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Cover: John Byrne & Terry Austin

The X-Men #141

Name: The X-Men #141
Brand: Marvel
Availability: InStock

Jan 1981 · Marvel · 0.50 USD

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“Days of Future Past”

★ 1st appearance — Pyro★ 1st appearance — Destiny★ 1st appearance — Avalanche

About this Issue

The X-Men #141 — cover-dated January 1981 and the opening chapter of the two-part 'Days of Future Past' — permanently altered the DNA of superhero storytelling by placing its heroes not in peril of defeat but of total historical erasure. Writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-plotter John Byrne demonstrated that a single political assassination could cascade into genocide, encoding themes of bigotry, state violence, and resistance directly into the genre's mainstream in a way that resonated far beyond comics. The issue introduced five significant characters in a single installment — Rachel Summers, Senator Robert Kelly, Destiny, Avalanche, and Pyro — and assembled Mystique's restructured Brotherhood of Evil Mutants for the first time as a team, seeding decades of X-Men continuity. Its dystopian future framework, designated Earth-811, became the foundational template for alternate-timeline storytelling across Marvel, influencing everything from the Age of Apocalypse to Cable's entire corner of the X-universe, and the story's allegorical power translated into the 1992 animated series and a blockbuster 2014 film.

In "Days of Future Past," Rachel Summers sends Kitty Pryde back to 1981 to warn the X-Men about a grim future where mutantkind faces annihilation. Written by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, with art by Byrne and inks by Terry Austin, this pivotal issue reshapes the X-Men's destiny through a time-traveling mission that hinges on a single, desperate act. The cover, by Byrne and Austin, captures the moment of transition with haunting clarity.

writer, artist John Byrne · writer Chris Claremont · inker Terry Austin · colorist Glynis Wein · letterer Tom Orzechowski · cover John Byrne, Terry Austin

ComicBooks.com Value

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Raw (Fine) $20

CGC 9.8 · 947 in census $1,022

CGC 9.6 · 1655 in census $236

CGC 9.4 · 1490 in census $116

CGC 9.2 · 978 in census $116

CGC 9.0 · 783 in census $106*

CGC 8.5 · 710 in census $85*

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CGC 8.0 · 520 in census $75

CGC 7.5 · 341 in census $64

CGC 7.0 · 311 in census $55*

CGC 6.5 · 202 in census $45*

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CGC 5.5 · 87 in census $38*

CGC 5.0 · 68 in census $37*

CGC 4.5 · 47 in census $32*

CGC 4.0 · 30 in census $29*

CGC 3.5 · 17 in census $27*

CGC 3.0 · 11 in census $24*

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CGC 1.5 · 1 in census $20*

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History

The issue was produced during the peak collaborative period of the Claremont–Byrne–Austin partnership, which had just concluded the 'Dark Phoenix Saga'; both creators contributed to the plot, with Claremont providing the script and Byrne functioning as co-plotter and penciler, inked by Terry Austin — the same team that had driven the title's rise to the top of Marvel's sales charts. The story's title is widely noted to have been inspired by the Moody Blues album 'Days of Future Passed,' and documentary evidence — including Claremont's phone-conversation notes, a three-page pitch, and a synopsis — survives to show how the concept was developed and sold to editor Louise Jones (credited as Louise Simonson at the time). The issue also marks the last time the indicia carried the plain title 'The X-Men' before the formal change to 'Uncanny X-Men' took effect with issue #142, even though the word 'Uncanny' had appeared on covers since #114.

Trivia · 8 facts

First appearance of Rachel Summers (later known as Phoenix, Marvel Girl, and Prestige), the future daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey, who is unnamed in this issue and identified only as the telepath who sends Kate Pryde's consciousness into the past.
First appearance of Senator Robert Kelly, the anti-mutant politician whose potential assassination serves as the story's pivotal trigger event, and who became a recurring figure in X-Men politics for years.
First appearances of Destiny (Irene Adler), Avalanche (Dominikos Petrakis), and Pyro (St. John Allerdyce) — three of the four new Brotherhood recruits assembled by Mystique in this issue.
First team appearance of Mystique's reorganized Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, consisting of Mystique, Destiny, Pyro, Avalanche, and the returning Blob — marking Mystique's first appearance in an X-Men title (she had debuted in Ms. Marvel #16, 1978).
The creative team is writer/co-plotter Chris Claremont, artist/co-plotter John Byrne, inker Terry Austin, letterer Tom Orzechowski, colorist Glynis Wein, and editor Louise Jones, with Jim Shooter as editor-in-chief.
This is the last issue published under the indicia title 'The X-Men'; the title officially became 'Uncanny X-Men' beginning with the next issue, though the word 'Uncanny' had appeared on covers since issue #114.
The issue is also notable as the first time Magneto is referred to by the name 'Magnus' in continuity.
The story has been reprinted extensively, including in Marvel Masterworks, the Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, multiple X-Men: Days of Future Past trade collections, a 2005 Marvel Legends action-figure pack-in reprint, and a 2023/2024 Marvel Facsimile Edition reproducing the original in its entirety with original ads; the 'Days of Future Past' storyline was adapted as a two-part episode of the 1992 X-Men animated series (with Bishop replacing Kitty Pryde as the time-traveler) and as the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past directed by Bryan Singer.