Sauron’s first appearance, but first, a Danger Room sequence…
…With the girls messing with the boys.
The Sentinels are on the warpath, trying to capture all mutants. In the course of this issue, we learn that their creator, Dr. Trask, is a mutant.
Meanwhile, the X-Men seek medical attention from one Dr. Lykos who, of course, turns out to be the mutant criminal Sauron, who hypnotizes Angel.
Sauron is introduced as a mad, torturing doctor who later turns into a human dinosaur and (spoiler alert) dies at the end. So is it really a spoiler if this comic came out 40 years ago? I don’t think so.
Anyway, it’s amazing to compare this run to Roy Thomas’ first run on X-Men, which was terrible. What a difference having one of the best artists of all time can make.
Your observation about the quality of Thomas’ writing mid-Sixties versus 1969 is more prescient than you realize. You’re actually on top of the truth. Anybody who reads Thomas’ initial run on this title, and then revisits it in 1969, can clearly see that they are not written by the same writer. As the legend goes, in 1967, Neal Adams hit the comic-book industry with the force an atomic bomb, and was under, at that time, exclusive contract to DC. Stan made it his mission to get Neal over to the House of Ideas where he belonged. Stan and Roy pay Neal a visit at his Manhattan pad, wherein Stan offers Neal his own personal office, keys to the executive shitter, and anything else he wants, to come over to Marvel. Neals’ terms are, he wants his own series to executive produce, write, draw, edit, executive edit, ink, letter- the whole enchilada. Stan asks Roy if they currently have anything that they can let Neal totally take over. Roy suggests ‘X-Men’, since that title is slated for cancellation, due to poor sales. ( now THAT’S “uncanny”!!! ) Neal accepts the terms, but, alas, due to Roy’s contract with Marvel, the by-line MUST go to Roy, regardless of who actually writes it. This was the arrangement, Neal totally and X-clusively produces all his ‘X-Men’ comics, and Roy officially collects the writing credit, and possibly, even the royalties. Neal is, alas, unable to finish out his run on ‘X-Men’ due to his trouble meeting deadlines, and Roy actually does write the final issue of the original run. ( issue#66’s “The Mutants and the Monster” ) Compare the writing-style of that final issue alone against Neals’ previous nine issues. No, folks, this case does not require Columbo to solve. Roy Thomas was and is a top-notch writer, but Neal Adam’s prose-style is in it’s own distinct class, and it shows. Now, before anybody out there decides to get litigious with me over this, I reiterate, this is How the Legend Goes. I may be incorrect, but I just don’t believe so. Read the comics! The point is self-supporting!!! Over the past several decades, raising this point at Comicons during ‘Q&A’ sessions with the Rascally One is good for getting you tossed out on your ass! I know! It’s happened to me twice, now! Fortunately, I’m a good sport! The legend further states that, had Neal been able to maintain his deadline schedule for the series, it possibly could have been saved from cancellation, because the sales numbers on his issues were X-tremely high. But, if Neal couldn’t meet his deadlines, then he would not have been able to save the series, regardless. There are four hypotheticals in life that I would drop Massive Coin to see: 1) World Peace. 2) A fourth season of the Adam West ‘Batman’ TV series, under new-purchasing Network NBC’s terms. ) 3) Eleven seasons of ‘M*A*S*H’ featuring the entire original cast, ( or at least with just McLean Stevenson ) and, several more years worth, at least, of Neal Adams’ ‘X-Men’ run! A successful, uninterrupted run of Adams ‘X-Men’ carrying on into the 1970’s would have given us the Greatest Comic-Book Series of All Time, ( that honor now arguably belonging to the Claremont-Byrne run of a decade later- the O’Neil-Adams ‘Green Lantern/Green Arrow’ series also come to mind ) and possibly, just quite possibly, we could have been spared the relentless political correctness of the New X-Men! ( but Storm and Psylocke ARE lovely consolation prizes! ) So- there it is- one of the great funnybook urban-legends of our time, but I BUY it!!!! How about YOU???
It makes sense. i’ve never heard that before. Neal Adams is a great artist–but I guess not a great writer.
Mr. Ekko, You missed the point, buddy- Neal Adams ghost-wrote his issues of ‘X-Men’ in 1969, while Roy Thomas took the byline due to contractual considerations. Roy’s ‘X-Men’ work reads like coloring-book material, compared to Neal’s highly-sophisticated writing style, even the final issue, #66. The “All-Neal Feel” ( ‘Uncanny X-Men’s #56-65 ) is, debatably, the most sophisticated superhero comic run of all time!