The X-Men #18

Stan Lee // Werner Roth
March 1966
*
Exit Kirby, & w/ him go any wisps of the team’s personality. Magneto’s back, a lame villain w/ vague motivation (“mutant supremacy”), ill-defined powers, & a silly plan involving sci-fi mutant zombie slaves. Once again, Prof X saves the day, not the teens, thru a particularly bald deux ex machina.
[last issue: The X-Men #17]
[next issue: The X-Men #19]

The X-Men #14

Stan Lee // Jack Kirby & Werner Roth
November 1965
****
Maybe inspired by the new monthly status, the mag has its strongest ish. Lee finds a strong plot-engine in Cold War paranoia. There’s social tension—even political commetary—in the contrast btw. our team’s ordinary lives & the mob’s hysteria, fanned by large racist robots (Sentinels) & the media.
[last issue: The X-Men #13]
[next issue: The X-Men #15]