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How is that ironic?

"Found a phone somewhere." In the Marvel Offices. Where there was a phone about every three feet.

THIS is why I don't read what Shooter writes.

While I doubt I was the only person to think about it after reading Jean's death, I figured she'd be back relatively soon since her "code name" was Phoenix.

Anyway, JB's version of what happened and how it all went down is the version I've always heard, even from other creators.  Shooter's re-writing of history is a new one to me.  It just strikes me as someone jumping up and down while waving their arms as they scream, "hey look at me!!"

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It's important to note that the unpublished story features more than the different last few pages.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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!