Thoughts

The Dark Phoenix is Back! Apparently.

Riffing on the titles most famous saga so far (if not ever?) this is such an enjoyable issue. Indeed, for me personally, I think this saga is even more entertaining than the earlier one.

Struggling for a name for this adventure, it did get republished in 1990 as the “From The Ashes” trade paperback. It’s how I first came across this story, so its hard not to see issues 168-176 as its own thing. But I also remember how much I enjoyed it – more than the (hugely entertaining) Dark Phoenix Saga.

Both contain a lot of similar elements – they introduce important elements of the mythos, either the Hellfire Club or the Morlocks. They both feature new characters coming into the comic, Kitty and Rogue. They both feature important guest spots from established X-men not on the team, Angel and er.. Angel. There’s Romance, with a dark threat bubbling under and there’s also Wolverine being cool.

The Dark Phoenix Saga takes those elements – and fashions out of them a proper Seventies space epic. It’s pretentious, sure, but it has fun in that universe. But what I enjoy even more about the From The Ashes saga is that while it has all these seemingly epic moments at the heart of it is a very human level story.

Arguably the self-sacrifice of Jean Grey in the earlier saga was very human. But it was All Too Human in the Epic Science Fiction sense. The moment she chooses to die it is framed in the sort of cosmic philosphical terms of this is what makes humans humans. Like a sixties Star Trek adventure, its pomposity is part of the charm.

But “From The Ashes” is all too human because its just about a very human level romance. A romance that been has hijacked by a supervillain to get revenge on the heroes. But there’s something sweet in the way that it’s the realisation that this romance is so real and human that undoes all the vast supervillainy. Cyclops working out what is going on, is a great moment – as is the way that the story sees him unravel the whole thing and bring everything back down to a very human level. And a couple.

Sadly there’s one final parallel with the Dark Phoenix Saga that isn’t great. Just as the finale of that story and its tale of sacrifice is later retconned in a fundamentally flawed way, so the happy ending enjoyed by the loving couple in this is also going to be written out and retconned by editorial decree stupidity. Both sagas, it seems, share a bittersweet, unintended conclusion.

Fun Panel

Another interesting take on a team shot.

Any Googling

This issue marks the departure of Paul Smith from the title. I enjoy his art, so it feels like all too brief a run. Did it end early after more Byrne/Claremont style creative differences?

From what I can find on the internet, no. Smith’s tenure was intended to last this long, reflecting the contract he signed. Indeed his work on the upcoming X-men/Alpha Flight crossover was apparently covered in the sage contract.

Smith’s tenure is so memorable because, on top of a great talent for clear striking pop art visuals, he overseas a redesign for the look of the team, shifting them into the eighties.

Storm is perhaps the most famous and most radical. But there is so much more here – characters casual looks are changing. When they dress to go to the mall they look like good looking mid eighties people heading to the mall.

This is especially noteworthy because the revamp works for the characters even when they’re being super heroic. Simple, effective colourful heroes that again seem tailor made for the eighties.

Whereas other superheroes that might have tried to move with the times back then might look superficially eighties, all too often this feels like a middle aged parent _trying_ to fit in with the times. By contrast the X-men feel like they are living in 1985. What’s more that they’re pretty cool for 1985. And while, like anything cool in 1985, this makes it all look very dated it doesn’t stop it being brilliant.

None More Claremont

This is a absolutely cracking issue for Cyclops. Especially how Claremont has really made the character tick. But i’ll save my comment on all that for the next X-men issue.