STORY: "Among Us Walk the Sentinels" (20 pages)  Bolivar Trask unveils his mutant-hunting Sentinels.  They promptly decide that the best way to protect humanity is to take over the world...

What you need to know:
This is a hugely important issue, because it's the one where Bolivar Trask makes his public prediction that mutants are going to take over the world.  Massive anti-mutant hysteria begins here.

The Sentinels make their debut, and get off to a cracking start by turning on their own creator three panels later.  You wonder why people kept building the things - they could never be trusted to do what you wanted.  Their rationale is that they can best protect the human race by conquering the world.

Issue #59 puts a different spin on this story.  In that issue, Robert Chalmers claims that Bolivar was motivated to build the Sentinels so that they would imprison all mutants, in order to stop any of them from learning that his son Larry was a mutant as well.  Quite why Bolivar should be worried about mutants finding out, rather than anyone else, isn't desperately clear.  However, if Bolivar knows his own son is a mutant - and he must do, because he gives Larry the medallion which suppresses his powers - then that obviously casts some doubt on his conviction that all mutants are dangerous.  Unless he just has a blind spot for family members, which wouldn't be completely absurd.

Warren says that his wings didn't appear until he was at military school, and that he left because he couldn't afford to face a physical exam.  This, of course, was quietly forgotten about and bears little resemblance to the origin story that Marvel eventually settled on.

Warren's parents show up for the first time.  According to Warren, they're "wonderfully patient and understanding."  Also, very rich.

Scott, bless him, is still trying to pluck up the courage to ask Jean out.  He figures he can't compete with Warren.

Beginning with this issue, the series is published monthly.  According to the final panel, this is due to "the most unprecedented demand in fandom's history."  What do you mean, exaggeration?

A more innocent time:
An awful lot in this issue...

Trask claims that everyone's missed the mutant threat because they've been too worried about the Cold War and the atom bomb.

The Beast uses "specially hinged shoes" to... uh, well, apparently to stop people realising how big his feet are.  I don't really understand how that's meant to work.

The sensationalist Daily Globe reports Trask's revelations with a wonderfully catchy sub-headline: "Eminent Anthropologist Says Mankind Faces Gravest Danger From Hidden Mutants Who Wait For Their Moment To Strike."  Got to love the use of the words "eminent anthropologist" in there.

The horrible mutant-dominated future looks remarkably like a 1950s B-movie (Flash Gordon clone division).

Xavier arranges a televised debate with Trask simply by phoning up the network and saying "Connect me with your programming director immediately!"  He gets put straight through, and in order to get Xavier's scientific debate on the air, the network pre-empts "two soap operas and a widely heralded adult western."

In one of those wonderful "all scientists know about everything" bits, Trask - an anthropologist - singlehandedly builds a working group of killer robots.  Okay, they don't quite work, but he does really well for an anthopologist.

Xavier can read the Sentinels' minds.  Kind of.

The Coffee-A-Go-Go turns up again.  And once again, as Kirby heroes, Hank and Bobby are the only people there in suits.  The dialogue is on top form.  "Like it's out to be in and it's square to be hip, I mean dig the scene, a nap isn't a nip!"  "Say it again, Bernard!  Those tender sentiments do wonders for my libido!"  "Cool it, chick!  You're melting my bongos!"

And yes, that's right - page 9 panel 3 does feature the word "libido."  That's positively scurrilous by Silver Age standards...

Comments:
This is a great issue!  It finally finds a theme that really works for the book - the anti-mutant paranoia which gives the X-Men their objective, gives Xavier's dream some context, and lets Magneto become a more rounded character.  Up until now the X-Men's purpose has been little more than "defeat the evil mutants"; now the stakes get to be higher, and the conflict becomes more meaningful.  It's such a good idea that it became the basic premise of the series for 40 years.

There's a noticeably satirical bent to this story.  Obviously, it's doing the Cold War routine where excessive paranoia about some threat to America results in a cure even more insanely stupid than the problem.  But it's also got a sensationalist media, and a TV host who tries to remind viewers about the show's sponsors in the middle of a Sentinel attack.  For all the Silver Age silliness here, this is also one of the stories which has held up best.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Professor X, Cyclops, the Angel, the Beast, Iceman and Marvel Girl I (all last in Fantastic Four Annual #3)

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Zelda (between issues #7 and #19)
Warren Kenneth Worthington Jr (the Angel's father; first appearance; last in Logan: Shadow Society; next in issue #17)
Kathryn Worthington (the Angel's mother; first appearance; last in the "Origins of the X-Men" story in issue #54; next in issue #17)

VILLAINS
Dr Bolivar Trask (first appearance; creator of the Sentinels; chronologically last in issue #-1; appears between pages behind the scenes in Marvels #2)
The Master Mold I (behind the scenes; last in issue #-1)
The Sentinels (first appearance; mutant-hunting robots; the versions in this story are Mark I, according to Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #9; they appear in Marvels #2 between pages of this story)

OTHER CHARACTERS
Bernard the Poet (between issues #7 and #31)
Curtis (the Worthingtons' butler; first appearance; last in the "Origins of the X-Men" story in issue #54; next behind the scenes in issue #36)

Updated: 4 May 2005

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