Post by Filthy Mutie on Jan 31, 2018 19:00:53 GMT
{Spoilers for the ish! Click to read!}
OML is in the diner chatting with Jean over coffee. "You look like someone I know." "No, YOU look like someone I know!" Annie tries to get rid of him, offering that he can take his coffee to go. He keeps pressing Jean to remember what's real, and when Annie interferes again, he slices her throat and Jean screams.
Outside the diner, the X-Men are hanging out, waiting. The Phoenix Force bird above the diner vanishes and it starts to rain. The giant Phoenix Egg is broken! And the rain from the outside, real world is coming in.
Back to the diner interior: Jean gawks at dead Annie while OML goes on about making her wake up/remember what's real. Annie comes back to "life", OML's claws are popped, and Jean seems to suddenly remember. "Logan" in Dark Phoenix speech bubble, before destroying the diner and flinging OML at the X-Men.
Jean emerges from the flaming pile that was the diner wearing an admittedly cool(er) Dark Phoenix costume, which is black and red. (I would say this is Jean's second-best look after her 'Here Comes Tomorrow' Dark Phoenix look.) The stunned X-Men look on; Jean says hello and remarks Tyke is weirdly younger and scared (she doesn't know about the displaced O5). Beast questions her integrity - "is THIS who you are?" - and she manages to not laugh and incinerate the idiot on the spot.
Jean screams again, this time when the Phoenix Force grows out of her. X-Men: Ready to attack! No, Kitty tells them all to stand down in a moment that may be her single finest moment as the X-Men's leader. "This is Jean's fight." Storm is not convinced - "For the moment." I find both of these POVs agreeable, so good job, Storm.
Annie comes back again to get between Jean and the X-Men and push Jean back toward the Phoenix Force. She says Jean can make the world any way she wants; Jean says NAY. Since Annie's not cutting it, Jean's parents appear and try to turn her screws. She can save everyone! Bring all your loved ones back from the dead! (Admittedly, that's a pretty good offer on the surface, since there's... just so many dead people in Jean's life at this point.) Jean's crying now, but pushed back with her mutant power (see: not Phoenix Force crap), saying again NAY.
The Phoenix Force bird re-appears! Jean shouts she's done with the damn bird. (She is the audience here.) Sounds good! Get rid of the bird! But, wait--!
Cyclops appears! Jean doesn't buy it's really him and knocks him away. But, apparently it is! She reads through his memories and verifies. She learns about his irrational slide into villainy and death at the hands of Marvel Entertainment. She thinks it's kinda her fault, but he reminds her she's been dead for over a decade in real-time, but it's cool. She tells him to lift his visor. (Oh boy.) He does, and they hug it out instead of getting him crazy-murdered and/or her getting crazy-crazy. Cyclops apologizes for everything that happened to her (including their relationship - not sure if it covers the Maddie years or just the Emma stuff, but). She's also sorry. They have an "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston-type scene, telling each other they love the other, until he becomes a corpse. Huh. OK.
Jean puts his corpse on the ground and confronts the Phoenix Force. She knows the bird was fighting dirty by dragging dead Cyclops out, but she's OK with it - that conversation is kind of all she ever wanted. (OK.) She tells the bird to fuck off, and it makes the bird sad. The Force was helpful and special a long time ago, but it just keeps coming back and doesn't feel good/at all. (Phoenix Force is cocaine.) Jean then breaks up with the Phoenix Force like it's a codependent lover. Basically, "we keep trying to get things from each other that we shouldn't have, and it's shit - I don't know what your future is, but it's not with me."
The bird becomes Jean-sized and starts changing the appearance of he and the background. She's Dark Phoenix (we can be gods), she's White Phoenix of the Crown (we can be gods II?), she's in her Italian Treasure Cave in X-Factor drag (we can hide), shes in Frank Quietly's uniform ("or we can be your best self" - HEAR HEAR!), and finally old-timey Marvel Girl (we can forget any of this happened). Jean, again, says NAY. She needs to go it alone, and the bird needs to forget her.
The bird is now the size of a songbird and lands on Jean's hand, says goodbye, and vanishes. Jean kneels beside the corpse of Cyclops (confirming that it's really his corpse and not a Phoenix Force puppet), and Beast (of course it's Beast) says "welcome home, Jean" while everyone else (including Storm) stands in the background.
OML is in the diner chatting with Jean over coffee. "You look like someone I know." "No, YOU look like someone I know!" Annie tries to get rid of him, offering that he can take his coffee to go. He keeps pressing Jean to remember what's real, and when Annie interferes again, he slices her throat and Jean screams.
Outside the diner, the X-Men are hanging out, waiting. The Phoenix Force bird above the diner vanishes and it starts to rain. The giant Phoenix Egg is broken! And the rain from the outside, real world is coming in.
Back to the diner interior: Jean gawks at dead Annie while OML goes on about making her wake up/remember what's real. Annie comes back to "life", OML's claws are popped, and Jean seems to suddenly remember. "Logan" in Dark Phoenix speech bubble, before destroying the diner and flinging OML at the X-Men.
Jean emerges from the flaming pile that was the diner wearing an admittedly cool(er) Dark Phoenix costume, which is black and red. (I would say this is Jean's second-best look after her 'Here Comes Tomorrow' Dark Phoenix look.) The stunned X-Men look on; Jean says hello and remarks Tyke is weirdly younger and scared (she doesn't know about the displaced O5). Beast questions her integrity - "is THIS who you are?" - and she manages to not laugh and incinerate the idiot on the spot.
Jean screams again, this time when the Phoenix Force grows out of her. X-Men: Ready to attack! No, Kitty tells them all to stand down in a moment that may be her single finest moment as the X-Men's leader. "This is Jean's fight." Storm is not convinced - "For the moment." I find both of these POVs agreeable, so good job, Storm.
Annie comes back again to get between Jean and the X-Men and push Jean back toward the Phoenix Force. She says Jean can make the world any way she wants; Jean says NAY. Since Annie's not cutting it, Jean's parents appear and try to turn her screws. She can save everyone! Bring all your loved ones back from the dead! (Admittedly, that's a pretty good offer on the surface, since there's... just so many dead people in Jean's life at this point.) Jean's crying now, but pushed back with her mutant power (see: not Phoenix Force crap), saying again NAY.
The Phoenix Force bird re-appears! Jean shouts she's done with the damn bird. (She is the audience here.) Sounds good! Get rid of the bird! But, wait--!
Cyclops appears! Jean doesn't buy it's really him and knocks him away. But, apparently it is! She reads through his memories and verifies. She learns about his irrational slide into villainy and death at the hands of Marvel Entertainment. She thinks it's kinda her fault, but he reminds her she's been dead for over a decade in real-time, but it's cool. She tells him to lift his visor. (Oh boy.) He does, and they hug it out instead of getting him crazy-murdered and/or her getting crazy-crazy. Cyclops apologizes for everything that happened to her (including their relationship - not sure if it covers the Maddie years or just the Emma stuff, but). She's also sorry. They have an "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton/Whitney Houston-type scene, telling each other they love the other, until he becomes a corpse. Huh. OK.
Jean puts his corpse on the ground and confronts the Phoenix Force. She knows the bird was fighting dirty by dragging dead Cyclops out, but she's OK with it - that conversation is kind of all she ever wanted. (OK.) She tells the bird to fuck off, and it makes the bird sad. The Force was helpful and special a long time ago, but it just keeps coming back and doesn't feel good/at all. (Phoenix Force is cocaine.) Jean then breaks up with the Phoenix Force like it's a codependent lover. Basically, "we keep trying to get things from each other that we shouldn't have, and it's shit - I don't know what your future is, but it's not with me."
The bird becomes Jean-sized and starts changing the appearance of he and the background. She's Dark Phoenix (we can be gods), she's White Phoenix of the Crown (we can be gods II?), she's in her Italian Treasure Cave in X-Factor drag (we can hide), shes in Frank Quietly's uniform ("or we can be your best self" - HEAR HEAR!), and finally old-timey Marvel Girl (we can forget any of this happened). Jean, again, says NAY. She needs to go it alone, and the bird needs to forget her.
The bird is now the size of a songbird and lands on Jean's hand, says goodbye, and vanishes. Jean kneels beside the corpse of Cyclops (confirming that it's really his corpse and not a Phoenix Force puppet), and Beast (of course it's Beast) says "welcome home, Jean" while everyone else (including Storm) stands in the background.
I give the issue four WOOOO-WOOOO-WOOOOOOEYS!
