“It’s Coming.” As the graphic says, something major is coming back to the Marvel universe and if you look real close behind the words, I bet you can tell what it is. The Phoenix Force has long since been one of the major powers in the Marvel Universe ever since it’s introduction through Jean Grey? in X-Men ages ago. Yet with Jean’s death (and rebirth, and death, and rebirth, and finally death again) the Phoenix seemed to have gone away for the most part. But with this new teaser, it seems that it’s going to return.

The big question: does that mean Jean Grey will be returning or will the Phoenix be taking on another host? There have already been teasers that Hope, the so-called mutant messiah, has a piece of something in her that looks vaguely Phoenix-like — enough to scare the hell out of Emma Frost?! And she should be scared, because if it’s Jean come back… well, we know that Cyclops always preferred his foxy red-headed and Hope’s not Emma’s biggest fan.

Marvel didn’t add any insight to the teaser at the show, but it does look like Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Olivier Coipel, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, Adam Kubert and John Romita Jr. are all involved.

While the publisher has yet to release the teaser image shown to fans at the convention, Marvel did send out the above “It’s coming…” postcard to comics stores and media outlets earlier this month. It’s unknown whether the Phoenix will once again take the form of X-Woman Jean Grey or another character, but the panel confirmed that the story will begin in Point One. A 64-page one-shot designed to set the stage for Marvel’s various 2012 events, Point One goes on sale November 11 and is written by Jeph Loeb, Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, Fred Van Lente, Chris Yost and David Lapham, among others, and drawn by Ed McGuinness, Bryan Hitch, Terry Dodson, Salvador Larroca, Ryan Stegman, Javier Pulido, Roberto De La Torreand more.

Thanks to http://www.ology.com/shoshana-kessock

FemaleNetwork.com has published a Top 20 Comic Book Heroines We Love list and included Marvel’s favorite red head at #5. While the ranking is a little low in our opinion we can appreciate the other gals on the list. Wonder Woman was ranked #1, in case you were interested.

Thanks to Mir Hite for this find.

I’ve been a big fan of Jean Grey and the X-Men for as long as I can remember. And I’m also a big fan of anime and Japanese culture. When I heard that Japanese figure making company ‘Kotobukiya’ was making a line that they called Marvel Bishoujo, I was really excited! They started off with Rogue, Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch… now, they’ve added not only Psylocke to their repertoire, but…

Jean Grey as the Phoenix! You can see more images and order from here.

And also as the Dark Phoenix! You can see more here and even pre-order.

They’re not Bowen Designs figures, but they’re definitely Jean, and they capture her rather nicely in both figures. The links that I provided have not only pictures, but you can also put in pre-orders for both versions–I definitely did!

Hope you enjoy these links!

-Mir

What if? Astonishing X-men #1 deals with the possibility of Jean’s return to the X-men at the hands of Ord of Breakworld.

Astonishing X-men began in 2004 nearly immediately after Jean’s death in New X-men. It was written by Joss Whedon and penciled by John Cassaday. Whedon gave the readers “subtle” hints that Jean Grey would be making her return early on the series but instead of going with the this idea, he decided it was time to resurrect Colossus who had died at the start of the new millennium.

What if? Astonishing X-men #1 is written by Jim McCann (New Avengers: The Reunion) and pencilled by David Yardin (X-men Origins: Gambit). The story basically deals with the return of Jean Grey and how her friends and ex- husband deal with her return. Emma Frost, (naturally enough) is less than thrilled at Jean’s return and basically wants her out of the mansion. Jean herself gets a piece of action at the start, defeating Ord with her mental abilities and it appears that she also no longer possesses the infinite powers of the Phoenix Force. The X-men even have a “Welcome Back Jean” party which everyone will probably laugh at. She even has a slightly redesigned costume, with the black neck of her Phoenix costume stretching across the shoulders.

What if? Astonishing X-men #1 will be in your local comic book shop around the 23rd of December and will make a perfect stocking filler for any Jean Grey fan this Christmas!

Link to the preview for images.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=4111&disp=table

In February 2004 Jean Grey perished at the hands of Xorn, a man who looked like and had the same powers as Magneto, the Master of Magnetism.

In June 2005 Jean Grey was resurrected in a story called Phoenix Endsong which saw her being resurrected by the Phoenix Force once more. The Phoenix Force used Jean to take on a life of its own and buried Jean within the ice in the North Pole. The malevolent entity possessed Emma Frost and attacked the X-men. Suddenly Jean Grey rose from her icy grave and her and the Phoenix became one. She became the White Phoenix of the Crown and went to the White Hot Room to collect the missing pieces of the Phoenix Force.

Since then it looks like 2010 will be the year of the Phoenix. In 2009 Rachel Grey lost her connection to the Echo of the Phoenix Force (a less powerful form of the Phoenix Force) and muttered the words, “please…not now…mom”.

On the island of Utopia the Stepford Cuckoos lost the fragments of the Phoenix Force which they had imprisoned in their diamond hearts during the Phoenix Warsong event. They are currently in a coma.

These two events suggest that Jean Grey is calling back all the fragments of the Phoenix Force in preparation for her next resurrection.

Emma Frost recently encountered a woman who resembled Jean Grey in her mind when she was attacked by Regan Wyngarde a.k.a. Lady Mastermind of the Sisterhood of Mutants. The woman freed Emma from Wyngarde’s psychic trap and disappeared.

Since the events of the Messiah Complex a girl with red hair and green eyes was born and was named the Mutant Messiah. She was taken to the future by her adoptive father Cable and is now a teenager who bares an uncanny resemblance to Jean Grey. The so called Mutant Messiah has also displayed twin phoenix raptors in her eyes.

All this evidence points to Jean Grey’s resurrection and with Second Coming (the return of the Mutant Messiah to the present) arriving in March, you have to admit that this title may be more than meets the eyes.

Conor McKenna

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is based around the story of the Civil War comics event that took place in 2006-2007. The game itself is similar to its predecessor with the added feature of a new attack known as a fusion, which sees two heroes combining their powers to defeat an opposing enemy or threat to them.

In July 2009 Jean Grey fans were happy to hear that she was indeed playable in this installation of the series. The game developers said in an interview that they had always planned to include Jean in the game and that she was one of the characters who was favoured by a lot of the game developers.

In the game Jean possesses both her telepathic and telekinetic powers and even has access to some Phoenix powers such as resurrection. Her default outfit in the game is her Phoenix outfit and her alternate outfit is her X-men First Class costume. She is unlocked by collecting five pieces of the M’Krann Crystal throughout the course of the game. She has special conversations with her son, Cable and the Young Avenger, Patriot. In the game Jean is listed as being a crowd control character.

Overall Jean Grey really lives up to her name in this game and she is a valuable asset to any team in the game. Her telepathic and telekinetic powers are very powerful and her Phoenix powers are kept at a certain level, so fans can experience her as a superhero rather than a goddess. She has excellent fusions with other characters such as Cyclops (only playable on the PS2 and Wii platforms) and Storm. Jean Grey is really all the fans expected and more in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

Conor McKenna

This is a great cover featuring Jean Grey as Marvel Girl. Just gorgeous…the cover, I mean.

X-Men Origins: Jean Grey #1

This review from Comixology, click here for the full review.

…expanding on her established background from a black-and-white story in Bizarre Adventures #27 that most current readers probably don’t even know exists. McKeever sticks to telling the story of Jean’s traumatic telepathic awakening, adding just a little extra to what we knew to provide a sense of resolution.

But the real reason to get this issue is the artwork. Mayhew’s cover is nice, but his interior artwork is also painted and is superior throughout. Not only does everything look wonderful, but his storytelling skills are more than up to the challenge of showing us all the things here that happen in Jean’s head without major action scenes to drive them.

This review is from Comics Bulletin, click here for the full review.

McKeever and Mayhew have two main challenges in this story: to capture a teenage Jean Grey who is recognizably different from the adult warrior who fought so valiantly in the X-Men, and to make an oft-told story fresh again. They succeed admirably on both counts. Mayhew brings a compelling realism (which is still a far cry from anything resembling photo-realism) to the initial introduction of Professor Xavier to the Grey family (who are both wary and desperate concerning the condition of their traumatized daughter after the shocking initial manifestation of her powers).
Mayhew comes up with many masterful views into Jean’s private turmoil, in a delicate and straightforward watercolor style that foregoes heavy inks but still manages a full range of value. Jean’s red hair unites page after page, as do her signature green eyes.

The scenes where Xavier discusses his plans with Jean’s parents recall the scenes with Angel’s parents from X-Men #2. Professor Grey’s affiliation with Bard College is recalled, and throughout he and Mrs. Grey are every inch the concerned, caring, worried parents, good people who obviously contributed to Jean the basis for a stable and nurturing core personality.

And it’s here in this story in a crucial scene where Jean plays hooky from Xavier’s first Academy and ends up embroiled in another car accident in Westchester Center, where she uses her considerable telekinetic gifts to save the day.  Jean looks like Jean throughout, and in this nuanced and detailed exploration of her psyche in her early adolescence, McKeever too has painted a fascinating portrait of one of Marvel’s major mutant stars in her formative years.

Scott Kurtz from the critically acclaimed webomic PVP has brought Jean Grey back, in a fashion. In the lastest storyline dealing with a genius cat bent on world domination vs a determined Santa Claus, Scott has created the Jingle Force Five, lead by Professor X-mas. The whole team bears a close resemblance to the original X-men. We get a peak at Mistletoe, who is a ringer for Marvel Girl. Thanks, Scott for bringing Jean back, if only in a parody. Nicely done as always. Be sure to read the entire storyline which also introduces Kringernaut, a parody of Juggernaut.

I have placed a copy of the first comic, but visit PVP to read from the beginning of this storyline.

The Sideshow collectables team has just given every reason to make Jean Grey fans rise from the ashes of despair. Coming the first quarter of 2009, a beautiful 13-inch Jean Grey statue decked out in her ‘90s outfit. That’s right I said “‘90s outfit.”

From Sideshow’s official site:
“Sideshow Collectibles is proud to present the outstanding Marvel statues and busts created by Bowen Designs. These high-quality polystone, detailed collectibles feature your favorite Marvel characters as they appear in a wide range of comics.

The Jean Grey Statue stands over 13-inches high. This intricately sculpted statue is cast in high-quality polystone, a great addition to any Marvel collection!”

In the past, our favorite fiery red head has been known to wear a variety of costumes. However, only the ‘90s outfit created by Jim Lee has held such a strong hallmark in the heart of Jean fans due to her heavy exposure in the X-men Animated Series or aka the Golden era of Jean Grey-Summers.

Fans would note that Jean in her ‘90s outfit is a rare commodity. Most statues and busts done in Jean’s likeness have solely been in her vintage outfits, dark or green Phoenix uniforms, or alternatives such as the New X-men suite or Black Queen costume. This statue marks the début of Jean in her ‘90s outfit and if you can’t stop staring at it, there must be something wrong with you!

My original thought when I saw this statue was YES! Sideshow gets the character of Jean—they understand who she actually is and aren’t trying to impose an image on her like they did with their Emma Frost statue last year (whose face looked so realistic it was almost generic).

You’ll note that Sideshows has released a variety of other X-characters in their previous line, most notably their X-men vs. Sentinel Diorama which consisted of the Astonishing X-men battling sentinels. Although the price tag was a bit high (with each statue being roughly around 300s), Sideshow was able to capture the essence of the X-men.  My only complaint is that I would preferred a fiery telekensis energy instead of pink energy. But beggars can’t be choosers, and I’ve already pre-ordered mine and so should you.
To purchase this lovely statue, click here.

While I certainly agree Jean Grey should be on this list I am disappointed in a #3 ranking. Hop on over to Hot Females in Spandex to read the entire list.

Jean Grey: Quantum Physics in Leather. Movies: X-Men series. Actress: Famke Janssen

Jean Grey is limitless power and as much as I telekinesis the saint aspect of her personality is not that compelling. However when the Phoenix came into the game and suddenly Jean Grey was all red and pyrokinetic, I was ecstatic, because Jean killed around five billion people in the comic book, while in the movie she turned schizophrenic and joined Magneto. I fancy heroes turning villains and thanks to the CGI team Famke aced the transformation and did unspeakable things. For this third place is secured for her. The red leather outfit couldn’t replace the missing flames in the movies, but gave the much needed villain aura.