The X-Men 1963 #137 Direct ed. - 8.5 - $60.00

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.

Captain Marvel prevents the Kree from invading Earth.

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.

• - Inside front cover.
• The Fate of the Phoenix! - 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.
• - Inside back cover. Ad for the Daisy 840 BB gun.
• - Back cover. Olympic Sales Club, Inc. ad.