A Strong Start Later Muddled by Retcons?
Countless retcons and re-retcons convolute exactly what happened. Its up to another article to explore the precise nature of the Phoenix and Jean Grey. Here, well go with the original intention of the creators. Jean manages to fly the plane to Earth. The plane crashes in the middle of the Jamaica Bay in Queens, New York. The X-Men rise to the top of the water one by one. Everyone assumes Jean died. In a fit of rage and denial, Cyclops frantically searches for her. Finally, the water bubbles. Jean emerges from the water reborn as Phoenix.
Later, the creative team behind the newly retitled UNCANNY X-MEN explain Professor Xavier telepathically tampered with Jeans mind during her youth. He placed psychic barriers in Jeans mind that dampened her immense power as a safety measure from Jean losing control. Jean pushing her abilities to the limit flying the ship broke through the psychic barriers. Newly powered up, Jean Grey is no longer Marvel Girl. She now calls herself Phoenix.
Upon further inspection, Jean breaking through Xaviers barriers in her mind resonates. An older man who knows best prevents a woman from attaining her potential as a human being. Jeans freedom from Xaviers barriers mirrors the feminism happening in the outside world. Women all across the United States broke free from the shackles placed on their potential to be whoever it is they want by the patriarchy. They, like Jean, started to break free from years of repression.
Jeans powers infinitely augmented to the degree that she controls matter telekinetically at the subatomic level. She can rearrange molecules and transmute one thing into something else simply by willing it to occur. Her telepathic powers also reached cosmic levels. Her role on the team now the opposite of how she started, Jean Grey as Phoenix became the most powerful member of the X-Men in an instant.
As Phoenix, Jean Grey won battles against everyone from the ShiArs Gladiator to heralds of Galactus.
Several factors contributed to Jeans role as Phoenix correlating to the most popular time in X-Men history. First, as the powerhouse of the X-Men team, no one tired of watching Jean kick serious ass. Additionally, certain male characters reacted to Jeans new powers in similar ways men reacted to womens liberation. To put it mildly, they were scared. They didnt know what to do with themselves. At times, Cyclops seemed like he lost his very identity. Decades later, we finally learn just how emasculated he feels as the arm candy to the most powerful cosmic force in the universe.
In not quite FATAL ATTRACTION style, we learn what happens when a man tampers with the mental wellness of Jean Grey in the Dark Phoenix Saga." The Hellfire Club, led by Sebastian Shaw, Harry Leland, Donald Pierce, Emma Frost and Jason Wyngarde, plans to rule the world by gradually amassing power as a secret society. The goals of the Hellfire Club carefully contrast with Magnetos ideology. The Hellfire Club concerns itself with world domination while at this point, Magneto seems like another victim of humanitys ugliness. He constantly attempts preemptive strikes against his former oppressors.
Masterminds plan attains success after entering Jean Greys mind and implanting enough memories of her fictitious past life that Jean believes it to be her reality. The romance they share in her false memories somehow gave her a taste of how good selfishness and meanness feel. Jean subsequently surrenders to the illusion completely. She loses touch with reality and thinks shes the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. Masterminds plan backfires in a huge way when it drives Jean a little too crazy. She breaks through his illusion as a charming and handsome man, subsequently revealing him as older, unattractive, and frail. Instead of killing Mastermind, UNCANNY X-MEN overlaps with SANDMAN: DREAM COUNTRY. Jean gives him what he wants. She bestows near limitless power onto him by connecting his mind to the entire universe.
Jean embracing her rage and becoming Dark Phoenix isnt merely about the mental and physical rape Mastermind caused. Jeans reaction is the reaction of many women finally free to respond however they want. Her anger far outreaches the deeds of the Hellfire Club. Jean is angry for having her mind tampered and violated, yet, another time. She is angry regarding her marginalization as a member of the X-Men. She is angry about the twenty-four years shes been alive up until this point and not had the freedom to reach her potential. The Hellfire Club represents the shadow government of the patriarchy. Mastermind represents the face of the Hellfire Club. At that moment, Jean reacts with the ferocity I can only imagine some women felt by their oppression before the womens movement.
As the famous saying goes: Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. As Dark Phoenix, Jean destroys an entire solar system with billions of inhabitants. Next, Jean takes on the whole team of X-Men in addition to Beast and Angel. She effortlessly defeats them. In a final plea, Cyclops tells Jean she cannot and will not kill the X-Men because she loves them. Various interpretations of the Dark Phoenix Saga can be deduced by Jeans behavior and Chris Claremonts excellent writing. I may have read the Dark Phoenix Saga more than any other comic book arc in my lifetime. First, Chris Claremont chose Jean to become the Phoenix. That choice, in itself, speaks volumes. The turning tides of the times influenced Claremont. He welcomed the change with arms wide open. Jeans final action before death is something many women never have the opportunity to do choose. Rather than any other outcome occur outside of her control, Jean makes a choice to end her life. Jean knew she might die. If she had to, she wanted the decision to belong to her and only her. While the power of the Phoenix overwhelmed Jean, Jean fought back and won twice. Rather than thinking the Phoenix Force overwhelmed Jean, think of the strength necessary to fight back against one of the cosmic forces of creation itself. Jean Grey, an ordinary woman from Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, had the constitution of character required to subdue and, even, overcome a cosmic force. Thats no easy feat.
People often struggle with addictions, intrusive thoughts, self-repression, external oppression, and anxiety. An estimated 25% of the population suffers from anxiety. Furthermore, issues surrounding mental health are often stigmatized, even in the most developed nations where studies are easily accessible to the public. Due to forced use of their own coping mechanisms, Jean Grey struggling to break free from her Dark Phoenix persona mirrors peoples own battles with mental health. In Dark Phoenix Saga, Jean expresses her difficulty living with a hunger for a joy, a rapture beyond all comprehension. These might not be the exact same words someone suffering from addiction might use, however, the metaphor applies nonetheless. Anyone who feels rageful, overly angry, suffers from addiction, or obsessive-compulsive disorder easily identifies with Jean breaking through her Dark Phoenix persona. While feeling consumed by ones affliction, moments of alternative thoughts creep into the mind. As someone who deals with some of the same issues Im discussing, I wish I had more moments where my essential self broke through the moments my addictions consumed me. Those opportunities afford a check-in with ones behavior. Sometimes, when you catch yourself acting out of anxiety, fear, or anger, you can interrupt the pattern and calm yourself. All of this isnt only true for those suffering from a mental health problem. Anyone can relate to not having the skills to stop thinking harmful thoughts or feeling self-sabotaging negativity. The Dark Phoenix Saga serves as a beacon to all those who relate. Kitty Pryde is often considered the everywoman. However in Dark Phoenix Saga, Jeans battle with her darker instincts primally tell the story of almost every person alive or dead. It might be one of the reasons the X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX SAGA trade will forever remain a classic in the same way as Medea and A Dolls House.Dark Phoenix Saga strikes a primal chord deep within the souls of its readers.