The Uncanny X-Men # 129-138
I’ve read the Dark Phoenix Saga at least three times already, each time taking it as it is and enjoying, though never really accepting it as the best X-Men story ever. In many ways, this time around, it’s an exception.
The Dark Phoenix Saga is far more than just a story about a crazy, super-powerful Jean Grey, the Victorian-Era-wannabe Hellfire Club, and the Shi’ar wanting justice. It’s about the core of the X-Men’s beliefs being shaken. And, on top of all that, it’s a love story.
The X-Men, since their first issue, has been all about stopping “evil” Mutants. While these evil Mutants have ranged from Magneto to Vanisher to Sebastion Shaw, none of them have ever (or, really, will ever) strike them harder than Phoenix. Why? Because Phoenix is one of their own.
(Note: I know that later, down the line, that it will be revealed that Jean Grey and Phoenix are really not one and the same. I can not and will never fully accept that and I believe there is canonical evidence to support that. I plan on, down the line, doing a huge spotlight on Jean Grey/Phoenix, but for now, I’ll point something out. Combine with what we see in Classic X-Men # 9 [back-up story] and what Phoenix talks about in the Dark Phoenix Saga and you’ll see that two entities are in the same body. I’ll accept that Jean is in a new body and I’ll even accept that she has two personalities [kinda like a cosmic level version of multi-personality disorder] . . . but don’t try and convince me that this isn’t Jean).
Anyways . . .
Thanks to the Hellfire Club, Jean’s passion and security come unhinged, causing her to emerge as the Dark Phoenix. She tears through the X-Men, then goes off and feeds on sun, causing the death of 5 billion nearby aliens. The X-Men then defeat her, with the help of Professor X, but then the Shi’ar shows up. A duel of honor follows, Phoenix re-emerges, and she then kills herself before allowing her power to go out of control again.
Really, that’s a piss-poor summary. So many various aspects of the X-Men’s mythos comes into play. We see virtually every X-Man up at that point (save Mimic and Sunfire, though they do appear in a flashback). Scott and Jean’s relationship, obviously, plays the biggest part here. The X-Men go after two new Mutants – Dazzler and Kitty Pryde.
I could go on and on.
The storytelling here is top of the line. We’re given insight to each character as the story moves along. From Kitty and Colossus POV, we see the story through the eyes of more grounded, more realistic characters (due to their youth). Storm’s heart aches as she battles Jean, thinking of her as a sister, but also finds it hard to forgive her for the death of the D’Bari. Wolverine struggles with the decision whether or not to kill Jean.
Scott and Jean’s relationship here is the glue that holds the story together. As calamity and betrayal unfold around them, they do their best to hold together. A moment that really touched me was when they were fighting the Shi’ar and the pair hide in the alcove. Scott tells Jean that there was so much he wanted to tell her and she replies that she knew from his thoughts. I know it sounds dorky, but it was a really touching scene. Surprisingly enough, I found Scott and Jean’s relationship throughout the story the most realistic aspect, especially considering the way that most writers of that era (and even now, to an extent) tend to over-dramatize relationships.
In many ways, everything has been leading up to this story. From Uncanny X-Men # 1 on up, it feels a bit like it’s been building up to this tale. I think seeing it all as one large story made the Dark Phoenix Saga resonate with me a little more this time.
~W~
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