Posted December 4-11, 2011 | Updated March 19, 2013 | April 2, 2013 | August 22, 2015

X-Men 14, 15, & 16

From issue 14 to 16 it is the first encounter between the X-Men and the Sentinels!

Issue 14 starts with the X-Men in various states of recovery from their harrowing encounter with the Juggernaut.

Meanwhile, the anti-mutant sentiment seen on the streets the previous issues have taken on a more organized cast. Witness, Dr. Bolivar Trask, inventor of the Sentinels

Here we see the first Sentinels.

These Mark I Sentinels are much smaller than later versions. In a surprising move, Dr. Trask is struck down by his own creations.

A Sentinel is taken down - Iceman style.

So Cyclops is riding a taxi and he drops his glasses and the optic blast blows a hole through the taxis roof. So this happens.

The dialogue's all wrong wouldn't you say? More likely the driver would shout : "Hey stop! Who's going to pay for my roof?!"

I've been aching to see what those optic blasts could do to a Sentinel. Unfortunately, Cyclops' first attempt is a miss.

Here's Angel being attacked by multiple flying Sentinels.

By issue 15, we meet the controller of the Sentinels - the Master Mold.

In the midst of this Sentinel story we get to read about how the Professor found the Beast. Its nice to know that Hank McCoy had supportive parents.

Ah, at last! I've been waiting for this.

By issue 16 the X-Men are prisoners of the Sentinels.

Our heroes escape, of course, resulting in a pitched battle. Just look at this great panel (I've noticed, that with Kirby drawing the X-Men the panel on the right page of the comic, top portion, is almost always exceptional).

In the end, Bolivar Trask proves himself a hero and sacrifices his life to end the mad rampage of these Mark I Sentinels.