X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga
Year: 1980
Author: Chris Claremont
Length: 200 pages
It’s interesting how many comic book fans cite the Dark Phoenix Saga from the X-Men series as such a good plot when it’s been so difficult to adapt in other media. Having now read this set of comics from the 1960s, I get the feeling that part of the reason is that the ‘90s animated show was the only one to truly get the aesthetic feel right, and that’s the one part that I definitely would cut out from any adaptation because of how cringey it is. There were definitely some choices made here that don’t translate well to modern times.
The core of my problem with this saga is how Jean Grey fused with this all-powerful interstellar being, and yet was so easily tricked with psychic mind illusions that caused her to go down the path of villainy. This is on top of the fact that the whole subterfuge is set in the 1800s, so the characters are all drawn in period-appropriate clothing and settings that just clashes so much with everything else that is going on in the series. And that’s coming from a franchise that quickly dove into outer space politics with aliens.
Sure, I can appreciate the appeal of creating a super-powerful villain from one of the heroes to provide the drama of her former colleagues trying to stop her without harming her. But there is far too much time spent with Lady Grey and not nearly enough in the conclusion that should have been a bigger part of the story considering the existential threat Phoenix has on the entire universe. In the end, I understand why this was popular, but it just hasn’t aged well in my opinion.
A well-known X-Men storyline that makes some curious aesthetic choices, I give X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga 3.0 stars out of 5.
