Set Description:
The rarest high-grade collection of the classic Claremont/Byrne X-Men run.
John Byrne brought me into comic collecting with the cover of Fantastic Four #239 — the first comic I ever bought off the rack at my small-town neighborhood drug store. I was a little late to the party to catch Byrne and Claremont’s magic on X-Men when it was coming out, but I made up for it. As a young man serving in the U.S. Navy, I hunted those back issues with a paper checklist tucked in my back pocket. That was comic collecting. The thrill of the hunt.
Years later, comics fell to the wayside — until COVID gave me time to fall in love with them again. But now? The hunt felt different. Too easy. Just a matter of narrowing down your eBay filters. And then… I saw her.
Phoenix, rising from the water on the cover of X-Men #101. Beautiful. And as a UK Price Variant? Extremely rare. I had to have her. That 9.4 CGC slab became the cornerstone of a new passion. UK price variants typically make up just 3–5% of the U.S. print run, and even fewer survive in high grade. As a collector based in the US, the hunt was back on.
The death of Phoenix, issue #137 was not published as a UK price variant, so for the penultimate chapter of Phoenix, I tracked down a CGC 9.8 signed by both Chris Claremont and John Byrne. I've also added a 9.8 Canadian Price Variant of Phoenix: The Untold Story for good measure.
I've recently completed my initial goal of 9.4 or better, but I'll keep my eye open for higher grade copies while I bring my complete Byrne UKPV run up to 9.4s or higher. The hunt continues - that’s the fun of collecting for me.
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