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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.

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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!)

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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.

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...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
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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?

Larry Morris wrote: It still irks me that this is what the character is viewed as, by so many people,  when she didn't do that for over 15 years.

How many times did Phoenix appear ( or seem to appear) between UXM 137 and X-FACTOR 1? I can think of 3 just off the top of my head. It was the idea of the character that just wouldn't stay gone.

Larry again wrote: The chick who dies all the time.

You DO know the mythology behind the name Phoenix, right?

Gee, let me think.  Yeah, I believe I know the mythology of the Phoenix. That doesn't change the fact that, for a bunch of fans, she's the chick who dies all the time  Truth be told, she's been dead for 6 years once and the better part of 7 this time.  The deaths have been a lot more impactful then the rising from the ashes part.

Sure there were times it was mentioned post 1986.  It was a famous character in one of the series' signature stories.  At the time, it had taken Jean Grey's likeness.  The idea of it was used.  There is a big difference between that and turning Jean back into that character.

And I'll be more than happy to match my ignorance of Jean Grey, 1963-2004, that is, with anyone here.  I think I'll hold up pretty well.

QUOTE: I did not much like the idea of doing this to one of Marvel's oldest characters (and their second female superhero!)

JB, didn't the Wasp pre-date Marvel Girl as Marvel's second Super-Heroine?

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Are you asking and answering your own question?