X-Men #135 (Jul 80): Dark PhoenixCreative Team: Chris Claremont, writer/co-plotter; John Byrne, co-plotter/penciler; Terry Austin, inker; Tom Orzechowski, letterer; Bob Sharen, colorist; Jim Salicrup, editor; Jim Shooer, ed.-in-chief
Starting Line Up: Cyclops, Pheonix, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus
Guest Star: Beast, Angel (cameo), Banshee (cameo), Mr. Fantastic (cameo), The Thign (cameo), Spider-Man (cameo), Dr. Strange (cameo), Silvr Surfer (cameo)
Synopsis: A mass of energy explodes around Dark Phoenix and destroys yet another X-Men aircraft. The X-Men fall to Cental Park, but manage to survive. Dark Phoenix begins to attck them and are they are easily beaten. Back at the Hellfire Club, while the police are searching for the X-Men for breaking into the Club and assaulting its members, Sebastion Shaw is conversing with Sen. Robert Kelly about the situation. Kelly orders the police to search Central Park, but they arn't equipped to deal with super powered mutants. Shaw recommends to Kelly a method that would help in tracking down mutants - Sentinels. Pheonix powers soars even higher, signalling to many on Earth and beyond (see listed cameos above). Phoenix soars off int space just as Beast arrives to find the X-Men in Central Park. He helps them regroup. At that moment, Xavier in New Mexico and Moira McTaggart on Muir Island and discussing the near infinite levels Phoenix' power is reaching. In space, she flies with great velocity then opens a personal wormhole to another galaxy. Once there, she realises she still has limits to her power. So she feeds on a nearby star. The sun goes nova, and kills everyone on one of its inhabited planets. At the moment, a Shi'Ar Imperial cruiser is going by. The crew engage Phoenix, but easily trounced. They make an emergency call to Lilandra just before they are destroyed. She calls an emergy meeting of her ministers. Back at the mansion, Cyclops, through his psionic rapport, is aware of what Phoenix just did... and knews she headed straight back for Earth.
Yeah, but is it good? Fantastic. This really put Dark Phoenix' power over the top. There's no way the X-Men could ever defeat her, right? The scene where she kills an entire race of people by feeding on its star is extremely well done. It's so easy to say "a race we've never heard of exterminated". It's done all the time in comics. But her... you actual get the feel of horror from the atrocity. It's way more powerful than most throwaway plot points I've read before. The next two issues are set up extremely well.
Signigicata: Dark Phoenix trashes the X-Men. She also feeds on a star which goes nova and kills 5 billion people. The Shi'Ar Empire plan to act on it. Shaw suggests to Kelly Sentinels are a good thing for controlling mutants.
