Spécial Strange #11
Spécial Strange #11 brought one of the most consequential single issues of the Bronze Age X-Men run to French-speaking readers just under two years after its American release. The centerpiece reprint — X-Men #100 (August 1976) — is the issue in which the new, post-Giant-Size team first confronts robotic duplicates of the original X-Men, features the debut of the Fastball Special by Colossus and Wolverine, and closes on Jean Grey's fateful decision to pilot the shuttle through a solar flare, the direct narrative trigger for the Phoenix transformation. By packaging that landmark story alongside the three-part Marvel Team-Up Salem Witch Trials arc, Editions Lug gave its readers a dense cross-section of the mid-1970s Marvel universe — mutants, time travel, Doctor Doom, and the Vision and Scarlet Witch as a romantic unit under pressure — in a single full-color package at a time when no other French publisher was offering comparable material.
In "X-Men contre X-Men !", the X-Men face off against the X-Sentinelles in a desperate bid to free their captured teammates. With the space station crumbling and time running out, Jean must make a harrowing choice—pilot the shuttle back to Earth, knowing the mission will cost her life. Written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Dave Cockrum, with vibrant colors by Bonnie Wilford, this tense chapter unfolds with emotional weight and high-stakes action. The cover, by Jean and Thomas Frisano, captures the intensity of the moment.
In "X-Men contre X-Men !", the X-Men face off against the X-Sentinelles in a desperate bid to free their captured teammates. With the space station crumbling and time running out, Jean must make a harrowing choice—piloting the shuttle to safety, knowing the mission may cost her life.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Spécial Strange was launched by Editions Lug in July 1975 as a quarterly companion to its flagship monthly Strange, which had been reprinting Marvel Comics in French since January 1970. Lug — founded in 1950 by Marcel Navarro and Auguste Vistel as both an original-comics and American-reprint house — expanded its Marvel roster throughout the mid-1970s under their editorial stewardship, adding titles such as Spécial Strange, Titans, Nova, and Conan to meet growing reader demand. Issue #11, carrying a legal deposit date of March 1978, was part of the fourth collected album grouping (issues #10–12) and selected source material that was approximately 18–24 months old at the time of French publication, the typical lag in Lug's reprint pipeline.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Contains the French-language first printing of X-Men #100 (cover-dated August 1976, written by Chris Claremont, drawn by Dave Cockrum, colored by Bonnie Wilford, edited by Marv Wolfman) under the translated title 'X-Men contre X-Men.'
- X-Men #100 features the very first use of the 'Fastball Special' — Colossus hurling Wolverine as a projectile — named and executed on-panel for the first time in Marvel continuity.
- The same X-Men #100 reprinted here depicts Dr. Steven Lang's X-Sentinels (robotic duplicates of the original X-Men lineup) and closes with Jean Grey sacrificing herself to pilot a radiation-flooded shuttle, the narrative setup immediately preceding the Phoenix transformation in #101.
- Also contains parts 1–3 of the 'A Witch in Time!' arc: Marvel Team-Up #41 (January 1976), #42 (February 1976), and #43 (March 1976), all scripted by Bill Mantlo with pencils by Sal Buscema and inks by Mike Esposito and Dave Hunt — a time-travel story sending Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, and the Vision to the 1692 Salem Witch Trials, with Doctor Doom joining the team in part 3.
- Marvel Team-Up #42 features the first appearance of the Dark Rider, the supernatural antagonist behind Cotton Mather/Witchslayer's scheme, alongside John Proctor, Sarah Good, and other historical Salem figures.
- Published by Editions Lug (Lyon, France) with a legal deposit date of March 1978; 70 pages, full color, French language, in the 'LUG Super Héros' collection.
- The issue was later collected in Spécial Strange Album N°4 (February 1978), which gathered issues #10 through #12 of the series.
- Editions Lug routinely made panel-level alterations to reprinted pages via its in-house studio ('l'atelier Lug'), adjusting artwork and dialogue for its French youth-press regulatory environment (Loi n° 49-956 du 16 juillet 1949).
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Marvel Team-Up #41 (1976), Marvel Team-Up #42 (1976), Marvel Team-Up #43 (1976), The X-Men #100 (1976), Strange #97 (1978), Une Aventure de l'Araignée #2 (1978), Une Aventure de Conan #6 (1978), Planète des Singes #14 (1978), Titans #13 (1978), Une Aventure des Fantastiques #15 (1978), Strange #100 (1978)
Reprinted in Spécial Strange #10 (1977), Une Aventure de l'Araignée #2 (1978), Nova #2 (1978), Strange #99 (1978), Titans #13 (1978), Strange #100 (1978)
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