X-Men #107 (Oct 77): Where No X-Men Has Gone Before!
Creative Team: Chris Claremont, author; Dave Cockrum, artist; Dan Green, inker; Joe Rosen, letterer; Andy Yanchus, colorist; Archie Goodwin, editor
Starting Line Up: Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Banshee, Storm, Colossus
Guest Star: Pheonix, Mr. Fantastic (cameo), The Thing (cameo)
Synopsis: The X-Men and Pheonix arrive on a strange world, surrounded by different strange aliens. Somehow, the X-Men can understand their language. Cyclops demands the release of Lilandra. Gladiator, praetor of the Imperial Guard, tells them she is a traitor and will not be given up. The X-Men decided to take her by force. The battle begins. All the X-Men go toe to toe with the Imperial guards (Gladiator, Oracle, Hobgoblin (not that one), Starbolt, Fang, Astra, and many others), but Pheonix is unable to use her power after reactivating the star gate. The X-Men do rather well against the guards. In the battle, Wolverine's clothes are disintegrated, so he steals some from Fang. Emperor D'Ken is enjoying the spectacle of the battle. Lilandra pleads with him not to go through with his plan. So he unleashes the Soul-Drinker on her. Nightcrawler teleports to her rescue. The Soul-Drinker can only be summoned to take one soul at a time. Nightcrawler teleports with Lilandra away, and the creature takes the sould of one of the aliens. The strain of teleporting with someone else exhausts Nightcrawler. Cyclops demands Lilandra tell him what is going on and how the X-Men got involved. She explains her brother, Emperor D'Ken, discovered an ancient force that he wished to weild for himself, but Lilandra thought it was too dangerous. D'Ken released rumors Lilandra has attempted to kill him and take the throne. The Imperial fleet split in two and began a civil war. While trying to escape the battle, Lilandra's mind touched with Charles Xavier when he was using a great deal of his power to defeat the Z'Nox. Their minds became eternally linked at that point, and she set off to find him. D'Ken discovered her destination, and order his agent Davan Shakari, Eric the Red, to kill Xavier. Lilandra then reveals the force D'Ken wishes to harness is that of the M'Kraan Crystal. It acts as a gateway that opens once every million years when the nine Death Stars fall into alinement. Within that gateway can be found absolute power. Finally, the Imperials start to overcome the X-Men. Lilandra pleads with Gladiator to listen to reason, but he's sworn to serve the emperor's will, no matter how mad. When all looks lost, The Starjammers (Corsair, Ch'od, Raza, and Hepzibah), a group of space pirates, come to their rescue. The combined forces of the X-Men and the Starjammers are enough to overcome the Imperials. They take a moment to introduce themselves. Corsair, a human with an American accent and slang so far out in space, confuses Pheonix, so she mind scans him. What she finds astonishes her. At that moment, D'Ken uses the M'Kraan Crystal to begin opening the gate. For a brief second, all of existance blinks out. Back at Starcore station, Dr. Peter Corbeau expresses his concern to Mr. Fantastic of the Fantasic Four. If the cosmic blinks continue, all of existance will cease.
Yeah, but is it good? Yeah, baby! It's great to finally see the X-Men WIN a battle. Even if they did need help from the Starjammers. It's ok, though, since the Starjammers are an interesting group. It's a little weird, though, when Corsair refers to Hepzibah, a feline creature, as his love. Isn't there a name for that kind of festish? The cosmic stuff is a little out there. The whole crystal of doom and the stars of glaven giving ultimate power yadda yadda... It's not really an X-Men story. This stuff is more of an Avengers kind of thing, really. I guess that's what makes it interesting. How does a ruffian like Wolverine save the freaking universe from ultimate cosmic powers? It's so out of their league. Ah... but that's what Pheonix is for.
Significata: First appearance of the Imperial Guard. First full appearance of the Starjammers. D'Ken's mad plan is revealed. Lilandra's connection with Xavier is also revealed. Nightcrawler teleports with a nother person for the first time.
