Review: Phoenix – Resurrection of Jean Grey #1
Ah good old Marvel. As part of their Legacy initiative, the House of Ideas is rolling back the clock somewhat and bringing back the one character who has possibly died and come back more times than Hawkman over in the DC Universe. As a character, no body else can split the fans opinion like Jean Grey. For a lot of people her continual reinvention or returns can become tiresome. For me, with a name like Phoenix, it is kind of inevitable.
By now, everyone should know at least a part of her history; she died saving the X-Men, she was killed saving Scott Summers in a trial by combat, but that wasn’t really her and she returned to form X-Factor, then she died, then she came back, then Logan killed her a few times. See what I mean? The recent Jean Grey has been the younger version, pulled to the present from the past along with her original X-Men team. Her role in the Marvel Universe seemed to be to whine about what was ahead of her. Now the stage is set for the real Jean Grey to return…….again!
This issue starts out with a bit of a mystery; two kids find a girl lying on the ground, with blood seeping into her head. Quicker than you can say annataZ, the now awake girl speaks backward before a vanishing trick leave the kids comatose floating in the air. Of course, Cerebro picks up some sort of energy and the X-Men investigate, learning that there is a trio of such energy signatures. Splitting the team Kitty and the gang head out to face further mysteries, before things get really Eerie, Indiana!
It has been a while since my last foray in to a Marvel book. I picked this up because, for the most part, I love the adult Jean Grey character. Regardless of where the X-Men have been, to me she is part of the glue that holds them together, either as the soul of the team or giving them the focus of an enemy who is eminently more powerful than they are. Along the way, there have been some ups and downs, but I am a Jean Grey fan. Reading this book, I think Matthew Rosenberg is also a fan of Jean. I haven’t read a lot of his work, so I am coming into this with an open mind. Rosenberg works hard to show the X-Universe with three mini teams, as well as a full team brief. I am not quite sure why Kitty has to brief the whole team when some of them are not going on a mission Still once the plan is drawn, Rosenberg moves through the gears well enough, with the locations of the spikes serving as a hint or nod to the past. The dialogue works well for those that speak; it does feel that some of the characters are there to make up the numbers due to their lack of interaction in the mission and the group as a whole.
Leinil Francis Yu provides the pencils for the book, which carries a certain maturity to it. Kitty is older now and Yu draws her as a confident person with her choice of outfit displaying her intent for Xavier’s school and perhaps her own thoughts on who and what the X-Men should be.
Yu has a style that reminds me of Joelle Jones as least in they way that the figure work is shown through the various panels. The camera angles used during the briefing help keep the reader focussed on the dialogue, with the action scenes working, with perhaps the slightest elements of chaos on show. Gerry Alanguilan provides the heavy inks which may be impacting the overall quality of the details on show. Rachelle Rosenberg, colors the book with layers of darkness, which is odd considering that the Phoenix is a creature of light, at least some of the time. For old school fans, there is a raft of variant covers from the like of Art Adams and John Byrne.
The X-books have taken their fair share of criticism of late, with fans lamenting how their books are not as great as they once were. Whilst I can certainly see their points, there comes a time when fans have to realise that may never be a story like The Dark Phoenix Saga again. Readership has changed over the years with their expectations also changing. But to quote the great Billy Joel, “the good ole days weren’t always good. And tomorrow ain’t as bad as it seems”. For me the re-introduction of such a classic character as Jean Grey can only be a good thing.
Writing – 4 Â Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by; Matthew Rosenberg
Art by; Leinil Francis Yu
Inks by; Gerry Alanguilan
Colors by; Rachelle Rosenberg
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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