OMU: X-Men -- Year Six

The fortunes of the X-Men finally began to improve in 1975, when Roy Thomas, now editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics, decided to greenlight the new, international team he had always wanted to try. He charged writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum with reinventing the X-Men for a new quarterly publication to be called Giant-Size X-Men. Keeping only Cyclops and Professor X, Wein and Cockrum filled the book with colorful new characters such as Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus. Thomas’s instincts proved right, and the book was a big success. Plans for the quarterly title were scrapped, and the X-Men’s regular book, which had been running reprints for years, suddenly came to life again and began its ascent to unparalleled heights of popularity.

However, George Olshevsky’s early chronological analysis revealed that the new X-Men actually spent as many as fifteen months training together between their initial adventure in Giant-Size X-Men #1 and their battle with Count Nefaria in Uncanny X-Men #94–95. What the original members did during this time is mostly unrecorded as well. Thus, another year of the characters’ lives is, by and large, an Untold Tale of the Original Marvel Universe.

Note: The following timeline depicts the Original Marvel Universe (anchored to November 1961 as the first appearance of the Fantastic Four and proceeding forward from there. See previous posts for a detailed explanation of my rationale.) Some information presented on the timeline is speculative and some is based on historical accounts. See the Notes section at the end for clarifications.

Now, the seventh installment of… The True History of the X-Men!

January 1967 – After spending much of the last year separated, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, Havok, and Polaris train together to learn to work as a team again, under the watchful eye of Professor X at Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in Salem Center, Westchester County, New York. Aware that his students have all pretty much grown up now, Xavier has begun compiling dossiers on potential recruits to the team from across the globe.

February 1967 – Bobby Drake celebrates his 19th birthday.

March 1967 – Far north in the Canadian woods, the mutant called Wolverine battles both the Hulk and the mystical monster known as the Wendigo. Professor Xavier has been keeping tabs on Wolverine as one of his potential recruits to the X-Men.

April 1967 – Jean Grey celebrates her 20th birthday.

May 1967 – Iceman teams up with the Human Torch to battle the thermodynamic menace called Equinox in New York City. During the fight, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and the Angel arrive to tell Iceman he’s needed for an important mission. Iceman decides to help the Torch first, and after they defeat Equinox, he returns to Salem Center. The X-Men leave on the aforementioned mission, to investigate an incredibly powerful mutant presence on an island in the South Pacific.

While the X-Men are away, Professor X is attacked by Magneto and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Fortunately, the Defenders (Doctor Strange, Hulk, Valkyrie, and Nighthawk) come to Xavier’s aid. Magneto’s plan to use “Alpha, the Ultimate Mutant” backfires and he, Mastermind, the Blob, Unus the Untouchable, and Lorelei are all regressed to infancy. Xavier arranges to have the babies taken to the Mutant Research Centre on Muir Isle, off the coast of Scotland, which is run by his old colleague Moira MacTaggert.

During their mission to the South Pacific, the X-Men are taken prisoner and only Cyclops is able to escape. Returning to New York, he informs Professor X that the mutant they detected was the island itself, a sentient land mass calling itself Krakoa. Xavier then quickly gathers a new team of mutants for an emergency rescue mission: Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, Thunderbird, Sunfire, Wolverine, and Banshee. Once Krakoa is defeated, hurled into space by the team’s combined powers, the original X-Men decide the time has come to leave Xavier’s school and get on with their lives. Only Cyclops elects to stay. Sunfire decides not to join the team after all and goes home to Japan. The rest of the new members begin a long period of intensive training.

June 1967 – Jean Grey moves into an apartment in New York City with a new roommate, Misty Knight, a private investigator. Misty is unaware of Jean’s identity as Marvel Girl, which she has abandoned to return to modeling while she figures out what to do with her life. While Jean is still moving in, Storm, a.k.a. Ororo Munro, comes to visit and they become fast friends. Jean soon meets Misty’s business partner, Colleen Wing, as well.

July 1967 – Jean, Misty, and Colleen are baffled by a midsummer snowstorm in New York City. Reports of bizarre weather phenomena come in from across the globe, but the cause remains a mystery. Later, they are shocked to wake up and discover that everyone in the city has been unconscious for two days. Reports of strange occurences start coming in from around the world, but then the Fantastic Four announce that it was all part of an alien invasion plot that they have foiled.

August 1967 – Bobby Drake enrolls at UCLA, on a scholarship Professor Xavier helped arrange for him, where he will get a degree in accounting. Warren Worthington III moves out to Los Angeles as well, living off the generous allowance provided to him from the family business. He and Bobby continue to hang out together. Alex Summers and Lorna Dane attend college in New Mexico.

September 1967 – Professor X lends a hand to the Fantastic Four when they are attacked by an 18-year-old mutant named Jamie Madrox, “the Multiple Man.” Judging that Madrox’s needs would not be met by having him join the new X-Men, Xavier contacts Moira MacTaggert. Soon, Madrox takes up residence on Muir Isle.

October 1967 – Nightcrawler, a.k.a. Kurt Wagner, celebrates his 18th birthday with a party at the mansion, which is attended by Charles Xavier, Scott Summers, Ororo Munro, Peter Rasputin (a.k.a. Colossus), John Proudstar (a.k.a. Thunderbird), Sean Cassidy (a.k.a. Banshee), and a reluctant Wolverine, who seems intent on being a loner. Kurt regales his new friends with tales of his years in the circus.

November 1967 – Wolverine starts hanging around in New York City, getting acclimated to his new home. One night, he is pursued by a shadowy, threatening presence which he eventually realizes is his old nemesis Sabretooth.

December 1967 – In a bizarre incident, X-Men old and new find themselves trapped within impenetrable force fields for many long, frustrating hours. They soon learn that, while they were imprisoned, Loki led an invasion force of Asgardian warriors into Washington, DC, only to be repelled by Thor and the U.S. Army. Later, after celebrating his 24th birthday, Hank McCoy, who has come to terms with his transformation into the furry blue Beast, pays an impromptu visit to the mansion. Nobody is home, but while there, Hank takes a strange phone call from the man formerly known as Captain America and does his best to offer the disillusioned hero some words of wisdom. Not long after, Hank is gratified to learn that Captain America has come out of retirement and is back in action.

Notes:

March 1967 – Wolverine’s debut story is featured in Hulk #180–182. This is his first mission for Department H as the costumed super-agent Wolverine. Prior to this he was a regular intelligence operative known as Logan.

May 1967 – Iceman and the Human Torch fight Equinox in Marvel Team-Up #23. Professor X and the Defenders square off against Magneto in Defenders #15–16. The subsequent trip to Muir Isle is revealed in flashback in X-Men #2. Then, the genesis of the second team of X-Men is chronicled in Giant-Size X-Men #1, with further details provided in Classic X-Men #1. The original team members, save Cyclops, take their leave in the first chapter of Uncanny X-Men #94.

June 1967 – Jean and Ororo’s friendship blossoms in the second story in Classic X-Men #2.

July 1967 – The bizarre weather phenomena result from Dormammu imprisoning Gaea in Doctor Strange v.2 #8–9. The people of Manhattan are then rendered insensate for two days by alien invaders in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #3.

August 1967 – Warren and Bobby’s move to Los Angeles will be revealed in Champions #1.

September 1967 – Madrox the Multiple Man is introduced in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4. Professor X makes a cameo appearance.

October 1967 – Kurt Wagner’s birthday will be established in Uncanny X-Men Annual #4.

November 1967 – Wolverine’s extracurricular activities are documented in the second story in Classic X-Men #10.

December 1967 – The X-Men’s 18-hour ordeal is a result of the events depicted in Thor #233. Later, the Beast makes a cameo appearance in Captain America #183. He discusses how he came to terms with his transformation in Avengers #137.

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