 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Muir Island Saga" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| "Muir Island Saga" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Cover ofThe Uncanny X-Men 280 (Sept, 1991), art byJim Lee | |||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||
| Publication date | July – September1991 | ||
| Genre | |||
| |||
| Main character(s) | X-Men X-Factor | ||
| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | Chris Claremont Fabian Nicieza Peter David | ||
| Penciller(s) | Paul Smith Andy Kubert Whilce Portacio Kirk Jarvinen Steven Butler | ||
| Inker(s) | Hilary Barta Scott Williams Phil Lasorda Joe Rubinstein | ||
| Letterer(s) | Tom Orzechowski Michael Heisler | ||
| Colorist(s) | Joe Rosas Glynis Oliver Dana Moreshead Steve Buccellato | ||
| Editor(s) | Tom DeFalco Bob Harras | ||
The "Muir Island Saga" is a five-partMarvel Comicscrossover event involving theX-Men andX-Factor, published in 1991. It was written byChris Claremont andFabian Nicieza.
After warnings fromForge andBanshee, theX-Men andProfessor X investigateMuir Island, whose inhabitants have been taken over by theShadow King. They are captured by the inhabitants. Professor X returns to his mansion, now in ruins after theInferno storyline, to useCerebro, only to findStevie Hunter on the run fromColossus, also controlled by the Shadow King. Professor X battles Colossus and frees him from the Shadow King's control, but he is forced to strip away the Peter Nicholas persona he had been using since passing through theSiege Perilous. Xavier decides to call in his original students, now forming the teamX-Factor.
On Muir Island,Wolverine separates himself from his party and is attacked and freed from control by Forge.Rogue appears, ready to attack, but she too is taken out by Forge. The three regroup, but are quickly attacked by Banshee, who is also quickly taken down and freed. Banshee explains that Shadow King has been usingPolaris as a nexus between the physical world and theastral plane since the timeZaladane stripped Polaris of her magnetism powers. Using her new powers to absorb negative energy for superhuman strength, Shadow King plans on becoming all-powerful. They fear that to break that connection and defeat him, they may have to kill Polaris.
With X-Factor gathered, Professor X plans a strike on Muir Island using resources provided byValerie Cooper. X-Factor lands on the island and quickly neutralizes its defenses. Back at the base, Professor X is attacked directly by the Shadow King, using his host body Jacob Reisz, who thinks he has control of all those present, including Cooper. She reveals herself to be a disguisedMystique and kills Reisz. Shadow King quickly shifts to a new host,Legion. As X-Factor and the freed X-Men reach Polaris, Legion sets off an explosion that destroys much of the island.
Professor X lands on the island himself, but finds Legion holding all of his students captive. Legion is attacked unexpectedly byStorm, freeing the X-Men. He retreats and unleashes the X-Men and Muir Island inhabitants to take down his enemies. Professor X decides they must attack the Shadow King on both the physical and astral planes to defeat him, so he sends half the team to break the nexus formed with Polaris and the other half to protect his body while he is on the Astral Plane. He begins his battle with the Shadow King, but now the villain has become too powerful to attack.Jean Grey, finding the damage inflicted to Xavier on the Astral Plane affecting his actual body, brings herself and the accompanying X-Men onto the Plane to assist. In the physical world, Forge defeats the still-controlledPsylocke and uses her psychic knife on Polaris to disrupt and sever the nexus. His power source destroyed, the Shadow King is ripped apart.
In the aftermath, Professor X fails to repair the mental damage to Legion's mind, leaving Legion brain-dead, but is comforted by X-Factor's decision to rejoin the X-Men. Val Cooper, returned from Shadow King's control, recruits Polaris,Guido Carosella andJamie Madrox into a new government-sponsored team to replaceFreedom Force.
The series had several lasting results for the X-Men family of characters.
The storyline has been completely or partially reprinted in the following volumes:
