STORY: "Shadow On The Stars" (22 pages)  The X-Men and the Fantastic Four head into space to finally defeat the Z'Nox, and Marvel Girl has her first contact with the Phoenix.

What you need to know:
The Fantastic Four guest star.  The plot rationale to get them there is a bit shaky.  Professor X has apparently called them round to tell them about the Z'Nox - the alien invaders whom the X-Men defeated in X-Men vol 1 #65.  However, it's Reed Richards who suggests that something needs to be done about them, which seems to come as a surprise to Xavier.  And that sort of begs the question of why he wanted the meeting in the first place.

By the way, this is the short-lived Fantastic Four line-up where Crystal replaced the Invisible Girl, who's on maternity leave.

Marvel Girl is still openly worrying about Professor X's mental health, continuing the storyline that never resolves.  She toys with probing him telepathically, but decides that she isn't good enough to get away with it.  When Xavier sees her wearing her original uniform (the only clean one she's got), he has a momentary flashback and seems to think she's only just arrived at the Mansion in X-Men vol 1 #1, although it passes almost immediately.

As soon as Marvel Girl leaves Earth, she gets "a strange feeling" as if she's "being watched."  This is the Phoenix Force observing her, and we'll see more on that next issue.  She has a vision about the Phoenix transforming her as a cliffhanger - although we don't find out that it's a vision until next issue, which is a bit of a cheat.

Arnstrom and his fellow sailors sell Angel and Avia to a freakshow run by a new villain, Krueger.  (He never gets a full name.)

Havok, Lorna and Ka-Zar have apparently given up on investigating Magneto's city and just left it there.  Yes, that's right, the whole plot thread ends with them just turning round and going home.  Their mini-Cerebro detects Iceman, so they go to investigate that instead.

Candy Southern shows up at the Mansion again, this time trying to deliver "some disturbing news" for the Angel.  This foreshadows a storyline that we won't reach until issue #13.

The opening three pages are a flashback to the X-Men defeating the Sentinels in X-Men vol 1 #59.  This is presumably intended to set up where Ashley Martin got her pet Sentinel from, as seen next issue.  There's also a five-page recap of the Z'Nox storyline. 

Once again, the number #74 ought to be on the cover, but isn't visible.

Comments:
A largely forgettable transition issue designed to shuffle some subplots around and segue into the Z'Nox story.  Eight pages of the story are flashbacks comprising more or less straight recap, which made reasonable sense at the time because the stories in question had been out of print for years.  Even so, devoting over a third of the story to recap material will test most people's patience severely.

Following up on the Z'Nox storyline is a decent enough idea, though.  The X-Men never convincingly defeated them, and they were never heard from again as a major force, so there's a continuity gap to be plugged there.

FEATURE CHARACTERS
Professor X (also in flashback following the flashback in X-Men vol 1 #65 and preceding the flashback in X-Men vol 1 #43)
Marvel Girl I (also in flashback between X-Men vol 1 #40-41)
The Angel (next in issue #12)
Lorna Dane and Havok (both next in issue #10)
Cyclops and the Beast

GUEST STARS
The Fantastic Four: Mr Fantastic, Crystal, the Human Torch and the Thing

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Avia (next in issue #10)
Candy Southern (last in issue #6)
Iceman (behind the scenes)
The Changeling (in flashback; last in flashback in X-Men vol 1 #65; next in X-Men vol 1 #41)

VILLAINS
The Z'Nox (last in X-Men vol 1 #65)
The captain and Arnstrom (no further appearances for either)
Krueger (first appearance; next behind the scenes in issue #10)

GUEST APPEARANCES
The Phoenix Force (chronologically earliest appearance)
Ka-Zar (next in issue #10)

Revised: 31 May 2006

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