X-Men #114 (Oct 78): Desolation
Creative Team: Chris Claremont, writer; John Byrne, penciler; Terry Austin, inker; Jean Simek, letterer; Glynnis Wein, colorist; Roger Stern, editor; Jim Shooter, editor-in-chief
Starting Line Up: Cyclops, Pheonix, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Banshee, Storm, Colossus
Guest Star: Beast
Synopsis: Beast is carrying the unconscious Pheonix across the Antarctic tundra, but to nowhere. Beast spots a helicopter flying over head. There's no way to get their attention, so he tries to wake Pheonix up so she can fire a starburst or something. She snaps awake and stars to blast away at the ground to find the X-Men. The helicopter comes to find pick them up while Beast tries to explain to Pheonix that the lava flooded the complex. They're dead. Meanwhile, the not dead X-Men blast out of a mountain into a tropical paradise. Cyclops explains they're in the Savage Land. Storm and Banshee go flying to stretch their "wings". Banshee is snatched by a giant pterasaur. Colossus gives Wolverine a fastball special and he slaughters the pterasaur. A man hiding in the bushes is watching and recognises Cyclops. Cyclops chastises Wolverine for his method of dealing with the dinosaur. Banshee tells the team he spoted a village nearby, so the team heads for it. The man in the bushes follows. Some time later at the mansion, Beast and Pheonix arrive. Pheonix goes off to tell the Professor the XMen are dead, while Beast meets Lilandra and does the same. Meanwhile, in the Savage Land, the X-Men are spending time living with the natives and relaxing. Cyclops looks at his reflection in a pond while he shaves. He shaves a beard but keeps the mustache and reminds himself of Corsair. He starts to wonder how and American got that far into space, and how he knew Cyclops' name. He starts to recover a memory of Corsair and a woman pushing two children out of a plane. He's interrupted by Storm. Storm is worried about Cyclops not showing his grief over the death of Pheonix. He says he feels nothing, and can't explain it. He says ever since Jean became Pheonix, she no longer seemed like the woman he loved anymore. Storm explains if Cyclops only wanted to preserve Jean as she was and not embrass her change, maybe he really didn't love her. Wolverine, however, keeps to himself and mourns over Pheonix. Storm goes swimming, then lays on the beach. The man from the bushes slinks out and grabs her. He starts to absorb her life force. Lightning goes off and alerts the X-Men. They rush to her aid and find, standing over her bordy, Sauron.
Yeah, but is it good? Most epic stories are followed by a character building issue, and this is no different. After battling Magneto, the X-Men need a rest. This issue really gets into Cyclops' head. His childhood memories, his complex feelings for Pheonix, and, of course, his contempt for Wolverine's methods. The whole concept of two parts of the team thinking the other is dead is really neat, too. I especially love when Pheonix goes to tell Xavier the X-Men are dead. She walks into his study and touches his should (which startles him, showing Pheonix power is enough to hide her pressence from the world's most powerful telepath), and he just instantly knows. No words are exchanged. And he weeps. Powerful stuff there.
Significata: Xavier and Pheonix think the rest of the X-Men are dead. The rest of the X-Men think Pheonix is dead. Cyclops feels nothing over the loss. Wolverine does. Cyclops sees a resemblance between himself and Corsair. He starts to recover childhood memories. Sauron returns.
