Issue(s): Uncanny X-Men #40
Cover Date: Jan 68
Title: "The mark of the monster!"
Credits:
Roy Thomas - Writer
Don Heck - Penciler
George Tuska - Inker

Review/plot:
The X-Men's first outing in their new costumes is against one of several Frankenstein Monsters in the Marvel Universe.

There is also, for example, the Nazi Frankenstein from the Invaders, "Frank" from Marvel: The Lost Generation, and the "real" monster that comes with Marvel's post-Code revision wave of monster books in the late 70s. This is the first in-continuity Frankenstein Monster by publication date, however, and the intent of this story is that he's the real deal. Professor Xavier has "always believed the book was based on an actual occurrence... and now I'm sure of it". The theory is floated that the monster was the work of a mutant from an earlier period (Mr. Sinister would have fit the bill), but it turns out that the monster is actually an android created as an ambassador by aliens to test humans' ability to accept a visit from strange life forms.

Xavier speculates that Mary Shelley was aware of the existence of the creature and based the novel on him but since the "real" Frankenstein and his monster existed in the Marvel universe, that must not have been the case. This version of the monster bears a remarkable resemblance to the Universal Pictures version...

...so perhaps someone had already seen the android, if not Shelley.

Iceman is the X-Men's ace-in-the-hole against Frankenstein.

Weakness to ice is again more associated with the movie version of the monster than the book (in the book, Frankenstein's monster is last seen at the Arctic Circle, but the cold doesn't stop him).

For your bizarre moment of the day, i give you the scene where Professor X and the X-Men arrive at a museum to investigate the newly discovered monster, and when a guard won't let them through, Xavier has Marvel Girl slam the guard into a wall, knocking him out.

"When he wakes, he'll believe it was an accident." Later, Xavier mind-wipes the entire crew of a boat where the final battle takes place, so i don't know why Xavier felt he had to give this poor guy a concussion.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The back-up for this issue is covered in a separate entry.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men vol. 4

If the usage of Frankenstein's Monster here isn't bizarre enough, it also has eye-beams in one panel.

Later references suggest that the "Professor X" that goes out on the mission here is actually the Changeling and that the real Xavier stayed behind the scenes training Changeling & Marvel Girl in telepathy and preparing for the Z'nox invasion. On page 3 of this issue, Angel says "Jean! But, weren't you with the Prof--working on some kind of hush-hush project?" and the flashbacks from The (Uncanny) X-Men #65 and X-Men: The Hidden Years #8 inform us that the Changeling followed the X-Men home at the end of issue 39 and broke into their home to speak to Xavier shortly after. The covert whispering going on between Marvel Girl and "Professor X" in this issue seem to further support the theory.

There's a great moment (not pictured above), where Xavier explains the story of the book and Iceman is unfamiliar with it. Xavier then chides Bobby because "it was required reading." Clearly, even being telepathic, doesn't mean you can always get your students to do their homework.

I had to laugh at the cover for this one as the depiction of the Monster there resembles Dick Briefer's humorous version of the monster from comics in the 50's where it had a flattened nose.

I keep forgetting to mention this. I haven't noticed anything on the X-Men: First Class mini-series.

@Bobby, refer to the What's Missing thread for stuff like that. fnord is leaving First Class out of the project for now, since it may not be canon. And he is not concentrating on continuity inserts for now because his "priority for the foreseeable future is adding new years to the project instead of filling in these gaps." And also check the Out of Scope page.

Thanks, Andrew.

The Silver Age Code forbade depictions of the walking dead. That might be why the monster here is revealed to be robot.

@Luke Good observation. I think we sometimes forget the strict restrictions Silver age writers were working under.