Jean Grey / Phoenix Appreciation 2022

[Grinning Soul]

I do apologize if it seemed as if I was implying or “assuming” that you don’t like this run because Jean and Logan are linked; I can assure you that was not my intent, darling.

😂😘

No problem. Don't worry. :)

[Kitty&Piotr<3]

Luckily, Jean and Claw Guy aren't restricted to alternated realities anymore.

Now, if only they would give Jean a narrative and something to actually do besides Logan lmao. I liked seeing them on a mission together in XLivesDeathsWhatever, but she was still, like for the bulk of this status quo, mostly passive and ineffectual.

[Mercury]

They say you can’t have your cake and eat it too but, oh, I did. I did! I loved it, masticated it, chewed it! I had everything I wanted in X-Men Forever!

[Conor]

I had forgotten how utterly exquisite this sequence is. Say what you will about X-Men Forever (2009), but Chris Claremont’s Jean is unparalleled. You can tell how much he loves her by how he writes and regards her. Under his pen, she is complex, conflicted, courageous, self-sacrificing, and powerful beyond measure. These pages are simply sublime.





The way Claremont reestablishes that Jean and the Phoenix are one in the pages above, coupled with how he has Xavier ask her to step up and become head of the school, much like
Grant Morrison did in New X-Men, is just…🤌🏼

I read X-Men Forever when it was first released. Some aspects of Jean I liked, other aspects not so much. BUT! What I do want to stop in and say is that THIS artist ALWAYS drew Jean BEAUTIFULLY. An underrated artist when it comes to Jean tbh.

[Mercury]

I read X-Men Forever when it was first released. Some aspects of Jean I liked, other aspects not so much. BUT! What I do want to stop in and say is that THIS artist ALWAYS drew Jean BEAUTIFULLY. An underrated artist when it comes to Jean tbh.

I'm curious, which aspects did you not like? Also, I totally agree with you about the artist, Tom Grummett. His work, which lightly echos John Byrne’s work, is very appealing to me.

I love this cover by him:

[Mercury]

No problem. Don't worry.

I've been meaning to ask, have you continued to work on your Gala design for Jean? I really liked what you shared some days ago.

[Conor]

I'm curious, which aspects did you not like? Also, I totally agree with you about the artist, Tom Grummett. His work, which lightly echos John Byrne’s work, is very appealing to me.

I love this cover by him:

The constant barraging of men in her life was a gripe to me, haha. Cyke, Wolvie, Beast, Prof X, it was all a little too much! Apart from that, re-reading these panels you’ve posted, I do admit that Claremont writes the definitive Jean voice. I’ve explained more about all this on Twitter to ya a few days back!

THANK YOU for stating his name, TOM GRUMMETT, anytime artists can receive recognition by having their names put out there is always a GREAT thing! And yes! His artwork does remind me vaguely of Byrne’s, especially the way he draws Jeanie’s tresses!

[Grinning Soul]

I've been meaning to ask, have you continued to work on your Gala design for Jean? I really liked what you shared some days ago.

I'm working on it. 39 curves later I'm about half of the head covered (but not there yet). Then I still need smaller strands to make the hairline look better. This is how it's looking so far, but it doesn't have any textures on it yet.



If my laptop wasn't such a potato I might even attempt to actually make particle hairs for shots without the pink fire.

[Mercury]

"Just doing what comes naturally around here, Mr. McCoy".

ENFJ detected. :P

I'm doing some catching up on posts I was meaning to reply to. I love that you caught this!

Haha thank you guys (I was always here lurking in the shadows), I wanted to spare the boards all my displeasure for the contend droughts, yay it’s finally over.

Don't lurk too long and never feel like you need to "spare" us your "displeasure"! You're a treat to read

I'm inclined to agree. I also agree with Mercury that it was kind of a guilty pleasure comic, but I admit I didn't stick with it very long when it originally came out. I did read most of it later and it definitely had some "Yikes" moments.

If you haven't read it all, you should do so just for Jean's arc. Claremont certainly throws some wrenches in the wheel--I don't agree with all of his decisions--but X-Men Forever 1 and 2 are nonetheless fascinating reads. I love his Jean so much.

I think that comicbooks are so fluid and open when it comes to interpretations of characters. There are soooo many different interpretations and versions of Jean Grey throughout the years that I find it so difficult to grasp what it means to be "fan of the comicbook character". Because she was once (Dark) Phoenix, she was once Madelyne Pryor, she was once the saint from X-Men: Red, she was once the cool but morally ambiguous it girl from Ultimate X-Men, she was once the boring ass partner of Cyclops who could only scream "Scott" and fainted, etc. etc.

...there is no such thing as a clear voice or character personality in comicbooks because it is an ongoing medium with 100 of interpretations. I also personally do not care for those "super-heroics" or very heroic characters. I like my characters weird, and dark, embedded in many shades of grey. Jean Grey is a telepaths. They are never fully heroic to begin with because their powers are so absolutely non-ethical on many levels.

So, I'm fine with her going down a dark path because in the end she transcended humanity and became a celestial being floating in the stratosphere.

This is an excellent point that I've been recently pondering. The characters that we love are really just composites of writers' and fans' headcanon--some of it is officialized, then retconned, then made canon again, or simply and completely changed anew--and the psychological projections of both crammed into a general framework that has been loosely sketched for these characters. Comic book characters shift and change and are very much like iridescent stones.

I try to keep Jean's profile as general as possible: She's a hero, loyal, altruistic, empathic, courageous, passionate, self-sacrificing, highly intelligent, fiercely-tempered, though not necessarily short-tempered, immeasurably powerful, and, ultimately, as are most mutants, a survivor. She's dichotomous in that she's both very social and, at heart, somewhat of a loner. She's hard on herself but for the most part, easy on others, though she can be ruthless when pushed.

The best writers for Jean always strive to highlight all of her many facets without boxing her into just two or three categories.

Jean looks like a powerful Eternal on that one cover of Judgement Day.

Yes, she does! I'm sending out telepathic messages to Gillen in the hopes that I can influence him to give us some kick-ass Jean moments!

ok I will do. I still wished Mercury would share my article on twitter, so I will finally become famous and get hired by Marvel. ;-)

I doubt my tweeting your article will prompt Marvel to hire you, but I'll tweet it. Share the article her. I'll give it another read-through so that I can properly introduce it on Twitter.

This was a nice Jean power display... but then it gets ruined for me when you have Kitty whining about leaving (Jean would know if they needed to, DUH!) and Kurt mentioning the Phoenix! This was Jean doing it with her powers!

Please, people, Jean is powerful on her own! Let her shine and stop always reverting to past storylines to define Jean!

Ahaha! I loved those moments. They were so in character for those characters, especially considering the dynamics Claremont wrote for them in these series. Also, Claremont treats Jean and the Phoenix as one here, though he does make a distinction between her ordinary and Phoenix power displays. When her pink signature is on display, one can assume it's "just her."

The constant barraging of men in her life was a gripe to me, haha. Cyke, Wolvie, Beast, Prof X, it was all a little too much!

Aw! I thought Claremont handled this beautifully. She had felt strong emotions towards Logan upon their first meeting--this was a continuation of the plot point Claremont established in Classic X-Men #1 ("First Night")--and kept it a secret for years. However, though she wasn't in love with Scott, she admitted that she loved him deeply and that he comforted and knew her better than anyone. There was no romance between her and Xavier; he was strictly her mentor and father figure. According to Claremont, Hank had always been in love with her, which Jean revealed she knew all along, and though she didn't feel the same way towards him, she indulged him with a kiss twice. Once, she kissed him when she was mourning and confused, and the other time right before his death. However, as she made it explicitly clear to Moira, she considered them "just friends."

Apart from that, re-reading these panels you’ve posted, I do admit that Claremont writes the definitive Jean voice. I’ve explained more about all this on Twitter to ya a few days back!

I completely agree! And yes, I remember!

THANK YOU for stating his name, TOM GRUMMETT, anytime artists can receive recognition by having their names put out there is always a GREAT thing! And yes! His artwork does remind me vaguely of Byrne’s, especially the way he draws Jeanie’s tresses!

I agree and YES! His style for her and the way he draws her face and hair. He's a great artist!

[Mercury]

I'm working on it. 39 curves later I'm about half of the head covered (but not there yet). Then I still need smaller strands to make the hairline look better. This is how it's looking so far, but it doesn't have any textures on it yet.



If my laptop wasn't such a potato I might even attempt to actually make particle hairs for shots without the pink fire.

"39 Curves Later"--that sounds like a great title, lol!

Also, I love the hair sculpt so far! I look forward to seeing more!

[Grinning Soul]

"39 Curves Later"--that sounds like a great title, lol!

Also, I love the hair sculpt so far! I look forward to seeing more!

You know what? You're right! I might use it as a title for one of my stories! :D

If this crazy endeavor looks cool in the end, I'll consider having it 3D printed. I have no idea how much trouble it would be to adapt the model for the print (probably too much trouble) or how expensive it should be, but I like the idea of having my custom Jean statue. :)

[Mercury]

You know what? You're right! I might use it as a title for one of my stories!

You definitely should!

If this crazy endeavor looks cool in the end, I'll consider having it 3D printed. I have no idea how much trouble it would be to adapt the model for the print (probably too much trouble) or how expensive it should be, but I like the idea of having my custom Jean statue.

Oh, that would be too awesome! Honestly, I hope you take it that far!

[Grinning Soul]

You definitely should!

I'll write it down or I'll forget. :D

Oh, that would be too awesome! Honestly, I hope you take it that far!

I know that there is a minimal thickness depending on the material the printer uses. So I imagine I'd have to make the bulk of the hair one solid piece (maybe the whole wig). I'd also probably have to sink her high heels into a tk energy signature or something. Same with the skirt.

The main problem is that I wouldn't have where to display it. But I will take a picture and share it if I decide to indulge anyway. :D

[Mercury]

I know that there is a minimal thickness depending on the material the printer uses. So I imagine I'd have to make the bulk of the hair one solid piece (maybe the whole wig). I'd also probably have to sink her high heels into a tk energy signature or something. Same with the skirt.

The main problem is that I wouldn't have where to display it. But I will take a picture and share it if I decide to indulge anyway.

It's amazing how much one has to consider to make a proper 3D model. Nevertheless, you've gone so far with your design already, which looks fantastic, that I think it's worth the effort to have it fully realized. It could be something you take your time working on since I know you have other things going on. Besides, the more time you sit with it, the more time you are afforded to add details to the design and let it evolve organically. You might even want to consider designing a corresponding suit for Scott and maybe making a sculpt of both of them together!

[Grinning Soul]

It's amazing how much one has to consider to make a proper 3D model. Nevertheless, you've gone so far with your design already, which looks fantastic, that I think it's worth the effort to have it fully realized. It could be something you take your time working on since I know you have other things going on. Besides, the more time you sit with it, the more time you are afforded to add details to the design and let it evolve organically. You might even want to consider designing a corresponding suit for Scott and maybe making a sculpt of both of them together!

I have already designed a 3D model of a visor for a new super hero costume for him (with the feedback of my 2 Summers brothers). It's a start. :D

I was kinda of thinking what would look cool for him as a HG costume one of these days. But nah... Designing gala clothes for men is too much for moi.