The X-Men #137 [Direct]
(September 1980)

Marvel, 1963 Series
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Volume
1
Price
0.75 USD
Pages
52
Indicia Frequency
monthly
On-sale Date
1980-06-17
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
Marvel Comics Group
Brand
Marvel Comics Group [various positions]
Editing
Jim Salicrup (editor); Louise Simonson (editor); Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief)

Issue Notes

No copyright registration was filed for the issue. As such, there is no official on-sale date. However, May is all but certainly when the issue first went on sale. The official on-sale date for issue #136 was April 29, and it is June 24 for #138. A May on-sale date is consistent with that. Also, at this point in time, comics in Marvel's color newsprint line consistently went on-sale in comics stores four months ahead of the cover date.

There is no Comics Code Authority seal of approval on the cover. According to Marvel scriptwriter (and occasional editor) Roger Stern, the absence of the seal was an accident. "That month, Marvel started running a contest with a big honkin’ banner across the tops of all the covers... which necessitated some special paste-ups... and the code seal either fell off or was never added." Stern was quoted in Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #93 (March 8, 2007) at www.comicbookresources.com.

On-sale date from The Comic Reader #180, June 1980.
This issue has variants:
Parts of this issue are reprinted:

Phoenix Must Die! (Table of Contents)

X-Men / cover / 1 page (report information)

Pencils
John Byrne (signed)
Inks
Terry Austin (signed)
Colors
?
Letters
Jim Novak; typeset
Genre
superhero
Characters
Cyclops; Jean Grey
Reprints
Cover Thumbnail for The X-Men (Marvel, 1963 series) #137 [Direct] Cover Thumbnail for The X-Men (1963 series) #137 [Newsstand]
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Cover gallery

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 1) (Expand) /

Sales Leadership Club Cards / Stationery / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

The Fate of the Phoenix! (Table of Contents: 2)

X-Men / comic story / 35 pages (report information)

Script
John Byrne (plot); Chris Claremont (plot, script)
Pencils
John Byrne
Inks
Terry Austin
Colors
Glynis Oliver
Letters
Tom Orzechowski
First Line of Dialogue or Text
I am--the Watcher!
Genre
superhero
Characters
X-Men [Professor X; Cyclops; Jean Grey [Dark Phoenix; Marvel Girl] (death); Storm; Wolverine [Logan]; Colossus; Nightcrawler]; Watcher [Uatu]; Recorder; Beast; Angel; Majestrix Lilandra; Chamberlain Araki; Shi'ar; Kree; Skrulls; Supreme Intelligence; Empress Rk'll; Gladiator; Imperial Guard [Starbolt; Oracle; Tempest; Nightside; Smasher; Warstar [B'Nee; Cc'll] (first); Earthquake (first); Hussar (first); Manta (first)]; Raksar
Synopsis
Lilandra transports the X-Men to her base so that Phoenix can be killed for her crime of wiping out an entire star system. Xavier explains that the Phoenix Force has been purged from Jean and demands the right to trial by combat when his captors refuse to listen. The X-Men and the Imperial Guard fight on the Blue Area of the Moon to determine Jean's fate. During the battle, Dark Phoenix manifests herself once again and Jean sacrifices herself rather than let the Phoenix loose on the universe.
Reprints
Keywords
Blue Area of the Moon; Moon; trial by combat

Indexer Notes

As is now known, Phoenix and Jean Grey were never one and the same as revealed in Jean's resurrection in Avengers #263 and Fantastic Four #286. In the original story, Jean Grey didn't die and the story with the original ending is printed in Phoenix: The Untold Story #1.

Captain Marvel Defends the Earth! (Table of Contents: 3) (Expand) /

Captain Marvel; Hostess Twinkies / comics-form advertising / 1 page (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 4) (Expand) /

Daisy Air Rifles / Daisy B-B Guns / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 5) (Expand) /

Olympic Sales / Olympia Sales Cards / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Editing
Issue at my.comics.org
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. Phoenix Must Die!
    X-Men
  2. 1. ["Join Sales Leadership Club"]
    Sales Leadership Club Cards / Stationery
  3. 2. The Fate of the Phoenix!
    X-Men
  4. 3. Captain Marvel Defends the Earth!
    Captain Marvel; Hostess Twinkies
  5. 4. ["Daisy 840"]
    Daisy Air Rifles / Daisy B-B Guns
  6. 5. ["Earn famous name prizes or cash"]
    Olympic Sales / Olympia Sales Cards
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Katie
  • David B
  • Chris Boyko
  • Peter Croome
  • Gary Dunaier
  • Gregory Fischer
  • Eric Gimlin
  • Del Gruber
  • Michael Hoskin
  • Kelly Langston-Smith
  • R. S. Martin
  • Darrel McCann
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Mark Q
  • Derek Reinhard
  • Tony R. Rose
  • Ramon Schenk
  • Steven Tice
  • Jim Van Dore
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