The X-Men infiltrate the base of the Sentinels, who yearn to hear more of this thing you call... flashbacks.
Writer: Smilin' Stan Lee
Designer: Jolly Jack Kirby
Penciler: Jovial Jay Gavin
Inker: Darlin' Dick Ayers
Letterer: Adorable Artie Simek
Originally Published November 1965
Upon discovering the secret HQ of the Sentinels, the X-Men fight off its defenses and Iceman and Beast infiltrate it - and are promptly captured and placed in a clear plastic box. Angel narrowly escapes, sadly preventing him from three-peating his captive status.
Inside, Dr. Bolivar Trask, creator and would-be master of the Sentinels rails impotently against their grandiose schemes for world domination while Master Mold - the giant Sentinel that gets to sit in its very own chair - reminds him that he is just there to make more Sentinels, if you please.
While Cyclops, Angel and Marvel Girl work on getting into the Sentinel's cool underground base, Master Mold has Trask affix Beast's with the dreaded PSYCHO-PROBE. Doused with truth-serum of sorts, Beast reveals he is one of the X-Men, sworn to protect mankind, causing Trask to suddenly consider that all mutants might not be evil.
Using his vaguely-effective-on-robots telepathy, Professor X is able to nullify the robots operating the perimeter defenses, allowing the other three X-Men to enter the fray. They topple a few Sentinels and free Iceman.
Master Mold continues to induce flashbacks in Beast. He recalls how he discovered he was a mutant, how he was an outcast but also popular, and how his powers helped him at sports -- hey this is all sounding awful familiar -- until the day Professor X comes to recruit him for the team. Master Mold is - no kidding - absolutely rapt to listen to this.
The Prof uses his mental projection to infiltrate the base and block Beast's mind before he can reveal the location of the X-Men's base, narrowly escaping Master Mold's anti-telepathic electro-fingers.
The issue ends with the X-Men cornered by the Sentinels once more... to be continued!
Further Thoughts:
In addition to being a good part of the X-Men metaphor, the Sentinels are meant to be impressive villains. They are inhuman, coldly logical, and have a counter to any offense the X-Men might throw at them. In theory anyway. In practice, they're a bit silly, the way they talk to each other, use gigantic-scale machinery, and occasionally topple like clumsy bowling pins.
Still, credit where credit is due, they represent a classic Artificial Intelligence-Gone-Awry story, before Star Trek, and before Doctor Who was popular in the United States. (Not that there was any shortage of Bad Robot stories in films and print in Sci-Fi mags or other comics.)
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