I sense we are kindred spirits, you and I. Join me, stranger. I will show you pleasure -- and power -- beyond your wildest imaginings! 
- —Shadow King while meeting Professor X
Appearing in "Psi War!"
X-Men #117Psi War!
Featured Characters:
- Professor X (Charles Xavier) (Main story and flashback)
- X-Men
- Phoenix (Jean Grey)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Amahl Farouk (First appearance) (Possessed by the Shadow King) (Apparent death)
Other Characters:
- Dr. Moira MacTaggert (Only in flashback)
- Angel (Warren Worthington III) (Photo)
- Beast (Hank McCoy) (Photo)
- Iceman (Bobby Drake) (Photo)
- Marvel Girl (Jean Grey) (Photo)
- Misty Knight (Photo)
- Captain Hama (First appearance)
- Takeda (First appearance) (Hama's first mate)
- Unnamed crewman of the Jinguchi Maru freighter
- Unnamed patrons of Egyptian saloon
- Unnamed Egyptians
- Unnamed personnel and passengers at JFK airport
- Avengers (Mentioned)
- S.H.I.E.L.D. (Mentioned)
- Lucifer (Mentioned)
- Colleen Wing (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- Southern Ocean
- North America
- Europe (Only in flashback)
- Africa (Main story and flashback)
- South America (Referenced)
- Cape Horn (Referenced)
- Antarctica (Referenced)
- Atlantic Ocean (Referenced)
- Pacific Ocean (Referenced)
- Japan (Mentioned)
- Tokyo (Mentioned)
- Korea (Referenced)
- India (Mentioned)
- Tibet (Mentioned)
- Astral Plane
Items:
Vehicles:
- Savage Land boat
- 'Jinguchi Maru' freighter
Synopsis for "Psi War!"
X-Men #117Psi War!
Continued from last issue...
The X-Men find themselves caught in the middle of a terrible storm at sea. Storm attempts to control the raging weather but it’s beyond even her abilities. They are rescued by a Japanese ship out on a government mission. The captain of the ship welcomes the X-Men aboard but tells the group that they are unable to make radio contact until the ship returns to Japan.
While at the school, Jean - who believes the X-Men are dead - is leaving for a vacation. As she departs, Lilandra considers how someone so young can go through so much grief. She then checks in on Charles, who is still reeling over the (supposed) deaths of his students. He tells her how he keeps on thinking of the beginning, when he decided to dedicate his life to peace between humans and mutants.
Many years earlier, when he and Moira MacTaggert (then Moira Kinross) were in love, he was drafted into the military. She promised to wait for him, but after being injured in combat and while recovering in the hospital, Moira would send him a “dear John” letter explaining that she had married someone else. Upon his release from the hospital, Charles spent time wandering the globe in bohemian fashion until he found his way to Cairo.
One day, he was robbed by a young female pickpocket -- a girl that Charles would later recognize as his future student Ororo (Storm) -- and chase after her. He would easily stop her with his mental powers, but sensing latent mutant abilities within her, he opened his mind to probe further, and was then struck down by an unexpected psychic attack. Frightened, young Ororo fled.
Upon recovering from the attack, Xavier tracked it to a nearby cafe where he would encounter a rival telepath named Amahl Farouk. Farouk used his own abilities to take control of the local thieves cartel and proposed an alliance with Xavier. Recognizing the man as evil, Charles refused and so Farouk engaged him in a psychic duel. Farouk transported their psyches to the astral plane where they would combat each other. His own power was great enough that when he landed a blow on Xavier’s psychic avatar, a wound manifested on his physical body.
Realizing he could not win against Farouk in a direct assault, Xavier held back. Farouk assumed Xavier was ceding defeat and gloated that while his physical form would experience an instantaneous death, his psyche would suffer eternal torment. As Farouk closed in, Xavier concentrated all his might into one explosive assault.
In the material world, Farouk (at least his physical form) keels over and drops dead. As attendants surround him to see what happened, Xavier casually sauntered away. Xavier finishes his recollection by telling Lilandra that afterwards he devoted his life to combating evil mutants but was shortly thereafter crippled by the alien Lucifer[1].
With the X-Men seemingly dead, Xavier does not know what to do next. Lilandra invites him to join her when she returns to the Shi'ar empire, and he accepts.
Later at JFK Airport, Jean Grey runs into her “erstwhile” roommate Misty Knight. Jean tells her she’s heading for the Greek Islands for a vacation while Misty relates that she and her colleague Colleen Wing are heading off to Japan on a mission. Misty's flight is about to depart, so she quickly bids Jean farewell, telling her to give Scott a kiss for her the next time they see each other. With Misty hurrying away, Jean doesn’t have time to explain that (as far as she knows) Scott and the X-Men are dead.
Appearing in "Nightcrawler's High Adventure"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Storm (Only in flashback)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Eiko Shimura
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
- Jinguchi Maru (Japanese frieghter) (Only in flashback)
- Madripoor Clipper (Pan American crashed flying boat)
Synopsis for "Nightcrawler's High Adventure"
While on the way to Japan on the Jinguchi Maru, Nightcrawler spots a woman falling overboard in the storm and teleports out to save her, only to lose track of the ship and is unable to teleport back. Kurt awakens on an island separated from the woman, Eiko, and sets out to search for her. On the way he finds a crashed old plane with some adventuring clothes to sport while he runs afoul of the island's beast-like inhabitants. Noticing that the native he fought was wearing both Eiko's life preserver and an armor plate depicting the island's distinctive central volcano, Nightcrawler heads to the volcano just in time to stop the native psychic high priest from making Eiko into a human sacrifice. Desperately teleporting himself and Eiko to the top of the crater to escape, he fires off a flare gun an receives a lightning bolt in reply letting him know that Storm and the X-Men are on their way to pick them up.
Appearing in "untitled"
Featured Characters:
Synopsis for "untitled"
Back cover pinup.
Notes
- Page 18 contains new story and artwork added to the reprint, written by Chris Claremont and penciled by Kieron Dwyer.
- This issue is reprinted in many other comics and books, see references for more info.[1]
Trivia
- In "Psi War!" Misty Knight refers to Phoenix as an "erstwhile roommate" in this issue. This would mean that they are no longer roommates though their separation was never seen.
See Also
Recommended Reading
- X-Men #114 - Phoenix tells Professor X the X-Men are dead.
- X-Men #114 - #116 - X-Men's entrance into and adventure in the Savage Land.
Links and References
- Uncanny X-Men series index at UncannyX-Men.Net
- The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators - accessed on 05/31/2009
- The Official Marvel Index to the X-Men #6 - See for further referencing
- The Official Marvel Index to the X-Men (Vol. 2) #2 - See for further referencing
References
- ↑ This story is reprinted in the following comics/TPB's:
- Essential X-Men #1 - 25th story
- Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men 2nd Edition HC #3 - 7th story
- Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men HC #3 - 7th story
- Uncanny X-Men Omnibus HC #1 - 25th story