Jean Grey Is Once Again Life & Fire Incarnate In July’s ‘Phoenix’
by Tony Thornley
After years separate from the cosmic being that once defined her, Jean Grey is once again Phoenix in the latest X-Men From The Ashes series announcement.
Coming from rising stars Stephanie Phillips writing, and Alessandro Miracolo on art, the series is Jean’s second-ever ongoing series. It will debut alongside X-Men and X-Force in July.
The series will find Jean still reeling from the events following her death after last year’s Hellfire Gala, ending with her merging with the Phoenix Force once again. When she receives a call for help from Nova, she has to act, bringing her to the edge of a black hole with hundreds of lives in the balance. There, she will have to make a desperate choice, but no matter what she chooses, her actions will bring unimaginable darkness to the cosmos.
“Jean is one of the most powerful characters I’ve ever written,” Phillips explained. “The beauty and challenge to Jean is that she is imbued with a cosmic force alongside the morals, shortcomings, and empathy of a human being. The dichotomy between those two is something incredibly special about Jean, and means that she is constantly doing a dance between humanity and absolute power. So, that dance is what we hope to have on full display in this story… a cosmic ballet that shows how beautiful the Phoenix Force can be when working in tandem with Jean Grey. And let me assure you, Alessandro Miracolo has made that cosmic dance look absolutely gorgeous.”
“This is fantastic! Being an X-Men fan since I was a kid, I’m so happy to work on such an important character like Phoenix, and Stephanie’s writing has been incredible!” Miracolo shared. “Depicting Phoenix out in the cosmos and unleashing her energy has been thrilling and simply epic, and there’s also really emotional moments that I hope to make the most of. I wish I could say more but I hope everyone is excited because this will be fun!”
This is an interesting pitch, without a doubt. Turning Jean into the X-Men line’s cosmic hero- along the same lines as Thor- is a fantastic pitch and gives her a purpose that she’s never had before. It also makes me wonder about her ties with the X-Men that are remaining Earthbound, Cyclops and Wolverine in particular. On the behind-the-scenes front, this now makes the line written by over half women writers (with Phillips joining Eve Ewing and Gail Simone), which I believe is a first for the X-Men line ever.
On the other side of it though, it’s a bit of a bummer to see Jean being dragged back to the Phoenix Force after being separated since her return in 2015. (Yes, I know this is Phillips picking up from a thread in the Krakoan era, but still…) Additionally, seeing this series announced as ongoing while multiple Marvel editors have stated that the only X-Men solo that sells is Wolverine makes me hope that’s not the case here.
Check out the cover from the debut issue from Yasmine Putri above and watch for this week’s final announcement- NYX– tomorrow.
