As Phoenix Force :
182-678: Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby , the character first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963). Jean Grey is a member of a subspecies of humans known as mutants , born with superhuman abilities. She was born with psionic powers. The character has also been known as Marvel Girl , Phoenix and Dark Phoenix at various points in her history. Her powers first manifested when she saw her childhood friend being hit by
364-487: A naturalistic style of superheroes with human failings, fears, and inner demons - heroes who squabbled and worried about the likes of paying the rent. In contrast to the super-heroic do-gooder archetypes of established superheroes at the time, this ushered in a revolution. With dynamic artwork by Kirby, Steve Ditko , Don Heck , and others, complementing Lee's colorful, catchy prose, the new style became very popular among teenagers and college students who could identify with
546-525: A supernova which kills the entire population of the only civilized planet orbiting the star. A Shi'ar vessel attacks to prevent her from destroying other stars. Dark Phoenix easily destroys the vessel, but not before they alert the Shi'ar Empress Lilandra . A council of intergalactic associates is gathered, including the Kree and Skrull empires, and concludes that Dark Phoenix is an even more serious threat than
728-498: A tabloid -sized, 10-by-15-inch (250 mm × 380 mm), 36-page magazine with a card-stock, non-glossy cover. An anthology , it mixed humor features such as the funny animal comic "Pelion and Ossa" and the college-set "Jigger and Ginger" with such dramatic fare as the Western strip "Jack Woods" and the " yellow-peril " adventure "Barry O'Neill", featuring a Fu Manchu -styled villain, Fang Gow. Issue #6 (Oct. 1935) brought
910-538: A 2012 public signing, Claremont spoke about the context of the late 1970s and the end of the Vietnam War during the story's writing, stating that the history of these events also made Jean Grey's genocidal actions difficult to redeem. In the original ending, Jean does not revert to Dark Phoenix, and the Shi'ar subject her to a "psychic lobotomy", permanently removing all her telepathic or telekinetic powers. Claremont and Byrne planned to later have Magneto offer Jean
1092-410: A 48-page special issue titled Phoenix: The Untold Story . It contained the original version of The Uncanny X-Men #137, the original splash page for The Uncanny X-Men #138 and transcripts of a roundtable discussion between Shooter, Claremont, Byrne, editors Jim Salicrup and Louise Jones , and inker Terry Austin . The discussion was about the creation of the new Phoenix persona, the development of
1274-644: A Sentinel factory. Sentinels crush Jean's escape pod and she dies, but is resurrected into a cloned body. She is also a member of the Quiet Council , Krakoa's provisional government. Following the events of House of X, Jean briefly joins the Krakoan incarnation of X-Force, before resigning in protest of Beast's actions in Terra Verde. The Phoenix Force soon hosts a tournament to determine its new host, ultimately selecting Maya Lopez, also known as Echo. With
1456-498: A Siegel/Shuster creation from the slush pile and used it as the cover feature (but only as a backup story) in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). The duo's alien hero, Superman , was dressed in a cape and colorful tights. The costume, influenced by Flash Gordon 's attire from 1934, evoked circus aerial performers and circus strongmen, and Superman became the archetype of the " superheroes " that would follow. In early 1939,
1638-489: A being who had committed genocide. Byrne and Salicrup explained that they had no problem with this resolution because they had always thought of Dark Phoenix as a separate entity who had possessed Jean Grey, with Salicrup drawing an analogy to the film adaptation of The Exorcist : "In the movie there's this little girl who's taken over and several people get killed, but by the end, when the demon's gone no one thinks, 'Let's kill that murderous little girl.'" However, on reading
1820-469: A car. She is a caring, nurturing figure, but she also has to deal with being an Omega-level mutant and the physical manifestation of the cosmic Phoenix Force . Jean first experienced a transformation into Phoenix in the X-Men storyline " The Dark Phoenix Saga ". Due to Mastermind 's manipulations, Jean became Dark Phoenix during "The Dark Phoenix Saga" and sacrificed herself. Jean is an important figure in
2002-735: A collection of English-language newspaper inserts originally published in Europe as the 1837 book Histoire de Mr. Vieux Bois by Rodolphe Töpffer . The G. W. Dillingham Company published the first known proto-comic-book magazine in the US, The Yellow Kid in McFadden's Flats , in 1897. A hardcover book, it reprinted material—primarily the October 18, 1896, to January 10, 1897, sequence titled "McFadden's Row of Flats"—from cartoonist Richard F. Outcault 's newspaper comic strip Hogan's Alley , starring
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#17327730190662184-572: A compromise, and Claremont responded that such a scenario was unfeasible since in his opinion, the X-Men would want to continually try to rescue Jean from imprisonment. According to Shooter, Claremont out of frustration suggested that they kill off Jean completely. Although Shooter suggests that the proposed plot point was a bluff by Claremont, playing on the unwritten rule that main characters were not to be killed permanently, he accepted it, even over later objections by both Claremont and Byrne. Ultimately, it
2366-573: A decadent role that allows her to relish the extremes of human emotion and begins to break down the barriers that she had erected. She helps the Hellfire Club capture the X-Men , and Jean's true love Cyclops faces Mastermind in a psychic duel. When Mastermind kills Cyclops' psychic image, it breaks his hold over Jean's psyche and shatters the final barriers on her power. Experiencing this power in its totality overwhelms Jean, and she renames herself "Dark Phoenix". Enraged at Mastermind, she uses
2548-464: A fan, and that he neither formally pitched the idea to anyone nor gave it the final go ahead. Claremont expressed dissatisfaction with the retcon, stating in 2012: "We'd just gone to all the effort of saying, 'Jean is dead, get over it,' and they said, 'Haha, we fibbed.' So why should anyone trust us again? But that's the difference between being the writer and being the boss." In a 2008 interview Byrne said he still felt Busiek's method of reviving Jean Grey
2730-499: A final confrontation with a traitor at the institute (the X-Men's teammate Xorn , posing as Magneto) Jean fully realizes and assumes complete control of the powers of the Phoenix Force, but is killed in a last-ditch lethal attack by Xorn. Jean dies, telling Scott "to live". However, after her funeral, Scott rejects Emma and her offer to run the school together. This creates a dystopian future where all life and natural evolution
2912-465: A hero and "decent human being", and the "untenable situation" with Madelyne was dealt with by transforming her into a prolicidal demonic villain and killing her off. Soon after the beginning publication of X-Factor , Marvel also reprinted and released the original X-Men series under the title Classic X-Men . These reissues paired the original stories with new vignettes, elaborating on plot points. One such issue, Classic X-Men #8 (April 1987), paired
3094-523: A lifeless clone of Jean Grey created by the villain Mister Sinister. Sinister created the clone to mate with Cyclops to create genetically superior mutants. Named " Madelyne Pryor ", the unaware clone meets Cyclops in a situation engineered by Sinister and the two fall in love, marry, and have a child, Nathan Christopher Summers. Meanwhile, the cocoon is discovered and retrieved by the Avengers and
3276-554: A long shadow; later milestone sagas would have to look in a new direction—inward—to examine the meaning of the medium and the inner nature of heroes and villains themselves." Chase Magnett of ComicBook.com wrote, "The reason why the characters and subplots surrounding "The Dark Phoenix Saga" remain so flexible is that the core themes of the story are what continue to resonate after almost four decades. [...] We understand that corruption, power, and monstrosity are truly evergreen themes in literature, not just superhero comics. They serve as
3458-603: A million copies a month each; comics provided very popular cheap entertainment during World War II especially among soldiers, but with erratic quality in stories, art, and printing. In the early 1940s, over 90 percent of girls and boys from seven to seventeen read comic books. In 1941, H. G. Peter and William Moulton Marston , created the female superhero character Wonder Woman , who debuted in All Star Comics #8 (December 1941) and Sensation Comics featuring Wonder Woman in 1942. MLJ 's Pep Comics debuted as
3640-466: A new costume and adopts the codename "Phoenix"; meanwhile, the cocoon containing the real Jean Grey sinks to the bottom of the bay, unnoticed. Phoenix continues her life as Jean Grey with the other X-Men, joining them on missions and even helping to save the universe. During " The Dark Phoenix Saga ", Phoenix becomes overwhelmed and corrupted by her first taste of evil and transforms into a force of total destruction called "Dark Phoenix", inadvertently killing
3822-455: A new series that would reunite the original X-Men into a new team called X-Factor , to be written by longtime freelancer Bob Layton . Hearing of this, Byrne called Layton and suggested Busiek's idea as a means of raising Jean Grey from the dead while satisfying Shooter's demands for total absolution for Jean. A three-part crossover was planned to launch X-Factor , involving the Avengers ,
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#17327730190664004-573: A number of trade paperbacks: The story is also included in Essential X-Men, Volume 2 (584 pages, October 1997, Panini Comics , ISBN 978-0-7851-0298-4 ), part of Marvel's Essential series of black-and-white trade paperbacks. The volume collects The X-Men #120–144 and The X-Men Annual #3–4. The story is included in the hardcover Marvel Masterworks : Uncanny X-Men, Volume 4 ( The X-Men #122–131, Annual #3) and Volume 5 ( The X-Men #132–140, Annual #4) The opening of
4186-510: A profound impact upon the American comic-book industry. Their popularity, along with mainstream media attention and critical acclaim, combined with changing social tastes, led to a considerably darker tone in comic books during the 1990s nicknamed by fans as the "grim-and-gritty" era. The growing popularity of antiheroes such as Wolverine and the Punisher exemplified this change, as did
4368-442: A promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from Procter & Gamble soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies. The promotion proved a success, and Eastern Color that year produced similar periodicals for Canada Dry soft drinks , Kinney Shoes , Wheatena cereal and others, with print runs of from 100,000 to 250,000. Also in 1933, Gaines and Wildenberg collaborated with Dell to publish
4550-655: A psychic shadow form like Psylocke's, with a gold Phoenix emblem over her eye instead of the Crimson Dawn mark possessed by Psylocke. Jean briefly lost her telekinesis to Psylocke during this exchange, but her telekinetic abilities later came back in full and at a far stronger level than before. It was later stated that Jean has been an Omega Level telepath. Jean possesses a high-level of telekinetic ability that enables her to psionically levitate and rapidly move about all manner of animate and inanimate matter. She can use her telekinetic abilities on herself or others to simulate
4732-406: A relationship with teammate Cyclops , which persisted as her main romantic relationship. During an emergency mission in space, the X-Men find their shuttle damaged. Jean pilots the shuttle back to Earth, but is exposed to fatal levels of radiation. Dying, but determined to save Cyclops and her friends, Jean calls out for help and is answered by the cosmic entity the Phoenix Force. The Phoenix Force,
4914-442: A similar way after rescuing her and Gambit from Bastion and offers her a chance to join him. Onslaught makes his first full appearance to Jean on the astral plane and shows her how humanity is closing in on mutants as well as revealing that Xavier was in love with her while she was a student to convince her to join him. He then telepathically brands his name to her mind when she refuses and asks him his name. When Juggernaut comes to
5096-616: A smaller team featuring Jean, Cyclops, Beast , Wolverine, Emma Frost , and Charles Xavier. The overarching plot focused on the team assuming the roles of teachers to a new generation of mutants at the Xavier Institute while navigating their personal relationships and dealing with newly emerging pro- and anti-mutant political sentiments. Jean also made minor appearances in other titles during the New X-Men run, such as Chris Claremont's X-Treme X-Men , occasionally lending support to
5278-550: A starship and then—well, you know, having the powers removed and being let go on Earth. It seems to me that that's the same as capturing Hitler alive and letting him go live on Long Island. Now, I don't think the story would end there. I think a lot of people would come to his door with machine guns... One of the creative team's questions that affected the story's conclusion was whether the Phoenix's personality and later descent into madness and evil were inherent to Jean Grey or if
5460-541: A subplot which culminated with the apparent reincarnation of Dark Phoenix in Uncanny X-Men #174–175 (October–November 1983). These issues were later collected in trade paperback form under the title From the Ashes . The story revolves around Cyclops and the newly introduced Madelyne Pryor , a commercial airline pilot who is not only physically identical to Jean Grey, but survived a traumatic airliner crash at exactly
5642-520: A superhero, science-fiction and adventure anthology, but after the title introduced the teen-humor feature "Archie" in 1942, the feature's popularity would soon eclipse all other MLJ properties, leading the publisher to rename itself Archie Comics . Following the end of World War II, the popularity of superheroes greatly diminished, while the comic-book industry itself expanded. A few well-established characters such as Superman , Batman and Wonder Woman continued to sell, but DC canceled series starring
Jean Grey - Misplaced Pages Continue
5824-402: A target. To support her in this goal, she assembles a team including Nightcrawler, X-23 and Namor, but is unaware that her actions are being observed by Cassandra Nova . The adult Jean returns to using her original Marvel Girl codename and wears her second green-and-yellow Marvel Girl costume. She is sent as part of a strike team to outer space to stop a satellite near the sun from being used as
6006-400: A telepathic illusion to make him experience godhood, driving him insane. To break her ties with her less powerful identity as Jean Grey, she strikes down the X-Men and departs for a distant galaxy. However, her power proves to be far more limited than she thought; the intergalactic trip leaves her almost completely drained. To recharge, she devours the energy of the nearby D'Bari star, causing
6188-494: A ten-cent pricetag [ sic ] on the comic books". When Delacorte declined to continue with Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , Eastern Color on its own published Famous Funnies #1 (cover-dated July 1934), a 68-page giant selling for 10¢. Distributed to newsstands by the mammoth American News Company , it proved a hit with readers during the cash-strapped Great Depression , selling 90 percent of its 200,000 print, although putting Eastern Color more than $ 4,000 in
6370-402: A third of all North American sales in the early 1950s. Its 90 titles averaged a circulation of 800,000 copies per title for every issue, with Walt Disney's Comics and Stories peaking at a circulation of three million a month in 1953. Eleven of the top 25 bestselling comic books at the time were Dell titles. Out of 40 publishers active in 1954, Dell, Atlas (i.e. Marvel), DC, and Archie were
6552-533: A transcript of a round table discussion between Claremont, Byrne, Simonson, Salicrup, Shooter, and inker Terry Austin , discussing the story behind the original ending and why it was changed. Shortly before the publication of Uncanny X-Men #137, future freelance writer Kurt Busiek , then still a college student, heard about the upcoming events through the fan grapevine, as did fellow future comics pros Carol Kalish (who would go on to head up Marvel's Direct Sales Department for years) and Richard Howell (artist of
6734-508: A true comic book. But it did offer all original material and was sold on newsstands ". The Funnies ran for 36 issues, published Saturdays through October 16, 1930. In 1933, salesperson Maxwell Gaines , sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg , and owner George Janosik of the Waterbury, Connecticut , company Eastern Color Printing —which printed, among other things, Sunday-paper comic-strip sections – produced Funnies on Parade as
6916-427: A vicious psychic duel, he creates a new set of psychic "circuit-breakers" which reduce her to only her original Marvel Girl powers. This allows Jean's normal personality to reassert control. The Shi'ar abduct the X-Men, tell them of Dark Phoenix's casual genocide , and declare that she must be put to death. Xavier challenges Lilandra to Arin'n Haelar, a Shi'ar duel of honor that cannot be refused. After conferring with
7098-485: A villain to solve the issue, and eventually it seemed like the best solution to get the book back on track. The segment of the saga set at the Hellfire Club ( Uncanny X-Men #132–134) was heavily inspired by the Avengers television episode " A Touch of Brimstone ", and some of the characters' appearances were modeled after the cast of "A Touch of Brimstone" as a subtle acknowledgment of the inspiration. The ending of
7280-777: A way to keep their presses running. Like The Funnies , but only eight pages, this appeared as a newsprint magazine. Rather than using original material, however, it reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from the McNaught Syndicate , the Ledger Syndicate , and the Bell-McClure Syndicate . These included such popular strips as cartoonist Al Smith 's Mutt and Jeff , Ham Fisher 's Joe Palooka , and Percy Crosby 's Skippy . Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands , but rather sent it out free as
7462-461: A year. In 1929, Dell Publishing (founded by George T. Delacorte, Jr. ) published The Funnies , described by the Library of Congress as "a short-lived newspaper tabloid insert" and not to be confused with Dell's 1936 comic-book series of the same name. Historian Ron Goulart describes the 16-page, four-color periodical as "more a Sunday comic section without the rest of the newspaper than
Jean Grey - Misplaced Pages Continue
7644-457: Is a masterpiece of comic book storytelling that has influenced countless writers and artists in the years since its publication." Pierce Lydon of Newsarama ranked "The Dark Phoenix Saga" 1st in their "Best X-Men Stories" list, asserting, "If there's one story that defines the X-Men above all others, it's 'The Dark Phoenix Saga,' in which Chris Claremont and John Byrne's somewhat tumultuous creative relationship begins to come to an end with one of
7826-483: Is an Omega-level mutant , and at her highest and strongest potential was fully merged with the Phoenix Force and with it was able to defeat even Galactus . Jean is a powerful empath, as she can feel and manipulate emotions of other people, as shown when her power first emerged and she felt her friend Annie Richardson slowly dying. Jean can also connect people's minds to the feelings of others and make them feel
8008-469: Is an extended X-Men comic-book storyline published by Marvel Comics . Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne , the storyline first appeared in X-Men #129 (January 1980). It focuses on the superhero Jean Grey and the cosmic entity Phoenix Force . The storyline commonly refers to the story in Uncanny X-Men #129–138 (January – October 1980) of Jean Grey's corruption by
8190-406: Is being discussed but stated that the return of Jean Grey was "a story Marvel does not want to rush". Marvel loosely tied questions regarding Jean Grey's eventual return to the events in 2007's X-Men: Messiah Complex in which a mutant girl named Hope —who has red hair, green eyes, and immense mutant powers—is born, and 2010's X-Men: Second Coming which sees both Hope's return as a teenager and
8372-448: Is distraught by the loss of her husband. She later learns that she is an "Omega-level" mutant with unlimited potential. Jean begins to suspect that Cyclops may still be alive and with the help of Nathan Summers (now the aged superhero "Cable"), is able to locate and free Cyclops of his possession by Apocalypse. The couple return to the X-Men as part of the Xavier Institute's teaching staff to a new generation of mutants. While Jean finds she
8554-458: Is immediately psychically transported 2000 years into the future to raise Cyclops's son Nathan, who had been transported to the future as an infant in hopes of curing him of a deadly virus. Jean adopts the identity of "Redd" along with Cyclops ("Slym") and they raise Nathan Christopher for twelve years before they are sent back into their bodies on their wedding honeymoon. Jean learns that a time-displaced Rachel had used her powers to transport them to
8736-608: Is not part of DC or Marvel canon) has the cosmic villain Darkseid resurrect Jean Grey in her Dark Phoenix persona as part of his quest to discover the secret of the Anti-Life Equation . In the end, Dark Phoenix is betrayed by Darkseid and sacrifices her life yet again to stop Darkseid. Also in 1983, shortly after beginning a freelance writing career, Kurt Busiek attended a comics convention in Ithaca, New York , staying at
8918-470: Is reunited with the other X-Men, who are happy to learn that she is alive. Jean and Madelyne confront each other, and Madelyne attempts to kill them both. Jean manages to survive only by absorbing the remnant of the Phoenix Force housed within Madelyne, giving her both Madelyne's memories and the Phoenix's memories from "The Dark Phoenix Saga". Unsure of herself since returning to life, Jean finds possessing
9100-519: Is slowly able to tap into the powers of the Phoenix Force once again, her marriage to Scott begins to fail. Jean and Wolverine meet in the woods where Jean confides her feelings of distance towards Scott while Wolverine also shuts down any interest in a relationship he himself had with Jean by telling her that he knew a relationship between the two would never work and walks away from her; Cyclops grows further alienated from Jean due to her growing powers and institute responsibilities and seeks consolation from
9282-464: Is taken symbolically as the beginning of a new era, although his success was not immediate. It took two years for the Flash to receive his own title, and Showcase itself was only a bimonthly book, though one which was to introduce a large number of enduring characters. By 1959, the slowly building superhero revival had become clear to DC's competitors. Archie jumped on board that year, and Charlton joined
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#17327730190669464-519: Is under assault by the infectious, villainous, sentient bacteria " Sublime ". Jean is resurrected in this future timeline and becomes the fully realized White Phoenix of the Crown , using the abilities of the Phoenix Force to defeat Sublime and eliminate the dystopic future by reaching back in time and telling Cyclops to move on. This leads him to accept Emma's love and her offer to run the school together. Jean then reconciles with Cyclops and fully bonds with
9646-428: Is widely considered to be a classic storyline by critics. Many of its characters who debuted in this story arc, such as Kitty Pryde , Dazzler , and Emma Frost , would later go on to become some of the most popular comic book characters of all time. Since its introduction in comics, the storyline has been featured in various other Marvel-licensed products. It was adapted for X-Men: The Animated Series (1992). It
9828-496: The Comics Code Authority . The late 1950s and the 1960s saw a superhero revival and superheroes remained the dominant character archetype throughout the late 20th century into the 21st century. Some fans collect comic books, helping drive up their value. Some have sold for more than US$ 1 million. Comic shops cater to fans, selling comic books, plastic sleeves ("bags") and cardboard backing ("boards") to protect
10010-778: The Fantastic Four . Jean emerges with no memory of the actions of the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix. The Avengers and Fantastic Four tell her of what happened and that she was believed dead until now. She is reunited with the original X-Men and convinces them to form the new superhero team X-Factor, reusing her "Marvel Girl" codename. Madelyne is angered over Cyclops's decision to lead X-Factor and neglect his family. Though Jean encourages Cyclops to return to Madelyne, he finds their house abandoned and assumes that Madelyne has left him and taken their infant son. Cyclops returns to X-Factor and he and Jean continue their relationship, but
10192-667: The Flash and Green Lantern and converted All-American Comics and All Star Comics to Western titles, and Star Spangled Comics to a war title. The publisher also launched such science-fiction titles as Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space . Martin Goodman 's Timely Comics , also known as Atlas, canceled its three formerly high-selling superhero titles starring Captain America (created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby ),
10374-613: The Human Torch , and the Sub-Mariner , briefly reviving the characters in 1954 only to cancel them again shortly thereafter to focus on horror, science fiction, teen humor, romance and Western genres. Romance comics became strongly established, with Prize Comics ' Young Romance and with Young Love , the latter written and drawn by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; those two titles' popularity led to an explosion of romance comics from many publishers. Dell 's comic books accounted for
10556-685: The Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency held hearings on comic book indecency from April to June 1954. In the wake of these troubles, a group of comics publishers, led by National and Archie, founded the Comics Code Authority in 1954 and drafted the Comics Code, intended as "the most stringent code in existence for any communications media". A Comic Code Seal of Approval soon appeared on virtually every comic book carried on newsstands. EC, after experimenting with less controversial comic books, dropped its comics line to focus on
10738-466: The Vision and The Scarlet Witch 12-issue limited series , among others). The three of them also heard that Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter had declared that Jean Grey could not be revived unless it was done in such a way as to render her guiltless of Dark Phoenix's crimes. Taking this as a creative challenge, all three then-fans decided to come up with their own resurrection scenario. Busiek's involved
10920-663: The Yellow Kid . The 196-page, square-bound, black-and-white publication, which also includes introductory text by E. W. Townsend , measured 5 by 7 inches (130 mm × 180 mm) and sold for 50 cents. The neologism "comic book" appears on the back cover. Despite the publication of a series of related Hearst comics soon afterward, the first monthly proto-comic book, Embee Distributing Company's Comic Monthly , did not appear until 1922. Produced in an 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -by-9-inch (220 mm × 230 mm) format, it reprinted black-and-white newspaper comic strips and lasted
11102-535: The 1960s, DC, and then Marvel, began to include writer and artist credits on the comics that they published. Other notable companies publishing comics during the Silver Age included the American Comics Group (ACG), Charlton , Dell , Gold Key , Harvey Comics , and Tower . Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were featured, as the anti-authoritarian underground comix made waves in 1968, following
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#173277301906611284-457: The 1970s coincided with the appearance of comic-book specialty stores across North America. These specialty stores were a haven for more distinct voices and stories, but they also marginalized comics in the public eye. Serialized comic stories became longer and more complex, requiring readers to buy more issues to finish a story. In the mid-to-late 1980s, two series published by DC Comics , Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen , had
11466-542: The 1990s changing the format and distribution of their comic books to more closely resemble non-comics publishing. The " minicomics " form, an extremely informal version of self-publishing , arose in the 1980s and became increasingly popular among artists in the 1990s, despite reaching an even more limited audience than the small presses. The development of the modern American comic book happened in stages. Publishers had collected comic strips in hardcover book form as early as 1842, with The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck ,
11648-520: The 36-page Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics , which historians consider the first true American comic book; Goulart, for example, calls it "the cornerstone for one of the most lucrative branches of magazine publishing". Distribution took place through the Woolworth's department-store chain, though it remains unclear whether it was sold or given away; the cover displays no price, but Goulart refers, either metaphorically or literally, to "sticking
11830-598: The American comic book has been adapted periodically outside the United States, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom . While comics can be the work of a single creator, the labor of creating them is frequently divided between a number of specialists. There may be a separate writer and artist , or there may be separate artists for the characters and backgrounds. Particularly in superhero comic books,
12012-678: The CCA) stopped publishing crime and horror titles, which was their entire business, and were forced out of the market altogether, turning to magazine publishing instead. By 1960, output had stabilized at about 1,500 releases per year (representing a greater than fifty percent decline since 1952). The dominant comic book genres of the post-CCA 1950s were funny animals, humor, romance , television properties, and Westerns . Detective, fantasy , teen, and war comics were also popular, but adventure, superheroes, and comic strip reprints were in decline, with Famous Funnies seeing its last issue in 1955. In
12194-532: The Dark Phoenix Saga depicts a pessimistic conclusion that retreats into traditional humanist ideas of self-sacrifice. David Caballero of Screen Rant included the cover of Uncanny X-Men #136 (August 1980) in their "X-Men: The 10 Most Iconic Covers Of All Time" list. Anthony Orlando of BuzzFeed ranked the cover of Uncanny X-Men #135 (July 1980) 8th in their "15 Greatest Covers In All Of Comics" list. Uncanny X-Men #168 (April 1983) began
12376-527: The Fantastic Four had not found her, and that he does not know how to communicate with her. When X-Factor unites with the X-Men, Jean joins the Gold Team, led by Storm. She deliberately chooses not to use a codename, so the team simply uses her civilian name. After some time, she makes up with Rachel, welcoming her into her life, and proposes to Cyclops and the two marry. On their honeymoon, the couple
12558-445: The Fantastic Four, and the debut issue of X-Factor , thus involving Avengers writer Stern, Fantastic Four writer/artist Byrne and X-Factor writer Layton. Busiek, by that time, was working at Marvel as a freelance assistant editor on Marvel Age Magazine . He was paid and credited for the idea, and edited a series of interviews for Marvel Age promoting the new series. Everything in the interviews pertaining to Jean's resurrection
12740-521: The Hulk in control so he can fight Onslaught unencumbered. With the vast majority of earth's heroes missing and assumed dead after Onslaught is finally defeated, Jean and Cyclops open their home to Quicksilver and his daughter and try to help the X-Men to get their lives back together. Following Cyclops's possession by the mutant villain Apocalypse and apparent death, Jean continues with the X-Men, but
12922-714: The Kree and Skrulls, Lilandra agrees to Xavier's demand. The next day, the X-Men and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard are teleported to the Blue Area of the Moon to do battle, with the victors deciding the fate of Phoenix. The Imperial Guard defeat most of the X-Men, leaving Cyclops and Phoenix alone to make a final stand. When Cyclops is seemingly killed, Jean's panic overrides Xavier's psychic restraints and restores her to Dark Phoenix. Lilandra initiates Plan Omega, which would consist of destroying
13104-609: The Modern Horror age. But as of 2009 historians and fans use " Bronze Age " to describe the period of American mainstream comics history that began with the period of concentrated changes to comic books in 1970. Unlike the Golden/Silver Age transition, the Silver/Bronze transition involves many continuing books, making the transition less sharp. The development of the " direct market " distribution system in
13286-473: The Phoenix Force and Jean continued to manifest themselves, particularly the Phoenix through the red-haired, green-eyed "mutant messiah" who slightly resembles Jean named Hope Summers , and Jean briefly appears in a vision to Emma Frost from the White Hot Room, warning the X-Men to "prepare". She again appears in a vision to Cyclops when he is overwhelmed by the power of Dark Phoenix, helping him abandon
13468-628: The Phoenix Force and Madelyne's memories to be difficult. Cyclops proposes to her and she meets her alternate future daughter Rachel Summers (who goes by the codename "Phoenix" as well and is also able to tap into the Phoenix Force), but Jean rejects them both out of the feeling that they indicate that her life is predetermined. Jean had learned during the Inferno event that her rejecting the Phoenix Force caused Madelyne to wake; Cyclops admits to Susan Storm Richards that Jean sometimes wishes that
13650-423: The Phoenix Force and ascends to a higher plane of existence called the " White Hot Room ". A weakened Phoenix Force returns to reanimate Jean. Jean tries to convince the Phoenix Force to let her go so they can return to the White Hot Room together, but once again the Phoenix Force takes over. Jean lets Wolverine find her and tries to convince him to kill her again before the Phoenix does more damage. The Shi'ar track
13832-527: The Phoenix Force and make an alliance with Storm to find her and defeat her. Jean takes Wolverine to the North Pole before the Shi'ar can kill her and convinces him to kill her. He stabs her numerous times but Phoenix keeps reanimating her, prompting Jean to dive deep into the ice and freeze herself. The Phoenix Force leaves her body and once again assumes Jean's form to tempt Cyclops to attack her so she can absorb his optic blasts and become strong again. When
14014-486: The Phoenix Force has often been changed throughout the character's history, as has as her involvement in the events of " The Dark Phoenix Saga ". Usually depicted as the Phoenix Force's favorite and most compatible host, storylines in 2024 revealed that Jean is actually the human manifestation of the Phoenix Force and its mother. Often listed as one of the most notable and powerful female characters in Marvel Comics,
14196-409: The Phoenix Force merges with and overwhelms Emma Frost, Cyclops frees Jean from the ice. Once freed Jean ejects the Phoenix from Emma and accepts that she is one with the Phoenix Force. After feeling the love from the X-Men, the Phoenix relents and returns with Jean back to the White Hot Room. Before she departs, Jean and Cyclops share a telepathic emotional farewell. Though she had yet to fully return,
14378-625: The Phoenix Force's impersonation, and his marrying Madelyne, damaged their mutual trust. The team's adventures continue throughout the series, culminating in the line-wide " Inferno " crossover. Madelyne reappears, now nearly insane and with powers awakened by a demonic pact, calling herself the Goblyn Queen. Learning of her true identity and purpose as a clone created by Mister Sinister drove her completely insane and she plans to sacrifice Nathan Christopher to achieve greater power and unleash literal Hell on Earth. While attempting to stop her, Jean
14560-465: The Phoenix from merging with their old friend. Old Man Logan is able to make Jean Grey remember her true life and she learns about the fate of her family and several of her friends, among them Cyclops. As Jean faces the Phoenix Force, she is finally able to convince the cosmic entity to stop bringing her back and let her go. Alive once again, Jean is reunited with her friends as the Phoenix Force journeys back to space. Restored to life, Jean gathers some of
14742-654: The Phoenix was itself an entity merely possessing her. The relationship between Jean Grey and the Phoenix would continue to be subject to different interpretations and explanations by writers and editors at Marvel Comics following the story's retcon in 1986. At the time of the Dark Phoenix's creation, Byrne felt that, "If someone could be seen to corrupt Jean, rather than her just turning bad, this could make for an interesting story." Salicrup and Byrne stated later that they viewed Phoenix as an entity that entirely possessed Jean Grey, therefore absolving her of its crimes once it
14924-457: The Phoenix. However, after the younger Jean begins to ignore her, she possesses the time displaced Jean and uses her as a means to ambush Emma Frost. Strange psych occurrences around the world, which include a large bird flaring out from the sun and an explosion on the moon, raise red flags for the X-Men, who quickly launch an investigation of these events. After a string of bizarre encounters with familiar enemies, many of them considered deceased,
15106-500: The Shi'ar, with relative ease. When using this ability Jean's whole body glows with pink psychic energy, obscuring her human form. American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States , on average 32 pages, containing comics . While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of Action Comics , which included
15288-470: The White Phoenix of the Crown. Jay Edidin of Polygon included "The Dark Phoenix Saga" in their "9 Greatest X-Men Stories of All Time" list, writing, "Ask any fan to pinpoint the classic, iconic X-Men story, and most will send you straight to Uncanny X-Men #129-138: the issues that chronicle the corruption and fall of the cosmically empowered Jean Grey. It’s also the story that has seen by far
15470-473: The X-Men against him before he manifests Onslaught. While Onslaught easily overtakes the rest of the X-Men, Jean escapes to the war room and sends out the distress signal that Bishop found in the future. After a massive battle against Jean and the rest of the X-Men, Onslaught escapes to carry out his plans. After Onslaught nearly kills the X-Men they team up with the Avengers to make a plan to stop him, knowing full well that it may come down to them killing Xavier if
15652-417: The X-Men come to one conclusion: the Phoenix Force is back on Earth. The X-Men also discover that psychs are going missing or falling ill, which prompts the team to investigate the grave of Jean Grey. As they find the coffin of their long-dead teammate empty, they race to locate the Phoenix before it can find a suitable host. As it turns out, with the time-displaced teen Jean Grey out of the Phoenix Force's way,
15834-467: The X-Men's weakest member, to its most powerful. The first comic Claremont saw at Marvel after coming there in 1969 was the first X-Men issue penciled by Neal Adams (issue 56), after which he became enamored of Jean Grey. But when he started to write X-Men in issue 94, the first issue after the creation of the new team in Giant-Size X-Men 1, Len Wein had already established that she was leaving
16016-482: The X-Men. However, both Salicrup and Byrne had strong feelings against how powerful Phoenix had become, feeling that she drew too much focus in the book. Byrne worked with Claremont to effectively remove Phoenix from the storyline, initially by removing her powers. However, Byrne's decision to have Dark Phoenix destroy an inhabited planetary system in The Uncanny X-Men #135, coupled with the planned ending to
16198-407: The angsty and irreverent nature of characters like Spider-Man , Hulk , X-Men and Fantastic Four . This was a time of social upheaval, giving birth to a new generation of hip and more counter-cultural youngsters, who found a voice in these books. Because Marvel's books were distributed by its rival, National, from 1957 until 1968 Marvel were restricted to publishing only eight titles a month. This
16380-408: The art may be divided between: The process begins with the writer (often in collaboration with one or more others, who may include the editor and/or the penciller) coming up with a story idea or concept, then working it up into a plot and storyline , finalizing it with a script . After the art is prepared, the dialogue and captions are lettered onto the page from the script, and an editor may have
16562-415: The bandwagon in 1960. In 1961, at the demand of publisher Martin Goodman (who was reacting to a surge in sales of National's newest superhero title The Justice League of America ), writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four for Atlas, which now re-named itself Marvel Comics . With an innovation that changed the comic-book industry, Fantastic Four #1 initiated
16744-506: The basis for the critical darling Immortal Hulk today. Few superhero stories, if any, have addressed these ideas as well as "The Dark Phoenix Saga" though." Literary scholar Ramzi Fawaz interprets the story as an indictment of the fall of feminist liberation into a narcissistic personality. While he reads the earlier stories of the Phoenix force as presenting a potential alliance between projects of liberation for white women (represented by Jean Grey) and for Black women (represented by Storm),
16926-403: The chance to restore her abilities, but Jean choosing to remain depowered and eliminate the threat of Dark Phoenix returning to power. After several years, Marvel decided to revive the character, but only after an editorial decree that the character be absolved of her actions during The Dark Phoenix Saga. Writer Kurt Busiek is credited with devising the plot to revive Jean Grey. Busiek, a fan of
17108-509: The character has been featured in various Marvel-licensed products, including video games , animated television series , and merchandise. Famke Janssen portrayed the character as an adult in the 20th Century Fox X-Men films , while Sophie Turner portrayed her as a teenager and young adult. Jean Grey debuted under the codename Marvel Girl in The X-Men #1 (September 1963), created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby . The original team's sole female member, Marvel Girl
17290-519: The characters. Jean and her connection with the Phoenix Force was examined again one year after the conclusion of Morrison's run on New X-Men in X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong written by Greg Pak in 2005. At the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con X-Men panel, when asked whether or not Jean would return, editor Nick Lowe responded by saying, "She's dead." Regarding Jean's actual return to the X-Men franchise, Marvel indicated that Jean's eventual return
17472-501: The comic books. An American comic book is also known as a floppy comic . It is typically thin and stapled, unlike traditional books . American comic books are one of the three major comic book industries globally, along with Japanese manga and the Franco-Belgian comic books . The typical size and page count of comics have varied over the decades, generally tending toward smaller formats and fewer pages. Historically,
17654-534: The comic-book debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster , the future creators of Superman . The two began their careers with the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval", doing the first two installments before turning it over to others and, under the pseudonyms "Leger and Reuths", they created the supernatural -crimefighter adventure Doctor Occult . In 1938, after Wheeler-Nicholson's partner Harry Donenfeld had ousted him, National Allied editor Vin Sullivan pulled
17836-438: The cosmic entity has already resurrected the present adult Jean Grey. However, she does not recall her life as a mutant and an X-Man, and terrible visions from her previous life have left Jean unsure of the difference between reality and fiction. As she lies inside of what appears to be a Phoenix Egg, the X-Men theorize that the strange psych occurrences are subconscious cries for help made by Jean Grey and that they must try to stop
18018-432: The countercultural era. Legal issues and paper shortages led to a decline in underground comix output from its 1972 peak. In 1974 the passage of anti-paraphernalia laws in the US led to the closing of most head shops, which throttled underground comix distribution. Its readership also dried up as the hippie movement itself petered out in the mid-1970s. Wizard originally used the phrase "Bronze Age", in 1995, to denote
18200-464: The country. Some cities passed laws banning comic books entirely. In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham published his book Seduction of the Innocent , where he discussed what he perceived as sadistic and homosexual undertones in horror comics and superhero comics respectively, and singled out EC Comics due to its success as a publisher of these genres. In response to growing public anxiety,
18382-575: The darker tone of some independent publishers such as First Comics , Dark Horse Comics , and (founded in the 1990s) Image Comics . This tendency towards darkness and nihilism was manifested in DC's production of heavily promoted comic book stories such as " A Death in the Family " in the Batman series (in which The Joker brutally murdered Batman's sidekick Robin ), while at Marvel the continuing popularity of
18564-412: The debut of the superhero Superman . This was followed by a superhero boom that lasted until the end of World War II . After the war, while superheroes were marginalized, the comic book industry rapidly expanded and genres such as horror, crime, science fiction and romance became popular. The 1950s saw a gradual decline, due to a shift away from print media in the wake of television and the impact of
18746-598: The discovery that Jean Grey was still on the bottom of Jamaica Bay in suspended animation following the original shuttle crash and that the Phoenix entity had used her body and mind as a lens, creating an immensely powerful duplicate of Jean, but one which grew more corrupted and distorted the longer it remained separate from the true Jean. In 1982, Dark Phoenix resurfaced in the DC /Marvel intercompany crossover one-shot The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans , written by regular X-Men writer Chris Claremont . The story (which
18928-471: The early days of comic books, this practice had all but vanished during the 1940s and 1950s. Comic books were produced by comic book companies rather than by individual creators (EC being a notable exception, a company that not only credited its creative teams but also featured creators' biographies). Even comic books by revered and collectible artists like Carl Barks were not known by their creator's name— Disney comics by Barks were signed " Walt Disney ". In
19110-513: The entire franchise, The Dark Phoenix Saga remains a watershed moment in pop culture." Will Friedwald of Vanity Fair called "The Dark Phoenix Saga" one of the "classic comic book story arcs that everybody has heard of, even if they haven’t read it," saying, "It’s no wonder the Dark Saga has inspired so many imitators. It took the big issues of cosmic narrative—even the very nature of existence—and stretched them as far as they would go. It cast
19292-444: The final say (but, once ready for printing, it is difficult and expensive to make any major changes), before the comic is sent to the printer. The creative team, the writer and artist(s), may work for a comic book publisher who handles the marketing, advertising, and other logistics. A wholesale distributor, such as Diamond Comic Distributors , the largest in the US, distributes the printed product to retailers. Another aspect of
19474-478: The four-part Dark Phoenix would have been adapted. The live-action X-Men film Dark Phoenix (2019) is an adaptation of the Hellfire arc of the story. Returning from a mission in space, Jean Grey is exposed to the deadly radiation of a solar flare, and briefly attains her ultimate potential as a telepath and telekinetic. Jean becomes a being of pure thought, and then re-forms herself upon return to Earth with
19656-470: The future to protect Nathan; per Rachel's request, Jean adopts the codename "Phoenix" once again to establish it as a symbol of good after all the bad it had caused. As her powers increase, Jean also decides to wear the original Phoenix's gold-and-green costume. Jean also met another alternate future child of hers and Scott's: the immensely powerful Nathan Grey , who accidentally revived the psionic ghost of Madelyne Pryor, leading to another confrontation between
19838-468: The greatest minds on Earth together so that she can read their minds to plan her next move. Recognizing that there has been a sudden surge in anti-mutant sentiment, to the point where there are plans to abort pregnancies if the mutant gene is detected, Jean announces her plans to establish a more official mutant nation, making it clear that she will not establish a geographic location for said nation as past examples make it clear that doing so just makes mutants
20020-424: The greatest superhero stories ever told," while Chris Arrant ranked it 2nd in their "Best Marvel Comics Stories of All Time" list. David Harth of Comic Book Resources ranked "The Dark Phoenix Saga" 1st in their "X-Men: 10 Story Arcs Every Fan Should Read" list, stating, " The Dark Phoenix Saga introduces so many things to X-Men lore, like the Hellfire Club and Kitty Pryde, concepts that would pay dividends over
20202-591: The help of a mind-tap device created by the Club's White Queen, Emma Frost , Mastermind projects his illusions directly into Phoenix's mind. These illusions cause her to believe that she is reliving the memories of an ancestor, Lady Grey , who in Mastermind's illusions was the Hellfire Club's Black Queen and the lover of one of Wyngarde's ancestors. Phoenix eventually accepts the Black Queen as her actual identity,
20384-452: The help of powerful mutant telepath, Charles Xavier. Xavier blocked her telepathy until she was old enough to be able to control it, leaving her with access only to her telekinetic powers. Xavier later recruited her as a teenager to be part of his X-Men team as "Marvel Girl", the team's sole female member. After several missions with the X-Men, Xavier removed Jean's mental blocks and she was able to use and control her telepathic powers. She began
20566-494: The heroes' commitment to doing the right thing even when the world (or galaxy, in this case) hates and fears you." Jesse Schedeen of IGN ranked "The Dark Phoenix Saga" 2nd in their "25 Greatest X-Men Stories" list and called it "one of the most iconic Marvel stories of all time," saying, "The sheer variety of this story sets it apart, but not as much as the raw emotion and the satisfaction of seeing Claremont wrap up so many loose ends at once. John Byrne delivered his finest work on
20748-423: The home of Marvel writer Roger Stern . In conversation, both writers' longtime interest in the X-Men came up, and Stern expressed regret that there was no way to bring Jean back, not while satisfying Shooter's edict. Busiek told Stern his idea, not expecting it to amount to more than idle conversation. Later, Stern told the idea to John Byrne , then writer/artist of Fantastic Four . In 1985, Jim Shooter greenlit
20930-543: The inhabitants of a planetary system after consuming its star, and jeopardizing the entire universe. However, Jean's personality manages to take control and Phoenix commits suicide to ensure the safety of the universe. Upon its suicide by way of a disintegration ray, the Phoenix Force disperses into its original form and a fragment locates the still-healing Jean at the bottom of Jamaica Bay. In trying to bond with her, Jean senses its memories of death and destruction as Dark Phoenix and rejects it, causing it to bond with and animate
21112-483: The introduction of the Comics Code Authority in the wake of Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency , which, ignoring the social problems caused by the wars of 1939–45 and 1950–52, sought to blame those problems solely on comics. While there was only a 9% drop in the number of releases between 1952 and 1953, circulation plummeted by an estimated 30–40%. The cause of the decrease is not entirely clear. Television had begun to provide competition with comic books, but there
21294-403: The issues over they agreed with Shooter that from the reader's perspective, she did not seem to be possessed, and Claremont admitted that while writing the Dark Phoenix Saga he was never clear in his own mind whether Jean Grey was possessed or her actions as Dark Phoenix were her own. Shooter, during a conversation with Claremont, suggested a scenario where Jean would be permanently imprisoned as
21476-692: The largest number of (attempted) adaptations over the years, including the upcoming Dark Phoenix . All of that is because The Dark Phoenix Saga is the X-Men at their best: fighting as and for their found family and the fate of the world, backs to the wall, in the face of impossible odds. It’s got pretty much everything that makes the X-Men great: not just high-stakes superpowered fights, but also high drama, found family, and some pretty spectacular science fiction." Anubhav Chaudhry of Sportskeeda ranked "The Dark Phoenix Saga" 1st in their "10 Best Comic Book Storylines of Marvel Comics" list, saying, "With stunning artwork and gripping storytelling, The Dark Phoenix Saga
21658-628: The late 1940s and early 1950s horror and true-crime comics flourished, many containing graphic violence and gore. Due to such content, moral crusaders became concerned with the impact of comics on the youth, and were blaming comic books for everything from poor grades to juvenile delinquency to drug abuse. This perceived indecency resulted in the collection and public burning of comic books in Spencer, West Virginia and Binghamton, New York in 1948, which received national attention and triggered other public burnings by schools and parent groups across
21840-451: The lives of other Marvel Universe characters, mainly the X-Men , including her husband Cyclops , her mentor and father figure Charles Xavier , her best friend and sister figure Storm , and her genetic children Rachel Summers , Cable , Stryfe and X-Man . Jean's connection to the Phoenix Force has often resulted in clashes with the Shi'ar Empire , responsible for the massacre of most of her family members. Jean's exact relationship to
22022-433: The major players in volume of sales. By this point, former big-time players Fawcett and Fiction House had ceased publishing. Circulation peaked in 1952 when 3,161 issues of various comics were published with a total circulation of about one billion copies. After 1952, the number of individual releases dropped every year for the rest of the decade, with the biggest falls occurring in 1955–56. The rapid decline followed
22204-408: The mansion with information about Onslaught's true identity but has a mental block preventing him from divulging it, Jean enters his mind and helps him to remember who Onslaught really is and to her horror she discovers that Onslaught is really Professor X, having gone insane ever since wiping Magneto's mind. Professor Xavier calls the X-Men together for a meeting and Jean tries unsuccessfully to rally
22386-497: The missing events of the previous six months of continuity. Due to editing decisions following the success of the 2000 X-Men film, which depicted the character of Jean Grey with both telepathy and telekinesis, an explanation for Jean's altered powers in the comics was never explicitly made, though writer Chris Claremont revealed in interviews that it was intended to be an accidental power switch between fellow X-Man Psylocke , explaining Psylocke's new telekinetic powers as well. Jean
22568-475: The moment they had landed on the Moon. The story ends with Uatu the Watcher commenting that "Jean Grey could have lived to become a god. But it was more important to her that she die...a human." According to Byrne, it had become a problem storywise that Claremont kept writing Phoenix stronger and stronger, making her the dominating element of the X-Men book. Steven Grant then suggested they should make her
22750-556: The mutant villain Apocalypse and disappearance in the conclusion of the crossover storyline "Apocalypse: The Twelve", Jean lost her telekinetic abilities and was left with increased psychic powers, the result of the "six-month gap" in plot across the X-Men franchise created by the Revolution revamp. During the Revolution event, all X-Men titles began six months after the events of Apocalypse: The Twelve , allowing writers to create fresh situations and stories and gradually fill in
22932-515: The new costume, identity and power of " Phoenix ". It is with this incredible power that Jean repairs the fractured M'Kraan Crystal , but voluntarily restrains her powers afterward in order to keep them under control. Her vast potential makes her a target for Mastermind , who is attempting to prove himself in order to join the prestigious Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club . Under the identity of Jason Wyngarde, he begins to seduce Jean. With
23114-523: The new host revealed, Jean Grey telepathically asks Wolverine to let Maya be and return to their home on the moon. Wolverine had been awaiting the new host and had vowed to kill anyone who took on the Phoenix Force. Jean also reaches out to Maya, advising her not to undertake this journey alone. She explains that the Phoenix favors isolated individuals, and to remain whole and avoid being consumed by its god-like power, Maya should rely on others to help ground her and keep her connected to her humanity. Jean Grey
23296-420: The original The X-Men #100 (Aug. 1976) story of Jean Grey's disastrous return flight from space immediately preceding her transformation into Phoenix ("Greater Love Hath No X-Man...") with the new story "Phoenix". The story further supported the retcon establishing Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force as two separate entities. Following the conclusion of Inferno , Jean continued to be a mainstay character throughout
23478-447: The original five X-Men, was displeased with the character's death and formulated various storylines that would have met Shooter's rule and allowed the character to return to the X-Men franchise. He eventually shared his storyline idea with fellow writer Roger Stern who mentioned it to Byrne, who was both writing and illustrating the Fantastic Four at the time. Both series writer Bob Layton and artist Jackson Guice , who were developing
23660-505: The pain they inflicted. When her powers first manifested, Jean was unable to cope with her telepathic abilities , forcing Professor Charles Xavier to suppress her access to it altogether. Instead, he chose to train her in the use of her psychokinetic abilities while allowing her telepathy to grow at its natural rate before reintroducing it. When the Professor hid to prepare for the Z'Nox , he reopened Jean's telepathic abilities, which
23842-420: The past into the present by an older Hank McCoy eventually found an entirely new usage of her powers separate from the Phoenix Force. The teenage Marvel Girl learned she has the ability to harness ambient psychic energy and channel it into powerful blasts of force, which are a combination of both her telepathy and telekinesis. Its potency is such that she can match and overpower the likes of Gladiator, magistrate of
24024-412: The planet-consuming Galactus and must be destroyed. On Earth, the X-Men are greeted by Avengers member (and former X-Man) Beast . Dark Phoenix returns to Earth, to her family's home, and finds herself conflicted between her normal feelings for her loved ones and her new destructive impulses as Dark Phoenix. The X-Men attack her but are again defeated. Her mentor, Charles Xavier , arrives, and through
24206-478: The power of flight or levitation, stimulate molecules to increase friction, create protective force fields out of psychokinetic energy, or project her telekinetic energy as purely concussive force. The outer limits of her telekinetic power have never been clearly established, though she was capable of lifting approximately fifty tons of rubble with some strain. Jean was later stated to have become an Omega Level Telekinetic. Jean's younger self who had been brought from
24388-403: The power of the Phoenix and the Hellfire Club , the destruction she causes, and ultimately her death. Sometimes included is Jean Grey's assumption of the Phoenix power and the repair of the M'Kraan Crystal in Uncanny X-Men #101–108 (October 1976 – December 1977). "The Dark Phoenix Saga" is one of the most well-known and heavily referenced stories in mainstream American superhero comics, and
24570-473: The power so that it can pass on to its true host. After Nightcrawler is fatally wounded by the Crimson Pirates, Jean appears to him along with Amanda Sefton and the recently deceased Wolverine to help coax him back to life. Jean's spirit begins to manifest in a more straightforward and aggressive manner to the time-displaced Jean from an alternate timeline, seemingly training her for the arrival of
24752-559: The process involved in successful comics is the interaction between the readers/fans and the creator(s). Fan art and letters to the editor were commonly printed in the back of the book, until, in the early 21st century, various Internet forums started to replace this tradition. The growth of comic specialty stores helped permit several waves of independently-produced comics, beginning in the mid-1970s. Some early examples of these – generally referred to as "independent" or "alternative" comics – such as Big Apple Comix , continued somewhat in
24934-417: The proofs for the issue and noticed that the story included the destruction of an inhabited solar system, with an explicit mention of billions of lives lost. Louise Simonson feels it was Shooter's outrage over this plot element which led to him taking editor Jim Salicrup off the series several issues earlier than he had been scheduled to. Upon questioning Salicrup about where the plot went from there, he
25116-558: The psionic armor that could block Xavier's telepathic powers as seen in the Xavier Protocols . When Jean senses that Xavier has been freed from Onslaught and is going to confront him on his own, she and Cyclops bring together the rest of the X-Men to back him up. The rest of the Avengers and Fantastic Four join them in a final stand against Onslaught before he completely destroys the world. In a final act of desperation Jean finds Hulk and locks away Bruce Banner's mind, leaving only
25298-505: The publication of Robert Crumb 's irregularly published Zap Comix . Frank Stack had published The Adventures of Jesus as far back as 1962, and there had been a trickle of such publications until Crumb's success. What had started as a self-publishing scene soon grew into a minor industry, with Print Mint , Kitchen Sink , Last Gasp and Apex Novelties among the more well-known publishers. These comix were often extremely graphic, and largely distributed in head shops that flourished in
25480-650: The red. That quickly changed, with the book turning a $ 30,000 profit each issue starting with #12. Famous Funnies would eventually run 218 issues, inspire imitators, and largely launch a new mass medium . When the supply of available existing comic strips began to dwindle, early comic books began to include a small amount of new, original material in comic-strip format. Inevitably, a comic book of all-original material, with no comic-strip reprints, debuted. Fledgling publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications, which would evolve into DC Comics , to release New Fun #1 (Feb. 1935). This came out as
25662-535: The relationship between the two women was intended to be entirely coincidental. He intended Madelyne only to look like Jean by complete coincidence and exist as a means for Cyclops to move on with his life and be written out of the X-Men franchise, part of what he believed to be a natural progression for any member of the team. Claremont expressed dismay that Jean's resurrection ultimately resulted in Cyclops abandoning his wife and child, tarnishing his written persona as
25844-464: The rest of X-Factor X-Factor (1st Series) ended its run featuring the original X-Men with X-Factor #70 (Sept. 1991), with the characters transitioning over to The Uncanny X-Men , explained in continuity as the two teams deciding to merge. The fourteen X-Men divide into two teams—"Blue" and "Gold"—led by Cyclops and Storm , respectively. Jean was added to the Gold Team beginning in The Uncanny X-Men #281 (Oct. 1991). Following Cyclops's possession by
26026-601: The return of the Phoenix Force. Following the conclusion of Avengers vs. X-Men as part of the Marvel NOW! event, a teenage Jean Grey and the four other founding members of X-Men are transported across time to the present day by Beast in the series All-New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis . The original adult Jean Grey returned to the Marvel Universe in a new series titled Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey , released on December 27, 2017. The series
26208-444: The same moment that Jean died. Pryor's transformation into Dark Phoenix is revealed to be an illusion by Mastermind , seeking revenge for what Jean Grey did to him during the Dark Phoenix Saga. In issue #175, Cyclops and Madelyne repeat the dialogue he exchanged with Jean Grey after Professor X locked away her Dark Phoenix powers, marking the parallel with the dissolving of Mastermind's Dark Phoenix illusion. The story (issues #129–137)
26390-629: The satirical Mad —a former comic book which was now converted to a magazine format in order to circumvent the Code. DC started a revival in superhero comics in 1956 with the October 1956 revival of its former golden age top-seller The Flash in Showcase #4. Many comics historians peg this as the beginning of the Silver Age of American comic books, although Marvel (at this point still known variously as both Timely and Atlas ) had started reviving some of its old superheroes as early as 1954. The new Flash
26572-483: The script with no connection to the ending; for instance, in the original version of the day of rest, the individual X-Men are each thinking of their own personal issues, while the published version shows them reflecting on their decision to protect Jean. The original ending ultimately saw print in 1984 in Phoenix: The Untold Story . Besides the original version of Uncanny X-Men #137, it featured
26754-470: The series X-Factor —a team of former X-Men—had yet to settle on their fifth team member, initially considering Dazzler . Layton opted to fill the open spot with Jean instead, and both he and Byrne submitted the idea to Shooter, who approved it. Jean Grey's revival became a crossover plotline between the Avengers under Stern, Fantastic Four under Byrne, and X-Factor under Layton. Busiek later found out that his idea had been used thanks to Layton, and he
26936-485: The series with this long arc, culminating in the battle royale against the Imperial Guard and the tragic sacrifice of the Phoenix." David Caballero of Screen Rant asserted, "The storyline remains influential and is one of the most referenced in American superhero comics. Thanks to excellent writing, compelling and flawed characters, inspired and often-imitated artwork, and consequences so extreme they reshaped
27118-408: The size was derived from folding one sheet of Quarter Imperial paper (15 in × 11 in or 380 mm × 280 mm), to print 4 pages which were each 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (190 mm × 280 mm). This also meant that the page count had to be some multiple of 4. In recent decades, standard comics have been trimmed at about 6.625 x 10.25 inches. The format of
27300-467: The story arc, worried then-Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter , who felt that allowing Jean to live at the conclusion of the story was both morally unacceptable (given that she was now a "mass murderer") and also an unsatisfying ending from a storytelling point of view. Shooter publicly laid out his reasoning in the 1984 roundtable: I personally think, and I've said this many times, that having a character destroy an inhabited world with billions of people, wipe out
27482-536: The story is in the final pages of Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, Volume 1 , which includes Giant-Size Uncanny X-Men #1, The X-Men Annual #3, and The X-Men #94–131; it concludes in Uncanny X-Men Omnibus Volume 2 , which continues through issue #153 and also includes Annual #4–5, Avengers Annual #10, Marvel Fanfare #1–4, Marvel Treasury Edition #26–27, Marvel Team-Up #100, Bizarre Adventures #27, and Phoenix: The Untold Story . The saga
27664-437: The story was a matter of intense controversy with the editorial staff. Jim Shooter's recollections are that the intent of the Dark Phoenix storyline was to introduce Dark Phoenix as a cosmic nemesis for the X-Men. This was what had been discussed amongst the creative team and Shooter, and this was the story development that had been approved. When Uncanny X-Men issue 135 was in the final artwork stages, Shooter happened to look at
27846-470: The story, and what led to its eventual change, and Claremont and Byrne's plans for Jean Grey, had she survived. Chris Claremont , the longest-running writer of the X-Men comics, revealed that his and Cockrum's motivation for Jean Grey's transformation into Phoenix was to create "the first female cosmic hero". The two hoped that, like Thor had been integrated into The Avengers lineup, Phoenix would also become an effective and immensely powerful member of
28028-442: The storyline of her eventual corruption and death as Dark Phoenix ( The Uncanny X-Men #129–138, 1980) has been termed " The Dark Phoenix Saga ". This storyline is one of the most well-known and heavily referenced in mainstream American superhero comics , and is widely considered a classic, including Jean Grey's suicidal sacrifice. When the first trade paperback of "The Dark Phoenix Saga" was published in 1984, Marvel also published
28210-754: The success of Superman in Action Comics prompted editors at National Comics Publications (the future DC Comics) to request more superheroes for its titles. In response, Bob Kane and Bill Finger created Batman , who debuted in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). The period from the late 1930s through roughly the end of the 1940s is referred to by comic book experts as the Golden Age of comic books . It featured extremely large print-runs, with Action Comics and Captain Marvel selling over half
28392-525: The sum of all life in the universe, is moved by Jean's wish to save herself and her friends. It takes the form of a duplicate body to house Jean's psyche. The duplication is so exact that the Phoenix Force believes itself to be Jean Grey, and places Jean's dying body in a healing cocoon. This cocoon is later described as a Phoenix Egg. The ship crashes in Jamaica Bay, with the other X-Men unharmed. The Phoenix Force, assuming Jean's identity, emerges wearing
28574-454: The team. The artwork was already done, and it was too late to change. But he promised himself he would bring her back as soon as possible, which he did in issue 97 when he became the sole writer of the title. Claremont also decided to upgrade her powers significantly. The storyline in which Jean Grey died as Marvel Girl and was reborn as Phoenix ( The Uncanny X-Men #101–108, 1976–1977) has been retroactively dubbed by fans "The Phoenix Saga", and
28756-408: The telepathic Emma Frost to address his disillusionment and his experiences while possessed by Apocalypse. Emma psychically manipulates Scott and tries to psychically seduce him, which Jean interrupts and discovers, though she would later learn Emma was in love with Scott. Jean also realizes that Scott and Emma never had a physical affair and that Emma had, to an extent, taken advantage of Scott. In
28938-417: The tradition of the earlier underground comics , while others, such as Star Reach , resembled the output of mainstream publishers in format and genre but were published by smaller artist-owned ventures or by a single artist. This so-called " small press " scene (a term derived from the limited quantity of comics printed in each press-run) continued to grow and diversify, with a number of small publishers in
29120-511: The two women. In Bishop 's original timeline before he ends up in the present he finds the X-Men's war room and finds a garbled distress signal from Jean about a traitor destroying the X-Men from within. Meanwhile, in the present, the X-Men begin to hear increasing news about a malevolent entity called Onslaught . Jean first sees Onslaught as a psionic image with the rest of the X-Men after Onslaught coerces Gateway to kidnap Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, and Iceman. He later appears to her again in
29302-446: The two, the White Hot Room, in which both entities reside between resurrections. At the conclusion of the Inferno event, Jean absorbs all the memories of Phoenix's experiences from its first appearance as Jean through the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga. Writer Grant Morrison would ultimately establish that only by merging with Jean at her most powerful as the "One True Phoenix" could the Phoenix realize its full potential in physical form as
29484-477: The various X-Men books led to storylines involving the genocide of superpowered "mutants" in allegorical stories about religious and ethnic persecution. In addition, published formats like the graphic novel and the related trade paperback enabled the comic book to gain some respectability as literature. As a result, these formats are now common in book retail and the collections of US public libraries . The Dark Phoenix Saga " The Dark Phoenix Saga "
29666-487: The whole Solar System in hopes of eliminating Dark Phoenix in the process. Xavier orders the X-Men to subdue Jean to preempt Lilandra's emergency measure. They battle her until she regains her senses. Running inside one of the Blue Area's ruins, Jean, struggling to keep control, activates an ancient Kree weapon that disintegrates her after an emotional good-bye to Cyclops. He deduces that Jean had planned her sacrifice from
29848-503: The world is to survive. Jean accompanies Cyclops, Archangel, and Psylocke to Muir Island where they and Moira McTaggert discover the Xavier Protocols , secret plans that Xavier made to kill any of the individual X-Men should anyone become a threat against the world. Meanwhile, Jean's earlier distress signal makes it to X-Factor, Excalibur , and X-Force . After returning to New York, Jean works closely with Reed Richards to help build up defenses against Onslaught as well as to help create
30030-411: The years. Claremont and Byrne kill it in this one, presenting a tale that is not only considered the best X-Men story of all time but one of the best comics of all time in general." Joe Garza of /Film ranked "The Dark Phoenix Saga" 1st in their "15 Best X-Men Comics You Need To Read" list, writing, "The "Dark Phoenix Saga" is quite possibly THE signature X-Men storyline, the one that perfectly embodies
30212-477: Was "brilliant", but agreed that in retrospect the character should have remained dead. In the comics, having been fully established as separate from the "Jean Grey" copy created and taken over by the Phoenix Force, Jean is "absolved" of involvement in the atrocities of "The Dark Phoenix" storyline, and she returned in the first issue of X-Factor (1st Series). Claremont later commented on how Jean's revival affected his original plans for Madelyne Pryor, stating that
30394-408: Was a cloud with a silver lining, and proved the making of Marvel, allowing the company to concentrate its brightest and best talent on a small number of titles, at a time when its rivals were spreading their creative talents very thin across a huge number of monthly titles. The quality of Marvel's product soared in consequence, and sales soared with it. While the creators of comics were given credit in
30576-449: Was a professor at Bard College in upstate New York . Depictions of Jean's childhood and her relations with her family have shown a stable, loving family life growing up. Jean's mutant powers of telepathy and telekinesis first manifested when her best friend was hit by a car and killed. Jean mentally linked with her friend and nearly died as well. The event left her comatose, and she was brought back to consciousness when her parents sought
30758-422: Was a regular part of the team through the series' publication. Initially possessing the ability of telekinesis , the character was later granted the power of telepathy , which would be retconned years later as a suppressed mutant ability. Under the authorship of Chris Claremont and the artwork of first Dave Cockrum and then John Byrne in the late 1970s, Jean Grey underwent a significant transformation from
30940-525: Was able, through telepathic therapy with the comatose Jessica Jones, to grant Jessica immunity to the Purple Man's mind control abilities, despite his powers being chemical in nature rather than psychic. When Jean absorbed Psylocke 's specialized telepathic powers, her own telepathy was increased to the point that she could physically manifest her telepathy as a psionic firebird whose claws could inflict both physical and mental damage. She briefly developed
31122-464: Was also a rise in conservative values with the election in 1952 of Dwight Eisenhower . The Comics Code Authority, a self-censoring body founded to curb the juvenile delinquency alleged to be due to the crime and horror comics, has often been targeted as the culprit, but sales had begun to drop the year before it was founded. The major publishers were not seriously harmed by the drop in sales, but smaller publishers were killed off: EC (the prime target of
31304-404: Was credited in Fantastic Four #286 and paid for his contributions. The decision to revive Jean Grey was controversial among fans, with some appreciating the return of the character and others feeling it weakened the impact of the Dark Phoenix Saga's ending. Busiek maintained that the idea that led to Jean Grey's official return to Marvel Comics was merely a case of sharing his ideas with friends as
31486-475: Was decided by Byrne and Claremont to have Jean commit suicide after her Dark Phoenix persona resurfaces at the climax of the fight against the Imperial Guard. Issue 137 was left largely unchanged, but the last five pages were completely rewritten and redrawn for the new ending, and Claremont also took the opportunity to write a second draft of his script. Because of this, comparison of the original and published versions of X-Men #137 reveals numerous differences in
31668-429: Was driven out. However, the creative and editorial team ultimately agreed that Phoenix had been depicted as an inherent and inseparable aspect of Jean Grey, meaning that the character was fully responsible for her actions as Phoenix. As a result, Shooter ordered that Claremont and Byrne rewrite issue #137 to explicitly place in the story both a consequence and an ending commensurate with the enormity of Phoenix's actions. In
31850-608: Was first collected as a trade paperback in 1984. The first edition featured a cover painting by Bill Sienkiewicz . To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Phoenix Saga, the storyline was reprinted in an oversized trim hardcover. The X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga hardcover (352 pages, July 2010, Marvel, ISBN 978-0-7851-4913-2 ) collects The X-Men #129–138, Classic X-Men #43, Bizarre Adventures #27, Phoenix: The Untold Story (one-shot), and What If? #27. The story ( The X-Men #129–137) has been collected into
32032-413: Was initially explained by writers as Xavier 'sharing' some of his telepathy with her. The Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades Handbook detailed Jean's telepathic abilities: Jean is also one of the few telepaths skilled enough to communicate with animals (animals with high intelligence, such as dolphins , dogs , and ravens ). As a side effect of her telepathy, she has an eidetic memory . Jean
32214-417: Was later alluded to in the live-action film X2 (2003). The live-action film X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) contains some elements from the saga. The animated series Wolverine and the X-Men (2009) adapted "The Dark Phoenix Saga" at the end of its first season, though it changed many elements of the story. Had there been a fifth season of the animated series X-Men: Evolution (2000), its own version of
32396-437: Was marked out with black tape to create an air of mystery about the revelations that the crossover would involve, and Busiek thus found himself taping over all mention of his idea. While the retroactive depiction of Jean Grey and Phoenix as separate entities remains canon, later stories have established a middle ground regarding the unique relationship between the two. Claremont would establish an extradimensional mutual home for
32578-474: Was next featured in the six-issue miniseries X-Men Forever written by Fabian Nicieza , which was designed to tie up the remaining plot lines. During the series, Jean revisited many of the events involving the Phoenix Force and the series introduced the concept of "Omega level mutants", a category for mutants with unlimited potential, which included Jean herself. In June 2001, X-Men was retitled as New X-Men under writer Grant Morrison . The title consisted of
32760-729: Was printed in hardback form for issue 2 of The Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection , a graphic novel series based in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, in January 2012. Another omnibus edition, X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga Omnibus , was published in August 2018, and included Uncanny X-Men #97–105, 107–108, 125–138, Bizarre Adventures #27, Phoenix: The Untold Story , What If? #27, and material from Classic X-Men #6, 8, 13, 18, 24, 43 (688 pages, ISBN 978-1302912123 ) The "Dark Phoenix Saga"
32942-490: Was told that issue 137 ended with Jean being permanently depowered by the Shi'ar and released into the custody of the X-Men. Shooter disagreed with this development both from a storytelling standpoint as well as, secondarily, a moral standpoint, likening the ending to "taking the German army away from Hitler and letting him go back to governing Germany," and finding it out of character for the X-Men to retain friendly relations with
33124-419: Was written by Matthew Rosenberg with art by Leinil Francis Yu . Following the events of Extermination story, the time-displaced Jean Grey and the other original X-Men were returned to their original time, as part of Jonathan Hickman 's plan to reboot the entire X-Men franchise. Jean Elaine Grey was born the second daughter of John and Elaine Grey . She had an older sister, Sara Grey-Bailey . John Grey
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