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Quote1 There's no such thing as a "trifling incidental"...when one is a member of a team such as ours! Rules are made to be obeyed...for, any deviation from them may spell disaster, as I've warned you countless times! Quote2
Professor X

Appearing in "Now Strikes...the Sub-Human!"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

  • Unnamed New Yorkers
  • Unnamed subway workers
  • Dr. Hunt (First appearance) (Archer College seismologist)
  • Mr. Chalmers (First appearance)
  • Unnamed Archer College trustees and scientists
  • Frankenstein's Monster (Mentioned)
  • NYPD (Mentioned)

Races and Species:

Locations:

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Synopsis for "Now Strikes...the Sub-Human!"

A sub-human creature has attacked a New York City subway train, which coincidentally happens to have Bobby Drake and Hank McCoy on board on yet another date with Zelda and Vera. Sneaking away from their dates and changing into their Iceman and Beast guises, the two X-Men attack the creature, who takes up the name "Grotesk" based on Beast's assessment of the creatures appearance. After a brief battle, Grotesk gets tired of the fight and seals the tunnel which he emerged from, warning the two mutants to beware of him in the future. When Beast and Iceman attempt to follow after the creature, they find that the passageway is sealed tight. Returning to their civilian guises and their dates, Bobby and Hank cut things short so that they can report what they encountered to the Professor.

Meanwhile, Grotesk returns to the caverns below New York City and thinks back to the events that led to his hatred of the human race. He recounts how he was a member of a subterranean race of people ruled by King Krono, whose daughter, Princess Ingar, was the love of Grotesk, who back then was simply Prince Gor-Tok. Their warrior race would rule below for a time until humanities atomic tests would cause volcanic eruptions underground that would wipe out everyone except for Gor-Tok, who mutated into the creature he is today by the lingering radiation. Blaming the surface dwellers for his plight, Gor-Tok decided to get revenge against the surface dwellers by destroying them.

Back at the X-Mansion, the Professor is running Cyclops, Angel and Marvel Girl into a series of tests and is pushes the team hard when they mess up their tests. When Bobby and Hank arrive to tell what's happened but are scolded and deducted two demerits and disallowed to go into the city for a week. Before they can say anything more, the Professor leaves for his study, asking Jean to join him. In private, the Professor and Jean discuss the fact that the X-Men must learn to fight as a tighter unit as much as possible if the Professor's current plans are to work out. Jean asks the Professor to confide in the others, a request the Professor refuses.

As the Professor reads Hank and Bobby's thoughts and learns about Grotesk, he tells his students to go and face this new threat to the Earth. Meanwhile, a series of tremors begin to threaten to destroy the Earth, gaining the attention of leading scientists including Professor Hunt, who learns the truth and tries to warn his colleagues of the danger. The tremors are also felt by Grotesk, who is unaware that one of his own dead civilizations own devices is the source of this disturbance. Blaming it on the surface dwellers, Grotesk begins to ascend to the surface world and face the threat, unaware that the Cyclops and Beast are right now traveling into his tunnels to face him as well. Blasting their way through Grotesk's tunnel, the X-Men find his city deserted. When Angel and Iceman demand to know why they and Marvel Girl were not allowed to accompany Cyclops and Beast, Marvel Girl refuses to provide them answers.

While on the surface, Grotesk has wandered to Professor Hunt's lab where he finds one of his assistants and captures him. Taking the man down to his lair, Grotesk demands that the human show him where the surface dwellers "weapons" are; however his interrogation is interrupted by the arrival of the X-Men.

This story is continued next issue...

Appearing in "The Living Diamond"

Featured Characters:

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Other Characters:

  • Unnamed power plant guards

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Synopsis for "The Living Diamond"

Continued from last issue...

Professor X squares off against Jack O'Diamonds as the young Scott Summers watches on. When the Professor's mental powers prove to be superior to that of Jack's, Jack uses his diamond hands to smash a steel girder and send it flying toward Xavier, who ducks out of its path. This causes the roof to collapse, separating them. Jack O'Diamonds still needs Scott to help him and he uses a Cyclotron to bombard himself with more radiation.

When the two rush to the Cyclotron building, they are confronted by a security guard whom Jack orders Scott to disarm with his optic blast. Leaving Scott to stand guard, Jack enters the Cyclotron building to use its devices on his own. Inside, he finds a device that bombards him with radiation. While outside, the Professor arrives outside the building just as Scott uses his optic blasts to destroy a jeep full of security guards that are approaching the building. In order to prevent the guards from being harmed, the Professor uses his mental powers to knock them out. Realizing that the Professor survived, Scott stops to let the Professor talk to him. Inside however, Jack O'Diamonds has bombarded his entire body with a full dose of radiation, turning his entire body in diamond. Breaking through the walls to get outside, Jack Winters, AKA Jack O'Diamonds rechristens himself once again: Now calling himself the Living Diamond.

This story is continued next issue...

Notes

  • In this issue Henry McCoy's middle initial is given as P..
  • This issue contains a letters page, Mutant Mail Bag. Letters are published from Frannk Hembeck, Rick Elrod, Bobby Wilson, Saul David, Guy H,. Lillian, Loren McGregor, and Douglas Dams.

See Also

Recommended Reading

  • The first story is the start of a two-part story that concludes next issue.

Links and References

References

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