The time between teams (Part 2 of 2)?

So what were the X-men doing after their own title ended in 03/1970? Searching for the Angel! This is their story?X-men #62, X-men #63, Avengers #110, Avengers #111, Hulk #172, Captain America #173, Captain America #174 and Captain America #175.

SPOILER ALERT! If you don?t want to know how this story unfolds then stop reading now, go pick up the issues above and read ?em for yourself pilgrim (you?ll be glad you did)!

10/1969 X-men #62: the Angel?s life is saved by ?the Creator? in the Savage Land and he gives Angel a new costume after his old one was destroyed.

11/1969 X-men #63: ?the Creator? is revealed to be Magneto who is actually using the Angel and the Savage Land mutates for his own evil agenda?until the X-men take him down!

04/1973 Avengers #110: Magneto rendered the Angel (last seen in Amazing Adventures #15) unconscious and disguised himself by donning Angel?s costume so he could take the Avengers by surprise upon entering the X-men?s mansion headquarters.

05/1973 Avengers #111: Magneto revealed that the costume he made for Angel (back in X-men #62) had been gradually absorbing his young mutant energy which Magneto then absorbed into himself before being defeated by the combined might of the Avengers and the X-men?the X-men then returned home to their mansion, however the Angel was nowhere to be found.

02/1974 Hulk #172: with the help of the Hulk, the X-men defeated the Juggernaut and continued their search for the Angel.

05/1974 Captain America #173: the X-men team-up with Captain America to confront the group they believe is responsible for capturing the Angel and for starting a smear campaign against Cap?the Secret Empire (formerly a division of Hydra)!

06/1974 Captain America #174: our heroes discover that the Angel was indeed imprisoned by the Secret Empire, along with several other mutants?they also nabbed the Beast (last seen in Hulk #161), Havok and Polaris (last seen in Hulk #150), and a handful of evil mutants in their attempt to conquer the United States. Sadly, Captain America and the X-men were swiftly defeated by the Secret Empire as well.

07/1974 Captain America #175: as it turns out, the Secret Empire used the brainwaves of the captured mutants to power their ultimate weapon?fortunately Captain America and the X-men managed to escape and finally take down the Secret Empire, setting Angel and the other mutants free!

Hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. The Angel?s next appearance would be in The Champions #1?and at least now I finally understand why he wore that lame outfit in issues #1-#7. It was all Magneto?s fault!

I?ll leave you with a fan?s letter I found in Amazing Adventures #12 from May 1972 (just before the Beast teamed up with the Angel in issue #15)?

?Dear Stan and the Gang,

It was a gray day in January of 1970 when I drove to the newsstand to pick up the last X-MEN book. Everybody in fandom had heard the series was ending, but it was nice of Roy to make a note of the fact in the letters page, to end the group?s lives cleanly and intelligently. The X-MEN?some call them a second-rate FF?but I always loved their air of mystery. The X-MEN?play with the name for awhile in your mind?tremendous.

Sure they?re back as re-prints of their early adventures, but where are the merry mutants of today? Will there ever be further adventures of Scott and Jeannie, of Warren, of Bobby, Alex and Lorna, or of Hank, my favorite? C?mon Marvel, let?s see ?em again!?

The response from the Marvel Bullpen?

?Gee, the world hasn?t gone completely X-men-less since that dismal winter?s day. The Iceman popped up in SPIDEY #92, Havok and Lorna charged through HULK #150, and Angel did a three-parter in KA-ZAR and MARVEL TALES- and now there?s your favorite, the bounding Beast, in a new strip all his own. We hope you- and all other mutantophiles who kept reminding us of our responsibility- will rest easy and just enjoy.

Stainless Steve Englehart, Marvel?s newest boy wonder, is a long time Beast fan himself, and he plans to make sure the new Amazing Adventures lives up to everybody?s expectations.?

I love hearing how the fans felt about what was going on with the X-men back then (second- rate FF? too funny). I enjoyed Steve?s run on Amazing Adventures and hope to add that to my collection someday as well, along with the aforementioned Amazing Spider-man #92.

Til next time?

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