The Princess arrives on Earth and Eric the Red makes his move!
Originally Published June 1977
We begin without delay as the X-Men have arrived at the X-Mansion, where Eric the Red waits for them. They attack immediately, but no sooner can they start pulverizing the horned one than they are met by a fiery guy who is very keen on blasting mutants.
This is Firelord, one of Galactus' former heralds, meaning he has big space energy powers. These make him a formidable foe - and he is very much in Eric's corner here.
Once the X-Men are thoroughly thrashed, Eric reflects on how he tricked Firelord into backing him up, by having his hypnotized pawns Havok and Polaris attack the hot one as he passed by. Firelord "rescues" Eric, who explains to F'lord that he is "but an explorer," and these "X-Men" are would-be world conquerors under the command of the ruthless Charles Xavier. The X-Men attacking Eric seemingly without provocation ends up proving his case, as he planned.
I really like this ruse. I particularly love Eric putting the cherry on top of his deception by going all "Wow, Firelord... did you have to be so rough?"
Out in space, we see a familiar scrappy little Scout Ship that has finally made it to Earth. We learn that the rebellious princess is named Lilandra, and she was Grand Admiral of the Imperial Starfleet. Now a traitor, she is being pursued by her formerly "proudest captain," whose ship bears more than a passing resemblance to the bridge of the Enterprise. But hey, this was early 1977, there really was only one way to do big spaceship sets.
As they approach Earth, they learn that this planet has basically fought back every single alien threat out there, including Galactus, causing them to pull away, throwing torpedoes at the Princess from a distance. Luckily, the Princess manages to access her teleporter in the nick of time...
...Landing in the living room of Jean Grey's new apartment, where she and her roommate Misty are entertaining Jean's parents and Professor X. The shock of transporting (or something) causes her to swoon, so Xavier does the only sensible thing, undressing her and laying her on Jean's couch.
Just as they're sorting this thing out, Firelord arrives at Jean's pad and starts wrecking things with the intent of killing Xavier. Unfortunately, he didn't reckon with Jean's policy against unwanted visitors:
This is our first chance to find out exactly what Jean's "Phoenix" transformation several issues ago really means. For her part, she seems as mystified as the rest of us, marveling at the new seemingly limitless extent of her powers, and whipping the former herald like he was butter.
Eric, watching from nearby, considers this a minor hitch, considering he didn't anticipate one of the X-Men to have infinite cosmic powers at her disposal. Regardless, if she's tied up with Firelord, that leaves Xavier and the Princess Lilandra as sitting ducks as she awakens and tries to figure out why she can suddenly speak perfect English. Eric arrives at the apartment and Lilandra identifies him by his other name...
Everybody got that?
Shakari erects a Stargate on the roof of Jean's building. The X-Men arrive, but the red guy manages to destroy their aircraft (for like the third or fourth time since they've been together.) Jean is about to put the finishing touches on Firelord when Xavier summons her, and as she answers his call, she reflects on what a fun sexy good time she was having cutting loose on the guy.
The X-Men are too late to follow Shakari through the portal, but all is not lost. Jean quickly relates - no doubt for our benefit - what the Professor telepathically told her off-panel, about what Lilandra told him off-panel, about how Lilandra led a revolt to stop her Emperor brother from doing... something... that would destroy the universe, and how after failing with her own forces, she came seeking the X-Men's aid.
Phoenix uses her now abundant powers to boot up the star gate, and the X-Men charge through for parts unknown. To be continued!
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| Despite Cyclops' commentary here, it has always been the position of this blog that Jean is the most powerful X-Man. |
Further Thoughts:
The actual cliffhanger, I should note, has Firelord returning for another go at killing Professor X after the X-Men have zipped off to parts unknown, while Mr. and Mrs. Grey demand answers as to why their Daughter is suddenly calling herself fire and life incarnate and wearing green leotards etc. All things considered this seems like a less important beat to end on.
As pivotal as this issue is, there's one thing missing that I think would have kept it from missing the mark: After a year of anticipation (you'll notice this book is being released bi-monthly at this point) Princess Lilandra finally arrives on Earth, and what does she have to say for herself? Not much. Instead, Shakari the Red reveals their connection hastily in one word balloon, and the entire meaning of her quest is delivered third-hand by Jean, who still doesn't have all the details. The book hasn't really been shy about providing expositional flashbacks when needed - would it have killed Claremont and Cockrum to slot in a quick one-page montage, or a mind-meld, or something, so we could get Lilandra's story in her own words?
What we do get is appropriately chaotic as "Eric the Red" first scrambles to involve Firelord in his plan, and then, upon witnessing Phoenix's power, pivots again to attack Lilandra directly. I don't think I've ever seen a bud guy so agile as Shakari here, so kudos to him on that.
As for Firelord: pro wrestling (that magnificent medium) gives us the concept of "putting over:"
we know Phoenix is meant to be a big deal, but to really cement that, she needs to be matched up with a foe who is appropriately powerful. Holding her own and getting the better of Firelord - whose status as an ex-Heraldof Galactus is meaningful to readers who care about which characters are the most powerful - demonstrates what Jean is capable of now. Done badly, it could be cheap (and there are lots of examples throughout comics history) but I think it's deployed deftly here, and Phoenix's emergence as a true heavy hitter feels earned.
This issue also features a brief cameo from creators Dave Cockrum and Chris Claremont, as Chris' verbosity is teased when the Firelord-Phoenix battle crashes into their plotting session and the writer is advised to "shut up and run!"
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