Madelyne Pryor the Goblin Queen Appreciation Thread 2021

[Adam-X]

I, by far, prefer Madelyne Pryor before Scott dropped her like trash. I loved her and Scott as a couple - taking off together.

The moment he dropped her, Marauders killed her - she died for me.

What we have with the Goblin Queen is a husk of what Madelyne Pryor was.

[EmeraldGladiator]

Adam that Maddie was kind of blah to me really just a Jean stand in, up until it was revealed she had a hand in Scott losing the X-Men title fight to Storm, but that was a retcon. Maddy didn't really have a voice until the Outback. This is my favorite version of Maddy, she was aiight in X-Man but every other appearance besides Claremont's up until the end of Inferno, I haven't really liked (including the Simonson's butchering of Maddy in X-Factor's Inferno part). She was more layered and nuanced that is the Maddy that made her a favorite character of mine. The pilot of the team, that wanted nothing more than to find her child and get revenge on the Marauders. She was sketchy in X-Man but I was so happy to have Maddy back and not have her just a ghost in Jean's head, I was alright with it.

[whitecrown]

Adam that Maddie was kind of blah to me really just a Jean stand in, up until it was revealed she had a hand in Scott losing the X-Men title fight to Storm, but that was a retcon. Maddy didn't really have a voice until the Outback. This is my favorite version of Maddy, she was aiight in X-Man but every other appearance besides Claremont's up until the end of Inferno, I haven't really liked (including the Simonson's butchering of Maddy in X-Factor's Inferno part). She was more layered and nuanced that is the Maddy that made her a favorite character of mine. The pilot of the team, that wanted nothing more than to find her child and get revenge on the Marauders. She was sketchy in X-Man but I was so happy to have Maddy back and not have her just a ghost in Jean's head, I was alright with it.

I never cared for Maddie because she always felt like a bland Jean knockoff, plus I got tired of Claremont's obsession with pilots, particularly female pilots, so she never resonated with me until her Goblin Queen incarnation. Dark Phoenix didn't last very long and most of her characterization was focused on reaching the ultimate high, but Maddie was way more devious and vindictive the way she targeted her former friends and felt scorned and rightfully so. I found her more compelling than ever, especially in her relationship with Alex.

What do you think Simonson butchered in the X-Factor part of Inferno?

[Adam-X]

Adam that Maddie was kind of blah to me really just a Jean stand in, up until it was revealed she had a hand in Scott losing the X-Men title fight to Storm, but that was a retcon. Maddy didn't really have a voice until the Outback. This is my favorite version of Maddy, she was aiight in X-Man but every other appearance besides Claremont's up until the end of Inferno, I haven't really liked (including the Simonson's butchering of Maddy in X-Factor's Inferno part). She was more layered and nuanced that is the Maddy that made her a favorite character of mine. The pilot of the team, that wanted nothing more than to find her child and get revenge on the Marauders. She was sketchy in X-Man but I was so happy to have Maddy back and not have her just a ghost in Jean's head, I was alright with it.

I never cared for Maddie because she always felt like a bland Jean knockoff, plus I got tired of Claremont's obsession with pilots, particularly female pilots, so she never resonated with me until her Goblin Queen incarnation. Dark Phoenix didn't last very long and most of her characterization was focused on reaching the ultimate high, but Maddie was way more devious and vindictive the way she targeted her former friends and felt scorned and rightfully so. I found her more compelling than ever, especially in her relationship with Alex.

See - to me - I liked Maddie as a pilot (granted Claremont had a thing for female pilots as whitecrown pointed out - wasn't Lee a female pilot?) - however, to me - when Maddie turned into the Goblin Queen... you know what I saw? I saw Maddie following in Jean's footsteps. The Goblin Queen was just the Dark Phoenix.

I think part of what I liked about Maddie before all of that - Cyclops and her seemed happy. Scott and Jean never got happiness. But even when they had the plane issues and the octopus - they were laughing and such. So it was nice to see.

[Havok83]

See - to me - I liked Maddie as a pilot (granted Claremont had a thing for female pilots as whitecrown pointed out - wasn't Lee a female pilot?) - however, to me - when Maddie turned into the Goblin Queen... you know what I saw? I saw Maddie following in Jean's footsteps. The Goblin Queen was just the Dark Phoenix.

I think part of what I liked about Maddie before all of that - Cyclops and her seemed happy. Scott and Jean never got happiness. But even when they had the plane issues and the octopus - they were laughing and such. So it was nice to see.

No, Lee was the captain of a fishing boat

[Adam-X]

No, Lee was the captain of a fishing boat

That's right. I just remember her and Scott trapped on the island and just assumed they'd crashed in a plane.

[EmeraldGladiator]

I never cared for Maddie because she always felt like a bland Jean knockoff, plus I got tired of Claremont's obsession with pilots, particularly female pilots, so she never resonated with me until her Goblin Queen incarnation. Dark Phoenix didn't last very long and most of her characterization was focused on reaching the ultimate high, but Maddie was way more devious and vindictive the way she targeted her former friends and felt scorned and rightfully so. I found her more compelling than ever, especially in her relationship with Alex.

What do you think Simonson butchered in the X-Factor part of Inferno?

First off I understand, Scott and Jean were their characters so making Maddy nuanced only served to undercut the main characters of their book but reading the characterization of Maddy pre-Inferno and Inferno in Claremont's book determined to find her child, feeling abandoned by Scott but finding solace in Alex, yes she made a bad choice with Sym in what she thought was a dream but not really a villain. In X-Factor she was more demon than Goblin Queen, the child she had be searching for, for years in Uncanny she at the flip of an unseen switch is ok sacrificing just to spite Scott. Scott who wasn't her favorite person to be sure but wasn't the thing that drove her, it was her child but in X-Factor she is happy to sacrifice the child to spite Scott and Jean. Then Maddy going suicidal just to kill Jean? Maddy was never shown to be suicidal and knew that Scott was with Jean hunting mutants in X-Factor she was never shown after them, she wanted Nathan. In X-Factor she was just a woman scorned who cared about that more than anything else. It felt like Anakin going from torn to immediately slaughtering the younglings. I remember when Inferno first came out it felt like two different stories, I get differences in perspective but this went way beyond that.

[Chris0013]

At times I really feel sorry for Maddie...abandoned by her douchebag husband and finds out she is a clone and been manipulated for years by Sinister just to be breeding stock.

I really want to see a writer take her on and give her a happy ending.

[EmeraldGladiator]

At times I really feel sorry for Maddie...abandoned by her douchebag husband and finds out she is a clone and been manipulated for years by Sinister just to be breeding stock.

I really want to see a writer take her on and give her a happy ending.

a writer that cares about her can make her great. An anti-hero for the ages, she will never be a company man sitting on the QC or at Xavier's side but what Wolverine was early on, dangerous with issues and a temper but at the core a good individual.

[Chris0013]

a writer that cares about her can make her great. An anti-hero for the ages, she will never be a company man sitting on the QC or at Xavier's side but what Wolverine was early on, dangerous with issues and a temper but at the core a good individual.

Not even that...let her fall in love and settle down in a quiet country/coastal community with a guy (yes he can be a mutant too) who has a 'Joe' job and live happily ever after and have Nathan show up form time to time and treat her like his mother.

[Havok83]

Not even that...let her fall in love and settle down in a quiet country/coastal community with a guy (yes he can be a mutant too) who has a 'Joe' job and live happily ever after and have Nathan show up form time to time and treat her like his mother.

No offense but that sounds boring. Thats setting her up to be in limbo, aka not used.

[Chris0013]

No offense but that sounds boring. Thats setting her up to be in limbo, aka not used.

Some characters just deserve the Hallmark movie happily ever after...That is pretty much what Alex and Lorna has in New Mexico before just before Alex came back to the X-Men and Lorna got possessed by Malice.

She can still show up from time to time with Sinister or someone trying to take advantage of her or the X-Men wanting to pin something on her that she didn't do.

[EmeraldGladiator]

have to agree with Havok on this one. Putting a character out to pasture is not a good thing. The prelude to Infinite Crisis taught be something, any character in the hands of a writer that cares or just a good writer can have gravitas. I was never a JLI fan and I always took them for a joke Booster and Blue Beatle especially, but in the prelude to Infinite Crisis they wrote a story that showed me how special Blue Beatle could be only to kill him at the end of it. I know it was done for effect but it showed me how a good writer can make any character "important" if they take the time and have the skill. Only hacks use characters as mere plot devices (yes they are plot devices in a meta sense) but if that is all they feel like then it's a waste of that character.

[Chris0013]

have to agree with Havok on this one. Putting a character out to pasture is not a good thing. The prelude to Infinite Crisis taught be something, any character in the hands of a writer that cares or just a good writer can have gravitas. I was never a JLI fan and I always took them for a joke Booster and Blue Beatle especially, but in the prelude to Infinite Crisis they wrote a story that showed me how special Blue Beatle could be only to kill him at the end of it. I know it was done for effect but it showed me how a good writer can make any character "important" if they take the time and have the skill. Only hacks use characters as mere plot devices (yes they are plot devices in a meta sense) but if that is all they feel like then it's a waste of that character.

Then take Maddie out of the spotlight and give her a back up story of her dealing with her issues and moving on in a positive direction. Don't just have her show up and say she's changed and is a good guy now.

[EmeraldGladiator]

Then take Maddie out of the spotlight and give her a back up story of her dealing with her issues and moving on in a positive direction. Don't just have her show up and say she's changed and is a good guy now.

Oh it wouldn't be an immediate redemption, that is why Hellions is a great place for her to be, it is the island of misfit toys, I doubt Greycrow is getting many invites to watch the game on Krakoa, I also get the impression that Psylocke isn't that popular either since very few if any characters even know her, they know Betsy. Empath is a tool and Nanny and Orphan Maker were and still are insane. This is why I think they are keeping the stupid Alex is inverted storyline because why else would he be on this team. Maddy is "complicated" as well on most mutant teams but she is perfect in Hellions. Every character on the team is in need of but is not the type to beg for, redemption. I don't want revenge driven one note Maddy, I want Outback Maddy with a few things to atone for and bridges to be mended with her sons, Cable and Stryfe and Alex the guy that prefers her to Jean.