STORY: "Into the Void" (22 pages)
A portal to another dimension appears on the Sakhalin Islands. Sunfire and the X-Men, who happen to be passing, investigate and get into a fight with some armoured warriors. They all inadvertantly get sucked through to the other dimension. Meanwhile, Bishop and his men start to hunt down and execute the escaped criminals.

What you need to know:
Erm... Sunfire gets a new costume. That's about as important as it gets in this issue, to be honest.

It's also the first appearance of the Posse Comitatus, who only appear in this storyline.

Comments:
Issues #284-286 are a three part story in which the X-Men visit an alternate dimension, get tied up in a civil war, and go home again. Cynics might observe that many of the same team members appeared in a very similar, and much better, storyline in X-Factor, Judgement Day, only a couple of years before. That wouldn't be entirely fair, though, as Portacio is obviously trying to create a whole fantasy world here. Unfortunately, it just isn't a terribly interesting one. This storyline is a strong contender for least important X-Men story of the nineties, since its only legacy to continuity was the reintroduction of Mikhail Rasputin (who went on to appear in some generally mediocre stories). It's not a bad story, just a thoroughly average one.
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FEATURE CHARACTERS
The X-Men: Professor X, Forge (both next in issue #286), Archangel, Colossus, Jean Grey, Iceman and Storm

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Bishop, Malcolm and Randall
Sunfire (receives a new costume in this story; last in Avengers West Coast #74)
The White Queen II (still comatose; next in issue #310)

VILLAINS
Primate, Adjunct and the Posse Comitatus (first appearance of all)

OTHER CHARACTERS
Mr Kobiashi (a technician), Hideko (his assistant), Mr Tanaka (a Japanese government agent) and Mr Rosmenkov (a Russian government agent; first and only appearance for all)

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