Villain: Sauron; Garokk, the Petrified Man, Zaladane

First Appearance: Nereel

Guest Appearance: Ka-Zar, Karl Lykos, Nereel

Cameo: Kirk Marston, Tandy Snow, Tongah, Kloss, the Sheenars (all in flashback)

Letters Page: Page One

Sauron stands gloating over an unconscious Storm when Wolverine attacks. Sauron grabs him and stares deep into his eyes, hypnotizing the Canadian mutant and turning him loose on his teammates. Cyclops fends him off with optic blasts while Banshee goes after Sauron in the air. Wolverine thinks all his teammates are demons, and acts accordingly, bashing Nightcrawler after he tried to help Wolverine. Then he attacks Cyclops, imagining him to be a demon attacking Jean Grey, who is actually Sauron. Cyclops blasts Wolverine out of his way, then turns his attentions back to Sauron. Both he and Banshee hit Sauron form both sides and send him flying off.

Sauron finds Colossus dragging Storm from the lake and he attacks the Russian, trying to suck his life-force from him. Colossus changes into his armored form and the effect knocks Sauron through the trees and back into his human form of Karl Lykos. Wolverine, no longer under Sauron’s control comes to Lykos to exact revenge but is stopped by Ka-Zar, who has come on to the scene with his sabre-toothed companion Zabu.

Ka-Zar, Karl Lykos and the X-Men all return to the village for explanations. When last the X-Men had seen Karl Lykos, he had thrown himself of an arctic cliff (see X-Men #61.) Obscured from their view, Lykos actually landed on a lower ledge and made his way down to the Savage Land. Without any mutants to trigger his change into Sauron, Lykos lived off the land in peace and made amends with himself as a man free from becoming the monster inside. A few weeks previous to the X-Men's arrival, he stumbled onto an ancient temple. Inside he found the high priestess Zaladane performing a human sacrifice to the god Garokk. She paints a circle on Kirk Marston’s chest with ashes and transforms him into Garokk, the Petrified Man. Garokk walks the Savage Land and erases an alien city which had sprung up in the swamp, and which Zaladane had tainted as "blasphemous." In its place he builds his own, and issues a decree that all the dwellers of the Savage Land must live within his city. Those who refuse will die.

Ka-Zar asks the X-men’s assistance in fighting him, but Cyclops declines. He fears Magneto will attack Professor X, and that they are urgently needed at home (though he does promise to return once they settle their issues.) Ka-Zar understands and guides them to a boat they will use to make passage out of the Savage Land. But when they get to the river, they find it frozen solid. For the first time in history, there is snow in the Savage Land. Ka_zar is certain that Garokk’s city has upset the ecological balance, and that this will mean death for the Savage Land.

(continued in XMEN #116)

- -synopsis by Jonathan Clarke, aka doesitmatter, and Gormuu

- - panel scans provided by Jonathan Clarke, aka doesitmatter