By JV Tanjuatco
Ask any longtime X-Fans what the best X-Men stories are and you can expect the Dark Phoenix Saga to be somewhere at the top of their list. It’s the epic tale of how X-Man Jean Grey aka Phoenix succumbed to ultimate power and how the rest of the team tries to save her. It was a massive storyline that spanned four years and paid off in a controversial climax. For its time, it was Game of Thrones for fanboys. If there’s any indication that this is the greatest X-Men story of all time, it’s in the ramifications that reverberated throughout the Marvel Universe and beyond in the years since. Let’s have a look at its impact over the last thirty-nine years:
The Beginnings of the Death of a Hero Trend
Before Jean Grey died to save the universe, it was rare that major characters were killed off in comic books during the 70s and 80s. The last time a pivotal character died was Gwen Stacy in the early 70s. Fans never expected that Jean, a long-running character in the series would be in danger. The feedback from her death must have been positive because other titles followed suit – killing off crucial characters as well with varying degrees of success – Elektra in Daredevil and Raven in Teen Titans. This trend reached new heights with the Death of Superman in the 90s and the Death of Captain America in the 2000s.
The Beginnings of the Resurrection of a Hero Trend
What could possibly be more exciting than the death of a hero? The return of said hero! Six years after her death, Jean Grey was resurrected in a retcon (stands for retroactive continuity where new information is revealed that alters what has happened before). It turns out that the Phoenix was an entity that assumed Jean Grey’s form and put the original Jean in a coma so she could recover from a fatal accident. Revived, she joined the original X-Men to form a spin-off team called X- Factor that became very popular. The return of characters such as Superman and Captain America became events in themselves that resulted in financial success.
Made the X-Men title Successful Years Later
During the late 60s and 70s, sales on the X-Men book were at their lowest. It got to the point that issues 67-93 were all reprints of older X-Men adventures. Marvel then decided to revamp the title – they removed all the original members (except for Cyclops and Phoenix) and replaced them with new characters with different powers and came from different countries. Fans were noticing the quality work that creators Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and John Byrne were putting into the title. The highlight of their run was the Dark Phoenix Saga. But it was only when Cockrum and Byrne had left the title that the book became Marvel’s top-seller.
Far-Reaching Story Implications Felt Until Now
The Dark Phoenix Saga seemed to end with such finality but creator Chris Claremont and many other writers tapped into the Phoenix well repeatedly in the years since. Dark Phoenix seemed to return from the ashes when Cyclops’ new girlfriend is a dead ringer for Jean Grey. It’s revealed that an X-Men enemy named Mastermind used his power to make them think she was Dark Phoenix. Months later, Rachel the alternate future daughter of Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Jean Grey joins the X-Men and takes the code-name Phoenix. When Rachel returns to the future, Jean herself assumes the Phoenix identity. After she dies again, the Phoenix entity eventually returns and several X-Men including Cyclops become hosts for it. The Avengers deem them a threat and battle them in the Marvel event, Avengers vs. X-Men. Last year, the Phoenix revived Jean Grey so she could once again be its host but Jean rejected the entity. These stories were entertaining yet many fans still feel that the original story is still the one to beat.
A Saga So Awesome, It’s Been Adapted Into a Movie. Twice.
After the first X-Men film was a success, the sequel laid down the foundations to set up the Dark Phoenix Saga for the third movie. While X-Men: The Last Stand was considered a commercial success; critics and fans were not very fond of it. Fans felt that the movie strayed quite far from the original source material. Major characters Cyclops and Professor X were quickly killed off in the first half of the movie. These were characters who played key roles in the story whereas Wolverine, who was a supporting role in the comics, was the main protagonist in the movie. Another critique was that throwing in the mutant cure storyline (another popular X-Men storyline) muddied the plot waters even further. One of the writers who worked on the X-Men: The Last Stand, Simon Kinberg, is now the writer and director of Dark Phoenix and this time Professor X and Cyclops are front and center with Wolverine nowhere to be found. It looks like Kinberg wants to get the story right this time. It is a story worth adapting well.
About the author:
JV Tanjuatco, comic book writer/editor/publisher, founded Comic Book Lab that publishes the comic book titles Mythopolis and War of Whispers (co-created and co-written by him). Comic Book Lab’s most recent project was the graphic novel anthology Stay: 21 Comic Stories authored by Palanca Award winner Angelo R. Lacuesta and illustrated by a stellar line-up of artists including Trese’s Kajo Baldisimo. He has also written articles/reviews for Spot.ph and Ain’t It Cool.
