The X-Men #104

History

Written by Chris Claremont and pencilled by Dave Cockrum with inks by Sam Grainger, the issue was edited by Archie Goodwin and carried a cover date of April 1977, placing it on stands in January of that year — before Star Wars had been released, which is relevant because Cockrum had designed the Starjammers as a space-pirate ensemble he originally intended to anchor their own series. When Marvel repeatedly told him that both try-out venues, Marvel Spotlight and Marvel Premiere, were booked solid for two years, Cockrum brought the concept directly to Claremont, who agreed to fold the characters into X-Men; the creative pair then deliberately wrote Corsair as Cyclops's long-lost father to give the Starjammers narrative hooks that would justify their recurring presence in the book. The Dragonfly subplot seeded here — in which the imprisoned Ani-Men member is noted to have escaped — existed because Cockrum was quietly developing an all-female superhero team that would have included both Dragonfly and Storm, a project that was ultimately shelved before reaching print.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance (cameo) of the Starjammers: Corsair (Christopher Summers) and Ch'od appear aboard the starship Starjammer in a brief but named scene — their first comics appearance anywhere, created by Dave Cockrum.
• First appearance of Muir Island, Moira MacTaggert's mutant-research facility off the northwest coast of Scotland, which becomes one of the series' most important recurring locations.
• First mention of 'Mutant X' — a name glimpsed on a glowing containment cell door as Magneto departs Muir Island; the entity behind the door is later revealed to be Proteus (Kevin MacTaggert), who first fully appears in Uncanny X-Men #125 (1979).
• Magneto is restored to adulthood by Erik the Red using an unspecified aging ray, reversing his infantilisation from Defenders #16; later stories establish that the process also de-aged and power-upgraded him, explaining his continued menace across subsequent decades.
• Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man) makes his first appearance in an X-Men comic, having previously debuted in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4; here he serves as Moira's research assistant on Muir Island.
• Dave Cockrum's cover is a deliberate homage to the Jack Kirby cover of X-Men #1 (1963), repositioning Cyclops and a newly adult Magneto in an updated echo of the original composition.
• Written by Chris Claremont, pencilled by Dave Cockrum, inked by Sam Grainger, coloured by Andy Yanchus, lettered by Bruce Patterson, and edited by Archie Goodwin; cover-dated April 1977, on sale January 1977.
• The issue has been reprinted extensively, including in Classic X-Men #12 (1987, with a new John Bolton backup story), Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 2 (2004), The Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Vol. 1 (2006), X-Men Epic Collection: Second Genesis (2017), and the Phoenix Omnibus (2021).

Cast · 34 characters

Full credits

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