What if you’re not the hero of your own story? What if whatever you try, you only manage to make things worse?
What if you’re Jean Grey, dead again and wondering what you did to make that happen?
As it happens, you probably did nothing. The former Marvel Girl’s latest run-in with the Grim Reaper is down to the mutant-hating Orchis organisation, but as she finds herself somehow conscious, she’s forgotten.
Looking back over her past, she alights on a pinch point. The moment she, Scott, Hank, Bobby and Warren returned from a trip to their future, and she wiped their minds so knowledge of what was coming wouldn’t throw events off course. Somehow, she’s interacting with her past self, and she decides to nudge junior Jean.
The memories stay. The costumes change, as the kids go back to the classic early years look, telling Professor X nothing of their future adventures. Jean, though, let’s him know that the mental block he placed on her as a young girl is gone – it’s time to embrace her telepathic mojo.
Which she does when they run into Magneto. And how.
Jean shuts Magneto down. Charles Xavier is not pleased.
Soon Jean is leading her X-Men through a radical plan to improve the future, using her knowledge of which kids have the X-gene to find them even before they tickle those brand spanking new Cerebro helmets. The big threat she sees is Sentinel creator Bolivar Trask, but every day her actions are stoking his fear and hatred more… and her growing power and arrogance attract the attention of, well, I’m sure you can guess.
I loved this. The mechanics of it all elude me – how does history being rewritten before our eyes fit in with the many lives of Moira X? Was a side-world to the regular Marvel Universe created the instant Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman and Angel decided to keep their memories of what lay ahead?
No idea. And given how many alternate worlds the X-Men have lived through, how many times Jean has died and been resurrected, why worry? We just go with it or we don’t, and given this is written by the great Louise Simonson – whose run as X-Men editor began with the legendary Uncanny X-Men #137 – I’m on board. This comic is compelling from first to last.
(And we can at least accept Dead Jean contacting her past self as doable on the basis that Kate Pryde did the same thing in the classics Days of Future Past storyline. Although here it seems to be a case of tagging and nudging rather than staying awhile.)
It’s fascinating watching Jean take herself down a dark path – no need for mental manipulation by Mastermind here. And it’s equally fun to see how the other characters react. Also, we get to see characters the original X-Men never met back in the day.
Partnering Simonson is Bernard Chang, fresh from his stint on DC’s sinfully underrated Monkey Prince series, and he looks thoroughly at home. I mean, is this not a classic Danger Room scene?
Chang’s storytelling chops are on show in terms of action and emotion, and I do hope he’s been signed for every instalment of this ambitious tale.
Colouring Chang is fellow Monkey Prince alumni Marcelo Maiolo, and I’m glad this partnership continues – Maiolo is a talented colour artist who knows how to make the best of Chang’s visuals.
The only thing I don’t like is the costumes the X-Men adopt after leaving the X-Mansion… wraparound bandage affairs that make them look like X-Mummies.
I am jealous of how quickly Jean Grey can grow her hair, she makes like a mutant Medusa this issue, reverting to long Sixties locks from her short, modern crop in apparent instants.
Ariana Maher – another DC name – handles the lettering, and does a terrific job.
Back in the day I was a big fan of Amy Reeder’s Supergirl covers, but this headshot just doesn’t work for me, it’s slightly too stylised… the hair/eyebrow thing is especially odd. The style reminds me a little of DC Sixties Romance artist (and Seventies colourist) Liz Berube’s work, but harsher. I do like the Romance-style logo, it’s very trendy-Seventies.
I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard the Fall of X minis are five issues, so that’s likely how long this story is going on for. I’ll certainly be back next time to see how Simonson, Chang and friends follow this classy, intriguing opening. Surely fellow telepath Emma Frost will pick up on Jean’s shenanigans…
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
Went to my store on Tuesday and Marvel is only available on Wednesdays. So I called and had them add this to my file based on this.
I should have known it would be good given the creators. Louise Simonson and Bernard Chang – two faves.
And I have always had a soft spot for Jean!
Who hasn’t looked back at their life and said ‘what would have happened if I had done this?’ … the older I get the more I wonder.
Thanks for top review!
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You and your redheads! Mind, they do look good on the page. Almost as good as people with white streaks.
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I sometimes think the mistake with “the changing your choices will create a worse outcome trope”, is the assumption of binary outcomes. What if the choice is neither better nor worse, just different? A different dramatic tension would happen in the story telling – the dystopian outcome disappears. Instead, of darkness, the characters face different outcomes, from different choices, some will be others will be bad, while others will be good.
In real life, time is a bit of a con artist, giving you something with one hand, while picking your pocket with the other. Each choice produces a mixture of good and bad consequences, something gained, something lost. Of course, a narrative structure such as that will not send the same kind of message/lesson/warning. Rather than only one path being the right one, there are many paths that are just as good, each with its own mixture of gifts and loss. Two roads diverged in the woods, both worn about the same, yet that makes all the difference.
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You’re right, of course. It could be interesting to see someone go through all the motions of changing the past and finding they just got a differently unsatisfying conclusion.
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If you remember it wasn’t Jean dying on the moon and discount stories and discount story arcs where Jean is alive at the end, I reckon Jean died only once before the Krakoan Age. I’m not even sure the Resurrection Protocol rebirths should be added to the count, since Qwire and Wolverine alone outdo her. Plus, if we count being alive again at story/story arc’s end, how many other heroes would have a count higher than hers?
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I admit to tending to forget the X-Factor retcon re:Jean’s death because it was ruddy awful!
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