As one day, many moons ago, when I was walking down a hallway at Marvel, chatting with Mike Hobson about the "Shooter Problem", and felt I had to say at least SOMETHING in the guy's defense. After all, he HAD done SOME things that were good for Marvel. "He got us royalties," I noted.

Mike literally stopped in his tracks. He actually looked hurt for a moment. "Who do you think had to sign off on that?" he asked.

Of course! He was Shooter's boss! Nothing happened without his say-so, however Shooter might like to spin it.

I recently reread this story, since I've been (slowly!) reading all of the original X-Men stories, from # 1 to # 143.

I must say, despite having read the Dark Phoenix Saga many times before, and having been very familiar with the X-characters and lore for many years, this time it got to me a lot more, emotionally. For the first time, I'd read it completely in context, with the weight on everything that had come before sitting behind it.

Still one of the best superhero stories ever done, IMO. Unfortunately, it's probably done a lot more harm than good, given everything that's happened since.

I also read PHOENIX: THE UNTOLD STORY right after reading the published version. It a fascinating insight into the creative process. While I would like to have seen what would have come after Jean's "psychic lobotomy", the published version takes things to a much higher, much more dramatic level.

It's important to note that the unpublished story features more than the different last few pages. Much of the dialogue is different from the published version.

In the original version, the Shi'ar kidnap the X-Men and say that Phoenix must be destroyed. The X-men challenge them to the moon duel, and then each X-Man has his or her introspective moment, where they examine their fears about dying in the battle and/or their personal loose ends back home. The battle is fought, and the X-Men lose. Then, in what feels almost like a deux ex machina twist, we suddenly get this whole "psychic lobotomy" sequence. Soooo...when the Shi'ar said they wanted Phoenix "destroyed", they didn't mean they would kill Jean, then? Instead, the X-Men essentially are fighting to prevent Jean from being seemingly "cured", lose, then go home. And the destruction of the planet and the Shi'ar ship are given a two-panel flashback, a one-panel reaction from Jean and the others, and is never mentioned again.

It all felt like a cop-out to me.

The published version is much superior, IMO. The rewritten script makes it clear that the X-Men are fighting to save Jean's life, since the Shi'ar apparently intend to execute her in this version, which makes much more sense, and raises the stakes of the story considerably. More importantly, the introspective scenes were rewritten to show each X-Man wrestling with whether or not they even should fight for Jean, given that's she's destroyed an entire planet, and wiped out billions of lives.

And, of course, the revised ending, with Jean's suicide to save the universe, is still incredibly shocking and poignant. Also, the tag with the Watcher and the Recorder originally featured them discussing the nobility of human beings, which is far less interesting or emotional than the final version's "Jean Grey could have lived to become a God. But it was more important to her that she die...a human.".

The way the cameos of Doctor Strange, Reed and Ben, and the Silver Surfer were written in X-MEN #135 led me at the time to expect they would participate in resolving the problem of the Phoenix, somehow stopping it and freeing/rescuing Jean Grey. 

+++++++++

I never got that impression. It's just a sequence were various characters who are equipped to detect the power and danger of Phoenix do just that, but then she's leaves the solar system before any of them can do anything about it.

••

I would unashamedly point to the Death of Phoenix as one of the BEST STORIES EVER DONE IN COMICS --- if only Chris had left it alone!!

But, of course, he didn't. Even during the time I was on still on the book, he slipped in every reference he could to Jean/Phoenix, whether it was appropriate or not. (The red panel Wendigo-eye-view of Nightcrawler at the end of the first part of his and Wolverine's Canadian adventure became sunset red in the captions and dialog, so Kurt could be "reminded" of Phoenix!)

It did not take long before the standard joke around the office was that Phoenix was the LEAST dead dead character Marvel had!

===

I also read PHOENIX: THE UNTOLD STORY right after reading the published version. It a fascinating insight into the creative process. While I would like to have seen what would have come after Jean's "psychic lobotomy", the published version takes things to a much higher, much more dramatic level.

••

Unfortunately, that was the one thing Chris was never able to accept: that what we ended up doing, even tho it was very much against our will at the time, was a BETTER STORY than what we'd planned.

===

The battle is fought, and the X-Men lose. Then, in what feels almost like a deux ex machina twist, we suddenly get this whole "psychic lobotomy" sequence. Soooo...when the Shi'ar said they wanted Phoenix "destroyed", they didn't mean they would kill Jean, then? Instead, the X-Men essentially are fighting to prevent Jean from being seemingly "cured", lose, then go home.

••

The "psychic lobotomy" was in no way meant to be a "cure". Jean was going to be reduced to the mental capacity of a 5 year old -- essentially who she was before she had any inkling of her powers. She was then to be turned over to her parents for safekeeping -- until an unfortunate incident (which I'd plotted out already) would trigger the Phoenix deep down inside her, and off we'd go again!

+++++++++

I never got that impression. It's just a sequence were various characters who are equipped to detect the power and danger of Phoenix do just that, but then she's leaves the solar system before any of them can do anything about it.

••

The Silver Surfer is the only one who makes a specific reference to actually GOING to where Phoenix has manifest, which, based on the mail at the time, led a number of people to assume he would turn up next issue. Not at all what I wanted when I added that page.

I would unashamedly point to the Death of Phoenix as one of the BEST STORIES EVER DONE IN COMICS --- if only Chris had left it alone!!

But, of course, he didn't. Even during the time I was on still on the book, he slipped in every reference he could to Jean/Phoenix, whether it was appropriate or not. (The red panel Wendigo-eye-view of Nightcrawler at the end of the first part of his and Wolverine's Canadian adventure became sunset red in the captions and dialog, so Kurt could be "reminded" of Phoenix!)

++++++++++

Yeah, I noticed that when reading the next few issues after # 137. While a few moments here and there featuring the team mourning Jean shortly after her death makes sense, her death quickly because a tentpole moment that would be referred to again and again and again, like the death of Gwen Stacy.

And then came Maddie Pryor, and Jean coming back and dying again and again and again.

I'm going to make a bold statement and say that I think X-MEN essentally jumped the shark after JB left. It all became a convoluted mess right after the death of Phoenix, and largely because of that story. Maddie Pryor, Cable, Scott leaving Maddie for the real Jean, etc., etc.--it all comes back to Jean's death.

...which is a huge shame, because it really was--and still is--one of the best stories in comics, ever. I'm not big on the whole Phoenix thing, myself, but by turning things around, making her a villain, and having Jean's heroism and humanity show through at the end completely validated the somewhat ill-conceived Phoenix concept.

Also, having now read the whole classic run from # 1-137, my love for the original team is reaffirmed. The all-new, all-different stuff is fantastic--in large part because the new X-Men served as a contrast to the original team--but the core concepts and characters devised during the original run are the foundation of the X-Men universe, and it's a shame that the early stories aren't appreciated more in favor of what has now become WOLVERINE AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS.

Wolverine was a much better character when he was the loose cannon, the crazy guy bucking authority. But he'll never be as cool to me as Cyclops, who is--or should be, at least- the core of the team. Scott and Jean were one of the power couples of the Marvel Universe--and to have Jean attracted to Wolverine or Scott banging the White Queen(!) makes me want to wretch.

The fact that the third movie killed Cyclops off-screen, and had Wolverine mercy-kill Phoenix at the end demonstrates with crystal-clarity everything that is wrong with the X-Men (and the fan/public perception of them) today.

***
...like a Phoenix, you might say. I haven't paid attention-- has her "phoenix" connection always explained her reappearance?

Maybe she should die and come back more often, like every other issue.
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Greg: The fact that the third movie killed Cyclops off-screen, and had Wolverine mercy-kill Phoenix at the end
***
Never has a spoiler made me slap my forehead so hard. Ouch.

Some personal observations on the account of Shooter's decision:

     It seems to me that when Shooter went on to decide that Jean was to be "horribly tortured for all eternity" on a prison asteroid, he really didn't take into account anything about the Shi'Ar being a million or so years more advanced than Earth.  Especially when you consider that the original resolution was to have her get a psychic lobotomy to supress the Dark Phoenix persona, whatever the X-Men might've thought of it.  Of course, this was the same alien race which gave us D'Ken and Deathbird, fought a long war with Hep'sibah's race for dominion of their home galaxy, and commanded a vast armada and the Imperial Guard.

     I'm wondering if Jim Shooter went into one of his megalomaniacal moods that I used to hear about?