I found this very interesting post from http://manknee3.wordpress.com. They posted a custom action figure of Jean Grey in one of her X-Factor costumes. Not one of Jean’s best costumes to be sure but still great if you are collecting her many wardrobes. As with other custom action figures, Jean as been pieced together using part from other female action figures such as Storm and the Invisible Woman. What do you think?

Here is the post:

A lot of first in this custom. My very first heroine custom project. Also, my first crack on sculpting. Though minimal sculpting, I still enjoyed it. This is also my first attempt to paint the eyes. Haven’t still get the hang of it. Still needs a lot of practice.

A look at the relationship between Scott Summers and Jean Grey:

From the moment they were both placed on the X-men, Scott Summers and Jean Grey immediately fell in love with each other. Their romance was slow to start due to Scott believing he could never have a relationship with Jean due to his powers and Jean believing that Scott was too busy with leading the X-men to be with her. However the two were soon drawn to each other and after they shared their first kiss they would become one of Marvels premier couples.

As Cyclops and Marvel Girl the two did leave the X-men for a brief time after they believed Xavier to be dead. Scott pursued a career in radio presenting while Jean decided to become a swimsuit model. The two did eventually return to the fold and continued their relationship, much to the delight of the readers at the time.

When the second genesis of the X-men were formed Jean and the other old team members decided to leave to pursue normal lives for a while. Jean was saddened when Scott decided to stay and lead the X-men and for a while it looked like their relationship might have ended. Jean gradually became more involved with the X-men once more and after her transformation into the Phoenix she decided to become a full time member. On one mission when the team faced Magneto Jean and Scott believed each other to be dead but despite their strong love for each other Scott revealed to Storm that he didn’t feel any emotion concerning the supposed death of his lover.

Scott and Jean were reunited and their relationship started to develop more with Jean establishing a psychic link between them. When Jean became the Black Queen, Scott was determined to free her from Mastermind’s control even going as far to try and defeat him on the Astral Plane. Jean soon snapped out of Masterminds control but his tampering soon led her to turn into the Dark Phoenix.

Jean Grey’s personality slipped into dormancy and the Phoenix took full control of her. The Dark Phoenix battled the X-men and defeated them. She then travelled into space and devoured an entire planet before returning to earth again where Professor Xavier discovered the psychic barriers placed in her mind had been destroyed by Masterminds doing. He replaced them and Jean appeared to be back to normal and without the power of the Phoenix. Scott held her in his arms and proposed to her. She accepted but before the couple had the time to celebrate they were teleported to Shi’ar space where Jean was to be executed for her gruesome deeds as the Dark Phoenix.

Jean took on the mantle of Marvel Girl once more and the X-men were teleported to the moon where they faced off against the galactic warriors, The Imperial Guard. The Guard quickly took out all the members of the X-men except for Scott and Jean who were confessing their love for each other and saying goodbye if the worst came to the worst and Jean was to be executed. The two star struck lovers gave it all against the Guard but when all appeared to be lost Jean transformed into the Phoenix again! Realising that she had to be stopped the X-men tried to defeat her. Jean herself too realised that she had to be stopped and before exchanging a sorrowful goodbye to Scott she committed suicide on the moon.

However death was not enough to defeat Jean Grey and years later she awoke from a cocoon placed at the bottom of Jamaica Bay. Scott and Jean were reunited but this time it appeared that Jean and the Phoenix had always been two separate entities with the Phoenix stealing Jeans identity and life within the X-men for many months. Scott at the time was married to Jean Grey’s clone Madelyne Pryor and decided to keep this secret from Jean as she had lost her telepathic powers after her return. Jean eventually put the pieces together and discovered the secret for herself.

Hurt, Jean believed Scott had taken advantage of the situation and it looked like there was no chance of the couple getting back together. After X-factor defeated Apocalypse and used his base as their own Scott and Jean made love to each other for the first time since Jeans rise from the depths. The two decided to reunite and overcame many challenges to their relationship like Madelyne Pryor who had since made a deal with the demon N’astirh becoming the malicious Goblin Queen. Madelyne Pryor at the time was also revealed to be Jean Grey’s biological clone and this created some problems for herself and Scott. Madelyne’s agenda was to sacrifice her son and other babies so she could open a gateway from Limbo into Earth and she and her demonic forces could rule the world. Madelyne and her servants were defeated and Scotts child was saved in the process. Jean and Scott looked after baby Nathan until he had to be sent to the future in order to be saved from the terminal condition known as the techno organic virus.

Eventually Scott and Jean returned to the X-men where Scott appeared to be greatly attracted to the Asian telepath Psylocke. Psylocke seduced Cyclops and after Jean found out about this she confronted Psylocke. The two women eventually sorted out their differences and Jean forgave Scott. Jean also proposed to Scott and the pair got married with Professor Xavier and the X-men attending the service.

On their honeymoon Scott and Jean were sent into the future to look after and protect Nathan from various threats. After this ordeal the two soon made an early retirement away from the X-men but were drawn back into the team after they required their help. In another battle against Apocalypse Scott apparently perished and Jean was left to cope with his death on her own. It was revealed that Scott had in fact not perished and had merged with Apocalypse. Jean thought she still felt Scotts presence within Apocalypse but Professor Xavier said he didn’t feel anything remotely close to Scotts being in the monster. Jean outraged at the X-men and Xavier for dragging them back into the team instead of letting them enjoy a normal life left the X-men.

She eventually returned and she and Cable (her stepson from the future) discovered that Cyclops was alive but was trapped under Apocalypses influence. Jean using her telepathic powers separated the two beings and Cable defeated Apocalypse. Cyclops was finally freed from the ancient beings control.

Scott and Jean did in fact stay with the X-men but grew apart due to Scott’s encounter with Apocalypse and Jean’s re-emerging Phoenix powers. Scott even refused to sleep with Jean and decided to receive some marriage counselling with the sultry Emma Frost. The two soon began a psychic affair with Jean soon finding out about it. Jean tore through Emma’s mind and both embarrassed and tormented her for seducing her husband. Scott took a temporary leave of absence from the X-men as he needed time to think about his life and process his love for Jean and Emma. Scott returned to the X-men when Magneto who was in fact a clone called Xorn attacked the X-men from within their ranks. Jean was killed in combat by Xorn and she died in the arms of Scott again. She told Scott to live and to not mourn her death for long. The two lovers embraced each other for the first time since his psychic tryst with Emma Frost and Jean soon died again.

Scott surprisingly moved onto his relationship with Emma very quickly after Jeans death, much to the disagreement of the other X-men members. Nevertheless Jean is always in his heart and he still thinks about her from time to time much to the dismay of Emma.

Scott and Jean were one of Marvels main couples for a long time and it remains to be seen if they will reunite once more when Jean returns.

photo credit: leandro_rab

Jean Grey through time and reality. Here are the many versions of our favorite x-woman.

- Phoenix: Green, Red, White
- Here Comes Tomorrow Phoenix
- X-Factor Jean: Red, Blue, both Green.
- Gold and Blue Jean (Normal and Ponnytail).
- Age of Apocalypse: First costume, Weapon X and Phoenix.
- Marvel Girl: Original Costume, original variation, Green Skirt..
- Muir Island Costume.
- 3 X-men Movie
- X-men Evolution
- Wolverine and the X-men.
- Alex Ross Milennium.
- 1602
- Amalgam: Green Phoenix, Mary Marvel Girl, Black Jean, Firebird.
- Revolution
- New X-men: Green Shirt, Yellow Jackey, Coat.
- X-men the End.
- X-terminators
- Jean first Look.
- Jean in the cocoon.
- Ultimate X-men
- Earth X Phoenix and dead Phoenix.
- X-men Mangaverse (2 Variation)
- The Future adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix.

I just returned from a comic book convention in Philadelphia (2008) and had the privlege to hear Chris Claremont speak in a few panels. He was very friendly and talked openly about many subjects, including his work on the X-men and more specifically about Jean Grey.

Chris was asked a question by the panel moderator, “How did you feel about bringing back Jean Grey?”

He paused for a moment, tilted his head back and sighed a little. I knew exactly how he felt. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to have Jean in the Marvel universe and apparently she is back again if you have been reading the Marvel crossover series, “Secret Invasion“. But her death was poetic justice. She killed billions of people and had to die. The X-men fought for he and lost; she paid the ultimate price but did so willingly. To bring her back was to make everything before a wasted sacrifice. But I digress…

Mr. Claremont finally responded to the question. He stated that he was told Jean Grey would be returning, brought back from the dead, and joining the new comic, X-Factor. While it was good that they told him (I believe he said Louise Simonson was given the task of breaking the news) they waited until 6:30pm on Friday, after the Marvel offices had closed. So he had no recourse but to stew about it all weekend. So he took that time and wrote something to try and avoid this bad decision. His idea, as he said, was to bring in Jean’s sister and develop her own mutant powers. He was going to give her mutant tracking abilities which would have fit perfectly for the new X-Factor team, whose undercover methods of capturing mutants was really to provide them traning and sanctuary. A tracker would have been a logical fit.

Her surmised that this would have broken the boring Jean and Scott romance and opened up the romantic possibilities to all the male X-men. Jean’s sister would have been what the original Jean was, a female diversion for the X-Factor team. Sexual tension, playful flirting, new relationship dynamics would have all come from this. It sounded like a good idea and Jean could have rest peacefully or at least until a better idea was conceived to bring her back.

And even though Chris said that Jim Shooter liked the idea and told him he would support it, he was still bringing Jean back. This ,of course, took the wind out of Chris Claremont’s sails and the idea of Jean’s sister becoming a mutant hero died as Jean has so many years ago.

I found this revelation very interesting and I recalled the story in Bizarre Adventures where Jean and her sister fought Attuma and remembered that Chris had written it. Too bad he never got the chance to write a second story with her.

What are your thoughts on this? Should Chris have written this or not?