Dazzler

First appearance of the Dazzler

Dazzler was originally a project commissioned by Casablanca Records in the mid-late 1970s, to be a cross-promotion in the mold of KISS who had two successful comic book tie-in super-specials by the end of 1977. Marvel Comics would develop a singing super-heroine, while Casablanca would produce a singer. The two companies would then work with Filmworks and produce a tie-in motion picture; Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter wrote a treatment for the project. [1]

The character was originally conceptualized as "The Disco Queen" with the power to make people tell the truth. Initially, no one wanted anything to do with the project. Marvel Comics appointed former Archie Comics writer Tom DeFalco to the character and he developed some changes to the character, namely suggesting light-based powers. Roger Stern conceived of the character's name, Dazzler, while John Romita, Jr. provided pencils.

Artist John Romita, Jr. originally intended for the character to resemble model, actress, and singer Grace Jones, as seen in early depictions. However, representatives from Filmworks -- wanting to promote model and actress Bo Derek -- insisted on design changes to reflect Derek's features.

To promote Dazzler, Casablanca wanted it cross-promoted within several key Marvel Comics titles: The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man in particular, with Dazzler debuting in The Uncanny X-Men because she was a mutant character. However, Casablanca continued to request conceptual changes to the character's appearance and personality, leading to several cancellations of the project. Eventually, Casablanca Records backed out of the Dazzler project altogether due to financial concerns. Marvel Comics, left with a much-publicized new character, decided to launch the project as a monthly series.

According to writer Tom DeFalco, Dazzler was cancelled "five or six times" prior to its launch in March, 1981. At the time, Marvel Comics was looking for other filmmakers to invest in a Dazzler cross-promotion. However, Jim Shooter and Stan Lee decided to launch the series without such a partnership because of their "faith in the character."

By this time, Dazzler #1 was edited to reflect changes in the Marvel Comics universe and to fit the new 22-page publication format. X-Men member Cyclops was edited out of the issue, and Kitty Pryde inserted, and an additional "origin of the Dazzler" sequence was added to fill new pages. Also, Dazzler distanced its character from the disco genre, as the creators recognized the disco fad was fading by 1980.

In a revolutionary move, Shooter decided to release Dazzler #1 exclusively to comic specialty shops, bypassing the wider circulation market. This was the first comic exclusively delivered to comic shops - a relatively new industry for 1981. Over 400,000 copies of issue 1 were pre-sold, more than double the average comic sales amount.

Dazzler: 1981-1985

Dazzler proved a success, largely due to guest-starring several key Marvel Comics characters in its first few issues: Spider-Man, The Human Torch, Doctor Doom, Galactus, The Hulk, The X-Men, and Klaw were just a few of the several guest-stars who placed Dazzler squarely into the Marvel Universe. Dazzler herself also guest-starred in Marvel titles, such as The Uncanny X-Men, The Avengers, and the Marvel crossover, Contest of Champions.

The series, however, was not free from critique. Several readers disapproved of the "real life" focus of Dazzler, including the focus on "soft plots" — career , family, relationships — rather than action-based and more traditional superhero plot devices.^{[citation needed]} Dazzler's "superhero" outfit was her performance outfit, which also serves as a major disconnect from the superhero staples of the day. Years later, DeFalco reflected on these criticisms as an inherent hypocrisy with the readership: on one hand, readers clamored for something "new", which was how Dazzler was conceived. Yet on the other, they wanted Dazzler to be a super-heroine in the mold of Phoenix and conform to other super-heroic stereotypes.^{[citation needed]}

Cover to Dazzler: The Movie, Marvel Graphic Novel #12, 1984.

John Romita, Jr. left Dazzler in issue #3, and was replaced by Frank Springer, who penciled most of the Dazzler series. DeFalco stayed on as chief writer through issue #6, and helped successive writer Danny Fingeroth with several of the following issues. Fingeroth and Springer remained the Dazzler stable team through issue #27.

Eventually, Dazzler failed to adequately create its own cast and began to lose commercial appeal. With issue #25, Dazzler became a bi-monthly publication. This schedule, along with extreme character changes and a lackluster spin-off miniseries, further complicated the character and series’ appeal to both existing and new readers.^{[citation needed]} The plot focus changed so that, instead of being a singer in New York, Springer moved Dazzler to Los Angeles as an aspiring actress. To promote this new direction, Marvel had artist Bill Sienkiewicz do painted artwork pieces for several Dazzler covers, from issues #27 through #35. Springer left Dazzler with issue #32, and returned briefly for issue #35 and the Dazzler: The Movie graphic novel.

Marvel attempted to jump-start the series with a tie-in graphic novel and mini-series that would highlight the character's career struggles in a prejudiced world. While the graphic novel received acclaim, the mini-series and regular Dazzler series suffered.

In a final attempt, Archie Goodwin and Paul Chadwick were assigned to Dazzler with issue #38, ditching the singer-subtext and making Dazzler more of a generic super-heroine with an official costume. It did not save the series, and Dazzler was eventually canceled in 1985.

After this, the character would go on to a short spell as an X-Men member, before disappearing completely for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, barring occasional cameos. With the launch of New Excalibur, where she is a cast member, she returned to monthly publication for the first time in over fifteen years.

Powers and abilities

Dazzler is a mutant with the superhuman ability to transduce sonic vibrations which reach her body into various types of light. This ability seems to operate over a great range of frequencies, including the audible spectrum (35 to 16,500 cycles per second), and a great variation of sound pressure levels regardless of the complexity, dissonance, or randomness of the sound. For example, a car crash and a symphonic passage of equal duration will both produce usable incoming acoustic vibrations.

Dazzler, however, prefers utilizing the sound of music, particularly that which is rhythmically sustained. Not only is music more pleasant to her ears, but the steady beat of contemporary popular provides a more constant source of sound to convert. The precise means by which this conversion process works is as yet unknown, but it must involve a body-wide energy field that controls the energy levels of the outer electron shells of her body in such a way as to cause the cascaded release of photons.

The field thus operates in a similar fashion as the process that creates a laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) and apparently has the same efficiency as a laser (99.9 percent). The released energy is far greater than the incoming kinetic energy and therefore must involve another, unknown energy source as well. Left undirected, Dazzler's light will radiate from her body in all directions, producing regular flashes of white light (white light is a mixture of all portions of the visible spectrum). By conscious control over the light she produces, she can control its direction, frequency (color), amplitude (intensity), and duration.

Apparently Dazzler must consciously or subconsciously will the light to leave her body. Otherwise, light would "leak" from her at all times, even when she was asleep or unconscious. Dazzler can produce numerous effects with the light she converts from sonic vibrations. She can simply cause a bright glow all about her body. She can create very simple patterns out of rays of light like circles, squares, triangles, and stars. With effort, she can even create holograms of human beings and other three-dimensional beings and objects. She can create a pulse of light on the order of several thousand watts of power, which temporarily blinds people with its brilliance. She can create a chaotic cascade of sparkling lights and colors that severely upsets other people's equilibrium, or a pulsating strobe-light effect. By concentrating, Dazzler can generate a coherent beam of light, approximating a laser beam, with which she can cut through virtually anything.

Her training with the X-Men, especially with Cyclops, has taught her how to produce such laser-like beams with much less effort than it previously required of her. She generally directs the laser from a single finger when she requires precision in its use, since pointing aids her in defining its direction. But she can also direct laser blasts from both hands at once when she wishes, for example, to demolish a large structure. She most often uses her hands for directing her light effects, but she could also use other parts of her body.

Since studying with the X-Men, she has become adept at directing her blinding strobe light blast from her eyes. The Dazzler has also learned how to create a protective force field about herself with laser light that can deflect or vaporize oncoming projectiles. The most powerful manifestation of her abilities is a concentrated beam of solid photons she usually fires from her right index finger. The beam is extremely powerful and as a consequence uses a great deal of her energy reserves. She has since learned how to produce these blasts without draining herself, while still providing them with considerable power. She has also recently shown the ability to form her photon emissions into solid constructs, such as swords and staffs. Dazzler's potential to convert sound to light is unlimited. Curiously, she cannot use her own un-amplified voice as a source of sound for her transduction abilities. Dazzler's body, especially her eyes, shields itself against any injurious effects of her light transducing abilities and against those of bright lights in general. Her ability to transduce sound also protects her from being deafened by loud noises.

Since the events of Dazzler: The Movie, Alison's body can store light energy for future discharge on occasional instances of extreme duress.

Dazzler is a highly skilled athlete, and has become a good hand-to-hand combatant thanks to her training with the X-Men, and with the Gladiators. In addition, she is a talented singer, actress, and dancer. She is also a highly accomplished roller skater and can move at high speed; she occasionally wears a pair of roller blades which magnetically adheres to her boots.

Recently, Dazzler has displayed an unusual ability to completely recover from life threatening or fatal injuries^{[issue # needed]}. The nature of this new ability has yet to be explained.

Thanks to Professor X, Dazzler's costume contains devices that enable her to store sonic energy more efficiently and to gauge and focus the light she generates with greater skill. She formerly carried a customized radio/cassette tape player to provide her with sound until she acquired the sound storing devices in her costume.

character biography

Alison was born in Gardendale, New York to Carter and Katherine Blaire. Her mutant powers first manifested when she was in high school. An aspiring singer, she volunteered to perform at her school dance when her light-generating abilities first appeared. Everyone at the dance assumed it was a techno-based special effect, and this assumption would continue until she was revealed as a mutant.

Using the stage name "Dazzler", Alison set out to make a name for herself in the music industry, while using her light powers and dancing ability to enhance her performances. It was at one of these shows that Alison met the X-Men, who were fighting the forces of the Hellfire Club. Alison aided the X-Men this time,^[2] but did not yet become a regular associate of the X-Men.

Few but those closest to her knew she was actually a mutant. After acquainting herself with the various Marvel Comics superheroes, Alison found herself continually using her abilities to fight ordinary criminals and rogue superhumans — often at the expense of her career ambitions. She met Spider-Man, and teamed with him against the Lightmaster.^[3] She later battled the Enchantress.^[4] She was next defeated by Doctor Doom, and then fought Nightmare.^[5] She also met Blue Shield.^[6] She aided the X-Men and Spider-Woman against the misguided Caliban.^[7] She also battled the Hulk.^[8]

She even encountered the planet-eater Galactus, who thought she was of little notice and generally ignored her. Galactus, however, temporarily endowed her with cosmic energy, to retrieve his herald Terrax for him.^[9] In addition to being offered membership into the X-Men, Alison was also asked to audition for a place in the Avengers, but declined whilst facing Fabian Stankowicz, who was ultimately defeated easily by the Wasp, saying that the superhero "trip wasn't for [her]."

After moving to Los Angeles, Alison attempted careers in fitness training, dancing, modeling, and acting. Influenced both by her lover Roman Nekoboh, and her desire to abate the growing anti-mutant sentiment, Alison publicly declared her mutant identity. This revelation backfired, destroying her reputation and career, inflaming anti-mutant sentiment, and sent Alison into a depressive state. Forced again into hiding, she spent some time as a keyboard player in rock singer and fellow mutant Lila Cheney's band. The band's plane crashed on tour and led to her, Lila and a band-mate being successfully rescued by Cannonball and his brother, Joshua. Lila had been knocked out so Dazzler used the music Joshua played at the scene to blast a hole through the wreckage. Alison was later possessed by the psychic mutant Malice. She was saved and taken-in by the X-Men.

During her tenure with the X-Men, Alison received greater training and control over her powers, and developed a romance with the extra-dimensional Longshot. She was also forced to work alongside Rogue, with whom she had a longstanding grudge. There was underlying tension between them at first (mostly on Alison's part), but over time, she eventually forgave Rogue. Dazzler struggled with her career ambitions and personal insecurities, and eventually she — along with teammates Rogue, Psylocke, Colossus, and Havok — entered the mystical Siege Perilous, leaving her in an amnesiac state. Discovered by Longshot, and devastated by the loss of her career, Alison ventured to his native "Mojoworld", and remained to help fight in the ongoing rebellion against the tyrant Mojo. Lila would again join with Dazzler in combating Mojo.

Dazzler eventually returned to Earth without Longshot after an unfortunate series of events, including miscarriage and war. She helped Jean Grey in the fight against a re-powered Magneto, who had an army of Genoshans. She and Jean led a small band of mutants to back up the original X-Men, who were in Genosha already. Dazzler even faced down Magneto himself, barely surviving the encounter. After the conclusion of this incident, the X-Men offered Alison support for her personal problems, but she declined.

Among Dazzler fans in comics are the Juggernaut,^[10] former teammate Colossus, Julia Carpenter,^[11] The Rhino, Molly Hayes from Runaways, and Kitty Pryde.

Storm

biography

Ever since her inception in 1975, Storm's biography has largely stayed the same. The framework was laid first by Chris Claremont, who fleshed out her backstory in Uncanny X-Men #102 (1976)^[4] and Uncanny X-Men #117 (1979).^[34] Some reinterpretations were made in 2005 and 2006, where writers Mark Sumerak and Eric Jerome Dickey, respectively, rewrote part of her early history in the miniseries Ororo: Before the Storm^[28] and Storm (vol. 2).^[35]

According to established Marvel canon, Ororo Munroe is the child of Kenyan tribal princess N’Dare and African-American photographer David Munroe. While stationed in Egypt during the Suez Crisis, a fighter jet crashes into her parents’ house, killing them. Buried under tons of rubble, Ororo survives but is orphaned and left with intense claustrophobia.^[4] In Cairo, she is picked up by the benign street lord Achmed el-Gibar and becomes a prolific thief;^[28] among her victims is her future mentor Professor X who is there to meet the Shadow King.^[34] Following an inner urge, she wanders into the Serengeti as a teenager and meets T’Challa, her future husband. Despite strong mutual feelings, the two part ways.^[8][35]

In the Serengeti, Ororo first displays her mutant ability to control the weather. For a time, she is worshipped as a rain goddess, practicing nudism and tribal spirituality, before being recruited by Professor X into the X-Men. Ororo receives the code name “Storm” and is established as a strong, serene character.^[2] She eventually supplants her colleague Cyclops as leader of the X-Men,^[7] a role she fills out during most of her time as a superhero. Concerning her personal life, she is for a longer time romantically involved with fellow X-Man Forge, and even considers marrying him before breaking up.^[22]

After 98% of the mutants of the world lose their powers, Storm leaves the X-Men to go to Africa; rekindles her relationship with T’Challa, now a superhero known as Black Panther; marries him; and becomes the queen of the kingdom of Wakanda^[36] and joins the new Fantastic Four alongside her husband when Reed and Sue take a vacation. On a recent mission in space, the Watcher told Black Panther and Storm that their children would have a special destiny. Upon Reed and Sue's return to the Fantastic Four, Storm and the Black Panther leave, with Storm returning to the Uncanny X-Men to help out with events in Messiah Complex.

Powers and abilities

Weather manipulation

Storm has demonstrated a plethora of abilities, most of which are facets of her power to control the weather.^[37] Storm possesses the ability to control all forms of weather. She can control the temperature of the environment, control all forms of precipitation, humidity and moisture, coalesce toxic atmospheric pollutants into acid rain or toxic fog, control the wind to elevate herself to fly at high altitudes and speeds, generate lightning and other electromagnetic atmospheric phenomena, and has demonstrated excellent control over atmospheric pressure. She can produce all forms of meteorological tempests, such as tornadoes, thunderstorms, blizzards, and is capable of summoning even a hurricane,^[38] as well as a mist. She can dissipate such weather to form clear skies as well. Besides the atmosphere, Storm has demonstrated the ability to control natural forces that include cosmic storms, solar wind, ocean currents, and the electromagnetic field. She can create electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields and has demonstrated the ability to create electrolytic fields to separate water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen. While in outer space, she is able to affect and manipulate the interste

llar and intergalactic mediums. Storm can alter her visual perceptions so as to see the universe in terms of energy patterns, detecting the flow of the electromagnetic fields behind weather phenomena, machines, and nervous systems and bend these forces to her will. Storm has shown to be sensitive to the dynamics of the natural world. One consequence of this

connection to nature is that she often suppresses extreme feelings to prevent her emotional state from resulting in violent weather. She has sensed a diseased and dying tree on the X-Mansion grounds, detected objects within various atmospheric mediums--including water, and sensed the incorrect motion of a hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere and the gravitational stress on the tides by the Moon and Sun as well as the distortion of a planet's magnetosphere.^[39] Storm's mutant abilities are limited by her willpower and the strength of her body. Her character has been described as being a "possible Omega-level mutant."^[40]

Magical potential

Storm's ancestry supports the use of magic and witchcraft.^[41] Many of her ancestors were sorceresses and priestesses. Storm's matrilenial powers have even been linked to the real-world Rain Queens of Balobedu, the region from which her Sorceress Supreme ancestor, Ayesha, hails from. The Mystic Arcana series deals with Storm's ancestor Ashake, who worships the Egyptian goddess Ma'at, also known as Oshtur--the mother of Agamotto.^[42] Some of Storm's alternate universe selves possess considerable magical talent.^[43] Although Storm has not developed her magical potential, it has been hinted at.^[41] The Mystic Arcana series lists the characters with magic potential according to the Marvel Tarot deck. The Tarot asserts Storm as being "High Priestess," the First Tarot's choice one-third of the time. The other draws were the Scarlet Witch and Agatha Harkness. These three characters

split the High Priestess card equally. On a separate note, it has been stated that Storm's spirit is so strong that she was able to host the consciousness of Eternity, a feat which very few Marvel characters can accomplish without going insane.^[44]

Origin of Storm (1970s)

Cover to Giant-Size X-Men #1, 1975. Art by Gil Kane & Dave Cockrum. Storm is flying in the top right-hand corner.

Storm first appeared in 1975 in the famous Giant Size X-Men #1 comic, written by Len Wein and pencilled by Dave Cockrum. In this comic, Wein uses a battle against the living island Krakoa to replace the first-generation X-Men of the 1960s with new X-Men.^[2] Storm was an amalgamation of several characters Cockrum intended to use for the Legion of Super-Heroes. In a 1999 interview, Cockrum said that the original black female of the

Legion would have been called The Black Cat. According to him, she had Storm's costume but without the cape, and a cat-like haircut with tufts for ears. However, other female cat characters like Tigra had appeared, so Cockrum redesigned his new character, giving her white hair and the cape, and created Storm. When colleagues remarked that Storm’s white hair made her look like a grandmother, and thus, presumably unpopular, he just said: “Trust me.”^[3]

Chris Claremont, who followed up Wein as the writer of the flagship title Uncanny X-Men in 1975, embraced Storm and started writing many notable X-Men stories, among them the God Loves, Man Kills and Dark Phoenix Saga arcs, which respectively served as the base for the films X2: X-Men United and X-Men 3. In both arcs, Storm is written as a major supporting character. This was a harbinger of things to come, as Claremont stayed the main writer of that comic book for the next 16 years and consequently wrote most of the publications containing Storm.

In Uncanny X-Men #102 (December 1976), Claremont established Storm’s backstory. Ororo's mother, N'Dare, is the princess of a tribe in Kenya and the descendant of a long line of Africans with white hair, blue eyes, and a natural gift for sorcery. N'Dare falls in love with and marries African American photojournalist David Munroe. They move to Harlem in uptown New York City, where she becomes pregnant with Ororo and bears her, and then to Egypt during the Suez Crisis, where they are killed in a botched aircraft attack and leave six-year-old Ororo as an orphan. There, her violent claustrophobia is also established as a result of being buried under tons of rubble after that attack. She then becomes a skilled thief in Cairo under the benign Achmed el-Gibar and wanders into the Serengeti as a young woman. There, she is worshipped as a goddess before being recruited by Professor X for the X-Men.^[4]

Claremont further fleshed out Storm’s backstory in Uncanny X-Men #117 (January 1979). He retroactively added that Professor X, who recruits her in Giant Size X-Men #1 of 1975, had already met her as a child in Cairo. As Ororo grows up on the streets and becomes a proficient thief under the tutelage of master thief Achmed el-Gibar, one of her most notable victims was Charles Francis Xavier, the later Professor X. He is able to use his mental powers to temporarily prevent her escape and recognizes the potential in her. However, when Xavier is attacked mentally by Amahl Farouk, the Shadow King, the two men are preoccupied enough with their battle to allow the girl to escape. Both Xavier and the Shadow King recognize Storm as the young girl later.

Marvel Girl

an Grey-Summers (née Jean Grey) is a fictional character, a superheroine in the Marvel Comics Universe. Using the codename Phoenix, Jean Grey-Summers is best known as a member of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, she first appeared in X-Men #1 (September 1963).

Jean Grey-Summers is a mutant born with telepathic and telekinetic powers. Her powers first manifested when she saw her childhood friend being hit by a car. She is a caring, nurturing figure, but she also must deal with being an Omega-level mutant and the physical manifestation of the cosmic Phoenix Force. She faces death several times in the history of the series, first in the classic "Dark Phoenix Saga," but due to her connection with the Phoenix Force, she, as her namesake implies, rises from death.

Phoenix is an important figure in the lives of Professor X, who is like a father and mentor to her; Wolverine who is a very good friend and, at several points, a potential love interest; Storm, who is her best friend and a sister like figure; her husband Cyclops; her daughter Rachel Summers; her son X-Man; and stepson Cable.

The character is present for much of the X-Men's history, and she is featured in both X-Men animated series and several video games. Famke Janssen portrays Jean in the X-Men films.

In 2006, IGN.com rated Jean Grey #6 on their list of Top 25 X-Men from the past forty years.^[1]

Background

Jean Grey-Summers was born the daughter of Dr. John Grey and Elaine Grey. Before joining the X-Men, she lived with her family in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where Dr. Grey worked as a history professor at Bard College.

Jean is the only member of her immediate family with mutant abilities (her niece and nephew, Joey and Gailyn, are also revealed as mutants). Her powers first manifest at the age of ten, prematurely triggered when her best friend, Annie Richards, is hit by a car. As her friend lies dying, Jean instinctively links to her mind and senses what Annie feels when she dies; the trauma of experiencing her friend's death nearly kills Jean as well, but instead leaves her in a coma.

Jean's parents seek the expertise of specialists to rouse her out of her catatonic state, of which only Professor Charles Xavier is able to help. Xavier uses Jean to help locate mutants with his Cerebro Machine. During one fateful session on the astral plane Jean senses young Scott Summers in the orphanage and an aspect of her mind, manifesting in the form of a golden Phoenix raptor, reaches out to him.^[2] Xavier realizes that Jean's young mind cannot yet cope with her abilities, so he telepathically blocks her access to them, allowing her powers to evolve at a more natural pace. Jean develops her telekinetic powers at the age of 13. As a teenager, Jean leaves her parents to attend Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and, using the codename "Marvel Girl", becomes the first female X-Man, joining the team on its first mission against Magneto.^[3] With the X-Men, she battles the team's earliest and most enduring threats, including Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants,^[4] the Juggernaut,^[5] and the Sentinels.^[6] She briefly leaves Xavier's school to attend Metro College.^[7] Back with the X-Men, she helps end the Factor Three conspiracy.^[8] It is also revealed that she secretly aided Professor Xavier in his preparation to thwart the Z'Nox invasion.^[9] While on a mission that took them into space Jean is observed by the Phoenix Force which is drawn to Jean's unlimited potential. Jean envisions her transformation into Phoenix but within an instant she cannot remember what she foresaw.^[10]

Romance

At the beginning of the series, Jean and Scott harbor a mutual crush, for a long time but neither is aware of the other's feelings (though the readers are made aware early on) and both are too shy to make a move. Jean once has a date with Angel, but insists on taking Scott along, which confuses and frustrates both men. For a while, Angel had feelings for Jean which led to some bad moments between him and Scott. When Jean leaves to pursue tertiary education at Metro College, it further widens the gap between Scott and Jean; however, Jean and Scott later date openly. At one point, Professor X seems to have some romantic feelings for her.^[11] However, he believes that she could not reciprocate because he is a paraplegic; therefore he says nothing of it, instead channeling his energies into an increasingly intimate mentor/student relationship with Jean. This forced her to keep his secrets and, at one point, transferred his own power into her.

Jean and Scott's relationship takes a brief step forward when the X-Men temporarily disband. Jean works as a swimsuit model and Scott works as a radio announcer, and the two "pretend" to date. After the X-Men re-form, there are hints that they are more intimately involved, but the relationship is not "outed" for quite some time. It seems to be one of those "everybody knows about it but nobody talks about it" relationships that commonly happen in tight-knit communities.

When Jean "dies" and becomes Phoenix, her relationship with Scott changes because she has changed. After they are separated in the Savage Land and each thinks the other is dead, Scott is unable to mourn her - and he reasons it's because he no longer loves her. Yet upon their reunion, to fight Proteus at Muir Island, the passion and relationship is rekindled. Soon after, they psychically "marry" - joining parts of their minds together in a psychic bond.^[12]

When Logan is introduced as part of the "next generation", he is immediately drawn to her, and harbors a secret love for her. Through the series, Logan generally respects Jean's choice to be with Scott, and the two share a deep friendship which, despite a powerful emotional and physical attraction, never consummates. In Grant Morrison's New X-Men stories, Jean increasingly talks to Logan about her marital problems, and Logan tries to help the married couple reconcile, even convincing Jean to return to Scott when Scott has a psychic affair with Emma Frost. Immediately following Jean's death, Scott began to date Emma and now claims to no longer love Jean, although he does 'honor and respect her', though this may itself only be a psychic suggestion left by Jean to force Scott to move on and "live".

Phoenix

Uncanny X-Men #101. Art by Dave Cockrum.

The original team of X-Men is held captive by Krakoa the Living Island, so Xavier recruits a new team of X-Men to help save the others from Krakoa.^[13] Most of the team's senior members then leave, including Jean.^[14] Scott feels that he belongs only with the X-Men, and this upsets Jean. However, she remains in contact with the X-Men and becomes best friends with Ororo Munroe (Storm).

While Jean and Scott are having a romantic evening in Manhattan, she, Wolverine, and Banshee, are abducted by Sentinels. They are taken to an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. orbital platform under the command of the anti-mutant activist Steven Lang, who is plotting to unleash a new generation of Sentinels. The other X-Men, with the aid of Dr. Peter Corbeau, rescue them.^[15] During the space station's destruction, the X-Men find that their shuttle has been damaged in an earlier fight with the Sentinels. The X-Men decide that someone must stay at the controls and pilot the ship, while everyone else remains in the shuttle's heavily-shielded life cell.

Knowing no one else could survive long enough to pilot the shuttle to safety, Jean uses her telepathy on Dr. Corbeau to learn how to pilot the shuttle and her telekinesis to block the radiation as she pilots the ship back to Earth.^[16] Her telekinetic shields give way under the onslaught of the intense radiation. The strain of holding the solar radiation at bay with her powers destroys the psychic shields Xavier placed in her mind as a child, and Jean assumes her ultimate potential as a psychic, becoming an entity of pure thought. The shuttle crashes into a bay, and Jean telekinetically reforms her body and emerges from the water. Taking the code-name of Phoenix, Jean's psi-powers are now vastly stronger, and she manifests a fiery bird-shaped energy aura whenever she uses her powers to their fullest extent.^[17] Phoenix healed the M'Kraan Crystal to keep the universe from being destroyed.

In the "Dark Phoenix Saga", Mastermind a.k.a. Jason Wyngarde tampers with Jean's mind, convincing her she's a Victorian aristocrat (and the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club) and that he is her husband. She turns on her friends, but then loses control of her powers and becomes the Dark Phoenix, attacking her friends and teammates and destroying a populated solar system's star. Jean regains her sanity long enough to commit suicide rather than risk becoming the Dark Phoenix again and killing anyone else.^[18] After killing herself on the moon, Jean's soul awakens in the afterlife and is dressed in a White Phoenix costume. Death greets Jean and tries to help her understand the Phoenix before fragments of her soul are sent back to Earth.^[19]

John Byrne, penciller on Uncanny X-Men, had strong feelings against how powerful Phoenix had become and worked with writer Chris Claremont to effectively remove Phoenix from the storyline, initially by removing her powers. However, Byrne's decision to have Dark Phoenix destroy an inhabited solar system in Uncanny X-Men #135, coupled with the planned ending to the story arc, worried then-Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter, who felt that allowing Jean to live at the conclusion of the story was both morally unacceptable (given that she had essentially committed an act of genocide) and also an unsatisfying ending from a storytelling point of view. As a result, Shooter requested that Claremont and Byrne rewrite the last chapter of issue #137, to explicitly place in the story both a consequence and an ending commensurate with the enormity of Phoenix's actions.

The original ending, as well as an interview with Claremont, Byrne, Shooter, and then-Uncanny X-Men editor Louise Simonson which gives the full explanation for the changes, was published in the one-shot Phoenix: The Untold Story. In the original ending, instead of turning into Phoenix again during the X-Men's battle with the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, Jean is overpowered and captured. Lilandra has Jean subjected to what amounts to a psychic lobotomy, leaving Jean without any of her telepathic or telekinetic powers. The concept that Byrne and Claremont had in mind was that her powers ended up being more or less permanently suppressed, but with the threat always in the shadows of Phoenix returning. In the end, Jean is allowed to return to Earth with the rest of the X-Men, "cured" of the power and madness of Dark Phoenix. The one-shot also reveals the original splash page drawn for Uncanny X-Men #138, which shows Jean and Scott in a happier time, contrasted with the splash page actually published in issue #138 that shows Jean's funeral.

Marvel editor Jim Shooter, in response to a question about the return of Jean Grey, responded, "Jean Grey is dead".^{[citation needed]} For a while, Marvel stuck to this, although the interview in The Untold Story shows that Byrne had already given thought to a possible way to revive Jean (although the idea as it existed then was not expanded upon in the interview).

Return

Fantastic Four #286. Art by John Byrne.

A few years later, there was a desire to bring Jean Grey back to life, as part of the launch of the new X-Factor series. Editorially, it was decreed that this would only be allowed if Jean could be utterly absolved of the evil deeds of the Dark Phoenix Saga.

This absolution begins when the Avengers find a strange pod lying on the bottom of Jamaica bay, which they send to Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. The pod cracks open and Jean emerges, with no memories from the time she flew the shuttle until she hatched from the cocoon, but the truth of Phoenix is now revealed. While dying upon the shuttle, Jean was, in fact, approached by a cosmic psychic entity known as the Phoenix Force, which duplicated Jean's form and merged with a portion of her soul/consciousness, while Jean herself was sealed in a pod at the bottom of the bay to heal.^[20] It was the Phoenix Force which became the Dark Phoenix and committed those evil actions, hence Jean was absolved of them and went on to found X-Factor with her original X-Men teammates.

Jean is now without her telepathy, but her telekinesis is much more powerful. The former X-Men are contacted and she reunites with them.^[21]. Jean learns that the Phoenix Force merged with Rachel Summers, her daughter from an alternate timeline. Jean initially rejected Rachel because of this, as she felt Rachel's existence was a constant reminder of the dark future she came from and feared could still come to pass. During the time in which Jean is thought dead, Scott meets a pilot named Madelyne Pryor. They marry and produce a son, Nathan Christopher Charles Summers (Cable). When Scott hears Jean is alive, he leaves Pryor. Shortly afterward, he joins Jean and the other founding X-Men to create X-Factor.^[22] Early in X-Factor's career, Jean first battles the mutants' nemesis, Apocalypse.^[23] Scott calls Madelyne to try to persuade her to come to New York. When he receives no answer, he assumes that his wife had left him. In truth, Mister Sinister kidnapped Madelyne and Nathan. Mr. Sinister had created Madelyne from Jean Grey's DNA, believing the offspring of Jean Grey and Scott Summers would be a genetically superior mutant who possessed incredible powers.

With her purpose fulfilled, Sinister turns Madelyne over to the Marauders. The X-Men rescue her and she joins them. Wanting to rescue her son from Mr. Sinister, Madelyne makes a pact with demons, and using her despair, the goblins make her their queen, driving her insane. Madelyne attempts to sacrifice Nathan in a ritual that will bring the demons of Limbo into the world. Madelyne dies in a climactic battle with Jean after she links their minds and wills herself to die -- hoping the link will kill Jean as well. Madelyne dies, and then the piece of Jean's consciousness that had merged with the Phoenix Force (which had migrated into Madelyne Pryor upon the death of the Phoenix) returned to Jean, granting her all the memories of both Madelyne and the Dark Phoenix.^[24] Jean now also contained a spark of the Phoenix Force but would later expel it while helping an alien world fend off a Celestial.^[25] Her telepathy had also been restored to her by the villain Psynapse.

Uncanny X-Men #334; displaying Jean Grey's costume in the 1990's.

Jean becomes a member of the X-Men's "Gold Team" led by Storm when X-Factor joins with Xavier.^[26] When her physical body dies in a Sentinel attack, Jean survives by transferring her psyche into the body of the comatose Emma Frost. While in Emma's body, Jean uses telekinesis, an ability that Emma never used. Jean is later restored to her original body with the help of Xavier and Forge.^[27] Jean is instrumental in saving Wolverine's life when Magneto rips the adamantium from his skeleton.^[28] Using her telekinesis, Jean holds Logan's body together and supports his healing factor.

With Cyclops, Jean later encounters Stryfe for the first time.^[29]

Marriage

Scott proposed to Jean but she declined because the memories of him proposing to both Madelyne and The Phoenix kept haunting her. He told her he would wait for her. Later, Jean proposes to Scott and they marry.^[30], but not before she apologized to Rachel and welcomed her into her life permanently. During their honeymoon, they are taken into the future to raise Scott's son Nathan.^[31] After returning, Jean resumes using the name Phoenix as an attempt to redeem both the entity and herself and to honor Rachel, who was presumed dead at the time, but was later revealed to have been lost somewhere in the time-stream with the premature death of Apocalypse. She also adopted the classic green and gold Phoenix costume to signify this.

Jean enters Emma's mind interrupting Scott and Emma's telepathic affair.
Art by Phil Jimenez.

During a battle with the aforementioned villain, Scott merged with the immortal mutant. Jean and Psylocke switch powers, and Jean adds Psylocke's telepathic powers to her own telepathy, as well as her shadow astral-form, while Psylocke gets Jean's telekinesis. Jean begins to manifest fiery Phoenix raptor effects as the physical manifestation of her powers. Jean also uses the Phoenix Force to witness humanity's possible evolution into Eternity and converses with Eternity itself when Prosh recruits her to help stop the Stranger from destroying the universe.^[32] Jean learns that Cyclops is alive, and searches for him with her stepson Cable (Nathan). Jean uses her increased telepathic powers to separate Cyclops' and Apocalypse's spirits.

A combination of Jean's duties as headmistress of the Xavier Institute, her re-emerging Phoenix powers, and Scott's temporary merger with Apocalypse drives a wedge between the couple. Jean attempts to rebuild the relationship, but Scott remains distant, refusing to sleep with her. Scott turns to Emma Frost, who takes advantage of Scott's emotional problems, which leads to a telepathic extramarital affair.^[33] When confronted by Jean, Scott claims that they shared "only thoughts" and that he had done nothing wrong; Jean, however, disagrees and demands that Emma explain herself, but Emma only jeers and insults her. Enraged, Jean unleashes the Phoenix power on Emma, rifling through her memories and forcing her to confront the truth about herself.^[34]

Later, Wolverine and Phoenix are propelled towards the sun while on Asteroid M. About to die, Wolverine reluctantly stabs Phoenix so she will not have to die an agonizing death in the intense solar heat. Seconds before they collide with the sun, the Phoenix Force manifests within Jean, and she saves them both. She tells him that by killing her, he helped her release the "Phoenix Consciousness." Arriving on Earth, they battled their teammate Xorn (who had revealed himself to be Magneto but would later be retconned into an imposter), who then mortally injures Phoenix by transferring a large amount of electro-magnetic energy to her brain, inducing a "planetary-scale stroke." As Jean dies in Scott's arms, she tells him to live.^[35] It was revealed later that before she died, Jean created a holempathic matrix crystal for Rachel and imprinted it with her essence so that, no matter what happened to her physically, her soul would always be with her.