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Quote1 They're going for the professor's plane -- get after them, X-Men -- stop them any way you can --! Don't just stand there, people -- move it!! Quote2
Cyclops

Appearing in "My Brother, My Enemy!"

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  • Shi'ar spaceships (First appearance) (Dream)
  • Starcore jet

Synopsis for "My Brother, My Enemy!"

Professor X is plagued by nightmares of a galactic war in which an alien being seems to be attempting to telepathically make contact with him. Before Charles can see the alien’s face, however, he awakens screaming. Moira finds Charles in the kitchen making tea. He explains his dreams to her and she urges him to confide in his X-Men, but he is unsure how he can explain to his students his fear that he's going mad.

Meanwhile, in Rio Diablo, Cyclops’s brother Alex (the former reserve X-Man Havok) is working on a geological survey while Lorna Dane (also a former part-time X-Man) lives with him and tends to their home. Lorna answers a knock on the door and reacts with surprise at the person she greets. Before she can act, the unexpected visitor zaps her with an energy beam, knocking her out. Alex returns home and sees Lorna donning a new costume. When a confused Alex addresses her by her name, she dubs herself Polaris and knocks him out as well.

Three days later, Professor X and several of his students are at JFK Airport. Charles is leaving for a vacation in order to sort out his dream images away from his students. Scott, Ororo, Kurt (using an image inducer that makes him look like actor Errol Flynn), Peter and Jean Grey see him off. After Xavier has boarded his plane, the X-Men are leaving when they are confronted by Havok and Polaris, both of whom are behaving strangely. Jean picks up thoughts from their minds and warns the others that it is a trap. Her warning comes too late, however, as Polaris’s attack stuns her. Havok and Polaris intend to destroy Xavier's plane as it is taking off. The X-Men suit up and engage them in combat. Colossus stops Havok from blasting the plane by knocking him over, causing his cosmic blast to strike an empty 747 instead.

The X-Men are even more confused when the mysterious new Erik the Red appears on the scene and issues orders to the now villainous Havok and Polaris. When the X-Men attempt to attack Erik, he easily swats them away. Havok and Cyclops battle it out. Polaris attacks Storm, who is more than a match for her. But when a revived Jean falls, Storm disengages from the battle in order to save her. Havok buries his brother under rubble but then briefly snaps out of his mind control and rushes to save him. Cyclops was only playing possum, however, and knocks his brother out. Colossus and Nightcrawler attempt to take out Erik but they are no match for the powerful being. Storm loses her temper when Polaris refers to their battle as a trivial game and strikes her down with a lightning bolt. Seeing Lorna brought down enrages the reviving Havok who then lashes out at full power, vowing to kill all the X-Men for harming her.

Wolverine and Banshee arrive on the scene, prompting Erik to order Havok and Polaris to retreat. Cyclops has the perfect opportunity to blast them all out of the sky but cannot bring himself to injure his sibling and former comrade. Afterward, Wolverine calls him a coward, prompting Cyclops to angrily punch him. Wolverine is just about to attack with his claws but Storm orders him to back down.

As the X-Men prepare to head home, they are unaware that they are being watched by two separate observers: one is the mutant-hating Stephen Lang; the second is an unknown figure.

Notes

  • Havok's name is misspelled "Havoc" throughout this entire issue.
  • While Lorna Dane had occasionally acted as a superhero before, this is the first time she uses the code name "Polaris." Lorna will again be mind-controlled into becoming a villain later on in the series (by the evil mutant Malice).
  • The original Erik the Red was a disguise that Cyclops used in order to infiltrate Mesmero's band of evil mutants in X-Men #s 51 and 52. This version of Erik the Red will later be revealed to be a Shi'ar agent intent on preventing Professor X from aiding Lilandra.
  • This issue introduces (however vaguely) the Shi'ar race, their unusual starships with animal-like designs, and Professor X's longtime love interest Lilandra Neramani.
  • This issue also introduces Nightcrawler's "image inducer" device which he will use in early issues in order to disguise his true mutant appearance. (Although true to Nightcrawler's swashbuckling persona, he assumes the form of Errol Flynn, which isn't exactly a nondescript disguise.)
  • Colossus is referred to as "Peter" for the first time in this issue.

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