Giant-Size Dark Phoenix Saga Gives Jean Grey A Chance To Change Her Fate

Ok, yes, I know this is silly, and inserting Ms Marvel (through time travel, yeah?) into key points of X-history is a really lame idea,...but I don't think I can help myself. I'm gonna get these. And as much as I love Adam Kubert, I'm glad Rod Reis is drawing a cover. I much prefer when the interior artist is also the cover artist. Otherwise it feels like false advertising.

But back to Giant Size, this idea kinda reminds me of DC's Dark Universe tales...we get a glimpse of something we hadn't seen before. I for one (having just reread Dark Phoenix) have always been bothered by not seeing Jean's transformation back to Dark Phoenix on the moon. We were told what happened, but didn't see it. If these Giant Size cover things like that, I'll be a happy camper.

That said, if they undid HOM, I would be happy

On 2/19/2025 at 11:14 PM, Psychosomatic said:

Good points, but when you say ALL modern writers lack talent that can't possibly be true. I'm not going to throw out examples of who I think has talent and who doesn't, but clearly they can't all lack talent. I worked in Story Department so I watched great ideas get squashed by Producers and other Creative Executives... same could be the case in comics... there might be talented creators with interesting visions, but the person writing the check is ultimately the one dictating the direction. Funny example; during the HBO series Project Greenlight, there was a season where they were trying to find a great horror project to produce, and Matt Damon called out an Executive who was challenging Wes Craven's opinion (Damon understanding Wes was a master of horror and that his opinion was the one they should probably be listening to), but the executive stood his ground...honestly believing his own opinion matched the master. Back to your original point though, I would also rather see creators leave beloved stories alone and just create more great new ones, but when you look at comics, films, books, theater, there will always be more bad (or average) than great, and this has always been true. Think back on Blockbuster video and remember how many titles they carried that you probably never would have wanted to watch (Same goes for Netflix today, or choices at a typical comic shop). I have always said the absolute best comic characters came out in the 1960's and 1970's, and we have had less greatness with each passing decade, and I wonder if that is because it has become more BIG BUSINESS over time with more management by folks that are not creatives (which helps sometimes, and hurts other times). No doubt Marvel and DC have these great characters (properties) and it is understandable for them to want to keep telling stories with them, but I would think it would be better to create original stories (not re-hashes, or revisionist versions)... stories that take place in between some of these great stories we know and love, or if you think about real life, everyone has a time when they stop having as many adventures and the people they impacted start having their own adventures - why not tell those stories? Of course this does happen sometimes where we see heroes become mentors (and sometimes villains), but it doesn't happen nearly enough.

Yes my blanket comments about modern writers do contain a lot of hyperbole. There are some writers still an some still good things but the bad things are often terrible and they mostly overshadow anything good they've done. Is it fair to put mor emphasis on the bad stuff so much? I think yes because the bad is soooo bad and it's like they intentionally try so hard to undo anything good. It's just so frustrating that you just start to expect anything good will most likely eventually be torn down by the next person.

And yes I know writers get their direction a higher power but that's just what it is. A direction. As they are the writers they are expected to be the idea person behind the directive. And TBH I can't remember the last time there has been a really good idea. Seriously, and I'm not trying to use hyperbole. Yes they must have some level of skill involved with anyone who has a job as a writer but the comic world has become so repetitive and honestly boring I will still maintain anyone working primarily and consistently in the comic industry is more or less considered to be the Bottom of the Barrel because if they were worth any more they'd be working in a much better paying industry. It's just true that comics pay terrible these days and they'll pretty much take anyone willing to work for next to nothing to work for them. The people you end up with are basically fanboys (and girls) who want nothing more than to self insert and insert their own ideals and opinions and fantasies and the story often gets written around those criteria rather than just focusing on writing a good story and a good character. I mean this is literally about inserting a modern development into Classic history which I promise is the grand intent to make it replace that history if they can get away with it. Likely it will bomb so I don't think it will be the case. And like I said I just don't think Kamal is a big enough draw for this kind of effort. Literally it's a case of inserting her into older great stories and undoubtedly make her the main focus and to be the hero of the story in order to make the character more popular. Just let it go. They just can't seem to deal with the fact that she's never going to be an elite favorite. The comic does not sell well. The show and movies didn't do well even though the actress is adorable and super likeable. It just isn't meant to be. I feel like they are just putting too much behind this push and the outcome has yet to be a positive gain.

On 2/19/2025 at 8:29 PM, AndyL said:

What if the past can be rewritten? Is that a real question? You've rewritten it several times already. That's not a serious question. And I can answer the question. You screw it up. Every time. Not most of the time. EVERY TIME. Now I understand where you're coming from though. If anyone understands that modern writers all lack talent, ideas and creativity it is me. So it's actually no surprise to me not in the least that they keep going back that same old well when writers were good and use those great stories and arcs as a framework and then put a few new, but not necessarily good, twists on it and call it new. It's like that tattoo artist who copies Kermit the Frog straight off of official art work and throws a few hairs on his head or a cigarette in his mouth and calls it his own original work. This is just silly and ill advised. And Kamala Khan is not that popular. More popular than most of the garbage that came out of the ANAD? Sure that can be argued. But the simple fact that she made it out of that mess with her character in tact doesn't make her popular. It just means she was one of the best out of a bad batch. Include RiRi and Kate Bishop into that pile. Nobody asked for them. Nobody likes them. If they got snapped tomorrow nobody would care. Miles gets a little more traction because he's Spidey adjacent and they pushed him so hard in the animated movies. But if they bumped him out of comic rotation the blowback would be minimal. I this case the association with the X-Men gave Kamala a boost. Not the other way around. Putting her in Pivotal events in the X-Men's history is not going to boost X-Men in any way. If anything the Kamal fans will be absorbed into the millions of X-Men fans and they will then have millions and 5 fans. This is just mind bending ridiculous. Every time it looks like these guys are making an effort to get back on track we end up with stuff like this and the Children of the Atom 2.0 they just also announced.

Good points, but when you say ALL modern writers lack talent that can't possibly be true. I'm not going to throw out examples of who I think has talent and who doesn't, but clearly they can't all lack talent. I worked in Story Department so I watched great ideas get squashed by Producers and other Creative Executives... same could be the case in comics... there might be talented creators with interesting visions, but the person writing the check is ultimately the one dictating the direction. Funny example; during the HBO series Project Greenlight, there was a season where they were trying to find a great horror project to produce, and Matt Damon called out an Executive who was challenging Wes Craven's opinion (Damon understanding Wes was a master of horror and that his opinion was the one they should probably be listening to), but the executive stood his ground...honestly believing his own opinion matched the master. Back to your original point though, I would also rather see creators leave beloved stories alone and just create more great new ones, but when you look at comics, films, books, theater, there will always be more bad (or average) than great, and this has always been true. Think back on Blockbuster video and remember how many titles they carried that you probably never would have wanted to watch (Same goes for Netflix today, or choices at a typical comic shop). I have always said the absolute best comic characters came out in the 1960's and 1970's, and we have had less greatness with each passing decade, and I wonder if that is because it has become more BIG BUSINESS over time with more management by folks that are not creatives (which helps sometimes, and hurts other times). No doubt Marvel and DC have these great characters (properties) and it is understandable for them to want to keep telling stories with them, but I would think it would be better to create original stories (not re-hashes, or revisionist versions)... stories that take place in between some of these great stories we know and love, or if you think about real life, everyone has a time when they stop having as many adventures and the people they impacted start having their own adventures - why not tell those stories? Of course this does happen sometimes where we see heroes become mentors (and sometimes villains), but it doesn't happen nearly enough.

Stop messing with the past and adding Kamala into these classic stories. It's pointless!

My two cents....LEAVE IT ALONE!!

Let it stand as it does ...a classic tale.

What if the past can be rewritten? Is that a real question? You've rewritten it several times already. That's not a serious question. And I can answer the question. You screw it up. Every time. Not most of the time. EVERY TIME. Now I understand where you're coming from though. If anyone understands that modern writers all lack talent, ideas and creativity it is me. So it's actually no surprise to me not in the least that they keep going back that same old well when writers were good and use those great stories and arcs as a framework and then put a few new, but not necessarily good, twists on it and call it new. It's like that tattoo artist who copies Kermit the Frog straight off of official art work and throws a few hairs on his head or a cigarette in his mouth and calls it his own original work. This is just silly and ill advised. And Kamala Khan is not that popular. More popular than most of the garbage that came out of the ANAD? Sure that can be argued. But the simple fact that she made it out of that mess with her character in tact doesn't make her popular. It just means she was one of the best out of a bad batch. Include RiRi and Kate Bishop into that pile. Nobody asked for them. Nobody likes them. If they got snapped tomorrow nobody would care. Miles gets a little more traction because he's Spidey adjacent and they pushed him so hard in the animated movies. But if they bumped him out of comic rotation the blowback would be minimal. I this case the association with the X-Men gave Kamala a boost. Not the other way around. Putting her in Pivotal events in the X-Men's history is not going to boost X-Men in any way. If anything the Kamal fans will be absorbed into the millions of X-Men fans and they will then have millions and 5 fans. This is just mind bending ridiculous. Every time it looks like these guys are making an effort to get back on track we end up with stuff like this and the Children of the Atom 2.0 they just also announced.

Is it just me, or does that look like Cassandra Nova's hideout from the Wasteland in DP/Wolverine?

I'm conflicted. Adam Kubert drawing X-Men? Heck yeah I want to read this! Some guys I've never heard of who have a history of writing kids' shows? Maybe not...

On 2/19/2025 at 5:33 PM, Emnems80 said:

I guess X-Men Deadly Genesis wasn't enough to shatter our beloved Giant Size X-Men.

Yeah, how many more skeletons are in Xavier's closet

But... why?

Generally, I prefer it when writers respect what has come before. It's one thing to update something due to the ol' sliding timescale, or even undoing really poorly made editorial choices (Avenging Angel Punisher, for example), but taking perfectly fine past stories and then cramming them with senseless "but... what if _____ where there instead?" seems both hollow and honestly a little disrespectful to the material. But some people like continuity and some people like to tread all over it, I happen to be the former.

Giant Size is one of the first two comics I ever read though, so maybe I'm a little more protective of it then I need to be.

On 2/19/2025 at 12:33 PM, Emnems80 said:

I guess X-Men Deadly Genesis wasn't enough to shatter our beloved Giant Size X-Men.

Yeah, didn't love it when they did that, don't particularly love it that they're doing this.