It’s the original good girl gone bad story.
Not just good girl having a few bad thoughts and finally reverting back to normal again bad, but actual good girl gone bad and ate a sun which killed 5 billion and then couldn’t live with herself so committed suicide bad.
Whoops. Slight spoiler alert there. Soz.
Regardless it’s a mandatory read not just for any X-Men fan but certainly for anyone thinking of going to see Dark Phoenix and I’ll try not to spoil too much in here so I’ll keep it as short as poss. BUT, it’s 1980 and you’ve got the creative dynamic duo of Claremont and Byrne at the helm so it’s just full of superhero goodness.
Now there is some blurring of the lines in here, the line being whether the Phoenix is an external cosmic force or just the ultimate expression of Jean’s own potential. It’s not really fleshed out and made clear until the end, so again there’s a fair bit of underlying misogyny especially coming from Scott and Xavier and it’s the standard fear of a woman growing powerful, so threatening the position of the man.
What is a pretty cool display of power, but also a romantic gesture on Jean’s part to hold back Scott’s optic blasts so that she can see is whole face, and then suck it off, is met with the thought “how can Jean hold back all that power?” I mean that’s some trumpet you’re blowing there Scotty. Also, she did it to kiss you, prick.
Also Xavier’s original assumption that there was no outside interference, and that Jean was just developing great power herself was also met with the assumption that she was “too young — she lacks the… awareness necessary to control her now limitless abilities”. Therefore cue interference from an older male afraid of the younger more powerful female overthrowing him.
Anyone else get that?
Anyway. Fuck those guys. Because Jean’s great in this, whether she’s being doting girlfriend to Scott or kickass hero/ villain, she does it all well. Claremont really succeeds in exploring every part of a persons character. She’s loving, vengeful, thoughtless, compassionate, jealous, selfish and selfless all in one, maximised to the extreme.
Her first encounter with Emma Frost is one of my favourite pieces of art, the panel is incredible. Not to mention that it gives the Jean/ Emma/ Scott love triangle in 2000s New X-Men so much more fun depth.
And when she decides to end her own life it’s not just to save her loved ones, team mates, and the rest of the galaxy, it’s also to save herself. It’s the choice between having to stay in complete control for the rest of her immortal life without ever slipping, or death, and to be honest who the hell wants to be in control forever?
I don’t know where my sanity would be if I wasn’t able to cut loose every now and then.
So please just read it. It’s a fantastic tale of exploring ones potential and humanity.
And let’s face it, everyone needs to do that. Some more than others.
#harrisonthehand