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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Glad I read this for a book club in which every other person I sat with basically told me why I should love this book and how important it is, culturally and contextually, to Marvel and Judaism. I thought it was kind of boring at times -- it's very dated, especially with its exposition dumps -- but I'm happy to have read it!!! My first X-Men comic, actually.
The Dark Phoenix Saga was, in its time, the culmination of nearly twenty years of myth-making. This volume contains the tip of an iceberg, really, a story whose seeds you can find as far back as 1961 in Fantastic Four #1, the birth of the Marvel Universe. Maybe that's why for me and for so many Marvel readers of the time, it was such an epic story. Comics had grown up in a way that maybe no one ever expected.
Jean Grey, whether she was entirely responsible for her actions or not, was responsible for genocide on a scale completely unheard of. As Dark Phoenix, she had wiped out an inhabited planet, and now, she was being brought to trial for her crimes. Being a superhero comic book, said trial of course happens by combat. And the good guys, the heroes of the book, are defending a mass murderer. For a twelve year old boy at the time, it was pretty heady stuff. Even now, today, this story is right near the pinnacle of what a superhero story is capable of.
Chris Claremont is listed as the author and that's too bad. Not because he's not a great comic book writer. He is. He certainly deserves credit for his faultless characterizations and being the co-plotter of this epic. But no less responsible is John Byrne, who was the other plotter and the lead artist and the Dark Phoenix saga is Byrne at the very height of his powers.
The art is still beautiful and the characters still resonate in my opinion. The story is as awesome in scale, traversing the breadth of the universe and back, as any you'll ever read. This is epic tragedy in four color form.
Of course, I might be hopelessly biased by nostalgia. Still, the Dark Phoenix Saga,(which was actually the Phoenix Saga and went back another nearly 30 issues before this volume picks the story up) remains one of the greatest superhero stories ever created. I love it.
Jean Grey, whether she was entirely responsible for her actions or not, was responsible for genocide on a scale completely unheard of. As Dark Phoenix, she had wiped out an inhabited planet, and now, she was being brought to trial for her crimes. Being a superhero comic book, said trial of course happens by combat. And the good guys, the heroes of the book, are defending a mass murderer. For a twelve year old boy at the time, it was pretty heady stuff. Even now, today, this story is right near the pinnacle of what a superhero story is capable of.
Chris Claremont is listed as the author and that's too bad. Not because he's not a great comic book writer. He is. He certainly deserves credit for his faultless characterizations and being the co-plotter of this epic. But no less responsible is John Byrne, who was the other plotter and the lead artist and the Dark Phoenix saga is Byrne at the very height of his powers.
The art is still beautiful and the characters still resonate in my opinion. The story is as awesome in scale, traversing the breadth of the universe and back, as any you'll ever read. This is epic tragedy in four color form.
Of course, I might be hopelessly biased by nostalgia. Still, the Dark Phoenix Saga,(which was actually the Phoenix Saga and went back another nearly 30 issues before this volume picks the story up) remains one of the greatest superhero stories ever created. I love it.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Claremont and Byrne are not disappointing in this the heart of their fabled run. As a child of the 90s these characters and stories were in the atmosphere thanks to the cartoon show, trading cards, and a healthy run of comics built off of these foundational story arcs. It's kind of a shame I didn't read them for myself until now, but I'm so pleased the writing and the art are holding up for me.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
5 stars. I first read this back in junior high and I’ve been meaning to re-read it and get back into X-Men comics for a while now. Luckily, it’s available on KU so I picked it up and damn does this still hold up to this day. The Dark Phoenix saga is seriously my favorite X-Men arc because everything about it so well executed. The artwork is great, the plot is so good and the character study of Jean is complex and heartbreaking. The ending got me all in my feelings just like it did the first time all those years ago. I hope one day we will see this story done right in X-Men films because it’s one of the more popular arcs for a reason.
Good, classic comic storyline that has aged pretty well.
Anticlimactic ending imo. Still a legends story though
The Dazzler sucked but the rest of the comic was fantastic
This is obviously widely considered a certified X-Men classic and definitely has some great stuff in it- the introduction of Kitty Pryde and Dazzler, that one incredibly iconic panel of Wolverine rising up from the sewers...
But there's a lot of dumb stuff in here too. The Hellfire Club is just really goofy? I don't understand why they all dress like late-XVIIIth century dandies? And Jean Grey's transformation into the Dark Phoenix is just not handled very great. She goes from kissing a weird guy in a disco club to snuffing out the lives of 5 billion people in an instant, and Scott reacts to both of these things in basically the same way. There is also a whole sequence where she becomes convinced that Storm is her slave which just never comes back up again? Very strange.
But there's a lot of dumb stuff in here too. The Hellfire Club is just really goofy? I don't understand why they all dress like late-XVIIIth century dandies? And Jean Grey's transformation into the Dark Phoenix is just not handled very great. She goes from kissing a weird guy in a disco club to snuffing out the lives of 5 billion people in an instant, and Scott reacts to both of these things in basically the same way. There is also a whole sequence where she becomes convinced that Storm is her slave which just never comes back up again? Very strange.