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andythesaint May 30 2006, 07:48:01 UTC
There is an excellent trade that collects the Dark Phoenix story of Claremont and Byrne. That would be the best place to start (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785122133/sr=8-1/qid=1148973198/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3066420-9765765?%5Fencoding=UTF8). It starts before Jean Grey goes all Dark Phoenix and carries through the story to the end. I'm not really sure about other trades, as I have other reprint issues covering every issue of Jean Grey as the Phoenix.

In the comics, Jean Grey AKA Marvel Girl becomes the Phoenix in Uncanny X-Men issue 101. She hangs around for a few issues as Xavier tries to figure out what's going on til 105, then shows glimpses of her new power levels throughout a space adventure with the Sh'iar and Starjammers in issues 105, 107-108. The X-Men have a few more battles, then in a huge battle with Magneto, Phoenix and Beast are separated from the rest of the team in Antarctica under a volcano, each believing the other group dead (112-114). She then becomes a background story, as it is believed that there are no more X-Men, and this is where the seeds are laid for her corruption into Dark Phoenix. Grey is reunited with the others around 125, kicking off the Proteus Saga from 126-128, showing off Phoenix's frightening new power levels and leading into the Dark Phoenix saga as featured in the trade.

Getting all these issues would be very difficult, and incredibly expensive. There are reprints of these issues out there in the form of Classic X-Men, that were printed in the 80s (these are the issues I have), that should be affordable and available. They start with issue 9 continuing til issue 33. That's the best alternate to TPBs on the books I can think of (they can be bought here: http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=list&title=17292128602&publisher=MV&snumber=21). That breaks down every issue that Jean Grey as Phoenix appears in, until they resurrected Jean Grey later (which is reprinted in the Phoenix Rising TPB).

The cartoon was pretty faithful to the original comics, even copying some of the art. Characters had to be switched at times, but otherwise, it was pretty good.

Probably more info than you were looking for, but... I did say I was a huge X-Men geek.

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mm511 May 30 2006, 09:27:41 UTC
Hmm... I actually just rewatched the cartoon. It's good, but not as good as I remember it from when it first came out back in the 90s. Damn Memory and her incessant urge to make things better than they actually were!

It's not more info at all. When I get into something, I get into it REAL deep, so this is great. Let me make sure I get what you're saying.

If I wanted to read all the comics, starting from when Jean Grey first becomes Phoenix through the Dark "I'm crazy" Phoenix stuff, I'd have to read these alleged CLASSIC X-MEN comics, issues 9 through 33, and then the TPB ditty about the Dark Phoenix that's the first item you linked.

And what's this Phoenix Rising and Phoenix: Endsong stuff?

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andythesaint May 30 2006, 09:31:15 UTC
Yes, CXM 9-33 (a couple may not have a Phoenix appearence, but most will), then the Dark Phoenix TPB. Phoenix Rising is years later, after Grey had been dead. It follows her resurrection, with the explanation given of the Phoenix Force and stuff. Phoenix: Endsong came out last year, and doesn't really mean much at all.

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mm511 May 30 2006, 09:43:08 UTC
Does anything happen re Grey-as-Phoenix in between the end of the Dark Phoenix TPB and the Phoenix Rising (which may or may not be available from amazon)?

And have you ordered from this Mile High website? It's legit?

And if I were to read the Dark Phoenix TPB without having read the CXM 9-33, would I be totally and utterly lost?

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andythesaint May 30 2006, 09:56:48 UTC
Not Grey-as-Phoenix, but after her death, Scott Summers met and married Madeline Pryor, a redhead that bore an uncanny resemblance to Jean Grey, making some believe that she was the Phoenix reborn. This was dealt with in Uncanny X-Men 168-176 (X-Men Classic 72-79) and the From the Ashes TPB (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0871356155/sr=8-1/qid=1148982639/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3066420-9765765?%5Fencoding=UTF8). Other than that, there are no appearences of Jean Grey between the end of the Dark Phoenix Saga and the Phoenix Rising stories, as she was dead. Very dead.

The Phoenix Rising trade is available from amazon, I believe they offer a deal if you buy it with Dark Phoenix.

I've used Mile High. They're the best comics site on the web and offer deals all the time. They say that they ship within a couple of days, but I had to wait longer because I'm in Canada. In the US, you should be fine.

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mbright220 May 30 2006, 15:00:07 UTC
Just as an FYI, I would use mycomicshop.com as they are much better than the over proced Mile High Comics (IMO).

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theskooch May 30 2006, 18:53:20 UTC
Hey, you still exist!

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mbright220 May 31 2006, 14:43:54 UTC
Yeah I'm still around lurking :)

Work and buying a new home has cut into my free time significantly. I hate being mature.

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theskooch May 31 2006, 16:20:01 UTC
Sounds pretty lame dude. Good to know you're still around though.

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mm511 June 3 2006, 02:29:54 UTC
Stupid question.

The original Uncanny X-Men, the stuff that deals with Phoenix and all that jazz, were they in black and white or color?

Because I got the Dark Phoenix TPB, and it's in color, but at the back, there are copies of "original artwork," and it's in black and white. And there are TPB called Essential X-Men or something like that, and they're in black and white...

... so, which is it? :-)

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andythesaint June 3 2006, 02:36:45 UTC
They were in colour. The original artwork would be the John Byrne sketches before the inkers and colourist got in there (if I were really a crazy fan, I'd know who those are). The Essential X-Men series, along with all the Essential series, were printed in black and white to make them more affordable, and thus, aren't worth your time.

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mm511 June 3 2006, 02:44:34 UTC
Psh. I don't do black and white. I'm attracted to things that sparkle. Color is a must. Heh.

However, these alleged Marvel Masterpiece editions seem to be in color...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785111921/ref=sr_11_1/104-5167072-1225512?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Also, what on Earth are these?:

http://www.mycomicshop.com/megastore/search?pcat=Comics%2DAll&til=11123

http://www.mycomicshop.com/megastore/search?pcat=Comics%2DAll&til=24746

I'm sorry to keep pestering... I just know nobody else who likes this stuff and knows as much as you, and trying to do online searches for things like "X-men phoenix" or "where do I begin reading comics?" isn't very lucrative...

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mm511 June 3 2006, 02:48:25 UTC
To answer my own question, a bit, it seems as if the first link is a story about Jean Grey's alternate-universe child, Rachel Summers, who gets (apparently) possessed by the alleged Phoenix Force, and the second link appears to be a porn masquerading under the title X-Men: Phoenix so all the stupid freaks who know nothing about anything will buy it, thinking they're getting Jean Grey, and instead are simply getting a bunch of naked women. Ew.

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andythesaint June 3 2006, 03:38:28 UTC
No worries about the inquiries, it's nice to put my wasted youth to good use.

To answer your questions, the Marvel Masterworks series are in colour, but that particular edition covers Giant Size X-Men #1 (the first appearance of the All-New, All-Different X-Men of Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, Thunderbird, and Sunfire) to Uncanny X-Men 100, which you'll note is all pre-Phoenix stuff. In fact, most of it only includes Jean Grey (AKA Marvel Girl) as a supporting character, as she left the X-Men when the new members came (then was captured by Sentinels after a date with Cyclops, leading to her becoming the Phoenix in issue 101). They are all great reads, but not Phoenix-centric.

The first Phoenix mini does indeed deal with Rachel Summers, the child of Jean and Scott from an alternate dimension. She has her own Phoenix Force, given to her genetically from her mother. The series deals with her adventures in a different timeline as Mother Askani (there's a really complicated explanation for all of that, one that involves the almost-impossible-to-follow Summers family tree. It's so convoluted that even the comics themselves would poke fun of it). I think I have this mini-series, but can't really remember it. In any case, it's decades after the Dark Phoenix saga, and doesn't involve the Jean Grey incarnation at all, and is so non-essential that it doesn't deserve mentioning.

And, yes, I assume the other one is all porny and stuff, published in 2003 under Marvel's MAX line.

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mm511 June 3 2006, 06:35:16 UTC
Well, I'm actually trying to get back into comics, and I'm trying to find out where to start. It's rather daunting; there's so much crap out there! And back when I was a kid and had over three thousand comics, I only read one series (Image's WildC.A.T.S.) and I'd read a comic here and there from the other series, but nothing long-winded. Really, for me at least, the X-men exist as cartoon characters, not comic ones, and I'm trying to remedy that, so I figure the start of the "new" X-men may be a good place to start? Of course, I could also pick up the second volume of the Masterpiece series, which would have the Phoenix as Jean stuff, I think...

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andythesaint June 3 2006, 06:42:03 UTC
Nope, volume two goes backwords to the original Stan Lee X-Men (as does volume three) of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, and Angel. Volume four does issues 122-131 (bring you a few issues into the trade you've already picked up), then five does the Dark Phoenix stuff.

One plus to the Classic X-Men (besides the fact that as reprints, they never really appreciated in value), is that for the first 40 issues or so, they had two stories in each issue. The first half would be the reprinted original story, and the second half was a new story written at the time of printing (80s), but set in the era of the first story (70s). These stories are mostly non-canonical, but still fun.

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