Jean Grey

Real Rating: 3.5

In this issue Jean teams up with Doctor Strange where we find him performing a ritual on Jean. The two of them take a journey onto the astral plane where they find the Dark Phoenix waiting for them. With a roar, she sends them spiraling into a world where an older Jean Grey is having a birthday party. Of course, older Jean is not entirely thrilled with their intrusion nor is she happy playing second fiddle to her male counterparts.

With a psionic push, Jean and Doctor Strange find themselves in once more in older Jean's world. This time she is not the Phoenix. Here Doctor Strange makes the comment that he believes that older Jean may be her spirit. Once again a fight between both Jeans ensue and older Jean sends them once more plummeting into another part of older Jean's world. Here they are met with Dark Phoenix who forces younger Jean to realize that she and older Jean are pretty much one and the same.

I must say not only did this really add to nothing but the art looked and felt rushed. I was not at all impressed by it whatsoever. I loved the interaction between Older and younger Jean but otherwise I am hoping for something better in the next issue.

Real Rating: 4.75

Know your Enemy. Know Yourself.
-Thor

This issue follows shortly after the last. Namor has suggested Jean find someone to help her get stronger and now she is climbing a mountain on the search for Thor himself. When she arrives, Jean finds a group of Orcs ready to seek out Thor and kill him.

Jean hurries to search for Thor and finds him in a tavern drinking. It is then she introduces herself and takes his mug and dumps it. She, then in turn, asks the tavern maid for coffee. She then telekentically begins moving objects to the door with the hopes that the coffee will sober up Thor long enough for him to be able to face the Orcs coming after him.

A fight ensues when the Orcs do appear and Jean is able to produce a telekentic hammer-like object during it. Of course she tries to replicate it again once they have laid waste to the Orcs but it doesn't appear again. Thor offers her a bit of advice: "Asgardian wasn't built in a day" meaning she would eventually become powerful in time but she would really have to build her power.

This issue was a fun issue. It was nice seeing Thor appear and even funnier when Jean dumped the contents of his ale into the sink. I absolutely loved his face of horror. Unfortunately Thor doesn't seem like Thor anymore. Maybe with his hammer in another's hands he looks more of an empty shell. He still possesses an imposing figure but there seems to be a lack of something within him missing.

As for Jean, she seems to be growing a bit. She can still be annoying but yet one can understand her need to try to defeat the Phoenix Force. I do hope we see the force soon.

Teenage Jean Grey does not want to be swallowed up by the Phoenix force like her previous counterpart that she sets out to seek out advice, train, and find a way that will stop the inevitable from happening.

In this issue, we find her in the underwater realm belonging to Namor. Namor had once tangled with the Phoenix Force and come out of it unscathed but did Namor really come out of it in such a way? The way we see Namor's expression in this issue tells me that the Phoenix Force did more than scar him in a way that it has not yet been explored yet. I can only fathom that Namor wishes at the moment to leave that part of his life in the past and never really have to deal with the consequences that he is still reeling from.

Namor ends this issue with a food-for-thought to Jean. What if she could take down the Phoenix force with her bare hands?

I know many people are not fans of Namor but I thought he did really well in this issue. After all, he has tangled with the Phoenix Force in the past but how scarred is he deep inside from his encounter with it? This issue did not explore it but we can see that he is still reeling from it....that it has affected him in ways that we do not know of.

I do like the idea of Jean teaming up with others and becoming stronger than she was in the beginning. I think she is growing as a character but I believe she is trying a wee too hard to escape the Phoenix Force. This could eventually lead to her own downfall because the Phoenix Force can eventually use this against her.

Overall, I am looking forward to seeing how this story plays out and the inevitable clash between Jean and the Phoenix Force.

Although Beast tries to assure Jean that the Phoenix is no where near in sight, but Jean believes otherwise and decides her best course in finding the Phoenix is to use Cerebro. As she finds herself in communication with Colossus and the others, she locates Hope, who is undoubtly in trouble. Jean heads out to her rescue and so do the others.

I am a bit disappointed in Jean in this one. She acts more like a brat than a leader. I understand her concerns when it comes to the Phoenix entity. After all, her older self was consumed by the entity and has died multiple times. Still instead of focusing on the inevitable, she should focus on becoming stronger. Perhaps if she does become a bit more stronger her fight against the Phoenix may just work in her favor.

This is just the second issue and I am not saying it is bad. The character just has her moments. I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out and seeing the showdown between Jean and the Phoenix.

Real Rating: 4.5

This is not the Jean Grey you know.

This is not the Jean Grey whom was consumed by the Phoenix and died time and time again.

This Jean Grey does not want to become that Jean Grey and she is going to do everything possible to change her entire destiny but she is having these promonitions that that the Phoenix is coming for her and that there may not be any escape from it.

I haven't picked up X-Men comics in over twenty years and I thought I would return to the X-Men universe with this issue. This issue introduced me to another Jean Grey. Since I haven't followed the X-Universe in a long time, I am a bit confused as to why this Jean Grey was ripped from her world and brought to this one but I suppose as the issue progresses I will find out.

Still this issue has promise as Jean Grey navigates through this new world as she tries to change her life so that she will not share the same fate as the other Jean Grey. I am quite looking forward to seeing how this story pans out and to see if Jean and can even keep the Phoenix force at bay.