas, it was not to be. 

Cyclops seems to be getting more creative with his powers.  Using it as a retro-rocket is a really nice idea, as is fractionally opening his visor to use his blasts to slow objects in motion.  The fact that he successfully does this with Angel, who was so badly hurt the last time he made contact with Cyclop's force beam he claimed Cyclops tried to kill him, is quite fitting, even if I suspect it's coincidental.

Clues

This issue follows on directly from the previous one.  The strange mix of bare and full-canopied trees is still in evidence. Maybe there's a blight going round.

Date

Sunday 13^th April, 1980.

X-Date

X+744.

Compression Constant

1 Marvel year = 2.21 standard years.

(Iceman is 37 years old.)

"Just call me a cock-eyed optimist, ugly!"

Contemporary Events

The last day on Earth dawns in which you cannot acquire an Iron Maiden album. How had civilisation survived so long?

Standout Line

"[I] shall teach you the meaning of fear, masked one... with this massive apparatus!"  Maybe that radiation surge helped Grotesk out a little bit more than we thought, if you get my meaning?

(His cock is big, is my point).

UXM #41: "Now Strikes... The Sub-Human!"

("Ah, alpha particles.  Is there anything they can't do?")

Comments

First thing's first: I love that cover. We're still squarely in the "more vibrant colours means more awesome" era of comic books (to the extent to which that was an era, rather than an almost immutable law), so something comparatively understated like this is a joy to see.  It even has (whisper it) atmosphere, something the comic has decidedly lacked until now.

Radiation really is a wonderful all-purpose plot device, isn't it?  This time around it not only wipes out Grotesk's entire race, but it also makes him ugly, super-strong, and inflicts him with amnesia that can only be cured by him reciting the entire story to himself.  It's Roy Thomas' very own sonic screwdriver. 

At least Grotesk's motivation - his entire civilisation was accidentally wiped out and he blames humanity - makes for a better driving force than that of most of the villains we've seen so far.

Another X-Men tradition gets its initial airing, as we get our first glimpse of the "impending secret catastrophe makes Xavier a total dickhead" phenomenon.  Indeed, he acts so unbearably during the X-Men's training session that I initially thought he'd been already been replaced by Changeling, until he started being a prick telepathically.  Two demerits apiece for Hank and Bobby because they rushed into the Danger Room in civvies?  What a turd!

(Besides, if anything regarding Hank and Bobby's behaviour in this issue should raise eyebrows, it's how they respond to a brutal attack on their subway car by waiting for the lights to go out and then taking their clothes off.  Just sayin'.)

I can't help thinking Mr Clancy might be a bit too jittery to sit on a board of trustees.  Turning on a dime from "this machine cannot possibly work" to "this machine could be used to destroy the planet!" is a fairly remarkable transition, and indicates rather strongly that he should probably try to cut down on the coffee (I think Al Gore talked about a similar type of reaction in An Inconvenient Truth; perhaps they've met).

I adore the fact that Cyclops immediately concludes that all this secretive business between Xavier and Jean is because the professor is in love with her.  Right or wrong (who knows when he gave up hope of offering her a few, ahem, "private lessons"), it's completely believable that a teenage boy as deeply in love as Scott is(which is to say all teenage boys everywhere, ever) would be incapable of imagining any relationship between Jean and another man which didn't involve the latter lusting after her.  This is why we should slap people who claim to miss their lives before they turned twenty.

The five-pages-at-a-time origins story continues in this issue.  Once again it's mostly forgettable, save for it demonstrating that Xavier apparently had telekinetic powers once upon a time, and for showing us that, amazingly, Thomas hasn't entirely mined out the potential uses of radiation, having added "can give you hands made out of diamonds" to the list of possible side-effects.

Mind you, this is Marvel we're talking about, here.  They should just come up with a "random response to radioactive bombardment" table and have done with it.

Clues

This issue takes place over a single night.

Following standard practice, we'll set this the day after the previous adventure.  Iceman certainly notes that they could have done without a giant monster smashing up the NY subway system so soon after Factor Three and Frankenstein's Monster.

Something strange is clearly happening to the trees hereabouts; some are still in full bloom, others are completely bare.  Obviously Thomas is trying to throw me off the scent...

Date

Sunday 13^th April, 1980.

X-Date

X+744.

Compression Constant

1 Marvel year = 2.17 standard years.

(Iceman is 38 years old.)

"Holy cow!"

Contemporary Events

The 6221 Ducenetesima asteroid is discovered in the main belt by Antonin Mrkos.

Standout Line

"It cannot be mere chance! They must be directed at me... from the outer world!" It's Writing 101 time again, folks: if a coincidence is so ridiculously unlikely that your own characters refuse to believe it, you probably shouldn't try to get it past your readers either.

UXM #40: "The Mark Of The Monster!"

("Also, I think the Wolf Man was a hairy vampire possessed by a demon, and that Abbott and Costello were talking insects in thrall to undercover dinosaurs!  From the future!")

Comments

I have no idea what Xavier has been smoking this issue (who can blame him for wanting to chill out following the Factor Three crisis, I suppose), but I don't want any.  "I've always suspected [Frankenstein] was based on an actual occurrence-".  Why? Shelley herself stated it was just something she literally dreamt up (which may or may not have been whilst she was also smacked off her Georgian tits). "And now I'm sure of it!" Because someone has found a body in the ice dressed up like Boris Karloff?  You can't fool anyone by painting him purple, pal, those neck-bolts were Jack Pierce's idea, they had nothing to do with Shelley's original, and if Xavier wasn't so busy slapping Iceman around for not having read the book, he might be able to remember that.

Even all that is surpassed moments later, though: "I suspect that the supposed "monster" was in truth a super-powerful android!... [B]y examining him, I may prove that his creator.... was a mutant!"

No more drugs for that professor.

Still, as mental as he's clearly become, he turns out to be right.  It is an android, and one that can't stand the deep cold, because cold is well-known as being bad for computers, as we all know.  Presumably that's why what finally activates the monster is his discoverer lowering the temperature of the ice block.  That's right, lowering it.  Dr. Powell's assistant objects on the grounds that the government want first crack at The Amazing Purple Rip-Off, but it would make far more sens if he objected because Powell is clearly a total fucking idiot.  That's like trying to investigate the wreck of the Titanic by dragging it deeper into the Atlantic.  Clearly, the real enemy this month is the disease that's struck the whole of the city, turning academics into imbecilic jelly-brains.

Not that the professor's completely lost it.  He still has the wherewithal to steal a helicopter from the government and wipe the minds of those who try to stop him (because there's nothing more important than making sure a mad android doesn't smash up a single boat which he'll total at his own peril in any case), and manages - ridiculously - to read the robot mind of the creature in order to learn his origin. 

Turns out, he was sent as an ambassador of peace by a race that lived in tropical climes.  Not explained, however, is why people who live in hot temperatures can't create machines that work in the cold, or why they'd assume the best form for a diplomat to take is an eight-foot-tall monstrosity with super-strength.  Also unknown is how Shelley ever heard about the monster, since it apparently never met a single human, having been put on ice by his creators after it went HAL 9000 on their beach-loving asses.

So, to sum up: Xavier is convinced a book explicitly declared to be fiction is actually true, only except for all the bits about the protagonist's work, creations and experiences, and that what's described as a odd assortment of dead flesh must actually be a robot.  He then learns that his guess was true, but that it's impossible the original writer could possibly have known that in any case.

David Icke would think that Xavier was jumping to conclusions, and disproved by the evidence presented to him.  About the best thing you can say about any of this is that it makes it far easier to bear Xavier's death in a couple of issue's time.  Apparently the man was on the verge of raving insanity in any case.

Clues

This issue takes place over a single day.

It's a bit of a muddled issue this time around.  The first page states that the story takes place in Autumn, and that the air is "cool".  You could argue that this implies it's late Autumn, but the trees are still very much green.  Added to that is the clear fact that when Professor X was kidnapped in issue #33, it was during the winter. That makes it impossible for this to be Autumn, since Banshee makes it clear in issue #35 that he had been in contact with Xavier only a few weeks earlier, and issues #35 to #39 take place over the span of a few days at most.

The only possible explanation might be that the X-Men have done nothing of note for the six months following the defeat of Factor Three (in fairness, they'd have earned it), but the same text box which informs us that its autumn also describes the X-Men taking a "momentary breather" after saving the world.

I think we're going to have to ignore the "autumn" label; it just contradicts too much of what's gone before.  Let's give the X-Men a week off, instead.  That sounds quite "momentary" as these things go, and allows us to place this issue at the weekend, explaining what Jean is doing there.  In truth, I think the "Jean goes to college" plot has been more or less abandoned at this point, but since we're four issues from the end of Thomas' run, it makes sense to wait and see how Gary Friedrich handles the issue when he takes over in issue #45.

Date

Saturday 12^th of April, 1980.

X-Date

X+743.

Compression Constant

1 Marvel year = 2.13 standard years.

(Iceman is 38 years old.)

"I was just havin' some fun, Beastie!
Can'tcha take a joke?"

Contemporary Events

A coup d'etat ends 130 years of democratic presidential succession in Liberia.

Standout Line

"We''ll never know how Mary Shelley learned any of this -- but, perhaps it's just as well!" Translation: this whole escapade made no sense to start with, then contradicts itself at the end in any case.

UXM #39: "The Fateful Finale!"

(They always blame the cephalopod...)

Comments

We've now reached the conclusion of the Factor Three storyline.  A lot of it is just one mutant beating up another mutant (or a robot), but nothing that involves a giant space octopus can be all bad.  I note that "Mutant Master" hails from the Sirius system.  I wonder if he was from a different world to the one we saw in issue #21, or whether two different planets orbiting the same star managed to produce sentient lifeforms, one which focused on interstellar domination, and one which concentrated on figure-hugging briefs.

It's interesting that Cyclops and Iceman flee from a US military base with its commander convinced the X-Men are traitors.  I can't remember if this comes back to bite them, but it certainly should.

On that topic, a quick hypothetical for you.  If you'd captured your enemies in illusionary bonds that they believed totally real, and you were ready to send your android troops in to shoot them in the head, would you introduce yourself first, to remind them of your mental powers?

I ask because this question was presented to Mastermind at the top of page 3, and his response was "Hell, yeah!"  What an idiot.  I'm so glad he's dead.

Nice to see the X-Men - or three-fifths of them at least - working as a team.  Apparently without communication, Marvel Girl can nick a guard's keys whilst simultaneously throwing said soldier toward Beast to be punched out.  It's almost like these people have trained together, or something. 

Of course, once they've escaped, it's up to Hank and his "learn Russian fast" records to truly save the day, but then who could have expected anything else?  Jean Grey might be "the most attractive of the X-Men" [1], but when the shit's been shat, who do you send to sort things out?

That would be Hank McmotherfuckingCoy, I'll have you know.

Unless the crisis is fashion-based, of course, in which case you'd best send for Marvel Girl.  I'm really torn about what's worse - giving the job of designing the new costumes to the only girl on the team (she even starts whining when she doesn't think Beast is praising her enough) or the fact that the new designs are so jaw-droppingly awful.  Warren (presumably still nursing some hope that Jean will one day telekinetically remove his boxers) claims he finally looks like an angel, but in reality he's dressed too ludicrously to be let into a German gay disco.

Lastly, it's interesting to note that the Changeling's powers are finally revealed by him briefly pretending to be Professor X.  Combined with it being him who saves the day by switching sides (I guess he finally realised that it's probably best to consider whether you want a mad tyrant as a boss before he destroys civilisation), it actually sets up the "Professor X was Changeling all along!" twist that gets employed an a year or two.  I've never read the "official" line on this, but it always struck me as a pretty blatant retcon.  Having read this issue, though, it's a far more plausible scenario than I originally assumed.  The question now, of course, is when the switch took place. 

Clues

This issue follows on immediately from the previous one, and finishes on the same day.

Apparently Beast likes to acquire his audio entertainment/education on vinyl.  This is not evidence that this story took place before Walkman use became common.  It is merely evidence that Beast is a man of great taste and refinement, and who is happy to ignore changes in technology that he considers unnecessary because that is simply how he rolls.

Date

Sunday 6^th of April, 1980.

X-Date

X+737.

Compression Constant

1 Marvel year = 2.11 standard years.

(Iceman is 38 years old.)

"I might as well be throwing
spitballs at the thing!

Contemporary Events

Somewhere, it will have been unseasonably warm.  Somewhere else it will have been snowing.  Somewhere out in America, it will have started to rain. In a thousand places, someone will have fallen in love, and in another thousand, someone will have fallen out of love.  On more than one occasion, both will have been true of the same person, and when they awoke the next day they will have blamed it on the drink.

In other words: it will have been business as usual.

Standout Line

"Of course it's insane, you fools!" The Mutant Master manages both to point out the idiocy of '60s supervillains and undermine this issue the same time.  Of course, molluscs like him make for excellent multi-taskers.  Onwards, my spineless brethren!

[1] I've mentioned before how narrative text boxes carry with them the weight of editorial opinion, so I'd like to ask: how dare Thomas dismiss Warren and Hank like that?  I'm sure any unbiased bisexual bystander would find it very difficult to choose between Jean's seductive curves and Warren's chiseled jaw.

That's assuming our hypothetical judge could even see them through the brilliant aura of awesomeness put out by Hank McCoy, obviously.