It's just a matter of familiarity I suppose, we've all been reading stories centered around idealized leading men since childhood, but women with the same kinds of characteristics are typically the preserve of lowbrow chick lit which mainstream audiences are mostly unaware of. Whenever you see this kind of character in any kind of work meant for male consumption, your first reaction is to start searching for some agenda or ulterior motive.
If you look at the male Jean derivatives like Cable, Nate Grey, or Quentin Quire, they're far less restricted in terms of how they can use their powers and Marvel is content to keep throwing them starring roles even though each is well past his peak in terms of fan appeal and don't look to be capable of reversing the downward trend any time soon.
If we're being in character Emma would likely never strike out on her own to start a school again because she does not trust herself to handle students on her own, because as Jean not so gently pointed out:
Product of our society I suppose. I had a lengthy debate yesterday with someone about whether gender flipping an established character automatically made them more interesting or not. I think I pissed him off pretty mightily.
Well I shouldn't pile just on Emma for that. This is a big issue with the franchise that's come to light in the past couple decades. When you have a situation where potential new superheroes can manifest like they're falling off the factory line, eventually you're going to run into the problem of "the cast of thousands" which the X-books have had since the 90's at least.
The old guard established characters will always remain center focus, and any new characters gaining ground and becoming appreciably popular in the current market is a freak of nature, so most of them become inherently disposable. Little wonder that so many new mutants who have come to light in the past couple years have been pretty ho-hum on the power scale.
CC/Byrne era X-Men by Alex Ross.
He makes Jean look a tad menacing, though I kind of like how the flame from her hand is turning into a phoenix.
[QUOTE=ariwl1;190513
Well I shouldn't pile just on Emma for that. This is a big issue with the franchise that's come to light in the past couple decades. When you have a situation where potential new superheroes can manifest like they're falling off the factory line, eventually you're going to run into the problem of "the cast of thousands" which the X-books have had since the 90's at least.
The old guard established characters will always remain center focus, and any new characters gaining ground and becoming appreciably popular in the current market is a freak of nature, so most of them become inherently disposable. Little wonder that so many new mutants who have come to light in the past couple years have been pretty ho-hum on the power scale.[/QUOTE]
You're absolutely right about that, just like the victims of Genosha and Wanda's spell all were swept under the rug. That's what happens when you have such a large team of heroes with potentially to grow even more so. I guess they had to find a way to control their numbers.
I don't care! I'll start my own group. Rejection from society is what started the X-men.
I forget which editor said (think it was Quesada) that population control was the entire reason Decimation happened in the first place. The X-Universe had expanded to be too large. I think they'd couched it by saying that the huge numbers were making mutants not be as special or something.
The double appearance is a little odd since I think Jean is the only one to do double duty. I think for many artists they'll take any chance they can to draw the old school Phoenix costume.
Last edited by ariwl1; 06-13-2014 at 11:18 AM.
His art definitely has a majestic feel to it. The style doesn't fit everything, but when it does, it's quite beautiful. My favorite X-Men piece from Alex Ross is this homage to a page of interior art by Dave Cockrum in Uncanny X-Men 107. I have a poster of it hanging in my room.
Well..................
"I can watch Cyclops objectively make the right choice, and fight for his woman, and help the school, and stand up as a reliable pillar of virtue and good intentions, but that doesn't matter, because Wolverine smokes, and smoking is cool."
— Daniel O'Brien, Cracked.
That's why Jean cant stay alive for long or use the Phoenix, because when you have a sane omnipotent character, the only stories you can tell are sitcoms.
Now im curious, what cast would you use ?.
Last edited by dragonmp93; 06-13-2014 at 12:27 PM.