Issue #101 marked the beginning of the Phoenix Saga, the conclusion of the Eric the Red subplot and culmination of a year's worth of stories from Claremont. And yet, the Phoenix Saga was also a stepping stone for bigger and better things. It's a story where the X-Men save the entire universe, an epic, and yet it was handily eclipsed by the Dark Phoenix Saga. It brought back a few classic X-Men villains to face off against the new team, but it also introduced a veritable host of new supporting characters.
This period also marks a transition for the art team. Penciller (and co-creator) Dave Cockrum decided to leave the book, though he returned for a considerable stretch of issues a few years down the line. He handed the reins over to Jack Byrne starting with #108. He unfortunately left right during the climax of the storyline, but Byrne was similar enough to him stylistically that the change isn't exactly jarring, or perhaps even very noticeable (at least to someone whose eye for art is as horrible as mine).
#106 was filled in by Bob Brown (and, incidentally, plotted by Bill Mantlo, due to complicated circumstances that I'll explain later) and #110 by Tony DeZuga, with assists provided by Cockrum.
