Your Guide to the X-Men: Part 2

By the 1970s "X-Men" was just a reprint title, after it spent years being one of, if not the worst-selling titles at Marvel, lagging far behind top-selling "The Avengers", which launched the same month as "X-Men", back in 1963.

In the 70s, team books were getting a second chance, and a new thing, "Giant-Size" issues, were suddenly hot. Some Giant-Size issues were just reprints, some had original stories, and some had a mix of the two. And so, the X-Men were born again, in Giant-Size X-Men #1, this time with a new team made up of characters from around the world, in contrast to the original team of teens who were all white Americans.

The story behind the new team, written by Marvel veteran Len Wein with art by Dave Cockrum, was pretty simple. The X-Men, who at the time were Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, Havok, and Polaris, were sent to investigate the appearance of a new mutant of massive power by the island of Krakoa. Learning that the powerful mutant was actually Krakoa itself, a sentient island, the entire team was captured, with only Cyclops getting away. Returning to the X-Mansion, Cyclops powers were initially inactive, then they returned, stronger than before. Xavier made adjustments to Cyclops' visor to help contain his increased power, and while Cyclops trained, Xavier travelled around the world to enlist a new team, based on his records of mutants he had already detected. He brought them back to the X-Mansion in New York, where they trained briefly with Cyclops before going on the mission. The new team included:

Sunfire and Banshee

Two mutants who had fought the team before. Sunfire had the ability the fly and fire blasts of atomic fire. An uneasy ally of the X-Men, he agreed to join for one mission. Banshee, master of the sonic scream, was technically an outlaw who was trying to keep a low profile. He was grateful to the X-Men for freeing him from Factor Three, and he gratefully joined the team.

Wolverine

Wolverine was the only other member other than Sunfire and Banshee to appear previously, with a cameo in "Incredible Hulk" 180, a full appearance in 181, and another cameo in 182. An operative of the Canadian government, little was known about Wolverine other than he had enhanced agility, great fighting skills, enhanced strength, and razor-sharp claws that extended from the backs of his hands. In his first appearance he was sent to fight the Hulk, who was on a rampage in the Canadian wilderness. He also encountered the monstrous Wendigo, and the three fought to an effective standstill.

Professor X went to Canada to meet with Wolverine, who agreed to help, though he didn't have official clearance to leave, a fact that became a problem for him later.

Initially, Wolverine was intended to be a younger man of about 19, and his claws were meant to be features of his gloves, telescoping out from them as needed. That's why there are the three metal features on the back of each glove. They're not meant to be ports the claws come out from, they were the claws. In early issues of the new team, you can sometimes see the points of the claws just inside those spots. Later, it was revealed that the claws are actually part of Wolverine, and that his name is Logan. It was also noted that he was a "fast healer" who had an unbreakable skeleton laced with adamantium, the same material the claws were made from. Since being portrayed in the films by Hugh Jackman, Wolverine has often been misrepresented in comics as being of average height or tall. In reality, he's the shortest member of the team, standing only 5'3" tall. His codename is actually a reference to this, since a wolverine is a small, ferocious animal similar to a badger, native to Canada and northern parts of the United States.

Like Sunfire, Wolverine has a fiery temper. However, unlike Sunfire, Wolverine stays with the team, where he constantly defies the authority of both Cyclops and Professor Xavier, much to the chagrin of both leaders and, often, other members of the team.

Storm (Ororo Munroe)

Born in New York City but raised in Kenya, Ororo was a child of the streets working as a thief when Professor Xavier first encountered her. Years later, she was being worshipped as a local goddess, using her mutant power of weather control to bring much-needed rain to the local community. Professor X came to her and asked her to use her power to help the world at large, and she agreed. With her powers, Storm can generate and ride strong winds, cast lightning bolts, create localized fog, increase or decrease temperature and humidity, create hurricanes or tornadoes, and also create rain or snow storms of effectively any size.

Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner)

Raised by gypsy Margali Szardos and her family, German mutant Kurt Wagner was the rare type of mutant, like Beast, who was born with his abilities rather than developing them over time. Unfortunately, Kurt's mutations included three fingered hands, unusual feet, a prehensile tail, and dark blue skin covered in a fine fur, as well as luminescent yellow eyes and fangs, all contributing to a demonic appearance. Having no knowledge of his birth family, Kurt was loved nevertheless, and raised to be an acrobat in the circus, where people were led to believe he wore a costume. Tragedy struck when Kurt accidentally killed his adopted brother, Margali's son, and he was chased by the local villagers who wanted to drive a stake through his heart, until they were stopped by the telepathic commands of Professor X, who asked Kurt to join his new team of X-Men. Having nowhere else to go, and feeling Xavier saved his life, Wagner agreed, taking the code name of Nightcrawler.

Nightcrawler's key mutant ability is teleportation. While he's not limited to teleporting to places he can see, he prefers being able to see where he teleports for the sake of safety. He can also teleport to places he's very familiar with, with a range of about three miles. Nightcrawler is very agile, and is a skilled swordsman, able to fight with a sword in each hand and another held by his tail. He's able to scale walls, and he becomes invisible in shadow, an ability at first assumed to be merely due to his coloring, but later determined to be a side effect of his teleportation power.

A further side effect of his power is a signature "Bamf" noise, caused by the release of sulphuric gasses that escape when Nightcrawler teleports. These gasses form the atmosphere of the dimension he passes through when he teleports.

Colossus (Piotr "Peter" Rasputin)

Peter Rasputin was working on the collective farm with his family in their home in Ukraine (then a part of the Soviet Union) when a tractor ran out of control, bearing down on Peter's little sister, Illyana. Panicking, Peter ran to protect Illyana, and in so doing, triggered his mutant power, transforming into a super-strong being of solid steel. He pushed the tractor aside, unintentionally damaging it, but saving his sister. Suddenly Professor X appeared, asking Peter to join his team. Peter agreed, taking the code name of Colossus.

It's a common misconception, seen in the films but also some later comics, that Colossus merely has steel skin. He in fact changes his entire body to organic steel. In that form he can lift roughly 80 tons (closer to 100 tons as he grew stronger), is nearly impervious to harm, has great endurance, and has no need to breathe.

One of the younger members of the team (at about 17 years old), Colossus is a gifted artist and gentle soul.

Thunderbird (John Proudstar)

Full-blooded Apache John Proudstar grew up proud and poor on the reservation, eventually joining the Marine Corps and seeing combat in Viet Nam. Continually frustrated by a need to prove himself, Thunderbird was chasing down a buffalo and wrestling it to the ground when he was approached by Professor X with the offer to join the X-Men. Taking the name Thunderbird, Proudstar agreed, thinking it sounded like an opportunity to do something that mattered.

Thunderbird's abilities included enhanced senses that made him a gifted tracker, as well as enhanced durability that made his skin like hardened leather, enhanced strength enabling him to lift roughly a ton, and enhanced speed. Like Wolverine, Thunderbird didn't like being told what to do, though each of them were military veterans. Thunderbird was particularly brash, taking chances and defying Cyclops' orders at every turn.

Mission X-Men

After Professor X used his powers to teach all the new X-Men English, and he gave uniforms to those who needed them, Cyclops took the new team to Krakoa, where they worked their way to the middle of the island, where they found the original team, unconscious and being drained of their mutant energy. It was then that Cyclops realized that he hadn't escaped, Krakoa had let him go so he would return with more mutants. Working together, the new X-Men freed the old and the united teams fought the living island, eventually using their powers together to send the island into space, where it could harm no one else, though it did return again, years later.

Upon leaving, Angel asked the obvious question: "What are we going to do with 13 X-Men?"

Departure of the original team and first mission

This question was answered in X-Men 94, the first issue of the series to feature a new story in several years. Marvel actually considered having two teams of X-Men, with the classic team handling missions in the United States as they normally did, while the new team, which would be featured in Giant-Size X-Men, would handle global missions, reflective of their diverse backgrounds. It was also considered, to have all of the new recruits take a qualifying exam to join the team, since the X-Men were still a team based in a school, and to have them all fail, illustrating how the old X-Men were a highly-trained and effective team. Instead, choices were made that would change the book, and Marvel, forever. Written by Chris Claremont, with art by Dave Cockrum, co-creator of the new X-Men, the title would reflect some of the most bold, innovative stories Marvel would see for years to come.

Beast, who didn't appear in Giant-Size X-Men 1, had already "graduated" from the team and was appearing in solo adventures in "Amazing Adventures", now in a blue furry form due to further mutation. He also appeared in an issue of "Incredible Hulk" where he fought the Hulk (Beast's powers in his new form were uncertain. It was known he was stronger, but how strong?) and encountered former X-Man the Mimic, who, unable to control his power-absorption ability, mimicked the Hulk and became poisoned by the Hulk's gamma radiation, apparently dying. Shortly thereafter, Beast went on to join the Avengers.

New recruit Sunfire left immediately after the Krakoa mission was complete, reminding Xavier and the team that he only agreed to help them once. He flew back to Japan, despite being warned that he had great potential that would be undeveloped without the training Xavier could provide.

That left the other new X-Men and the old, who were briefly all living and training at the mansion together. Finally, the old team decided, together, that they were moving on. They were no longer teens, and they wanted to pursue real lives. With new recruits on hand, there wasn't a need for them to be the sole defenders of mutantkind, or the protectors of humankind from evil mutants.

Havok and Polaris, now a couple, ended up going to New Mexico, where they continued their education. They crossed paths with the Hulk shortly thereafter, who saw Polaris' green hair and thought she might be his recently lost love Jarella. Havok rescued her, defeating the Hulk single-handedly.

Marvel Girl left to start a new life in the city, though she and her love interest, Cyclops, were technically still a couple.

Iceman went to a normal college, where he was majoring in Accounting. In a short time, both he and Angel would relocate to Los Angeles, where they would join Black Widow, Hercules, and Ghost Rider to form a new group, the Champions.

While wanting to go with Jean, and finally have a life of his own, Cyclops decided to stay on because the X-Men needed a leader, and unlike the old team, who were all teenagers when they joined, unsure of how to use their powers, the new team were mostly adults, some of them quite experienced, needing to learn how to work as a team. This would prove to be Cyclops' greatest challenge, since several members were very defiant.

The new team trained for weeks, individually and together, with Thunderbird proving to be even more difficult to train than Wolverine. At one point Thunderbird was injured during training, further adding to his need to prove himself. At the same time, Banshee, a generation older than most of the others, was proving to be a good second-in-command to Cyclops.

Finally a call came in from Beast, who was then an Avenger. Count Nefaria, who had fought the X-Men before, had assembled a new group of villains (some of whom had fought heroes such as Dardevil) known as the Ani-Men and taken over the military facility known as Valhalla Base. Since the Avengers were busy, Beast asked if the X-Men could handle the situation. It was the first Beast learned that the old X-Men had all quit the team.

The X-Men flew to Valhalla Base, fought their way in, and defeated the Ani-Men, but Nefaria escaped in a plane. Before the plane could take off, Thunderbird chased after it and jumped aboard, clinging to the outside. He smashed whatever he could, trying to either disable the plane or gain access to Nefaria.

Banshee flew after them, pleading with Thunderbird to get off the plane. At the same time, Professor X was in mental contact with Thunderbird, Banshee, and the rest of the team, monitoring the mission as he did most X-Men missions. Thunderbird refused to comply, and Nefaria's plane exploded, crashing in a ball of flame. Nefaria was thought to be killed but he actually survived, later facing the Avengers in a new, extremely powerful form, but Thunderbird died. Xavier maintained mental contact with him as he burned, never wanting to leave his students to face anything alone. Banshee also stayed with the wreck, hoping Thunderbird would somehow step out alive, but he never did. Thunderbird was the first team member to die in action, and his death resonated with the team for years to come. At the time, deaths in comics were very rare, and the story was a stark reminder that super heroes could be hurt, and there was real danger in what they did.

Return of the Sentinels and Jean Grey

Jean Grey wasn't gone for long. She rented an apartment in New York City along with a roommate, Misty Knight (private investigation partner of martial artist Coleen Wing, frequently appearing in "Iron Fist" and later "Power Man and Iron Fist") and rekindled her romance with Cyclops and the two of them, along with the rest of the team, were celebrating Christmas in the city when they were attacked by the mutant-hunting Sentinels. The team was captured and held on an orbiting space station, where they fought a new group of Sentinels disguised as the old X-Men, programmed to kill the new X-Men before returning to Earth to destroy all mutants.

The new team defeated the X-Sentinels and escaped in a damaged space shuttle. Using her mental powers, Jean learned how to fly the shuttle and piloted the craft while the rest of the team took shelter elsewhere on the shuttle. Jean held the craft together with her telekinetic powers, straining them to their limit and beyond, ultimately bringing it to a crash landing in Jamaica Bay, near Long Island, New York. As the rest of the X-Men swam to the surface, Jean flew out of the water in a new, more powerful form, declaring that Jean Grey was gone, she was now Phoenix.

Thus began the Phoenix Saga, one of the most legendary storylines in the history of comics. In a nutshell, the saga shows Phoenix's increase in power, her corruption by the love of power, and her ultimate suicide to protect not only those she loved but the universe itself. Years later, it was revealed that Jean was never truly Phoenix. The Phoenix Force was actually a primal force in the universe that was impressed by Jean's selfless act of heroism. Appearing before her on the shuttle, the Phoenix Force enveloped Jean in a cocoon and submerged it in the ocean until she could recover from the injuries she sustained during the shuttle flight. In the meantime, the Phoenix Force created a form for itself that was a duplicate of Jean's body, complete with her mind and memories, and it joined the X-Men. Thus when Phoenix died, it was never Jean. Later still, when Jean returned, it was implied that Jean actually does have the potential to achieve Phoenix-level power, and her link to the Phoenix Force may continue, making any death she experiences only temporary.

The return of Magneto and introduction of the Shi'Ar

Returning to action, the team went to Muir Isle, a mutant research facility near Scotland, operated by Xavier's associate (and former lover) Dr. Moira MacTaggert. There they encountered Moira's new assistant, the mutant known as Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man and learned that Muir Island was being used to house multiple dangerous mutants, including foes such as the Blob and Unus the Untouchable, who were last reported reduced to an infant state along with Magneto by Alpha the Ultimate Mutant. Blog and Unus report that they and Magneto had been restored to adulthood by a mysterious being known as Erik the Red, and that afterward they chose not to rejoin Magneto.

Magneto appears and engages the X-Men in combat handling them fairly easily, given that Wolverine's claws and Colossus' body are made of metal, and vulnerable to his control of magnetism. Cyclops arrives on the scene, stunning Magneto with a full-powered optic blast and ordering the team to retreat.

Meanwhile, Professor X experiences a series of mental attacks that he believes are coming from outside the galaxy. During one of these attacks, his own powers are released upon the team in the form of psychic version of the original X-Men. While the team fights these false versions of the old team, Phoenix, visiting her parents for the first time since her transformation, fights Firelord, former herald of Galactus, in a true display of her new level of power.

Phoenix and the X-Men reunite, and together they pursue Erik the Red through a stargate, arriving on a barren planet in the middle of the galactic empire of the Shi'Ar, and alien race whose princess, Lilandra, has been captured by Erik, who is in fact an operative of the empire's crazed emperor, D'Ken. D'Ken seeks the legendary M'Kraan Crystal, an object of great power, and he's using members of the super-powered Shi'Ar Imperial Guard to get it.

The X-Men fight the Imperial Guard, saving Lilandra but they are outnumbered and about to be defeated when they are joined in battle by a group of space pirates known as the Starjammers, led by an Earthman known as Corsair. Over time it's revealed that Corsair is in fact Cyclops' father, Christopher Summers, who was in fact captured by the Shi'Ar and enslaved on the day of the fateful plane crash, years before.

The X-Men and Starjammers save the crystal from D'Ken and the Guard, with considerable effort from Phoenix, and D'Ken dies during the battle, making Lilandra the new Empress of the Shi'Ar, and the Guard loyal to her. The X-Men return to Earth through the same stargate they used to go to the alien world, and Lilandra joins them. The stargate shorts out as they go through, stranding Lilandra on Earth, and she reveals that while she has an empire to run, she would prefer to spend time with Xavier, and the two of them begin a romantic relationship. During this story, artist Dave Cockrum leaves the book, replaced by John Byrne, who begins co-plotting the series with writer Chris Claremont. At this stage, the Phoenix Saga begins in earnest.

A new Canadian super-hero

One of the first things Byrne, a Canadian, did, was to introduce Vindicator (aka Weapon Alpha), Canada's premier super-hero. Clad in a powerful battle-suit, scientist James MacDonald Hudson has super-strength, and the abilities to fly, create energy fields, and release energy blasts. Serving the Canadian government, Vindicator attacks the X-Men, intending to bring Wolverine back to Canada with him. This is a direct result of the plot point from Giant-Size X-Men 1, in which Wolverine, who was himself established as an agent of the Canadian government in his first appearance in Incredible Hulk 181, decides to join Professor Xavier and the X-Men, despite not being given leave from the government. Stating the government has a lot of time and money invested in Wolverine, Vindicator refuses to leave without him.

He fights the X-Men, and Moira, who was visiting the team, is unintntionally injured by Vindicator. Furious. Banshee cuts loose in a way never witnessed before, liquifying the ground Vindicator is standing on. Vindicator retreats to Canada, knowing he can't fight the X-Men by himself.

Second encounter with Magneto

Beast decides to visit the X-Men, since he hasn't met any of the new team, but they're missing. He tracks them to Dallas, Texas, and is shocked to find they're exhibits in a carnival sideshow. Beast learns that they've fallen prey to the hypnotic power of the mutant Mesmero, a foe of the original team. Beast is defeated by Mesmero, which is witnessed by Wolverine, who manages to shake off Mesmero's control and free the rest of the team.

In Mesmero's trailer, the team is shocked to encounter Magneto. Fearing the team is no match for him, Cyclops orders the team to flee, but it's too late. He captures the team and takes them to his new base, hidden inside a volcano in Antarctica. The team eventually escapes and fights Magneto, holding their own against him and stopping his latest act of terror against humanity, but they're separated in the battle as the base is destroyed.

Phoenix and Beast make their way out, but they're stranded in the cold of the Antarctic. The rest of the team use their powers to tunnel under the base, eventually tunneling all the way to the Savage Land. There, the team encounter the X-Men's old enemy, Sauron, but otherwise are able to have some much-needed downtime among the primitive tribes there. Colossus even has a romance with one of them, fathering a child.

Beast and Phoenix find a military base in the Antarctic and are flown back to New York, where they tell Xavier the rest of the team is dead. In the Savage Land, the other X-Men adjust to the thought that Beast and Phoenix are dead. Storm comments that it doesn't seem to bother Cyclops, and he admits to her death not shaking him up much, while Wolverine is secretly grieving Phoenix, having developed feelings for her.

The X-Men have an adventure with Ka-Zar, lord of the Savage Land, then decide it's time to make their way back to the world. Ka-Zar helps them get a boat, and they make a voyage to Japan, where they meet up with sometime ally Sunfire, to offer aid in helping the country recover from a series of devastating, seemingly unnatural earthquakes. At this point the team learns that Wolverine can speak and read Japanese, something he had never mentioned. It was only recently, on a trip to Banshee's home in Ireland, that they learned his name was Logan.

From Japan, Cyclops suggests they contact Xavier to let him know they're alive. But Xavier, thinking they were dead, has gone into space with Empress Lilandra of the Shi'Ar, trying to help her in her duties as he mourns his students.

While on Sunfire's family estate, Wolverine meets a young woman, Mariko Yashida, and they become close. Cyclops also meets Coleen Wing, the private investigation partner of Misty Knight, Jean's roommate. Coleen becomes attracted to Cyclops, and, with both Wolverine and Cyclops thinking Jean is dead, they each move on to relationships with these new women in their lives.

The X-Men and Sunfire are attacked by a group of Mandroids, led by super-powered terrorist Moses Magnum, who has been creating the earthquakes devastating Japan. The X-Men fight Magnum, who threatens to sink Japan unless control of it is ceded to him. While the team manages to defeat Magnum's forces and weapons, he escapes, and Banshee pursues him as he tries to follow through on his plan to sink the island. Banshee pits his sonic abilities against Magnum's energy abilities, saving Japan, but injuring himself gravely. After being hospitalized in a coma for over a week, Banshee awakens, unable to use his powers.

Back in the U.S., Jean decides to go on vacation in Greece in order to sort out what has happened in her life, from her near-death and rebirth as Phoenix, to the loss of Cyclops and the X-Men. Before she goes to Greece, she decides to go to Muir Isle to spend Christmas with former teammates Havok and Polaris, who have gone to the island to help Moira MacTaggert and Jamie Madrox with her research.

Alpha Flight and Arcade

Flying back from Japan on the way back to the X-Mansion in New York, Cyclops and the X-Men are grounded over Canada due to a blizzard. They soon learn the blizzard was caused by Shaman, a member of Alpha Flight. Led by Vindicator, whom they fought earlier in New York (when he referred to as Weapon Alpha), the team is Canada's version of the Avengers, and when he was working as an Canadian agent himself, Wolverine was expected to lead the team. Vindicator demands to speak to Wolverine, and there are some minor exchanges between the teams, but not a full-on battle. Eventually, Wolverine proposes that he'll turn himself in if the X-Men are allowed to leave, and Vindicator agrees. The X-Men board their chartered plane to return and decide to go back for Wolverine, but he's already on the plane.

In a flashback, it's revealed that Hudson (Vindicator) and his wife Heather found Wolverine delirious and staggering through the wilderness years ago, and they nursed him back to health, which began his work with the government.

Alpha Flight became a popular team, launching a series of their own by co-creator John Byrne. The original, classic lineup includes:

Vindicator (James MacDonald Hudson

Their leader. He wears a suit of his own design that controls electromagnetic fields, granting him super-strength, flight, energy blasts, and the ability to create and manipulate energy fields.

Sasquatch (Dr. Walter Langkowski)

Former football player turned scientist, he was trying to replicate the gamma radiation experiment that turned Bruce Banner into the Hulk. Testing the process on himself, Langkowski turned into a huge, orange-furred beast with super-strength and claws. Initially savage, he eventuall regained his full intelligence.

Snowbird (Narya)

A human/goddess hybrid, Snowbird can transform into any animal, and she possesses some mystical ability, as well as flight and enhanced strength.

Shaman (Dr. Michael Twoyoungmen)

A member of Canada's first peoples, Shaman was a doctor and scientist whose grandfather was a shaman of their tribe. Upon his grandfather's death, Shaman studied the mystic arts of their people, giving him great knowledge of the magical world as well as magical abilities he typically uses to control the weather, levitate, and summon or control spirits. He also carries a medicine bag that serves as a pocket dimensoin from which he can pull various magical objects with different abilities.

Aurora and Northstar (Jeanne-Marie and Jean-Paul Baubier)

Like Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, Northstar and Aurora are mutant fraternal twins. Both of them are speedsters with the ability to fly. When they join their hands together they can create a flash of intense light. Aurora has a split personality as a result of abuse she received as a child when she was raised in a convent.

After leaving Canada, the X-Men arrive back home to find Xavier gone. While they resume their lives, old foes Juggernaut and his sometime partner, Banshee's criminal cousin Black Tom Cassidy, meet with the elite assassin Arcade to discuss killing the X-Men. Juggernaut faced the original team several times himself, and faced the new team once with Black Tom, and was defeated every time. Now the two of them just want the team dead. Arcade accepts the contract, and the team is captured and taken to Murderworld, a deadly theme park where Arcade executes his victims from a control room. Arcade has no powers of his own. He is by his own admission a spoiled rich kid who used the money inherited from his parents (after he killed them) to develop a lethal theme park with robot assistants and assassins.

While the rest of the team face various traps, Wolverine and Cyclops are forced to fight Colossus, who has been brainwashed into believing he is the Proletarian, an agent of his home country, the Soviet Union. Colossus comes to his senses and the team escapes.

As a side note, Wolverine has continued to see Mariko romantically for a few issues, and Cyclops and Colleen Wing have gone on actual dates, though that ends after this issue. However, Nightcrawler and Colossus were captured while on a double date, and Nightcrawler's date was Amanda Sefton, who will go on to be his romantic interest for many years.

The Proteus Saga

Visiting Muir Isle, Phoenix is undergoing tests by Moira to determine the limits of her new powers. Moira is disturbed to learn that there may not be limits, and Phoenix demonstrates that while, as Marvel Girl, Jean could move objects, Phoenix can actually rearrange matter at an atomic level, recreating her entire dress on a whim. She also clearly likes using her powers. Meanwhile, a charming man she encountered recently, Jason Wyngarde, continues to occupy her thoughts.

At the X-Mansion, Beast comes to visit and is surprised to find the team alive and well, and vice versa.

Moira also discovers that a holding cell for "Mutant X" is empty. Shortly thereafter, the X-Men on Muir Island (Havok, Polaris, Multiple Man, and Phoenix) are attacked by an unseen assailant. Polaris is able to call the X-Mansion and Cyclops and the team fly out to Muir Island to investigate.

Mutant X is Kevin MacTaggert, the son of Moira and her ex-husband, Joseph MacTaggert, a Scottish politician. Moira was pregnant when she left Joseph after he severely beat her. She went to Muir Isle and raised Kevin there after he was born. Over time he developed his mutant abilities to warp reality and possess people, and she was forced to contain him in a cell at the facility, where an energy field kept him both stable and contained. Years later, that cell was damaged, along with others, during the X-Men's battle with Magneto, and Kevin escaped. When his powers start using up his natural body, Kevin turns to possessing a local man, using up his body and leaving a dead husk behind. He then takes over Phoenix, who is able to resist him, and Polaris, when the X-Men arrive. Taking the name of Proteus, Kevin fights the X-Men before fleeing to Edinburgh, where he tries to find his father, whom he never met. The X-Men confront him there and are unable to subdue him, until Colossus punches Proteus in his energy form. Proteus' one weakness is steel, and Colossus' organic steel body disrupts his form, seemingly killing him. Unlike Wolverine, who's a natural killer, Colossus is a gentle soul, who killed Proteus to save the lives of his friends and others, and the act leaves him disturbed for some time.

Kitty Pryde, Dazzler, and The Hellfire Club

Banshee stays behind at Muir Island to help Moira recover from the trauma of losing her son, and to pursue their relationship. With his powers still not working after his battle with Moses Magnum, he doesn't see a way he can be an active member of the X-Men. Cyclops offers membership to Havok, Polaris, and Multiple Man, but all of them decline, opting to also stay at Muir Isle.

The team boards their jet, the Blackbird, to return home, and while in flight, Jean experiences images of being with another man in another time, Jason Wyngarde. The images are so real she begins to believe they're flashes of a previous life. When the "time-slip" ends, she talks to Scott, who admits he had dated Coleen Wing, but only because he thought Jean was dead. Jean and Cyclops then kiss, admitting they still love each other.

After they arrive at the X-Mansion, Xavier tells the team that his mutant tracking device, Cerebro, has alerted him to two new mutants, one outside Chicago, the other in New York.

Splitting into two teams, with Cyclops leading a team to New York while Professor X, newly returned from space, taking another team to Chicago. The X-Men are unaware that a secret group known as the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club, also plans to meet the two new mutants.

Outside Chicago, in Deerfield, Illinois, 13 1/2 year old Kitty Pryde's parents meet with Emma Frost, headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy. She is also secretly White Queen of the Hellfire Club. The X-Men meet Kitty, but are attacked by armored henchman working on behalf of the club. They defeat the henchmen, but are in turn defeated by a powerful psychic blast from Frost herself. The X-Men are captured, but Kitty follows the vehicle to Frost's complex to see if she can save them. While she has little to no control of her ability yet, Kitty has the power to become intangible, "phasing" through solid matter. When she passes through electronics, she tends to short them out. She's also a genius, particularly gifted in computers and science.

In New York, the other X-Men track Cerebro's signal to a nightclub, where Phoenix is struck by how lavish it is, and how decadent the thoughts of the patrons are. She finds the thoughts attractive, and is prey to another "timeship", in which she meets the mysterious Wyngarde again. She kisses him, and finds she's kissing Wyngarde in the present, in front of Scott.

A group of Hellfire Club soldiers attacks the club and battles the X-Men, trying to capture both them and the new mutant, Dazzler, who helps the team against the soldiers, stunning them with her power to emit displays of light. Dazzler's power overall is to absorb sound and turn it into light, which can be as subtle as a glow, or as intense as a full-on lightshow. She uses this effect in her role as a singer, creating her own lightshow. She's Marvel's Disco hero, wearing mirrored roller skates, a mirror ball necklace, and a reflective costume to enhance her light abilities. Her blue face makeup is a reference to KISS and other popular glam-rock bands and that time.

Escaping the White Queen and defeating the club's thugs in New York, the X-Men offer membership to Dazzler, who declines, saying she's meant to be a singer, not a fighter. She goes on to star in her own series. In Chicago, Kitty's parents, who initially wanted to send her to Frost's academy, agree to send her to Xavier's school instead, and Phoenix tells Scott she used her powers to convince Kitty's parents to change their minds. This is an abuse of power Xavier typically only saved for dire circumstances, adding to Cyclops' concern that Phoenix is overusing and abusing her power.

Fearing the X-Mansion isn't safe, Cyclops takes the team to New Mexico, where they stay at the home of former X-Man the Angel, who doesn't want to believe the Hellfire Club is a nefarious organization, given that he and his girlfriend, Candy Sothern, are both members.

The Hellfire Club is an international organization for elites, and like other clubs, members can inherit memberships from their parents, and remain members, as long as they can afford to pay the dues. The key is, as with other elite clubs most members just use membership to network, or enjoy the social benefits, but the Inner Circle is something else.

The X-Men return to New York and decide to infiltrate the Hellfire Club to determine why they're targeting the X-Men. The plan goes awry when Phoenix is swept into another timeslip, in which she embraces Wyngarde, believing he's the love of her life. Under his control, she uses her powers to blast the other X-Men, and after a series of skirmishes, the entire team is captured with the exception of Phoenix, who has actually joined the Hellfire Club as their own Black Queen. At this point the membership of the inner circle is revealed as:

Sepastian Shaw (Black King). Shaw is a wealthy industrialist who has the mutant ability to turn kinetic energy into strength. Essentially, he gets stronger the harder you hit him. With the strength comes a limited increase in durability, so he can also withstand the damage from being hit.

Emma Frost (White Queen). A powerful psychic, Frost is the head of the Massachusetts Academy, which secretly trains young mutants to be an elite strikeforce for the Club. Shaw and Frost are lovers, a traditional arrangement in the club, where sexually explicit garb tends to be the norm.

Donald Pierce (White Bishop). Another wealthy industrialist, Pierce is not a mutant, but a cyborg, with mechanical body parts that give him enhanced strength.

Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde) one of the X-Men's oldest foes, he was a member of Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and Factor Three. He seeks to join the inner circle by brainwashing Phoenix and having her also join, adding great power to the Hellfire Club.

Harry Leland (Black Bishop). Another wealthy industrialist, Leland has the mutant ability to increase the mass of people and objects. He uses this in combat to increase the mass of his opponents until they're unable to move, or to crush opponents beneath the mass of objects.

It should be said that Wolverine is defeated, not captured. Harry Leland increases Wolverine's mass, until he's so heavy he drops through the floors of the club, landing in the sewers beneath the building. There, Leland's powers wear off and Wolverine rises from the waters of the sewer, swearing vengeance.

This issue, in particular the last page of the issue, as seen above, is a turning point for Wolverine the character that cannot be overestimated. As stated earlier, X-Men was for years, one of Marvel's worst-selling books, and even after it relaunched with the new team it struggled for a bit. Further, even when the book gained readers and traction, Wolverine was by far the least popular member of the team, so much so that Marvel editor Jim Shooter suggested killing him off, because he was unlikeable and ineffective. If you look at the covers of most of the issues, Wolverine wasn't even on all of them, and he's often knocked out or tossed around. In one issue, Cyclops defeated Wolverine in hand-to-hand combat using simple judo.

It was the efforts of Chris Claremont and John Byrne that added depth to Wolverine's character, making him honorable and mysterious, though still hot-headed. With Issue 132, and especially 133, Wolverine finally got to cut loose, saving the team. Though he was still years away from becoming the over-exposed, clichéd, overpowered icon he became in the 1980s and especially the 1990s.

Wolverine cuts through a number of Hellfire Club guards (literally) in an attempt to find the X-Men. He's shot at point-blank range several times but survives, demonstrating for the first time that he doesn't just heal more quickly than normal, but he actually has superhuman healing ability.

Wolverine arrives to rescue the team, but Phoenix has already betrayed the Hellfire Club, using her powers to loosen a ruby quartz helmet the Club put around Cyclops' head. He blasts the helmet off, blasts the club's Inner Circle, and frees the X-Men, who join the battle.

Whie Phoenix is sided with the X-Men, she's behaving differently. She's vicious to the point of sadistic. She confronts Mastermind, who admits he worked with Emma Frost to gain access to Phoenix's mind and start twisting her to his whims. In response, Phoenix taps into Mastermind's mind herself, giving him what he wanted - power. She opens his mind to the information of the universe, more information than he could possibly comprehend, driving him sane and reducing him to a drooling, catatonic state.

The X-Men defeat the Inner Circle and leave, but Cyclops senses something is very wrong with Phoenix. He hopes to get her to Xavier, who can determine the problem, just as Phoenix's costume changes to a new, red version.

Dark Phoenix

Going mad with power, Phoenix, now Dark Phoenix, attacks her teammates, easily defeating them. She leaves the planet, flies around the Sun, and launches herself into space, creating a stargate to appear in another solar system where she absorbs the energy of an entire sun, wiping out the billions of peaceful sentient beings (the D'Bari) living on the planet orbiting that sun. This is noticed by Shi'Ar Empress Lilandra, who realizes Phoenix will have to be dealt with. She meets with a galactic council, and she and the other leaders all agree, Phoenix must be destroyed.

At the same time, on Earth, Xavier consults with Moira MacTaggert about her findings after she tested Phoenix's powers on Muir Isle. The two realize that Phoenix's powers are increasing, and she is losing grip of her sanity.

Beast, who was on monitor duty for the Avengers, joins the X-Men and they return to the X-Mansion to make a plan. The team agrees that Phoenix must be stopped, but if at all possible, they want to save her. Beast builds a psychic inhibitor device to suppress her powers.

Dark Phoenix returns to Earth, visiting Jean's parents and sister. Sensing that they're terrified of her and think she's become a monster. Just then, the X-Men arrive to confront her. Nightcrawler teleports above her head and put the inhibitor device on her head. She's still able to use enough power to defeat the X-Men, though Cyclops is able to appeal to her human side long enough for Phoenix to ask Wolverine to kill her. Because he loves her, Wolverine hesitates just long enough for Dark Phoenix to regain control and lash out at him.

Xavier arrives with the Angel, and Xavier engages in a mental battle with Phoenix, reestablishing the psychic blocks he had put in Jean's mind when she was a child. Phoenix collapses, and Cyclops thinks of how much he loves her. He considers proposing, and Phoenix, sensing his thoughts through their rapport, accepts.

As they consider what to do next, the X-Men, including Angel and Beast, are teleported away. They appear onboard a Shi'Ar starship, where Lilandra announces that it has been determined that Phoenix must die. She tells the team that Phoenix destroyed a Shi'Ar ship and the D'Bari solar system, killing billions. Noting that they believe Phoenix is the "chaos bringer" of Shi'Ar legend, Lilandra says Phoenix is too powerful to be allowed to live.

Xavier, in a surprise move, announces that, as Lilandra's chosen consort, he has the right to call for a duel of honor. Lilandra agrees that he's correct, and it's decided that the X-Men and Phoenix will fight the Shi'Ar Imperial Guard to determine if Phoenix will live or die.

The two teams are transported to the Blue Area of Earth's Moon, the site of a former Kree city, now inhabited by the Watcher. It has an atmosphere, and sufficient coverage to provide a good battleground while not having any residents for the teams to worry about, so they can use their full powers.

Temporarily reduced in power to Marvel Girl levels, Phoenix wears her old Marvel Girl costume as well. The teams break into small groups, while Xavier, the Shi'Ar, the Kree, and other alien representatives watch the battle from afar, since not only is Phoenix's life at stake, but the fate of the galaxy, perhaps the universe.

The X-Men fight valiantly, but ultimately fall, with only Cyclops and Phoenix remaining. In the course of the battle, Phoenix's full power returns, and Xavier tells the X-Men they have to stop her at any cost. Phoenix. Already weak from fighting the Imperial Guard, Phoenix is noticeably shaken when fighting her friends in the X-Men, who are hesitant to attack her full force. She runs away, and Cyclops follows. In a tunnel, she uses her powers to raise an ancient Kree energy cannon from the rubble and, activating it, she commits suicide, screaming "Scott" as she dies.

Cyclops realizes that Phoenix must have planned all along to die, and that she only fought the Guard and the X-Men in order to be weakened enough to be killed by the cannon.

In the original version of the story, published in "Phoenix: The Untold Story," Phoenix survives, but is given a psychic lobotomy by the Shi'Ar, permanently cutting off access to the Phoenix power. Scott and Jean then retire from the X-Men and go on to lead a normal life.

However, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter ruled this was unacceptable. Phoenix killed billions. She had to pay the price for her crimes with her life. She couldn't have a happily ever after ending. So, the story was rewritten where she committed suicide, punishing herself for her crimes rather than being executed in a form of galactic capital punishment.

Next: The X-Men in the 80s.