Thanks to remerging with the Phoenix Force under her control Jean Grey was a major key in ensuring the Marvel Universe was saved at the end of Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X. Taking on the Phoenix Force once again was not just a one-time deus ex machina act to end the latest X-Men big event.
Jean’s latest turn as the Phoenix in Phoenix #1 is a permanent one. With the experience she had during Fall of the House of X and Rise of the Powers of X Jean has decided to become a solo hero. In becoming a solo hero Jean has set out to use her Phoenix Force powers to help out the greater cosmic side of the Marvel Universe. Let’s see how that journey begins with Phoenix #1.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Alessandro Miracolo
Colorist: David Curiel
Letterer: Cory Petit
PHOENIX #1 SOLICITATION
“LIFE! FIRE! POWER! POSSIBILITY! PHOENIX! She is JEAN GREY. She is PHOENIX. She saves the world. She brings death. One woman, alone in space, who not only must do what no one else can: she yearns to. A desperate S.O.S. from NOVA brings the Phoenix to the edge of a black hole, where hundreds of lives hang in the balance… and whatever Jean does — or fails to do — will bring darkness to the universe and haunt her in ways she can scarcely imagine…” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
When it comes to presenting the scope of Jean Grey’s new solo series Phoenix #1 is a big success. We get the idea there will be a lot of big cosmic-size storytelling potential with this series. However, this first issue is hurt by a major narrative choice that holds this debut back from fully reaching its potential.
The best part about Phoenix #1 is that it gets right the most important thing it needs to: to establish Jean Grey as a solo hero. When Jean Grey is the focus character, both narratively and visually, this comic book is at its best. Stephanie Phillips shows she has a great handle on who Jean Grey is. Not only who she was but who she is looking to be now that she has taken on this mission to become a cosmic hero.
With this move to using her Phoenix Force and Omega-level psychic powers to help other worlds in danger dealing with Jean’s feelings of being a God is a strong direction. Everything she does here, from calming the sun from exploding to saving Nova Richard Rider, showcases Jean’s elevated status. That showcase hits on where Jean now stands beyond an Omega-level mutant.
At the same time, we do see through her interactions with Scott Summers that Jean is balancing out her God-like status while keeping her humanity. Having her X-Men connections, with her marriage with Scott intact in particular, will help her stay grounded. Adding in the element of Jan traveling in an X-Jet to help her maintain the connection with her X-Men family was a nice touch. This also shows that Jean will be able to reach out to other close friends like Storm when she needs to talk with someone. That helps establish how a supporting cast will be integrated into this story.
Now for all of the good that Phoenix #1 does, Phillips’s choice of having a narrator from the future speak on Jean’s status brought things down. It was a distraction more than it was additive to the storytelling. The stakes with Jean trying to save the hyper-religious planet the narrator is from don’t hit as intended. It robs some of the danger knowing she will still be around in some form. It would’ve been much better for the overall tension of the story if the narrator portions of the dialogue were eliminated. That would’ve allowed us as the reader to live more in the moment of Jean’s first world-saving adventure.
That said, adding in Nova Richard Rider into the story does help recover some of the weaknesses of this issue. Having Jean interact with other cosmic-centric Marvel characters is an exciting thing that shows the strong potential this series has. The final shot
The artwork by artist Alessandro Miracolo and colorist David Curiel was solid. They work well in the cosmic setting, showing how infinite the universe is. They certainly deliver when needed for the big moments of Jean using the full power of the Phoenix Force. In the more dialogue-heavy scenes the character designs are just fine and get the job done.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Phoenix #1 nails what it needed to get over Jean Grey as a cosmic solo superhero. The scope of this series creates a lot of excitement for the future direction of this series with strong potential. If it wasn’t for one distracting narrative choice this would’ve been more highly viewed. If you’re an X-Men fan make sure to pick up this comic book.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
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