Uncanny X-Men #135

[history79]

Comments

[crinos]

Wow.

Hey um Surfer, maybe you could have made more of an effort to head off Dark Phoenix before she destroyed that planet and those Shi'ar bros. Maybe you could have saved us all a heap of trouble.

[mr_cyn1cal]

At the time, Surfer was probably stuck on Earth not being able to go beyond the edge of the atmosphere. So he probably didn't get enough time to get to her before she made it off planet and beyond his reach.

[halloweenjack]

Yep. It would be some years before he could get past the barrier--IIRC, it was in a special that Byrne did. Plus, there's a good chance that Jean could have beaten him in Dark Phoenix mode; the Surfer's power level really isn't on a star-eating level.

[burkeonthesly]

I thought Surfer got through the barrier in the first issue of his third volume. I could be wrong.

[bruinsfan]

He was definitely restricted to Earth at the time this story came out.

[bruinsfan]

We've seen the Phoenix in Rachel's body come out the better of a fight with Galactus. I don't think the Surfer would have had a prayer in a fight, though there's a chance he might have been able to talk her down if he'd caught her.

[scorntx]

Hmm.
As I recall, Claremont wanted Jean to just end this storyline with naut more than a psychic lobotomy, until a certain someone said that after blowing up an entire planet of innocent broccoli people, there was no chance of that happening and that she had to die.
Which... ignoring later retcons, this is supposed to be Jean here. Not some cosmic force impersonating her, but the Jean.
So maybe if Claremont had been meaning to portray it as Jean being consumed by power, rather than deliberately doing this, and killing all those innocent broccolis, while still sane enough to have perfectly coherent trains of thought... he should've left out the damn thought bubbles.
(Though frankly, the "lobotomy" story sounds suspect as is...)

Side note: Anyone here ever watch the 90s X-Men cartoon, where this bit happens and the Shi'ar are all "Man, this place is so boring, there's NO LIFE HERE WHATSOEVER! So if anyone, like a giant firebird, decided to eat a sun, NO-ONE WOULD BE KILLED. Oh hey, a giant firebird just ate a star, BUT SHE DIDN'T KILL ANYONE!"

[starwolf_oakley]

True about the 1990a cartoon. I think it said the D'Bari had left their system years ago for reasons.

[crinos]

Well yeah, but in that one they had the Phoenix revive Jean in the end (With all the X-men giving up some of their own life, plus that cheesy as fuck image of Jean imagining her friends as a big Tree helping her resist Dark Phoenix).

But I'm fine with that.

[obsidianwolf]

Yeah that was the original ending planned for Jean to be knocked out before she could regain the power of phoenix and then given a psychic lobotomy by Lilandra's people because they decided killing her might undo her healing of the M'kraan Crystal.

IIRC Jean's plotline was supposed to then be dealing with the guilt of what she did while out of control and the "ghost" of dark phoenix in her head. That may or may not have been real or just a manifestation brought on by guilt.

They did two what ifs based on it. One in volume one that ended with Phoenix eventually loosing all control and eating the universe and one in volume two post not really Jean retcon that was your standard two parter what if scenario where everything goes to hell and that did slightly end on a hopeful bittersweet note as Phoenix helped stop the days of future's past time line in its infancy by ending the Sentinel threat but had to give up her human form forever to avoid becoming dark phoenix again.

[cainofdreaming]

And you too can get away with solarcide if you just don't eat your broccoli.

[halloweenjack]

until a certain someone said

You can say "Jim Shooter", you know; he's not Voldemort, although he gave it his best try.

[bj_l]

Especially since it's likely to get misattributed to PAD around these parts if you don't use a name.

[scorntx]

I though PAD was Voldemort?

Does that make Shooter Rita Skeeter? Or does it make him Fudge?

[rfmcdonald]

The signalling was pretty huge, yes. "Billions of people could have died!"

[balbanes]

Why would Phoenix even bother to dodge a plasma bolt? She was just inside a giant ball of plasma, and it didn't appear to bother her at all. For that matter, why did the ship attack her with energy?

On a less nit-picky note, the Claremont-isms aren't bothering me as much in these scans. The overdrama seems appropriate given the stakes. As opposed to, say, Claremont describing Kitty's dance practice.

[cainofdreaming]

Plasma isn't really energy, just the fourth state of matter, but, yes, that's still very unsound strategy for the Shi'ar.

[halloweenjack]

One of the little details that I like here is that Byrne updated the look of the Shi'Arfleet vessel; Dave Cockrum's original version (from the M'Krann Crystal story) was obviously based on the TOS-era Enterprise, and there's something about the uniforms here that remind me a bit of The Motion Picture. (Also, K/S shippers note, the captain and science officer are holding hands when Jean makes her final run at the ship.)

[bruinsfan]

Although they departed from the standard insectoid outer appearance theme of Shi'ar vessels for this one.

I loved that earlier Claremont/Cockrum story for perhaps the best common sense ever exhibited by an alien race. After the captain asked for the rundown on that backward Earth planet and the crew member responded with the fact that it had fought off Galactus five times in recent years, everyone flipped out, went to DEFCON MINUS ELEVENTY and fled the solar system under cloak.

[bradygirl_12]

One of the little details that I like here is that Byrne updated the look of the Shi'Arfleet vessel; Dave Cockrum's original version (from the M'Krann Crystal story) was obviously based on the TOS-era Enterprise, and there's something about the uniforms here that remind me a bit of The Motion Picture. (Also, K/S shippers note, the captain and science officer are holding hands when Jean makes her final run at the ship.)

I like the ST similarities, and the Captain/Science Officer hand-holding is an especially nice touch.

[minervasolo]

"What meaning do they have for Dr Strange?"
Fuck all, mate. It's not all about you, you know.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Those aliens look like they're from the planet S'euss.