FIRST STORY: "The Devil Had a Daughter" (15 pages)  The X-Men escape Magneto, but Lorna remains behind.  Iceman storms out after an argument with Cyclops.

What you need to know:
Iceman is very obviously attracted to Lorna.  Lorna reciprocates as only horrible dialogue will allow.  ("Why single me out for special attention?  And why do I feel so strange in your arms?")

Cyclops tries to take Iceman off the case on the grounds that he's too involved with Lorna.  In the way of such stories, this leads to Iceman storming off so that he can make a big comeback towards the end of next issue.

Meanwhile, Erik the Red turns up at the end of the issue, and demands to meet Magneto.  It's Cyclops in a new costume, designed to confuse the bad guys, as we find out next issue.

The story is reprinted in the Marvel Visionaries: Jim Steranko trade paperback, along with issue #50.

Comments:
Just to illustrate how striking Sternako's art was by the standards of 1968, he doesn't even get properly credited on this issue.  The art credit just says "Do we have to tell you?"  And since the splash page shows the cast standing in front of a towering machine with the story title written on the side under an exaggerated Magneto silhouette... no, they probably don't.

The story's not great, though.  We get off to an awful start as Iceman decides that Lorna will surely join forces with Magneto unless he reveals how evil Magneto is - despite the fact that Magneto has just described himself as a god and proposed conquering the planet.  Apparently planet-conquering isn't so bad, as long as you do it politely.

It improves after that, as it settles into conventional superheroics, but it's still nothing out of the ordinary.  Steranko is the big selling point for this issue, without a doubt.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Cyclops, the Angel, the Beast, Iceman and Marvel Girl I

SUPPORTING CHARACTER
Lorna Dane

VILLAINS
Mesmero and the Demi-Men
Starr Saxon (behind the scenes)

SECOND STORY: "The Lure of the Beast-Nappers" (5 pages)  El Conquistador kidnaps Hank and his parents, and demands that Hank co-operate with him.

What you need to know:
A partial reprint of this story appears in Amazing Adventures vol 2 #17, but the full thing has never been reprinted.

A more innocent time:
El Conquistador is a nutcase dressed as a conquistador.  He has an electric cattle-prod trident.  He'd be an ideal villain for Adam West's Batman.  He even has henchmen in period costume.

Comments:
A goldmine of unintentional comedy.  Well, unintentional mildly amusing bits, anyway. 

Okay, it's not really fair to blame Arnold Drake for the narrative caption "That night, as Hank wends his way home from the gay victory celebration..."  But El Conquistador is an utterly ludicrous villain who seems totally out of place in this book.  And his plan is fantastically dumb.  He's going to exploit the huge power of the Beast, a guy who can jump about a bit? 

Laugh of the story comes when El Conquistador announces the beginning of "Operation Snare."  It sounds impressive, but turns out to mean two henchmen trying to catch Hank in a big net.  Must have taken the evil genius hours to come up with that one.

FEATURE CHARACTER
Professor X (last in flashback in issue #15)
Cyclops, Angel and Iceman (all last in the "Origins of the X-Men" story in issue #56)
Hank McCoy (appears in Uncanny Origins #6 between pages)

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Norton McCoy and Edna McCoy

VILLAINS
El Conquistador and Chico

Written: 3 January 2005

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