FIRST STORY: "Now Strikes the Sub-Human" (15 pages)  While Professor X and Marvel Girl are acting oddly, the other X-Men investigate Grotesk, an underground mutant who wants to destroy the world in revenge for the death of his race.

What you need to know:
Since last issue, Professor X has been replaced by the Changeling.  Or, more accurately, next issue Professor X gets killed, but a few years later Marvel decided that that hadn't been such a good idea after all.  So instead, the Changeling was retroactively inserted into issues #41-42 as Professor X's replacement.

The explanation comes in issue #65, where Xavier was finally brought back.  Basically, the Changeling is terminally ill, and he comes to Professor X asking to redeem himself.  Meanwhile, Professor X is planning to go into isolation so that he can prepare the world to deal with the Z'Nox.  For reasons that... well, reasons that aren't terribly good, but are needed for the retcon to work, Professor X doesn't want the X-Men to know, except for Marvel Girl.  So the Changeling takes his place and, proving that it wasn't such a bright idea, promptly gets killed on his first mission.

In his introduction to the Marvel Masterworks reprint of this story, Roy Thomas explains that Professor X was genuinely meant to die for good in issue #42.  But this being a superhero comic, Thomas left himself a back door; if necessary, it was always going to be the Changeling.  And in fact, there is some groundwork laid in this issue.  Xavier is acting oddly, and he's much more abrupt with the X-Men.

According to Marvel Girl, "only I can even guess at part of the reason why" he's acting like this, and Professor X has indeed told her something which he refuses to tell the others.  They're also carrying out some sort of experiments together.

The original explanation for this behaviour is in issue #42 - Xavier is terminally ill.  As noted above, this element of the story was grafted onto the Changeling after history was revised.

Scott, being hopelessly insecure, worries that Xavier is taking an interest in Jean because he's in love with her too.

On a more prosaic level, Grotesk debuts.  He actually crops up in a handful of other stories, but really, he's only notable for being the villain who kills "Professor X" next issue.  The origin story is that Grotesk used to be Prince Gor-Tok, from yet another race of subterraneans.  The Gortokians were just getting ready to explore the surface world and conquer it, when they inconveniently got nuked by a nuclear test.  Poor old Grotesk is the sole survivor, mutated by the radiation.  Basically, he wants to take revenge by destroying the world, although he doesn't actually have any plan to do so - he mostly just hangs around in underground tunnels, sulks and occasionally hits things. 

A more innocent time:
Once again, Hank and Bobby go on a date with Vera and Zelda, and end up running out on them.  You'd think the girls would have dumped them by now, but apparently not.  Zelda, in particular, seems to be dumb as a post.  She's the ideal superhero's girlfriend!  ("All right... if you big, strong mystery men say you have to go, Vera and I will believe you!")

Fortunately for Grotesk, Archer College's Dr Hunt has just built his Nuclear Oscillotron, which makes earth tremors!  The other scientists tell him this is a stupidly dangerous idea, but for some reason, mad Dr Hunt doesn't seem to grasp the point.  His invention is going to benefit mankind "in ways we cannot yet dream of!"  Quite how mankind will benefit from nuclear earth tremors is left refreshingly unexplored.

Best line of dialogue: "But... to create earth tremors... with a machine called a Nuclear Oscillotron?  It's impossible - and you know it!"

Comments:
The first half of the Grotesk storyline, which is only really notable for one thing - Professor X dies.  Big news indeed.  But that happens next issue.

First, though, there's an entire issue of build-up for Grotesk, who isn't anything particularly special.  Don Heck's design for him is decidedly underwhelming, and the story isn't exactly great - Grotesk is bitter because his race of nutcase conquerors got wiped out by a nuke, so he wanders around sulking until he stumbles upon an idiotically silly machine built by a dumb scientist.  We're meant to feel slightly sorry for Grotesk.  After all, he's the sole survivor of his race.  But these underground races that Roy Thomas is so fond of don't do much for me, and besides, it's not like they had much to commend them.

Perhaps more significantly, this issue marks the start of a rather odd phase for the X-Men.  Basically, by this point it had become obvious that sales weren't so good.  (By the standards of the late sixties, anyway.)  So something had to be done.  As a result, X-Men embarks on a period of flailing around, messing with the format, breaking up the team, putting them back together, crossing over with more popular titles, changing the creative team, and generally throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. 

The slightly desperate attention-grabbing starts this month, with the somewhat tension-killing announcement "Next issue!  The death of Professor X!"  Mind you, they gave away the ending on the cover of issue #42 as well...

FEATURE CHARACTERS
The Changeling (last in flashback in X-Men: The Hidden Years #8; joins the X-Men, impersonating Professor X, with effect from this issue; becomes the new team leader)
Marvel Girl I (last in flashback in X-Men: The Hidden Years #8)
Cyclops, the Angel, the Beast and Iceman

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Vera Cantor (last in issue #32; next in flashback in Avengers vol 1 #209)
Zelda (between issues #32 and #47)

VILLAIN
Grotesk, the Sub-Human (Prince Gor-Tok of Sub-Terranea; first appearance)

OTHER CHARACTERS
Dr Hunt (first and only appearance) and his assistant
Mr Chalmers and two other Archer College Trustees (first and only appearance for all)
King Krono (Grotesk's father) and the Gortokian Subterraneans (their race; first appearance for all; in flashback; last in flashback in the second story in Avengers Annual #20; no further appearances)
Princess Ingar (Grotesk's wife; first and only appearance; in flashback)

SECOND STORY: "The Living Diamond" (5 pages)  Jack O'Diamonds uses the cyclotron to turn himself fully to diamond, while Xavier gets Scott on his side.

What you need to know:
See above, really.

A more innocent time:
"The one who calls himself Jack O'Diamonds didn't stop to think that my mental bolts would shield me even from tons of concrete!"  Well... can you blame him?

Comments:
Okay, it's five page chapters.  But did they really need to drag out the battle against the villain for three months?  It does seem a bit much...  Still, the plot ticks over, and builds competently to a climax.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Charles Xavier and Scott Summers

VILLAIN
The Living Diamond

Written: 4 December 2004

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