#Review: X-Men by ChineseSpyware (1965 comics)

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Thread for discussing X-Men, reviewed by ChineseSpyware (1965 comics)!

frozen needle
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i wrote this while on 🍃

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anyways

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my non faded version is below

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The X-Men #13 delivers a strong, action heavy conclusion to the Juggernaut two-parter and earns its place as an essential early Marvel comic, not because it’s flawless, but because of what it proves the series can do.

This entire issue is basically one extended fight, and that focus works. Juggernaut feels genuinely unstoppable in a way no previous X-Men villain has managed. He storms through the school, dismantles the team member by member, and leaves them visibly injured and exhausted, Beast’s broken leg in particular sells the brutality. For the first time, the book fully commits to the idea that the X-Men simply cannot win head on. All they can do is delay, improvise, and survive.

The structure smartly flips issue #12: where that chapter was heavy on origin and setup, this one is pure payoff. Each X-Man contributes something meaningful in the defense, reinforcing the team dynamic, even as they’re clearly outmatched. The solution, removing Cain Marko’s helmet and having Professor X shut him down mentally, works dramatically, though it also highlights Xavier’s increasingly questionable ethics. His casual mind wipe of Human Torch, after Johnny risks his life to help, lands as unsettling rather than heroic, especially viewed through a modern lens.

The crossovers are fun if slightly indulgent. Johnny Storm’s involvement adds scale and excitement, while the blink and you miss it Daredevil cameo reinforces Marvel’s growing shared universe without derailing the story. Visually, the art sells Juggernaut’s mass and momentum well, even if a few panels soften his menace unintentionally.

While the issue lacks the narrative depth of part one, its relentless pacing, real stakes, and iconic villain showcase make it a cornerstone of early X-Men storytelling, and the clearest sign yet that the series is finding its identity.

Final Verdict: 7.4/10
@wild goblet @cerulean haven

cerulean haven
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One of the few silver age issues where I legit had no idea how they’d beat juggernaut and was impressed when it wasn’t some random bullshit

frozen needle
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REAL

frozen needle
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but no it was a good ending

idle umbra
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The run certainly had some interesting moments but for a good chunk at the start, it's awful

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(Just random panels and pages without context I thought were funny)

cerulean haven
frozen needle
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X-Men (1963) #14 - "Among Us Stalk... the Sentinels"

The X-Men #14 is a pivotal issue, not because it overwhelms with action, but because it quietly reshapes what the series is about. After the relentless Juggernaut two parter, this chapter deliberately slows down, devoting its first half almost entirely to character moments: the team off duty, relaxing, joking, and, in Cyclops’s case, brooding in isolation. It’s a welcome tonal shift that grounds the cast before the storm arrives.

That storm comes in the form of Bolivar Trask and the debut of the Sentinels. While the robots themselves are smaller and less imposing than their later incarnations, the idea behind them is instantly chilling. Trask’s rhetoric, fear driven, pseudo scientific, and broadcast directly to the public, plants the seeds for mutant persecution that would define the franchise for decades. This is the moment X-Men stops being just another superhero book and starts becoming an allegory.

The issue smartly balances its thematic weight with spectacle. Once the Sentinels appear, the back half shifts into action, but the danger feels systemic rather than personal. These aren’t villains motivated by ego or revenge; they’re machines built to enforce fear, and that makes them far more unsettling. Trask’s immediate loss of control, on live television, no less, underscores the self destructive nature of paranoia-driven authority.

There are still some very 1960s absurdities (Professor X’s powers stretch into eyebrow raising territory, and Jean Grey remains underused), but the ambition here outweighs the clumsiness. This issue doesn’t just introduce iconic enemies; it introduces a worldview, one that would echo through stories like Days of Future Past and beyond.

Final Verdict: 7.61/10

@cerulean haven @wild goblet