Hello my loves!

I’m sorry it’s been a little bit since my last post. I had a long weekend this past weekend, and we had family visiting from out of town, so it was hard to find time to read, let alone write! But, we’re back in action now! So get ready for some fun and some iconic story lines!

Today we’re going to talk about an arc for each of our two titles. This will take us through The X-Men #14-16 and Avengers #23 & 24. It also lands us in January of 1966! We’ll get out of the ‘60′s if it kills me! My goal is to be into the ‘70′s by Labor Day. Let’s see if I can maintain that pace!

So, X-Men. This 3 issue arc is a biggie, kids. It’s the first appearance of the Sentinels!! If you’re not a big comic fan, but you’ve seen the X-Men movies, please know that while they were, in fact, created by Dr. Bolivar Trask, these are not Bryan Singer’s sentinels! These are huge, lumbering, ridiculous hunks of red and blue steel. And they’re glorious! Take a look for yourselves:

So, this arc starts with Professor X appearing on TV to debate Dr. Bolivar Trask about the danger of mutants. Trask introduces his Sentinels, which he’s designed to protect humanity from the “mutant threat” But, the Sentinels immediately turn on Trask, taking him prisoner and declaring that in order to protect humanity, they must rule it. As the X-Men, who are all on vacations separately, rush to the Prof’s aid, the Sentinels begin to leave with Trask. Our mutant teens and their mysterious leader follow the Sentinels, and the next two issues consist of awesomeness as they attempt to penetrate the Sentinel’s defenses, stop the Master Mold (basically the King Sentinel) from creating any more Sentinels, and save Dr. Trask. Let’s see how this goes down…

Bobby and Hank get taken hostage. Whoops! The other three break into the base to save them, leaving Prof. X outside alone. The other three get taken prisoner just as they rescue Bobby from his cell. (Not going too well so far…) Eventually all 5 are reunited. As they attempt to fight their way through the Sentinels, Professor X figures out that some crystal will basically short circuit them, so he brings the crystal and shuts them all down. At the same time, Trask apparently sees the error of his ways and sacrifices himself to destroy the whole complex and all the sentinels within. The X-Men barely escape the collapsing building in time! It’s all really fun to read, and here are some notable things to mention:

First off, after all my talk about the way the writers treat the females on their superhero teams, Jean is really starting to show a bit of a backbone and also her true potential as far as her powers go. This arc introduces her ability to levitate herself, allowing her to float through the air. It also has her falling a Sentinel on her own (something no other X-Man accomplishes), saving herself, Angel, and Cyke from the burning fortress, and then saving them all again by unlocking a hidden door telekinetically. It’s awesome! She also puts both Hank and Scott in their places when they try to treat her like a damsel in distress instead of an equal member of the team. I love it! This is the Jean I love. As I’m sure you’ll see as we go along, I have a love/hate relationship with Jean Grey. Basically, I love her to the ends of the earth, but sometimes I want to slap her for being a doormat. It’s frustrating, but also makes reading this old stuff so much more enjoyable, because I get to see her grow up and progress as a character.

Also notable: Though his creations with be around to hunt the X-Men for decades to come in one form or another, it’s interesting that Bolivar Trask himself only lasts these three issues before dying. It’s also interesting to me that a man that published multiple articles decrying the “Mutant Menace” and who’s fanaticism led him to create the Sentinels in the first place, would suddenly change his mind and want to save mutants just because Hank McCoy explained that the X-Men’s purpose was to protect humanity from evil mutants. It’s a bit far-fetched. But, we’ll later learn that, although he created the Sentinels, Bolivar Trask is FAR from the most fanatical mutant-hater in the X-Men’s world!

Also…Cyke RIDES Angel into battle, guys. No joke. It’s amazingly hilarious. In fact, I’m going to leave you with that image as we make our way over to Avengers…

In Avengers 23 & 24, we meet another iconic villain! Kang the Conqueror!! Avenger’s fans met him before in issue #8, but this is the first time we’re meeting him in our reading. Guys, Kang’s a fairly big deal in the Avengers/Fantastic Four side of Marvel, and this is a really interesting arc.

In order to prove his invincibility and win over the Princess he loves, Kang kidnaps the Avengers (minus Cap. Remember, he left at the end of the last issue!) He takes them to the future where he resides, and proceeds follow their progress through his base, which seems to be a gigantic maze/obstacle course designed to defeat the heroes. Suddenly, Cap shows up. He apparently used something called a Recreater (?!?) to find out who took the Avengers, and then all but dares Kang to bring Cap into the future too. Kang takes the challenge, and Cap shows up to re-inspire our team. They manage to surround Kang, who then tells his armies to attack the city. The Avengers rally with the local people to try and stop the invasion. But, instead, Kang’s generals turn on him and Kang agrees to free the city and return the Avengers to their own time safely if they’ll help him save the princess from his generals. They manage it, and Kang, surprisingly, keeps his word. But, at the last minute, just as the Princess is about to confess she loves Kang just as he loves her, one of the captured generals attempts to murder Kang and hits her instead, killing her. I don’t know about you guys, but I wouldn’t want to be ANYWHERE near Kang right now!

This arc gives us the re-emergence of Captain America as the leader of the Avengers (as if we had any doubts he’d be back almost right away!) It also shows us that, while Jean may be getting stronger and demanding more respect from her male counterparts, Wanda is still being written as a pretty face for Hawkeye to flirt with. Occasionally she gets to be equal to the guys. I mean, she is the one who rescues them from the glass tubes Kang is holding them in. But the effort weakens her to the extent that Hawkeye must carry her around for a bit. In fact, Hawkeye is so obnoxious in his flirting, that in this little, 2 issue arc alone, he calls Wanda all of the following instead of Wanda or Scarlet Witch: Gorgeous, Dreamboat, Baby, Doll, and Lady. I mean seriously. I get that this version of Hawk likes to call people nicknames, but at least his nicknames for the other male Avengers have something to do with either their costumes or their powers (Wings for Cap and Speedy for Pietro). But Wanda is just another chick for him to hit on. One of these days, I’d love to see her hex him really good! It’d serve him right! On the other hand though, Pietro and Steve seem to be treating her more and more like an equal with each passing issue. So, that’s something, I guess!

I also want to bring up the race issue again in regards to this Avengers arc. While Kang himself is white, it’s important to note that all of his generals are drawn as Asian. Most have Fu Manchu beards, and darker complexions. They seem to fall into the same stereotype as the Mandarin did. It’s important to note this because they end up being the real villains of the story. They’re the ruthless killers who would sacrifice Kang’s beloved Princess and her kingdom (who all seem to be, notably, white) causing Kang to team up with our Avengers. So, we have our all-white Avengers team fighting with the all-white nation and the white conqueror against the uncouth, dis-loyal, Asian generals. This kind of casual racism is going to be around in our reading for a bit. It changes, if not exactly improves, as the decades go on. Don’t be surprised when I point it out. It’s hard to read as a modern reader. Especially in this context, there the villains were never said to specifically be Asian. This appears to just be the artist’s choice. That, to me, says a lot about the 1960′s and the racial biases within the US at that time. And, as time moves on, we’ll see those biases shift and change. Historically, it makes sense that, if the villains weren’t going to be white like everyone else, they would appear Asian. In 1966, the US was in the middle of the Vietnam War. It makes sense that the villains in comics at that time would look like the “enemy” the US was fighting. It doesn’t make it any less racist, just fitting within a historical context. It’ll be interesting to see how this shifts as the Vietnam War ends and as the Cold War reaches a fever-pitch.

On that note, it’s time for me to wrap this up. I hope you guys are enjoying this ride as much as I am! And until next time, my loves…keep searching!

Original Tumblr Post: here