Comic Browser:

#130
#131
#132
#133
#134
#135
#136
#137
#138
#139
#140
#141
Selector

The X-Men #135

Jul 1980
Chris Claremont, John Byrne

The X-Men #135 cover

Story Name:

Dark Phoenix


Synopsis

The X-Men #135 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 5 stars

The sky is illuminated in blinding light as Jean Grey, now Dark Phoenix, explodes the X-Men’s blackbird, leaving them to freefall to the ground below. Colossus lands first and Nightcrawler teleports down. Storm catches Wolverine before she sees Dark Phoenix diving straight for Cyclops. Not knowing if she means to save him or kill him, Storm swoops down to grab Cyclops as well, setting up a whirlwind to push themselves away from Dark Phoenix. It is but a moment’s respite as Dark Phoenix lashes out, her increasing powers acting as the ultimate stimulant! She quickly and easily takes out all of the X-Men, turning a tree to gold and dropping it on Colossus and Wolverine, while turning Colossus back to normal, and more traditionally blasting the others.

Now with the last connections to her former human life defeated, she determines that her true destiny lies in the stars, lighting up the sky with her power! Meanwhile, over at the Hellfire Club, Senator Kelly and Sebastian Shaw speak with the police about the X-Men’s recent “attack.” The police admit they have no way to deal with the X-Men and Shaw suggests to Kelly that they reinstate the Sentinel program, in order to deal with the mutant problem. Just as he does, all present witness the telltale sign of Phoenix’s power, as the entire sky is filled with the image of her firebird energy signature. A number of heroes across the world also witness or sense Dark Phoenix’s power including Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and the Silver Surfer, with Surfer noting that Phoenix’s unchecked power could threaten the entire cosmos! Dark Phoenix shoots up into space, narrowly missing the arriving Beast, who tends to the defeated X-Men.

We then cut to the New Mexico home of Angel, where he and Charles Xavier are on a call with Moira MacTaggert about the recent energy signature they both detected. Moira confirms that it was, in fact, Jean and Xavier explains that her power is corrupting her, overtaking her and he resolves to return to New York as soon as possible. Out in space, Dark Phoenix zooms past Starcore, where Peter Corbeau is barely able to register what he’s detected before she’s gone in an instant! Dark Phoenix opens up a star-gate, transporting her to a far-off galaxy. Realizing that the journey took more out of her than she thought, Dark Phoenix plunges into a nearby star, consuming it to restore her power. The resulting supernova sends flaming shockwaves that completely obliterates a planet that orbits the star, burning it to crisp and killing all 5 billion inhabitants! And in the center of the supernova, Dark Phoenix thrills at her power, not a care for the countless lives she just took!

Meanwhile, a nearby Shi’ar battle cruiser registers the supernova and spots Dark Phoenix as the one who caused it. They fire upon her, and she retaliates in kind, discovering from a quick mind-scan that it’s part of Lilandra’s fleet. With moments left, the crew calls Lilandra to warn her. She answers to discover the ship in shambles, the crew almost all dead, with the giant fire-bird signature of Phoenix baring down upon them! The line cuts out, signaling the ship’s destruction and the crew’s deaths and Lilandra determines that Phoenix must be dealt with once and for all! Back at the mansion, the X-Men lick their wounds and try to figure out what to do next. Beast thinks he can whip up some gadgets to hopefully aid them next time they face Jean, while the others aren’t so sure. Suddenly, Cyclops, who had been completely silent and motionless since their return, whips his head up, sensing Jean through their psychic rapport! She’s returning to earth…and she’s hungry! To be continued!


 

Review / Commentaries


The X-Men #135 Review by (September 11, 2024)

Review: Part seven of the Dark Phoenix Saga opens with a particularly cool splash page, the title made out of the energy streaking across the sky, with yet another destroyed vehicle for the X-Men! Dark Phoenix takes them apart quite handily, trying to cut off the last of her human ties, though not killing them, hinting that some of her humanity still remains. She shoots into space where the big event of the issue happens. Jean crosses her Moral Event Horizon when she consumes a star and completely obliterates one of the planets that orbit it, killing all 5 billion inhabitants, and a Shi’ar battle cruiser, without a care in the world! It’s shocking and stunning, rendered in spectacular fashion, and something she won’t be able to really return from. Especially as Lilandra realizes that Jean will need to be dealt with, no matter what it takes! Dark Phoenix is deadly and terrifying, and the X-Men will have to figure out what to do, as she’s returning to earth! We also get the introduction of Senator Robert Kelly and the teased reinstatement of the Sentinels, setting up future stories down the line as the Dark Phoenix Saga moves ever closer to its unforgettable conclusion!

Comments: Part seven of the Dark Phoenix Saga. First appearance of Senator Robert Kelly. Brief cameos for Mr. Fantastic, Thing, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and the Silver Surfer.



> The X-Men comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
Diamond Select Toys Marvel Gallery: Beast PVC Figure, Multicolor
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

John Byrne
Terry Austin
Bob Sharen
John Byrne (Cover Penciler)
Terry Austin (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Angel
Angel

(Warren Worthington III)
Beast
Beast

(Henry Phillip McCoy)
Colossus
Colossus

(Piotr Rasputin)
Cyclops
Cyclops

(Scott Summers)
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange

(Stephen Strange)
Lilandra
Lilandra

(Lilandra Neramani)
Mr. Fantastic
Mr. Fantastic

(Reed Richards)
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler

(Kurt Wagner)
Phoenix
Phoenix

(Jean Grey)
Professor X
Professor X

(Charles Xavier)
Silver Surfer
Silver Surfer

(Norrin Radd)
Spider-Man
Spider-Man

(Peter Parker)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)
Thing
Thing

(Ben Grimm)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)

Plus: Robert Kelly (Senator Kelly).

The Marvel Heroes Library is a fan Marvel Comics site
Version 14.8.18 (Nov 3, 2024) - VS2022

Copyright © 1997-2024 Julio Molina-Muscara (creator, webmaster)
Site content is a collective effort by the MHL team and Marvel aficionados

Characters are copyright © Marvel or their respective owners. All portions of this Marvel fansite that are subject to copyright are licensed under a creative commons attribution 3.0 unported license All rights reserved