What are your favorite/most memorable Jean moments? Off the top of your head. No peaking in the comic books.
Uncanny X-Men 125 is my first X-book. I fell in love with Jean at once. Her beauty, power, intelligence. She was kind and caring, but also passionate and a bit mischievous. She was very human at the same time as she was almost like a goddess.
(It was in this issue Moira thought about Jean’s potential to become a goddess, a potential she had always had.)
Since then I have read all the issues before 125, and yes, Jean’s sacrifice and becoming Phoenix stands out and how she saved the universe in the M’Kraan crystal are great moments. But around 125, Claremont and John Byrne had truly found their stride.
I loved the moment when they fought the Hellfire Club and Dazzler was in awe of Jean. And the sweet moment where Jean comforted Kitty.
Right before everything went south, Jean and Scott had a wonderful moment in the ... desert? New Mexico? Jean told Scott to take off his glasses, she held back his optic blast and they made love.
I was so worried for Jean when she was the black queen and both horrified and in awe when she became Dark Phoenix. I cried when she took her life on the moon in order to save the universe.
(It feels so strange and sad, writing this when I know what happens to the Phoenix force myth at this moment over in Avengers.)
I liked Jean’s return but felt cheated when I learned that the Jean I fell in love with hadn’t been Jean. I really disliked the retcon. But Jean had some good moments in early X-Factor where she showed off how powerful her TK was, making Scott worried she would become Phoenix ”again”.
Inferno gave Jean all the memories of the Phoenix, which made me somewhat okay with the retcon. Somewhat. (Today, the Phoenix force is a joke, unfortunately.)
I liked how Jean at the end of the X-Factor run got her telepathy back, and I loved the Apocalypse files they had at the back of these issues, where he talked about the terrible energies inside her. And he made fun of her name, how a woman could be okay with being called Marvel Girl. (30 years later she is called Marvel Girl again. Sigh.)
Then in the early 90s when she re-joined the X-Men she had some bad years. She had a nice moment in UXM #300 when she sent an Acolyte flying miles away with her TK blast. And she looked so damn awesome doing it. Favorite John Romita Jr moment.
And then in X-Men 28 she kicked Sabretooth’s butt. It shouldn’t be considered impressive since she is so much more powerful than him, but it was a nice moment and after that Jean was often allowed to shine.
Her proposal to Scott was sweet and I liked the wedding issue (X-Men 30), even though the song choice (One by U2) was so weird and I can’t believe Nicieza got away with it.
I loved The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, and Jean had consistently nice showings after that. The mid 90s was good to her. Nothing really stands out until Onslaught I guess. I love that moment where he tempts her and almost makes her become the Phoenix again. And after Onslaught Jean was known as the most powerful telepath in the world. I loved that.
I loved X-Men 70 and the pink Phoenix effect. I loved Seagle and Bachalo’s attempt to give Jean back her Phoenix powers over in Uncanny X-Men. She was so incredibly powerful here, but in a subtle way. There was a Wolverine issue around this time (with incredible art by Yu) where Jean was crazy powerful as Phoenix.
Claremont’s comeback to X-Men was a bit of a letdown but he gave us several great Jean as Phoenix moments and I liked the Revolution costume.
I loved the way Morrison wrote Jean. Yes, it was a shame that things ended the way they did, but up until that moment: perfection.
Teen Jean had some nice moments. I loved how they always talked about how powerful she was. I loved her trial and how she tapped into new power levels here, beating Gladiator. There was an issue where Beast had her take apart Wolverine’s motorcycle and he said that the way she used her TK rivaled Phoenix’s.
X-Men Red and the return of Jean was amazing. The standout for me was the annual where Jean said that the Phoenix had been holding her back. I had goosebumps, couldn’t wait to see what amazing things she would do.
I am still waiting.