Many people like to emphasize the social allegory aspect of the X-men stories. The Marvel mutants, we are told, were a metaphor for the burgeoning civil rights movement, with mutants standing as symbols for unfairly treated minorities in society. We know the X-Men will eventually make an MCU appearance (Disney didn’t pay millions of dollars not to use these characters), how will the X-Men universe work with the upcoming 'Cosmic Phase' of the MCU? Will we have to wait years before we see the X-Men onscreen? Not necessarily. There was a strong cosmic dimension in the Bronze Age X-men.

In this post, I'll look at some 'cosmic' elements in the X-Men. I’ll cite, in chronological order, four X-men books that have a cosmic connection and characters that might show up in the next phase of MCU films. Get these before prices soar right out of this galaxy!

X-Men #104 (April 1977) - First cameo appearance of Corsair and Ch’od (the Starjammers)

Starting especially in Bronze Age X-Men, several highly creative contributors such as Dave Cockrum, John Byrne and Chris Claremont, made sure the X-Men stories were packed with many diverse characters and even alien worlds. In X-Men #104 the alien team the Starjammers is first introduced. Created by Dave Cockrum, the Starjammers would open the door to several out-of-this-world adventures for the X-Men. They would also act as a bridge connecting the original series to the all-new, all-different, Bronze Age X-Men, since their appearance can be linked to both the return of Erik the Red and the eventual appearance of Lilandra and the Shi’ar race. In 9.8 certified condition the first cameo appearance of the Starjammers has a value of $800.00. This drops to $260.00 in 9.6. The returns over the last 90 days look as follows: up a stunning 103.9% in 9.6 (after 3 sales), 13.3% in 9.4 (after 4 sales) but down 41.4% in 9.2 (after 2 sales).

 

 

 

X-Men #105 (June 1977) – First full appearance of Lilandra and introduction of the Shi’ar Empire

The cosmic universe of the X-Men unfolded organically. After Charles Xavier formed a psychic report with an alien being leading to the appearance of the alien version of Erik the Red from the older X-men books, we eventually meet Charles’s psychic mate: Princess Lilandra Neramani. X-Men #105 not only features the first full appearance of Lilandra but also the first mention of the Shi’ar Empire that she will later rule. There’s even mentions of the Celestials and Galactus- it doesn’t get any more cosmic than this. With 1,115 copies on the CGC census, 9.8 certified grades of this book can sell for up to $625.00. Over the last 90 days the returns look as follows: down -10.4 % over 3 sales in 9.6, but up 3% after 3 sales in 9.4, over the last three months best returns have been on 9.0 graded copies: up +17.9%.

 

 

 

X-Men #107 (Oct. 1977)– Shi’ar Imperial Guard and its leader Gladiator, first full appearance of the Starjammers

First appearing in cameo in X-men issue #104, the introduction of the Starjammers team marks the point where the X-Men expanded into a cosmic phase big time. Corsair and Ch’od, Hepizbah and Raza appear for the first time as a team in this comic. Corsair, of course, is the father of Cyclops and Havoc, but the Starjammers are more like a combination of Guardians of the Galaxy and the Pirates of the Caribbean. In other words, they’d be great in a movie! 787 copies of this comic grace the CGC census, but with only 25 copies in 9.8 graded condition, one of those copies can fetch up to $4,100.00. How does the 90 day average on returns look? Down by -22.2% in 9.6 grade [after 3 sales], but way up in 9.0 at +261.7% (after 2 sales). Also up in almost all other grades recently sold.

 

 

 

X-Men #155 (March 1982)- First Brood and First Brood Queen

Let’s face it, the Brood was a shameless rip off of the alien creatures from Ridley Scott’s 1979 film. But they work. Remember the time they almost transformed Wolverine into a Broodling? John Byrne joined Chris Claremont to give us the Brood saga. It was really the second big cosmic adventure of the X-Men but a memorable one after the Shi’ar/Phoenix adventure. The most affordable of the books on this list, X-Men #155 can be found in graded 9.8 for $120.00. Returns over the last three months show positive numbers on the last two 9.8 sales (up +29.6%) and up +16.7% on 9.2 grades also after two sales.