The rating I gave this comic is my best guess, however I am not a professional grader so please examine the photos closely.  If you have any questions or would like additional photos, please let me know.

VERY FINE+ : 8.5
VERY FINE : 8.0
VERY FINE- : 7.5

A VERY FINE comic book appears to have been read a few times and has been handled with some care.

This one allows for some more defects.

·        Small fold or crease in the cover.

·        Very few stress marks on spine.

·        A few small chips on the cover

·        The cover has some slight surface wear but still has its original gloss and there is nothing major wrong with it. Overall an exceptional, still very collectible.

·        The staples may show some discoloration, but it's not too noticeable on first glance.

Combined Shipping Available for Multiple Purchases ($1 for each additional comic)

Synopsis for "In the Shadow of...Sauron!"

Continued from last issue....

Following their battle with the Sentinels, the X-Men leave Larry Trask and Judge Chalmers to free the other captured mutants, Chalmers noticing that Larry has lapsed into a state of shock puts the power blocking medallion back on Larry in the hopes of restoring him to normal and making him forget everything that has transpired. As the X-Men return home to get Alex medical treatment, Lorna decides that her place is to be with the X-Men in light of recent events and she is accepted into the group.

Upon returning to New York City, Scott and Jean turn Alex over to Dr. Kyle Lykos, a doctor who uses hypnosis to help deal with patients mentally and physically. Needing to work in private, Scott and Jean leave Lykos to do his work and return to the X-Mansion. There they are almost blasted with lasers when the safety door to the Danger Room swings open. Inside, Lorna is watching Beast, Warren and Iceman go through a training session. When the session gets out of hand, Cyclops steps in and things end with Iceman once more tossing snow in someone’s face. With the session over, the X-Men comment on the mutants that were captured during their battle against the Sentinels and Hank points out the absence of both Magneto and the Changeling.

While at the office of Dr. Lykos, after treating Alex's physical wounds, Karl sends his nurse home and struggles with some strange addition that has come over him. He recalls back to when he was a young boy and was on an expedition with his father, his associate Mr. Anderssen and his young daughter Tanya in the Antarctic regions of Tierra Del Fuego. When Tanya goes missing, a search party is sent out and young Karl finds her in a cave being attacked by strange pterodactyls that live within the icy cavern. Although Karl saves Tanya from the creatures, one of them manages to wound him. Given medical attention right away, the young Karl was near death and in a fever state for a long time before recovering. When he did, he was greeted by his dog Jagger. To his horror, upon touching the dog, Karl began siphoning the dog’s energy and realized that he has become some kind of energy vampire. Growing up over the years, Karl would keep this need a secret, and as a young adult he and Tanya would fall in love and begin talking of marriage. However, Mr. Anderssen would not consent to their marriage unless Karl learned a profession that would allow him to provide for Tanya and so he went on to medical school. Determined to make a fortune, the obsessed Lykos vows to do anything to marry Tanya.

Lykos hooks Alex up to the machine. He is aware that Xavier had opened a school for mutants prior to his death and correctly deduces Alex to be a mutant. Lykos had helped Xavier in the early days in hope of feeding off mutant’s life energy. Trying this for the first time, Lykos feeds off Alex's mutant energy and it has a strange effect, Lykos transforms into a humanoid pterodactyl that is the embodiment of evil. Recalling his human persona's love of the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, the creature christens itself Sauron and flies off into the night.

When reports of a winged being, suspected to be a mutant, causing robberies, the X-Men contemplate investigating the situation. Furious that a winged being is giving him a bad name, Warren storms out of the room and returns later wearing his old Avenging Angel costume and decides to go and investigate the situation on his own fly off before anyone can stop him. With Warren potentially flying into even more trouble, Cyclops orders the other X-Men to get ready to follow after him. Warren manages to track down Sauron, however he tries to attack the creature, Sauron unleashes a hypnotic gaze that enthralls Warren into obedience.

This story is continued next issue...