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The X-Men #101

Oct 1976
Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum

The X-Men #101 cover

Story Name:

Like a Phoenix, From the Ashes!


Synopsis

The X-Men #101 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 4.5 stars

Last issue saw Jean Grey piloting the shuttle with her and the other X-Men back to earth, before being overcome by the solar radiation. The shuttle re-enters earth’s atmosphere and makes a bumpy landing at Kennedy Airport, finally stopping once bouncing into Jamaica Bay, debris and chaos everywhere. The shuttle sinks beneath the water and a moment later the X-Men emerge, gasping for air. All except Jean Grey. With her fate unknown, Cyclops is determined to go back for her, when Colossus suddenly notices something strange happening with the water. Jean Grey then explodes out of the water and rises into the air, with a brand new costume, reborn as the powerful and mysterious Phoenix! Just as suddenly as she appeared, Jean becomes overwhelmed and falls back into the ocean, where Cyclops catches her. Back on land at the airport, Professor X suggests they make a hasty retreat, this being the second time the X-Men have destroyed Kennedy Airport (after UXM #97).

Some time later, after Xavier uses his mental powers to make everyone forget the X-Men were there, we check in on Wolverine. Wolverine buys flowers that he plans to surprise Jean in the hospital with, noting that he’s never felt this way about a woman before. His plans are dashed however, when he arrives at the hospital to find the rest of the X-Men waiting anxiously there as well, subtly throwing the flowers away. Moira MacTaggert suggests Xavier try using his powers to help the comatose Jean, but he admits the recent terrible dreams he’s been having have affected his powers greatly, making it more strenuous to use them. The time ticks on and Scott agonizes over the prospect of losing Jean, mourning all the time wasted and realizing that it’s Jean, not the X-Men, that gives his life meaning.

Finally, Peter Corbeau exits with the doctor, who announces that Jean should be just fine. The X-Men erupt with joy at the news and Nightcrawler notices Scott slip away by himself. Kurt finds Scott overwhelmed with emotion and wisely decides to leave Scott with his thoughts. Xavier then tells the X-Men that after the stressors of the last few weeks, he’s sending them on an enforced vacation to decompress, while he and Scott look after Jean here. Banshee then suggests they head to his ancestral home, Cassidy Keep, that he just found out via letter that he inherited. The X-Men make the long journey to County Mayo and are astonished by the enormous castle before them! Inside, we discover that Black Tom Cassidy, Banshee’s nefarious cousin, has been lying in wait for Sean, and is blackmailing the steward of the castile, Eamon O’Donnell, into helping him!

O’Donnell lets the X-Men in and shows everyone to their rooms. Storm in particular feels very uncomfortable in the dreary stone castle, and creates a mini summer shower for herself to relax. Not too long later, Storm is preparing for the formal dinner planned, when Nightcrawler teleports into her room. He uses his image inducer to make himself look like various celebrities, making Storm laugh, and offering to escort her to the dinner. In his room, Banshee can’t help but feel that something is off and decides to ask O’Donnell when he gets the chance. As the group make their way to the dinner, a trapdoor suddenly opens beneath them, and they switch to costume. At the bottom they find Black Tom Cassidy and the Juggernaut, who announce their plans to kill the X-Men! Overwhelmed by the suffocating stone walls seemingly pressing in on her, Storm lets out a huge scream, paralyzed by fear, to the others’ shock! To be continued!


 

Review / Commentaries


The X-Men #101 Review by (June 12, 2024)

Review: The title should let you know right away what the most significant aspect of this issue is. After saving the other X-Men, Jean Grey goes into the water, and pops out again, reborn as the Phoenix! As anyone even mildly interested in X-Men will know, this will have huge ramifications for the series, running through and shaping the next nearly 40 issues, with lasting effects to this day! This issue mostly acts as a segue between the last storyline and the next one. Claremont’s X-Men stories quite often just flow right into each other, and this is no different, starting with wrapping up the Phoenix stuff, and moving right into the worst vacation ever, where the X-Men find the Juggernaut waiting for them, paying off the setup with Black Tom from a couple issues ago.

I would like to highlight for a moment just how good Claremont is at making the X-Men feel like real, complex people, undoubtedly a factor that helped the series take off as well as it did. Cyclops being overcome with emotions at learning Jean will be alright, and Nightcrawler kindly letting him have that moment to himself is truly touching. Not to mention the general dynamics between the team are really falling into place at this point, making the characters feel that much stronger. Nightcrawler using his image inducer to look like various celebrities to amuse Storm (check the Comments for specifics) is a particularly fun sequence. We then end on a particularly intense cliffhanger as Storm’s claustrophobia causes her to flip out at the worst possible time, as the X-Men come face to face with the Juggernaut! Tune in next time to see how it all progresses!

Comments: First appearance of the Phoenix/Phoenix Force/however you choose to look at it. First explicit mention of Wolverine’s feelings for Jean. At one point, Nightcrawler uses his image inducer to look like various celebrities including Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Groucho Marx, and his usual Errol Flynn. First full occurrence of Storm’s claustrophobia.



> The X-Men comic book info and issue index

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Main/1st Story Full Credits

Dave Cockrum
Frank Chiaramonte
Bonnie Wilford
Dave Cockrum (Cover Penciler)
Dave Cockrum (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Letterer: John Costanza.



Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Banshee
Banshee

(Sean Cassidy)
Colossus
Colossus

(Piotr Rasputin)
Cyclops
Cyclops

(Scott Summers)
Juggernaut
Juggernaut

(Cain Marko)
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler

(Kurt Wagner)
Phoenix
Phoenix

(Jean Grey)
Professor X
Professor X

(Charles Xavier)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)
Plus: Black Tom Cassidy.

Thor

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