Although the X-Men was popular, it never sold like some of the other Comics at Marvel. The Avengers and Fantastic Four had been around a similar time as the X-Men, and they outsold the merry gang of Mutants.
New characters had been introduced, Havok the long lost brother of Cyclops and a Green haired girl called Lorna Dane who was believed to be the daughter of Magneto. When Lorna first met Magneto he claimed she was not his child. That Magneto turned out to be a Robot, so what he said was true. The real Magneto would turn out to be her real father , but that was only confirmed decades later.
Lorna aka Polaris started off as the Girl Friend of Iceman Bobby Drake , but soon she was an item with Alex Summers aka Havok. Another strange fact was that Lorna would not be officially called Polaris until issue 97 # after being introduced in issue 49 #. She did go by the name Magnetrix for a short time.
Marvel tried all ways to improve sales. They Killed of Professor X, forcing the X - Men to split up for a time. They brought Professor back to life (Ok he never really died it was all part of a ruse involving a shape shifter). The X-Men started to be involved with new villains that were not Mutants, but sales did not really improve as vary few of the new villains made an impact. They tackled Magneto again, and again...... but sells did not improve.
In issue 66# they even took on The Hulk. That issue would be the last original story as from 67# onwards it was now a comic that offered no new stories just reprints. Then by issue 93# January 1975 the plug was pulled on the comic for good. The X-Men were no more. The reprinted stories had sold well, but the Guys at Marvel knew that they needed to take back the X-Men title, as they had exciting plans for it.
A few of the X-Men did and had guest starred or appeared in other comics after the time the original run had ended., Hank McCoy had been appearing in his own series The Beast, where he had actually mutated himself into a Big Blue Beast. He would go on to be a popular member of the Avengers. .... and show the world that Mutants could be good guys after all.
Angel had come out to the world as a Mutant, and for a time he was financing and taking part in a new Super Hero group based on the West Coast called The Champions. Bobby Drake aka Iceman was also a member along side Warren....... The Black Widow, Hercules, and the Original Ghost Rider. Other members would join the group as time moved on. The Champions only lasted 17 issues..... but they were a good read I thought at the time. Maybe too much like the Avengers for some readers. Plus stories about The God of Mount Olympus and Soviet Union did not seem that original. It did introduce The Mutant Russian Dark Star, and gave a home to Bill Foster aka Black Goliath for a time. Even the Hank McCoy made an appearance in his new Hairy form. It lasted 3 years, but remember many comics back then only published Bi - Monthly.
Alex and Lorna, had retired from the Super Hero business and were now off exploring and studying Geophysics in the desert areas of California.
Not much was known what Scot and Jean got up to. In issue 66 Professor X had fallen into a coma. Maybe Scot and Jean stayed at the Mansion looking after him. The series The X-Men the Hidden Years published years later did try to address what the X-Men had been getting up during the period after they got cancelled..... but these stories although good, just placed our favourite Teenaged Mutants in with other heroes and villains such as The Fantastic Four, and people of the Savage Land, Magneto, The Sentinels , The Moleman and even Kraven the Hunter. They even met a young girl who would later become know as Storm.
These tales took the reader up to the point where Hank aka The Beast had celebrated his 20th Birthday and was on the brink of leaving the Group to go off to be the scientist he always wanted to be.
With the all new X - Men coming on the scene after Giant Sized X-Men 1 ( 1975 ) in which a new team was formed to rescue the old team it finally showed that the original X-Men had still been a team of sorts. We will gloss over that many years later it was releveled that the new team of X-Men were in fact the 2nd Choice... Another group had been formed by Professor X. to rescue the original team. This included Gabriel Summers, brother to Both Scott and Alex. They were believed to have died in their attempt to rescue the original team. Professor X used his powers to basically wipe any memories of them from the minds of everyone.
All the originals had returned on the Professor request, to help investigate a mysterious island, including Alex and Lorna. The only person missing was Hank. I am not sure why he was left off of the roster, but it maybe he was no ready to admit he was now big blue and furry. A throw away comment from Scott seemed to imply that Hank was too busy with his new life to help the Professor.
Now officially retired from the X-Men, Jean, Bobby and Warren all then took some time out to be themselves. Hank remember had already left the team by this point. Scot had decided to remain and help train the new members on the team. His relationship with Jean would still continue.... at a distance. The X-Men were now back, ok a brand new line up, but they were back. Issue 94# saw the first "All New, All Different" Adventures of the New International Team of Mutants. A big change from what came before. No longer were they 5 Five White America Teenagers. No along with Cyclops were heroes from Russia, Africa, Ireland, Germany, Canada, and even a Native America Apache named Thunderbird. But he did not last very long.
In issue 98# Jean was back and was in New York to celebrate Christmas with Scot and the X-Men. Little did anyone know that this would not be a season to be jolly.
I have included this next outfit of Jean's as this iconic look would be the final time anyone saw the real Jean Grey for some time. No spoilers here. It is far too complicated anyway.
This is how Jean looked at the start of the date. But after she had kicked off of her shoes, both she and Scot ended up battling a Sentinel. The result she found herself the prisoner of Steven Lang who had recently restarted the Sentinel Programme. She along with Wolverine, Banshee and Professor X had been taken to Lang's Space Station. Lang explained that he wanted to destroy Mutant kind for ever.
After Lang struck a helpless and bound Jean, an enraged Wolverine broke free his bonds and freed the others. Jean realised that fighting whilst wearing a long evening dress would not be ideal tried to tear her dress so she could run unhampered. Unfortunately she had trouble doing this. So Wolverine stepped in and the result was this.
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The result was much too short according to an annoyed Jean... who shouted to Wolverine sarcastically " Thank You Very Much, I think ! " Logan just laughed and said " Any Time Red " This would not be the last time that Logan would flirt with Jean over the years. He really had a thing for Red Heads it would turn out. It was funny for a lady who spent most of her late teenaged years running around in a very short green dress to get upset with Wolverine's helpful if over the top dress alterations. . !!!
This was the last sight the X-Men got to see of Jean, as she ordered them all to go into the secure section of the space shuttle that that had been used in the rescue attempt. However the cockpit had been damaged during the rescue. Jean knew that she could pilot the shuttle after taking that knowledge from the pilot who was injured during the rescue .... but would her telekinetic powers be enough to hold back the solar radiation storm that was soon to engulf them all.
To find our come back next time.
Until then ENJOY !
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