□ Uncanny X-Men #129-138 (January-October 1980)
Is the Dark Phoenix Saga the most rewarding storyline in the entire Marvel Universe? Quite possibly: Jean Grey’s descends into madness and villainy as the forces within her transform her into an all-powerful adversary, not just for the X-Men but for all of mankind.
Chris Claremont’s script is beyond criticism as he juggles multiple characters and interweaves plotlines into a cohesive and compelling story. John Bryne brings dynamism, vibrancy and emotion to his fabulous artwork.
The protagonist is Mastermind, one of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants introduced in X-Men #4. Mastermind wants to to join the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club and, under the identity of Jason Wyngarde, he begins to seduce Jean Grey. With the help of Emma Frost, the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Wyngarde projects illusions into Phoenix’ mind, and she believes that she is reliving the memories of an ancestor, Lady Grey. She helps the Hellfire Club capture the X-Men and in the battle her conflicted psyche unleashes her latent power, turning her into Dark Phoenix, a source of ultimate and divine power. She strikes down the X-Men and breaks Wyngarde’s spell, driving him insane.
Dark Phoenix departs for a distant galaxy where she assimilates the energy of a nearby star causing a supernova that kills the entire population of a nearby planet. Unbelievably, one of Marvel’s super-heroes had committed an act of genocide. A Shi’ar vessel prevents her from destroying other stars, and Dark Phoenix returns to Earth in conflict between her feelings for her loved ones and her destructive impulses. Professor X is temporarily able to restore her to her original Marvel Girl powers.
Meanwhile, the Shi’ar declare that Dark Phoenix must stand trial for her crimes. This leads to the tragic final showdown on the Moon as Xavier negotiates a “duel of honour” between the Shi’ar and the X-Men. The Shi’ar defeat most of the X-Men, leaving Cyclops and Phoenix to make a final stand together. When Cyclops is seemingly killed, Jean becomes Dark Phoenix once more. The X-Men fight her until she regains her senses. But the force of the Dark Phoenix is never far away: “I’m scared, Scott. I’m hanging on by my fingernails. I can feel the Phoenix within me taking over. Part of me welcomes it.”
After an emotional good-bye to Cyclops, she steps into the path of a Kree weapon and is disintegrated.
The story ends with Uatu the Watcher commenting that “Jean Grey could have lived to become a god. But it was more important to her that she die…a human.” [1]
Parallel to the main story, two new mutants are introduced: Kitty Pryde and Dazzler. Kitty Pryde would join the X-Men in issue #139, where she was codenamed Sprite and would be the main character in issues #141-142, the Days of Future Past storyline. Dazzler could convert sound vibrations into light and energy beams and later starred in a successful self-titled solo series in the early 1980s which lasted for forty-two issues.
Emma Frost, who makes her first appearance in this story, evolves from an adversary to becoming a one of the X-Men’s most important members in the 2000s.
There is often a tragic element to the best stories. The Dark Phoenix Saga is a true classic of the genre. Despite being a mutant, the tragedy of Jean Grey is all too human: she knows exactly what is happening to her but is powerless to resist. Jean Grey’s suicidal sacrifice is the only solution she has, destroying herself to save those she loves. Comic books, indeed, art itself, doesn’t get any better than this[2].
[1] In Phoenix: The Untold Story (April 1984), an unused alternative conclusion has Jean surviving the events of the Dark Phoenix Saga.
[2] As with the cyclic nature of comic books, Jean Grey doesn’t stay dead for long. Her return as Marvel Girl, and the revelation that that Phoenix wasn’t Jean Grey at all is the central concept of the cross-over story in Avengers #263 (January 1986), Fantastic Four #286 (January 1986) and X-Factor #1 (February 1986). Some us choose to prefer that Phoenix was, indeed, Jean Grey, and that she died forever at the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga.