And Then -- the X-Men!

Plagued by dreams of Morbius and becoming even iller, Peter Parker decides to resume his hunt for Michael Morbius after his latest nightmare rouses his roommate Harry Osborne. Deciding to seek out Hans Jorgenson once more to see if there are any leads, Spider-Man arrives just after Jorgenson is kidnapped by Morbius himself. When Spider-Man is spotted by the landlady, Spider-Man is blamed for the scientists kidnapping.

When news of Jorgenson's supposed kidnapping by Spider-Man reaches Charles Xavier (an old colleague of Jorgenson) he once more summons his charges the X-Men. Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel and Ice Man all answer his summons, however, the Beast refuses to join, having a mission of his own to accomplish. Professor X sends the X-Men out into New York City to track down Spider-Man.

When they find the wall-crawler, a battle ensues ending with Spider-Man being over-powered by the X-Men and restrained by Marvel Girl. Learning via a psi-probe that Morbius kidnapped Jorgenson, Xavier orders the X-Men to bring the now comatose Spider-Man back to the X-Mansion for further probing and to study Jorgenson's notes.

There they learn that Spider-Man will soon die due to a toxin used to cure him of four additional arms that he gained during his last encounter with Morbius. They also learn that Jorgenson was working on a cure which could be utilized by Morbius' blood.

In order to rescue his friend and save Spider-Man, Professor X sends the X-Men out to capture Morbius. After a lengthy battle, the X-Men manage to defeat Morbius and rescue Jorgenson. Afterwards, Jorgenson is able to cure Spider-Man, who thanks the X-Men before leaving them to deal with Morbius.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman), Harry Osborn, Hans Jorgenson, Morbius the Living Vampire, Beast

Continuity Notes

• The Beast declines to join the X-Men because he is keeping a secret that he has mutated further and is attempting to investigating the shady operations of the Brand Corporation, as seen in Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #11 onward. The X-Men don't learn the truth until Amazing Adventures (vol. 2) #15.

• Professor X uses his mental powers to learn about Spider-Man's brief mutation into having six arms, and his battle with Morbius and the Lizard. these events happened in Amazing Spider-Man #100-102.

• Although Morbius is left in the care of the X-Men, he manages to escape them in Fear #20.