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Hmm. You don't think he might be reacting to Phoenix, like everybody else?

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And glad I was that you asked for that "twist," David! I have drawn variants of this (dare I say?) iconic scene 1,497 times, and I'm always pleased when the customer asks for something that makes it a little bit different!

'Course, every time I draw this scene, I get all wistful and nostalgic, thinking about when I first "met" Jean...

...never imagining in my wildest dreams that I would some day be instrumental in her "death."

I wonder -- would it have done any good if Chris and I had fought harder against Shooter? If we had insisted that, having been kept informed of what we were doing right from the start, he had no business to pull the rug out from under us at the last minute, invoking that dreaded Whim of Iron? The Dark Phoenix Saga would probably have faded into obscurity, but for the overall health of the X-Men and the industry, that would most likely have been for the best!

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It has more to do with the absence of Jim Shooter. I was not truly happy with any of the drawings I did of Cyclops during my run on UNCANNY. Back then I had Shooter (metaphorically) looming over me, telling me I had to make Scott "bigger and more muscular" so that he would "look like a leader."*

Ironic, I suppose, given that a few years later, with the birth of X-FACTOR, he'd gone to the other end of the spectrum, and was demanding "Slim" Summers.

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* The only time a slender Cyclops appeared was when I drew him in silhouette. Terry had a habit of inking inside the edges of silhouetted characters, causing them to suddenly drop ten or fifteen pounds!