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Quote1 That little stunt is all she wrote, pal! And if you're wondering which X-Man has the pleasure of blasting you from here to Hades, all you have to do is -- cry Havok! Quote2
Havok (X-Sentinel)

Appearing in "Greater Love Hath No X-Man..."

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Vehicles:

  • Starcore Project Shuttle
  • Stephen Lang's flying gunship, a one-man weapons-laden hovercraft

Synopsis for "Greater Love Hath No X-Man..."

Aboard a space station in Earth orbit, the “all-new” X-Men (Banshee, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm and Colossus) are confronted by what appears to be the original X-Men team (Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Beast and Marvel Girl) who are being directed by Professor X to kill the new team. Havok and Polaris also appear and take sides with the original team. A battle ensues, but the members of the new team note some curious inconsistencies with those whom they are fighting: the original team have no memory of their replacements; the Beast isn't covered in blue fur; Cyclops is wearing his old visor; and Havok and Polaris don’t seem to recall Erik the Red.

Most of the new team fight on the defensive, concerned about injuring their friends and comrades whom they believe are being mind-controlled. Wolverine, however, attacks Professor X and is caught off-guard when the Professor stands on two legs and knocks him down with one punch. Marvel Girl then attacks Wolverine, who now suspects something fishy. Using his feral senses, he deduces the truth and stops pulling punches, savagely slicing Marvel Girl open with his claws. At first, his comrades are shocked that he would use lethal force on Jean, until they see that “Marvel Girl” was really a robot, a Sentinel masquerading as Jean Grey… as are all the others. Now knowing the truth, the new (real) X-Men quickly destroy the “X-Sentinels”.

Observing the battle from a secure location, Lang is enraged that his ruse has been exposed. To his captives (the real Jean Grey, Cyclops and Prof. X as well as Peter Corbeau), Lang rants that he created the X-Sentinels to be unbeatable duplicates of the original X-Men. He intended to have them seek out and exterminate all other mutants, which would advance his genocidal agenda while laying the blame for mass murder on the X-Men themselves. A flashback montage recounts how Lang discovered the late Larry Trask’s former base and used his notes to build a new line of Sentinels. His plans were funded by a shadowy organization called the Council of the Chosen, and he used the government-sanctioned Project: Armaggeddon as a front for his true goals.

While Lang rants, Cyclops uses the opportunity to optic-blast through his confinement and free Jean, the Professor and Corbeau. Cyclops attempts to knock out Lang, but he manages to flee to a gunship. Jean uses her telekinesis to prevent Lang’s escape and forces Lang's gunship to crash into a viewscreen and explode, seemingly killing Lang in the process.

The whole team is reunited, but find themselves stranded on the space station now that Lang's minions have used all the escape pods to flee, and the approaching solar flares will very likely kill everyone still aboard the station. Upon examining the shuttle, Corbeau determines they can use it to escape but that the autopilot has been damaged. Although the shuttle has a containment room that will shield its passengers from the solar flares, somebody will have to remain on the bridge and manually pilot the ship back to Earth… and whoever that pilot is will be incinerated by the solar flare’s radiation!

Jean volunteers for the suicide mission, stating that her telekinetic abilities can protect her from the radiation. She telepathically absorbs Corbeau's knowledge on how to pilot the shuttle, but all are aware that Jean will likely die. Scott balks, but she knocks him out and orders the other X-Men and Corbeau into the shielded room. Wolverine and Storm try to talk Jean out of sacrificing herself for them, but to no avail.

Sealing the hole in the ship with a telekinetic shield, Jean begins the dangerous task of piloting the ship back through Earth. In the shielded room, Cyclops revives and tries to break free, forcing the other X-Men to restrain him. As Jean flies the ship through the solar storm, her powers are pushed to the limits and the radiation pushes through causing her extreme pain. As she is overcome, she screams out Scott's name.

Notes

  • The story continues into the next issue.
  • This is the "Spectacular 100th Issue".
  • The cliffhanger for the previous issue depicted the real X-Men facing off with doppelgangers of Professor X and the five original X-Men. In this issue, X-Sentinel versions of Havok and Polaris also appear, apparently having joined in the faceoff off-panel.
  • Peter Corbeau is one of Lang's captives this issue, although he was not shown having been captured in the last issue (like the above note, this was apparently an “offscreen” event.)
  • This is the first time the "Fastball Special" maneuver is carried out by Wolverine and Colossus.
  • This issue contains one of several instances of Banshee screaming (and flying, via his sonic scream) while talking at the same time, which he should not be able to do.
  • Fantastic Four #286 establishes that the solar flare is the same kind of cosmic radiation that transforms the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #1. The "TAC TAC TAC" sound effect is used in all three stories.
  • In Lang's flashback montage, a visual reveals that the old X-Men foe the Vanisher was one of Lang’s early captives whom he experimented on. That information is not related in dialogue, so it is likely that Xavier, Cyclops, and Jean were unaware that the Vanisher may have been aboard the station; they would not have abandoned anyone, even an adversary, to such a dangerous fate had they known he was still onboard. In Champions #17, the Vanisher confirms that he was still aboard the station after everyone else had fled at the end of this issue. The Vanisher repaired several damaged Sentinels which aided him in returning to Earth, and he uses them against the Champions.
    • The X-Men must escape the space station because of the deadly solar flare that Corbeau warns the team about; thus Jean pilots the ship and meets the Phoenix Force. But, the Vanisher remains onboard the station and survives the flare. The X-Men and Corbeau must not have known that the part of the station the Vanisher was in was, apparently, shielded from radiation; had they been aware, the entire Dark Phoenix Saga might have been avoided.
  • In Incredible Hulk Annual #7, the Master Mold Sentinel abducts the Angel, Iceman, and (inadvertently) the Hulk. The MM claims that it contains the sentience of Stephen Lang. However Angel will contradict him and relate that the real Stephen Lang survived his apparent death in this issue and managed to return to Earth alive but brain dead due to head trauma. Lang will remain comatose until Uncanny X-Men #291, when his consciousness is absorbed into the Phalanx.
  • The "Council of the Chosen" whom Lang identifies as having funded his project is actually the Hellfire Club. This fact is not mentioned in-universe but revealed in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entry on the Hellfire Club. This makes sense as Sebastian Shaw later proposes to Senator Robert Kelly (and later finances) the creation of a new line of Sentinels in #135. Classic X-Men #6 expands on the Hellfire Club's role.
  • As with their interaction in X-Men #98, Jean and Wolverine's argument should be read in context of their immediate mutual attraction in Classic X-Men #1.
  • Classic X-Men #2 explains why Storm and Jean speak as close friends when they have no substantial interaction before Jean leaving the team in X-Men #94.
  • Although destroyed in this issue, Lang's space station will be rebuilt and reoccupied by S.H.I.E.L.D. by Avengers #167.
  • references: X-Men #97 and X-Men #99

Trivia

See Also

Recommended Reading

  • This is the final part of the battle versus Lang's sentinels, started in X-Men #98 and continued through last issue. The storyline finishes next issue.

Links and References

References

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