Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum's run on the X-Men (beginning with X-Men #94 and ending with X-Men #107) is one of the greatest runs in comic book history (especially if you include Giant-Size X-Men #1 which was also penciled by Cockrum). During this run, we saw the first appearances of Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, Thunderbird (and his death), Phoenix, Moira MacTaggert, Lilandra, Black Tom Cassidy, Gladiator, the Starjammers, the second full appearance of Wolverine, and the reveal that Wolverine's real name is "Logan."
Whew. Claremont and Cockrum did a lot of heavy lifting during that 15 month run!
For all of the reasons mentioned above, many collectors have sought to complete this run for their collections, but there's one other issue to consider including: Marvel Team-Up Annual #1.
The cover alone by Cockrum makes it feel like it belongs in that classic X-Men run by Claremont and Cockrum. And a Spider-Man crossover to boot!
Partially written by Chris Claremont, Marvel Team-Up Annual #1 is an oft forgotten story about this "new" X-Men team. Published during the same month and year as X-Men #101 (October 1976), we know its story takes place shortly after the events of X-Men #101 because we see Jean dressed as Phoenix on bottom right hand corner of the issue's splash page:
Therefore, at least in terms publication history, Marvel Team-Up Annual #1 includes the second appearance of the Phoenix, although the story itself most likely takes place after the X-Men (without Jean) return from their battle with Magneto in X-Men #104 and Jean's battle with Firelord in X-Men #105.
This issue is also significant because it is the very first time two of Marvel's most popular characters -- Spider-Man and Wolverine -- ever cross over. In fact, it's likely that Marvel planned this crossover to use its flagship character, Spider-Man, to revive interest in a flagging X-Men title that had been cancelled in 1970, and introduce readers to a new mutant team. The X-Men, of course, would go on to become one of the most widely read comic book titles of all-time.
There's evidence that this issue has flown under the market's radar. For instance, in comparison to other Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum X-Men issues, there's a relatively low supply of graded copies on the CGC Census. Specifically, there are 659 universal blue label copies of this issue on the Census; in comparison, there are 1,999 blue labels of X-Men #102, 2,265 blue labels of X-Men #104, and 1,887 blue labels of X-Men #105.
Because of the low supply of graded copies that are available for purchase, sale prices have typically been strong for this issue. For instance, this 9.8 sold recently on March 16th on eBay for an impressive $1,498:
Still, you can find some nice deals though if you're patient and willing to buy raw copies. For example, this high-grade raw copy sold for just $15 after receiving only one bid on eBay for $19:
That was a steal, in my opinion!
