1978

The X-Men:

Cyclops/Scott Summers

Banshee/Sean Cassidy

Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner

Storm/Ororo Monroe

Colossus/Peter Rasputin

Wolverine/Logan

Professor X/Charles Xavier

Phoenix/Jean Grey

Allies:

Moira MacTaggert

Lilandra

Beast

Ka-Zar

Foes:

Weapon Alpha [physical attributes enhanced to peak of human potential, flight, force field generation, energy blasts, all granted by special battle suit]*

Warhawk [steel hard “omnium skin” which is bulletproof]

Mesmero

Magneto

Sauron

Zaladane (sorceress)**

Petrified Man [immortality, stone-like body, can fire beams of fire from his eyes, can turn his entire body into energy and can manipulate matter on sub-atomic scale, he became the living avatar of the stone god Garokk after drinking a strange liquid from his Shrine]  

Havok and Polaris decide to take some time for them and help James Madrox at Moira’s Island for a while. Jean Grey feels odd about herself, like she’s not the same person since the Phoenix Force went inside her body, and not only Xavier feels it, Cyclops too. Apparently in a moment of confusion, Mesmero finds her and gains control over her mind, using her later to access Xavier’s mansion and hypnotize the rest of the X-Men to use them as circus freaks, while Xavier himself is currently taking a vacation in Greece with Lilandra. Beast stumbles with this surprise and manages to help them, but he’s beaten by Mesmero’s hypnotic powers falling unconscious. Luckily, the X-Men go back to their normal self on their own and when Mesmero’s defeated, Magneto shows up and takes them to an underground complex at the heart of a volcano to make them prisoners. Thanks to an old trick Storm learned in the streets, back when she was a kid after the death of her parents, they take Magneto by surprise and defeat him, but after the battle the complex collapses and apparently only Magneto, Phoenix and Beast managed to escape, thinking the rest of them died underground. However, they did find their way into the Savage Land, believing Beast and Jean died as well. While Cyclops doesn’t mourn Jean’s “death”, Wolverine does, he starts showing strong feelings towards her. Karl Lykos finds and takes Storm by surprise, absorbing her energy and transforming into Sauron again. Defeated, Lykos go back to his human form and Ka-Zar shows up calling him his friend, asking the X-Men for help to face Zaladane, priestess and queen of the Sun people, who summoned Petrified Man, the Sun God worshiped by their people, to conquer the Savage Land. Zaladane’s plan fail and Petrified Man falls into an abyss after an optic beam battle with Cyclops. Leaving Savage Land in peace, the X-Men start they return home riding a small wooden boat through the ocean.

* Leader of the secret branch of the Canadian Department of National Defense named Alpha Flight. He tried to take Logan back as their agent, by force. He calls Wolverine by the name of "Weapon X".

** Sister of Lorna Dane (Polaris).

1977

The X-Men:

Cyclops/Scott Summers

Banshee/Sean Cassidy

Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner

Storm/Ororo Monroe

Colossus/Peter Rasputin

Wolverine/Logan

Professor X/Charles Xavier
Phoenix/Jean Grey [Phoenix Force grants her the ability to psionically manipulate matter and any form of energy, create powerful “cosmic” fire, resurrect from death and manipulate life energy in others, manipulate timelines and travel unaided through space]

Allies:

Moira MacTaggert

Multiple Man [self duplication]

Lilandra

“Starjammers” (space pirates)*

Foes:

Black Tom Cassidy

Juggernaut

Erik The Red

Magneto

Havok

Polaris

Firelord [energy projection via eyes and staff, superhuman strength, reflexes and durability, flight, mastery of the electromagnetic spectrum, total immunity to the rigors of space, light speed travelling and mastery of cosmic flame]

Gladiator [superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility, reflexes and durability, flight, heat vision and freeze breath]**

Synopsis:

Moira asks the X-Men to go to her island, a mutant research center. She’s worried since she left someone named James Madrox (multiple man) in charge and hasn’t heard from him lately. Erik The Red took over the island to lure the X-Men’s attention and try to eliminate them again. He’s being helped not only by Polaris and Havok, but also Magneto, who was kept in the facilities after being transformed into a baby*** and Erik The Red made him adult again so it wasn’t hard for Magneto join forces with him. A normal Jean Grey is taken back to her parents while Xavier’s mansion is attacked by Erik The Red and his henchmen, along with Firelord, an alien from the planet Xandar in the Andromeda Galaxy, who is being tricked by Erik The Red. Back in Jean’s house, a female Shi’ar appears before Xavier and somehow he knows her, she’s Lilandra, princess of the Shi’ar who has come to meet him in person for an important matter and this is what Erik The Red was told to prevent. When Firelord aggressively breaks into Jean’s house, she transforms into Phoenix and defeats him easily. Jean is aware of her new powers and apparently in control, so she tries to help Xavier protecting Lilandra from Erik The Red and joins the X-Men chasing him through a portal, landing in the middle of the Shi’ar Empire, in front of an enraged mass of aliens and Gladiator, a powerful Strontian who serves the Shi’ar imperial guard. In the middle of the battle, a group of space pirates named Starjammers shows up to help the X-Men. Lilandra wanted to prevent his brother D’Kan from obtaining power from the M’craan Crystal, so she asked Xavier’s help since she has been observing him and his X-Men all this time, and how many times they saved mankind. Using and empathic link she had with the Crystal, Phoenix discovered an energy field in the form of a latticework which acted as a living shield for the Neutron Galaxy. The latticework was deteriorating. If it failed, the intense gravity from the Neutron Galaxy would cause all of creation to be sucked into it and the resulting Big Bang effect would give rise to a new virgin universe. Phoenix uses her powers combined with the powers of her fellow X-Men to repair the Crystal and thus save the universe from ultimate destruction. All return home along with Lilandra, who has been exiled from the Shi’ar empire.

* Their leader; Corsair, is Christopher Summers, Scott and Alex's father. Which is unknown to them until he decides to reveal this to them and why he left, in issues to come.

** Same powers as Superman, almost the same look, uses the same colors including a red cape… and he’s an alien… come on Marvel, don’t make it that obvious.

*** The Defenders is a heroic group formed by Dr. Strange, the Hulk, Valkyrie and Nighthawk. In Defenders # 16 they fight The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants {Magneto, Blob, Mastermind, Lorelei and Unus}, helped by Professor X. The Brotherhood use a powerful mutant who is capable of warping reality, but he turns against them after realizing he was doing wrong and reverts them to the age of children. 

1976

The X-Men:

Cyclops/Scott Summers

Banshee/Sean Cassidy

Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner

Storm/Ororo Monroe

Colossus/Peter Rasputin

Wolverine/Logan

Professor X/Charles Xavier

Allies:

Moira MacTaggert

Jean Grey

Foes:

Erik The Red [superhuman strength and agility, hollow bones, mind control, force blasts]*

Havok

Polaris

Steven Lang

Sentinels

X-Sentinels [capable of acting like the original X-Men, and using their powers]

Black Tom Cassidy [concussive blasts via wooden mediums]

Juggernaut

Synopsis:

Davan Shakari, an agent from an alien race named Shi'ar arrives to Earth as an "observer", sent by their ruler D'Ken. He assumes the identity of Erik The Red and gains control over Polaris and Havok in order to use them as henchmen against the X-Men. Dr. Steven Lang, a pioneer in the field of robotics and genetic mutation manufactures another wave of Sentinels to capture some of the X-Men and take them to a space station, luring the rest into a trap. There, Lang uses a human size horde of droids that look and act exactly like the original members of X-Men, including Xavier, to attack the new X-Men.** The droids lose the battle, and Lang escapes leaving a near to explode space station behind. Since the aircraft the X-Men were trying to use to escape wasn't working, Jean decides to stay in the station and operate it with telekinesis, sacrificing herself to save her teammates.*** After the ship enters Earth's atmosphere, and lands into the sea, a possessed Jean emerges calling herself Phoenix and as soon as she prepares to attack, falls unconcious and is taken to a hospital. In a battle against Juggernaut and Banshee's cousin; Black Tom Cassidy, who are working for Erik The Red, It is revealed that Storm's claustrophobia roots in a past tragedy when she was a kid, and found herself trapped in rubble next to her dead parents after bombing attacks in her homeland Egypt. Jean awakens, but a strange force seems to take over her.

* Something odd but never explained. He uses the same exact outfit Cyclops wore to infiltrate Mesmero's facilities, even the same fake identity.

** In this battle, we see Colossus and Wolverine using their throwing technique for the first time: the fastball special. They used this move many times.

*** This part is pretty similar to the end of the second movie of X-Men, where Jean also sacrifices herself to save her teammates from dying staying outside the jet. The desperation from Cyclops to get her back, and the final goodbye through telepathy it’s incredibly similar; especially considering this event is followed by her return as Phoenix. Thumbs up Bryan Singer.

1975

The X-Men:

Cyclops/Scott Summers

Banshee/Sean Cassidy

Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner [teleportation, enhanced night vision, superhuman agility, prehensile tail, ability to stick to walls, blending into shadows]

Storm/Ororo Monroe [weather manipulation, flight, energy perception, ecological empathy, resistance to the effects of the weather and extreme temperatures, resistant to telepathy]

Colossus/Peter Rasputin [ability to transform his body into “organic steel” granting him superhuman strength, stamina and durability]

Wolverine/Logan [regenerative healing factor, superhuman senses, strength, agility, stamina, reflexes and longevity, adamantium-laced skeletal structure, three retractable adamantium-laced bone claws on each hand]*

Thunderbird/John Proudstar [superhuman senses, strength, speed, stamina, sturdiness]

Professor X/Charles Xavier

Allies:

Marvel Girl

Angel

Iceman

Polaris

Havok

Sunfire

Moira MacTaggert

Foes:

Krakoa [living ecosystem with mind control, control over flora and fauna, all caused by exposure to radiation]

Count Nefaria

“Ani-Men”: Frog-man [superhuman strength, agility, stamina and leaping frog-like legs, frog-like physiology], Ape-man [superhuman strength, agility, stamina and reflexes, ape-like physiology], Bird-man [flight with wings, hollowed bones, superhuman strength, agility, stamina and reflexes], Cat-man [natural razor-sharp claws, superhuman agility and reflexes, acrobatic skills, cat-like physiology] and Dragonfly [hypnotic gaze, flight with dragonfly wings]

Kierrok

Synopsis:

After a couple of reprints…Xavier sends the X-Men to Krakoa Island, where according to Cerebro, lies a mutant that needs help, but a mysterious force hits them and only Cyclops escapes. Xavier, with the help of Cerebro, tracks a certain number of mutants around the world to help Cyclops in going back to Krakoa Island and rescue the disappeared X-Men. After a hard quest fighting the dangers of the island, they find the X-Men unconscious and discover Krakoa is actually a living island, an intelligent ecosystem able to command all living things native to its island body, and it's currently feeding from the X-Men´s energy. Krakoa battles the new and old X-Men by forming a giant humanoid body out of its terrain. With a combination of psi interference by Professor X and energy blasts from Cyclops and Havok, Storm is able to supercharge Polaris' magentic powers with bolts of lightning. Polaris interacts with the Earth's core and creates a magnetic pulse so strong that she is able to launch Krakoa into outer space. After solving this situation; Polaris, Havok, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman and Sunfire decide to abandon the mansion for good, leaving the remaining in the team, as the new X-Men. Count Nefaria returns with a new “Maggia” group: the Ani-men, animal-like warriors with powers granted by terrorist scientists, threatening with destroying the world with nuclear missiles. After beating the Ani-men, Count Nefaria escapes on a jet and Thunderbird tries to stop him, dying along with Nefaria when the jet explodes. Thunderbird’s death affects Cyclops, who starts questioning his leadership skills and out of control shoots an optic beam that hits an obelisk known as the Cairn, which triggered the release of an ancient demon named Kierrok that wishes to rule mankind.** Storm later was able to find the Cairn and destroy it, sealing Kierrok in his dimension again. Professor X leaves to attend some personal business, leaving Moira MacTaggert, an expert in genetic mutation, in the mansion as housekeeper.

* Wolverine's first appereance was actually as an enemy of the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk # 180.

** The way Cyclops is tormented by Thunderbird's death, and hears voices that makes him angry and lose control shooting a beam that triggers the release of an evil force, remembers me of X-Men 3: The Last Stand.

Side note: In case you're wondering "what happened with Beast?!" Well, Beast leaves the X-Men after the Z'nox events, before their mission to Krakoa Island (which is pretty obvious cos you don't see him around in the new issues, but there's no explanation) and this is shown in Amazing Adventures # 11, back in 1972, as a flashback. Hank was offered a position in the Brand Corporation, and he takes the oportunity to leave the nest, and make the transition from teenager to man. He later discovers the secret of his own mutation, and after realizing the corporation he was working for has plans to kill him, uses his discovery to hide his identity and transforms into the blue-furred monster we all know. Then, he joins The Avengers.

1971-1974

4 years of reprints, nothing new.

1970

The X-Men: 

Cyclops/Scott Summers

Iceman/Bobby Drake

Beast/Hank McCoy

Angel/Warren Worthington III

Marvel Girl/Jean Grey

Professor X/Charles Xavier

Allies:

Polaris

Havok
Changeling

Foes:

Sunfire [flight, plasma blasts, infrared vision, immunity to radiation]

Z’nox

The Hulk

A Japanese mutant; Shiro Yoshida, also known as Sunfire, attacks human Americans under the believe he was given special powers to avenge all the people who died when the atomic bomb fell in Hiroshima or after being exposed to radiation like his mother. He later changes his mind thanks to his father, who dies because of his fault. An alien race from the Andromeda Galaxy dedicated to enslavement called Z’nox, created a gravity transformer drive strong enough to transport their entire planet anywhere in the cosmos, choosing Earth as their target. Whenever they accomplish that, Earth would suffer terrible natural disasters after the balance of gravity becomes altered when the two planets get near to each other. To prevent this from happening, the X-Men join Havok and Polaris in a plan designed by Professor X himself, who has been alive all this time, but it was kept secret. Months before their battle against Grotesk, Xavier found clues about the Z’nox invasion, so he wanted to elaborate a plan without interruptions. At the time, Changeling, who had 6 months to live, approached to him and asks one last task to redeem himself and doing a good deed before dying, so he took Xavier’s shape to replace him in the battle against Grotesk and fake his death. Xavier links the compassionate minds of the world, funneled through Jean Grey, and blasts them through the optic beams of Cyclops towards the Z’nox.  Unable to handle the “mental corrosion” of this attack, the Z’nox reversed their planet’s course and left the solar system. After this, Xavier falls into a coma state from which he recovers thanks to a Gamma-ray powered device capable of curing mental exhaustion that belongs to Bruce Banner. They fight the Hulk on a rampage before that.

Side Note: Between issues 66 and 67, there was a considerable gap of several months without publishing anything new, followed by a long period with only reprints of early issues. Issue 67 would be the annoying start of a long reprint era, until issue 94 in 1975, where the story continues. “X-Men: The Hidden Years” series, published in years to come (1999-2001), tried to fill in the team’s chronology during the early 1970’s, but it was cancelled with issue # 22. The comic "Professor Xavier and the X-Men" tried also to re-tell the story from the begining (1995-1997), but it was financially unsuccessful too, with all the books being cancelled by issue #18. 

1969

The X-Men:

Cyclops/Scott Summers

Iceman/Bobby Drake

Beast/Hank McCoy

Angel/Warren Worthington III

Marvel Girl/Jean Grey

Allies:

Polaris

Havok [ability to absorb energy, energy blasts]

Ka-Zar

Foes:

Blastaar [superhuman strength, durability and endurance, energy blasts] ⃰

El Conquistador [electrical genius, weapon master]

The Living Pharaoh/ The Living Monolith [energy absorption and projection, superhuman strength, durability and longevity, size and mass manipulation, telepathy, after absorbing enough energy he turns into a more powerful self named The Living Monolith, which can also emit cosmic energy blasts of concussive force from his eyes]

Larry Trask [genius level intellect and precognitive knowledge of future events]

Sentinels (now they can adapt to mutant powers, using their weaknesses against them)

Sauron [flight, superhuman strength and stamina, hypnotic eyes, ability to absorb energy and mutant powers, fire breath, can sense mutants, all granted after being bite by a Pteranodon and absorbing energy from mutants which also turns him into a Pteranodon]

Magneto

"Neo-Mutants": Lorelei [hypnosis], Brainchild [superhuman intelligence], Amphibius [humanoid frog-like mutant], Barbarus [four arms], Lupo [superhuman strength, speed, reflexes and durability, keen senses, sharp claws and fangs, control over canine creatures], Gaza [radar senses] and Piper [control over beasts, uses a flute to focus his power]

Synopsis:

Scott Summers’s younger brother; Alex Summers, is kidnapped by The Living Pharaoh, who plans to use Alex’s mutant powers of energy absorption and projection to increase his. Larry Trask, Bolivar Trask’s son, blames the X-Men for his father’s death, and used Bolivar’s notes to create a stronger wave of Sentinels aided by Federal Judge Robert Chalmers who was a friend of Bolivar and knew Larry’s secret (not only about his mutant powers, but also about the medallion his father gave him when he was a kid to block his visions of the future, as well as erase any memory of them), reviving the fear of mutants in humans through the media and establishing a new witch hunt. Alex, now named Havok, after being captured by Sentinels like many other mutants, makes a deal with Trask to confront the X-Men in exchange of a suit to control his power, but he never really intended to follow his lead. Robert Chalmers changes his mind about Larry’s ideal; feeling he was crossing the line, putting mutants under critical circumstances, so he removes Larry’s medallion and the Sentinels capture him since they start to detect his mutant powers. Sentinels were eventually outwitted by Cyclops, and flew into space to meet their destruction in the sun. The captive mutants are freed and Judge Chalmers puts back the medallion on Larry to erase the knowledge of what happened to him. An unconscious Havok is treated by Dr. Karl Lykos, who was secretly absorbing energy from humans, ability acquired after being bite by a pteranodon in a past trip to a cave zone near the Savage Land. After absorbing energy from Havok, he gained an amount never acquired before from any human, transforming himself into a Pteranodon-like humanoid that calls himself Sauron, changing back to his human form when low in energy. After fighting and losing to the X-Men, he falls into an abyss, directly into the Savage Land. Magneto, who's now in the Savage Land, leads a small group of outcast savages with mutant powers created with a machine that induces mutation on humans, to take over the Savage Land and then the rest of the world; he calls them “Neo Mutants”**. After destroying the machine, the savages go back to their normal self.  

* A known villain of the Fantastic 4, member of an alien race called Baluurians that lives in the Negative Zone.

** In the first X-Men movie, Magneto also creates a machine that drains his magentism powers out of him, making him weak for a while, to transform humans into mutants.

1968

The X-Men: 

Cyclops/Scott Summers

Iceman/Bobby Drake

Beast/Hank McCoy

Angel/Warren Worthington III

Marvel Girl/Jean Grey

Professor X/Charles Xavier

Allies:

Red Raven [flight using mechanical wings]*

Foes:

Frankenstein (a robot replica of The Frankenstein Monster)

Jack O´Diamonds [radiation resistance, diamond body, telepathy and teleportation gained from exposure to radiation]

Grotesk [superhuman strength, durability, agility, impenetrable force field, infrared vision, resistant to telepathic attacks, adaptability to extreme environmental conditions, mechanical genius, all gained from exposure to radiation]

“The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants”: Magneto, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Toad

The Avengers {Hawkeye, Black Panther, Goliath and Wasp}

Juggernaut

The Maha Yogi (previously known as The Warlock)

Quasimodo (Quasi Motivational Destruct Organism, a droid capable of human-like emotions)**

Computo (sentient super computer intelligence in charge of a hive-like structure full of robots created by Quasimodo)

Mesmero [hypnotism]

Polaris [magnetism manipulation]

Battling Grotesk, the only survivor of an underground civilization called “Lava Men”, Professor X orders the X-Men to stay put in the HQ while he confronts the menace himself, failing in the process and dying on the same explosion that killed their terrible foe. In his last moments, he confesses he was dying already from and incurable disease, so he decided to sacrifice himself to protect the X-Men one last time. Later, they discover a message left by Xavier, in which he reveals he was secretly training Marvel Girl for her to have a more powerful telepathy, preparing them for Magneto’s return. Quicksilver, who was a recent member of The Avengers, accepts a proposal from Magneto to rejoin his group of evil mutants in exchange of a cure for Scarlet Witch, who apparently has a rare disease now, but neither of them entirely trusts him. Out of confusion, The X-Men battle The Avengers, who have come to check on Quicksilver and find him unconscious on the ground after fighting Cyclops. Magneto’s plans fail again and both The Avengers and the X-Men manage to escape. Toad helps Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to escape the island before it exploded, leaving Magneto behind due to his constant bullying behaviour towards him. Magneto´s goal of mutant superiority over humans is reaffirmed by the mutant Mesmero, who uses a horde of droids to fight the X-Men and mankind in the name of Magneto himself, abducting Lorna Dane (Polaris), his daughter, and using this link between them to manipulate her against their enemies with the aid of a droid that looks like Magneto. Cyclops uses a disguise and the fake identity of a mutant named Erik The Red to infiltrate Mesmero’s facilities and rescue Lorna, who discovers she is being manipulated and helps bringing down Mesmero’s plans.

* Guardian of a lost race of bird men that Angel found on a secret island. 

** Created by Mad Thinker, a known villain of the Fantastic 4.

1967

The X-Men: 

Cyclops/Scott Summers

Iceman/Bobby Drake

Beast/Hank McCoy

Angel/Warren Worthington III

Marvel Girl/Jean Grey

Professor X/Charles Xavier

Allies:

The Mimic

The Banshee [superhuman hearing, sonic screams, flight, concussive blasts and sonic energy lances]

Dr. Strange

Foes:

“Factor Three”: The Banshee, Ogre [mechanical genius], Mutant Master, The Blob, Changeling [shape shifting, telepathy and levitation], Mastermind, Unus and The Vanisher

Super-Adaptoid [capable of copying the powers and skills, including equipment and clothing]*

The Warlock [psionic abilities to control the mind of others, illusions, psionic force bolts, telekinesis, teleportation, force fields and altering his own appearance as a result of a mutation induced by The Caretakers of Arcturus, plus immortality thanks to the possession of a fragment of the Bloodstone]

Cobalt Man [power armor that grants him flight and repulsion rays like Iron Man]**

Juggernaut

Tyrannus [immortality, psychic powers, genius intellect] ***

Mekano [exoskeleton that increases his strength and speed]

Synopsis:

A terrorist organization named Factor Three appears. Their leader, Mutant Master sends two agents to capture Xavier. Of the two, The Banshee was being controlled by a mental device, so he is freed by the X-men and the other agent; Ogre, is captured. The Mimic leaves the group after some differences with the other X-men. After facing a couple of threats, Professor X who was keeping secretly captive in a locked room in the mansion the menace called Juggernaut, intents to change his mind, failing in the process and freeing him accidentally, occasioning another fight with the X-men and leaving him comatose. With the aid of Dr. Strange, Cyclops and Marvel Girl are sent into the Crimson Cosmos (a world created by Cyttorak to house the prototype gemstone of the actual gem that granted Cain Marko his powers) to find the prototype gem while the rest tried to stop Juggernaut. Back on earth, the X-men use the prototype gem first on Xavier to remove whatever influence had befallen him during the failed experiment, and also on the Juggernaut. When the prototype ruby made physical contact the Juggernaut was pulled into the Crimson Cosmos. Thanks to The Banshee the X-men finds Factor Three’s hideout. It is later revealed this organization plans to cause a nuclear war between USA and the Soviet Union, which would wipe out the human race. The organization splits as soon it´s revealed Mutant Master’s real intentions of destroying both mutants and humans, and that he's an alien with a human disguise. His henchmen turn against him, and help the X-men rescuing Xavier and The Banshee, later he commits suicide to avoid capture.

* Designed by A.I.M (Advanced Idea Mechanics), a terrorist organization, to defeat Captain America. It also fought The Avengers and other characters in the Marvel universe, copying many of their abilities.

** Also fought the Hulk and other Marvel characters. Died in Civil War #1 (2006).

*** Known villain of the Hulk.

1966

The X-Men:

Cyclops/Scott Summers

Iceman/Bobby Drake

Beast/Hank McCoy

Angel/Warren Worthington III

Marvel Girl/Jean Grey

Professor X/Charles Xavier

Foes:

Sentinels

Magneto

The Mimic [the ability of copying powers of other mutants while being close]

Unus

The Blob

Lucifer

The Arcane

Dominus (a sentient super-computer created by the Arcane to conquer planets. It uses a laser designed to take control over minds and it’s manipulated by robots)

"Maggia": Count Nefaria, Plantman [plant manipulation with special ray], Scarecrow [trained acrobat, escapologist and tumbler, highly apt contortionist, extreme agility and flexibility, master bird trainer, superhuman strength and stamina, mutated pheromone via implants, healing factor, ability to induce fear in victims], The Porcupine [weapons designer], Eel [electrified lubricated costume] and Unicorn [energy projection, force field generation, magnetic levitation, superhuman strength and endurance via radiation treatments, flight via rocket boots]*
The Locust (a scientist specialized in insect study who has a locust alter ego and uses chemicals and rays to increase the size of insects, he also uses mechanical wings to fly around)
El Tigre/ Kukulcán [animal control, psionic powers, telekinesis and telepathy, all granted by a sacred amulet of the mesoamerican god Quetzalcoatl]**
Puppet Master (uses radiactive clay to make puppets of people to control them)***

Synopsis:

After The Mastermold extracts information from Beast’s mind, Trask realizes that mutants aren’t the menace he thought they were, and regrets creating Sentinels to destroy them. However, the robots were completely out of control. Xavier discovers that Sentinel’s weak point is a crystal that causes interference in their circuits, and he uses this against all of them stopping their functioning while Dr. Trask sacrifices himself to destroy the source of power of Sentinels dying in the explosion. Since the mutants Trask pointed as menace saved humans from Sentinels, discrimination decreases a little bit. Magneto returns as he managed to escape from The Stranger’s planet, leaving Toad behind. Attacks from some mutants wearing X-men uniforms confuse society again about which mutants are good and which are evil. The return of Lucifer reveals the plan of an alien race called Quists or The Arcane, to conquer earth and enslave mankind using Lucifer and the machine Dominus. Defeated, Lucifer is sent to another dimension by The Arcane’s leader as punishment. An international crime syndicate that it's the world's most powerful organization dedicated to conventional crime called Maggia, intends to recruit the X-Men offering them the opportunity to have their revenge against humans, who reject them. Since they refuse to do so, Maggia attacks humans framing the X-Men with illusions, forcing them to defend themselves from civilians and the National Guard. With Angel injured and Jean assisting to college most of the week, the X-Men try to find a new member, and after asking Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Spiderman without success, The Mimic enters the group.

* This terrorist organization also fought The Avengers and Iron Man, among others in the Marvel universe. Scarecrow is very similar to DC's Scarecrow, which was created first for 1941's World's Finnest Comics # 3.

** The term Kukulcan is the mayan name for the god Quetzalcoatl.

*** Known villain of the Fantastic 4.