Celebrating sixty years of X-Men, one day at a time!
Year 1: 1963
001 - Year 1 Cover: X-Men #1
The pickings are slimmer in Year 1, of course, but it's hard not to go w/the iconic cover to the series' first issue, especially since I've had an Alex Ross recreation of it in poster form hanging on my wall for decades.
002 - Year 1 Creator: Steve Ditko
Stan & Jack will get their due, but when else will we be able to celebrate Steve Ditko drawing the first ever X-Men guest appearance in Tales of Suspense #49, in which radiation somehow turns Angel briefly evil?
003 - Year 1 Character: Professor X
Xavier is the dominant personality in the X-Men's short first year, using his mental powers to save the day/violate minds in 2 out of 3 regular issues, creepily crushing on Jean, and barking orders left & right.
004 - Year 1 Issue: X-Men #3
While #1 has all the notable firsts, #3 is the first truly bonkers & fun issue of the series, as Blob & his fellow carnies attack the X-Men after they're all jerks to Blob. The giraffe alone put it over the top.
005 - Year 1 Fun Fact: Danger Room Credit
Stan Lee (rarely one to not take credit for something himself) credits Jack Kirby with the creation of the Danger Room, saying it was all Jack's idea.
006 - Year 1 Moment of the Year: Meet the X-Men!
While that giraffe stealing Iceman's ice cream in issue #3 is tough to beat, I gotta go with the debut of, you know, the X-Men, the moment without which none of the other X-Men moments would exist!
Year 2: 1964
Year 3: 1965
1965 X-Men Comics: X-Men #10-17, Fantastic Four Annual #3
013 - Year 3 Cover: X-Men #13
On his way out in '65 (shifting to only doing layouts & covers), Kirby turns in some of the strongest covers of his run, w/several icon entries. I like this one just a smidge more than #12, the other Juggernaut cover.
014 - Year 3 Creator: Stan Lee
On HIS way out (though he lasts a tad longer than Kirby), Stan turns in his best X-work yet, thanks to the 1-2 punch of the Juggernaut & the Sentinels intros, which give the series some much needed thematic resonance.
015 - Year 3 Character: The Sentinels
1965 is when the concept of anti-mutant prejudice truly crystalizes in the series for the first time, in the form of mutant-hunting robots that give the X-Men a way to punch an ephemeral concept like "prejudice".
016 - Year 3 Comic: X-Men #12
Lee, Kirby, and Toth superbly build tension, cutting between the unseen Juggernaut's unrelenting march through the X-Men's defenses & Xavier's backstory, showing just how powerful Juggernaut is while telling us how he came to be.
017 - Year 3 Fun Fact: Brother Magneto
Stan Lee wanted to reveal that Professor X & Magneto were brothers!
"I always wanted Magneto to turn out to be Professor X's brother...If I had stayed with the book, that's what I would have done."
018 - Year 3 Memorable Moment: Magneto Revealed!
The final panel of the year reveals the return of Magneto; not the most surprising in the context of the story but it sets the stage for a number of future homages; Jim Lee reportedly owns the original art to several of them.
Year 4: 1966
019 - Year 4 Cover: X-Men #28
Not a lot of great covers to choose from in '66. Werner Roth's cover to Banshee's first appearance stands out due to the red background & eerie spectral quality to Banshee & the energy created by the figure's movement.
020 - Year 4 Creator: Werner Roth
I wouldn't call Roth (working under the pen name Jay Gavin, his sons' names) a favorite X-Men artist, but he certainly defines the look of the 1966 X-Men, his past in romance comics playing into the increasing interpersonal dramas.
021 - Year 4 Character: Mimic
If Mimic, the first non-O5 member of the X-Men had a year, it's 1966, in which he debuts, joins the X-Men, becomes their leader because Cyclops is paralyzed by angst, seemingly loses his powers, and quits.
022 - Year 4 Comic: X-Men #29
Mimic vs. Super Adaptoid is a great hook (it's the O5 vs. Cap's Kooky Quartet!) & this is packed w/fun Silver Age moments, like Cyclops literally collapsing in angst or Iceman being mocked into disbelieving his own eyes.
023 - Year 4 Fun Fact: Spider-Man!
Per Roy Thomas, a 4 panel Spider-Man cameo in X-Men #27 led to a full guest appearance in X-Men #35, making Thomas the first creator other than Stan Lee to write Spider-Man!
024 - Year 4 Memorable Moment: Banshee debuts!
I'd love to give this one to the debut of Ted Roberts, but it's hard to compete w/the 1st appearance of a future X-Man & headmaster of Generation X (even if his depiction at the time is...problematic).
Year 6: 1968
033 - Year 6 Character: Polaris
Year 7: 1969
1970 X-Men Comics & Appearances: X-Men #66-68, X-Men Annual #1, Amazing Spider-Man #92
Pickings are pretty slim this year, obviously. This gets the nod simply for being seared into my brain as "the last issue of the original #XMen run". And for suggesting Beast & Angel have a snowball's chance against Hulk.
Smack in the middle of his Amazing Spider-Man run, Kane gives the Spider-Man/Iceman confrontation his signature style, featuring off-kilter figures and unique panel angels.
As the first member of the X-Men to appear anywhere after the series' cancellation, Iceman's appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #92 makes him the standout character simply for showing up.
046 - Year 8 Comic: Amazing Spider-Man #92
I highly doubt anyone had this comic in mind when the show was being conceived, but I do like that the first post-cancellation appearance of any of the X-Men is a meeting between two future Amazing Friends.
047 - Year 8 Fun Fact: Reprint Reprieve
While the Thomas/Adams sales boost didn't occur quickly enough to stop cancellation, Roy Thomas believes the bump may've convinced Martin Goodman to revive the series, which at least kept the characters around.
048 - Year 8 Memorable Moment: The End!
With neither a bang nor a whimper, really, the X-Men slink off into comic limbo upon the conclusion of X-Men #66, a rare miss from the red hot Silver Age Marvel bullpen.
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