This feature spotlights moments, exchanges, etc. from older comics that take on a brand new light when read in concert with later comic books. Here is the archive of previous installments.

Today, based on a suggestion by reader Valentijn G., we take a look at a comment by the Beast in 1969 that seems doubly (or perhaps even TRIPLY) amusing now...

X-Men #64 (by Roy Thomas, Don Heck and Tom Palmer) sees the X-Men travel to Manhattan to seek out a new mutant that turns out to be Sunfire, who is attacking a demonstration. The X-Men try to step in to stop him, but Beast makes an interesting comment...



First off, it is amusing that there was a time when the idea of there only being nine X-Men would be hard to believe.

Secondly, of course, the X-Men actually HAVING a mutant baseball team became a recurring theme in X-Men comics less than a decade later (as seen in this Drawing Crazy Patterns). The Beast even joined in, eventually!



Also, this one is a bit of a stretch, but sort of thirdly, Sunfire mocks Beast's comment while he, of course, DOES end up joining the X-Men six years later (for just a single issue, but still!).

Thanks for the suggestion, Valentijn! If anyone else has a suggestion for this column, drop me a line at bcronin@comicbookresources.com!