Jean Grey / Phoenix Appreciation 2021

[Devaishwarya]

So the Death Commandos came and murdered the entire Grey clan about whom we knew nothing and cared even less, and who were "invented" just for that story.
Personally...I think Claremont bumped his head when he wrote Grey's End. It was a stupid and ultimately pointless arc that was only written for shock and awe but without any significant lasting impact or interest; because apart from "those people" being dead, nothing changed, for Jean or Rachel.

[mike7171]

When and where have writers addressed adult Jean's feelings regarding the murder of her family? I know she dealt with it (briefly) as a time-displaced teenager, which resulted in her fight with Gladiator:

I need to see more of this attitude from Jean!

[PyroFN]

When and where have writers addressed adult Jean's feelings regarding the murder of her family? I know she dealt with it (briefly) as a time-displaced teenager, which resulted in her fight with Gladiator:

It’s a pretty tragic actually. I don’t think she ever got the full details until her memories from her teen self surfaced and it is kind of too late for any sort of vengeance story for that after so long. This is how she ends up learning though,

[PyroFN]

So the Death Commandos came and murdered the entire Grey clan about whom we knew nothing and cared even less, and who were "invented" just for that story.
Personally...I think Claremont bumped his head when he wrote Grey's End. It was a stupid and ultimately pointless arc that was only written for shock and awe but without any significant lasting impact or interest; because apart from "those people" being dead, nothing changed, for Jean or Rachel.

Not true for Rachel. She literally went on an entire space adventure of a mission of vengeance from the trauma of watching everyone die.

Jean, on the otherhand, gains a new power….that she stops using as an adult.

The End of Grey’s arc though should be good reason for more Jean development. Imagine she is out with Rachel flying over New York when she looks over a certain direction and suddenly flies over. Her childhood home was destroyed in the End of Grey’s arc. Jean doesn’t know the exact details. How is she gonna react to seeing her home gone? Imagine Jean’s curiosity about what would have happened and she decided to breaks the first rule she learned to read Rachel’s memories of the event after sensing some despair from Rachel as a reaction to just being in the same vicinity as what used to be the Grey home?

So much potential can be had from that event, especially when you consider Jean has a severely bad case of survivor’s guilt anytime she is the one left alive instead of a person she loves.



It also kind of hammers home further how difficult it is for her to give up the Phoenix. Imagine having that kind of problem of feeling guilty to have survived and this being points out she can easily use its power to fix that issue.





“I’m gonna regret every day of my life for being dead when everyone else was killed.”

It’s irrational, yet very real.

[Harpsikord]

God, I forgot that Jean's line there completely contradicts Rosenberg's later plan for Jean to be depressed and want to die again. Thank goodness he wasn't allowed to write X-Men Red and I can ignore the Astonishing Annual exists entirely.

[Mercury]

It’s a pretty tragic actually. I don’t think she ever got the full details until her memories from her teen self surfaced and it is kind of too late for any sort of vengeance story for that after so long. This is how she ends up learning though,

See?! I forgot about this too, though I’ve only read this story once. I’m such a bad, fickle fan. I plan on rereading a bunch of Jean-centered stories. I’m still making my way for the first time through X-Factor for my #JeanGreyFeats project on Twitter. Thanks for reminding me of this moment!

[Mercury]

So the Death Commandos came and murdered the entire Grey clan about whom we knew nothing and cared even less, and who were "invented" just for that story.
Personally...I think Claremont bumped his head when he wrote Grey's End. It was a stupid and ultimately pointless arc that was only written for shock and awe but without any significant lasting impact or interest; because apart from "those people" being dead, nothing changed, for Jean or Rachel.

Excuse me, but Jean’s parents and sister were introduced over forty years ago. In fact, her parents iiirc were introduced in the 1960s.

[Devaishwarya]

So...Grey's End is irrelevant, now.

[The Thunderbird]

Excuse me, but Jean’s parents and sister were introduced over forty years ago. In fact, her parents iiirc were introduced in the 1960s.

Well to be fair most of Jean's extended family was introduced just to die in End of Greys. Jean even had a brother or two introduced for EoG that I barely even knew about until I discovered the story in full.

[Harpsikord]

Well to be fair most of Jean's extended family was introduced just to die in End of Greys. Jean even had a brother or two introduced for EoG that I barely even knew about until I discovered the story in full.

Two brothers and a sister.

Speaking of Jean's relatives, it surprises every day that the Grey twins haven't been revived yet. If they really wanted to tell a story about Scott and Jean as parents to kids/teens, they're right there with a mom who is presumably not resurrectable.

[Mercury]

Well to be fair most of Jean's extended family was introduced just to die in End of Greys. Jean even had a brother or two introduced for EoG that I barely even knew about until I discovered the story in full.

This is a valid point and one I’m not fond of, especially considering the fact that her most important family members have (comic book) histories nearly as long as hers. The brief but impactful roles her parents and sister played in the Dark Phoenix Saga were heartbreaking. They weren’t at Aunt May levels of exposure, but they certainly weren’t irrelevant or simply disposable.

[Devaishwarya]

What The Thunder, said.

[Mercury]

I need to see more of this attitude from Jean!

God, I love how Bendis wrote her.

[PyroFN]

God, I forgot that Jean's line there completely contradicts Rosenberg's later plan for Jean to be depressed and want to die again. Thank goodness he wasn't allowed to write X-Men Red and I can ignore the Astonishing Annual exists entirely.

I mean, is he wrong though? Just because Jean outwardly says truth doesn’t mean she herself believes it completely. It’s a classic case where a depressed person logically know what is true, but their emotions skew reality. Look at these past moments for Jean from different writers. We all know none of what Jean says or feels is true in any of these scans and on some level, Jean herself does as well. The problem is, depression is not a logical thing:

•Doubt about her own inner strength to the point where she fears of being a bad person,



•Blaming herself for outcomes that are not her fault and comparing herself to other people as if they were better than her,



•Doubting the thoughts and feelings about her from other people when her telepathy is gone

[Harpsikord]

Decided to put all the Jean micros I've made in one place on a whim: