Dark Phoenix Saga
Dark Phoenix Saga is a comic book story arc that first appeared in X-Men #101
The Phoenix Force consumes Jean Grey and with the manipulation of the Hellfire Club's Mastermind she's driven insane. She consumes the power of a star and kills billions before sacrificing herself.
Retconning
Phoenix used to actually be Jean herself at the peak of her power. Marvel decided to retcon Phoenix and make it a separate entity in order to keep Jean innocent from killing billions of life forms and to bring her back to life.
The road to Dark Phoenix
With Jean’s power increasing it began to corrupt her and made her more hungry for energy which caused Jean to develop the split-personality, but Jean learned how to keep in under control. Mastermind saw that Jean can be easily manipulated with her power hunger. Mastermind wanted to join the Hellfire Club and so he proceeds to capture Phoenix and project illusions to make her think she was in the 18th century and became the “Black Queen”.
The X-Men were captured in an attempt to save Jean. Mastermind battles Cyclops telepathically and kills his psychic image. This made Jean insane and unleashed all of Phoenix’s power! She renamed herself Dark Phoenix. The X-Men try to battle her but were unsuccessful. Dark Phoenix then proceeds to create a black hole and teleports to another galaxy. She dove into the D’Bari star to feed off its energy and caused it to go Nova.
The Shi’ar try to attack Dark Phoenix but were defeated easily. Meanwhile on Earth, Beast develops a machine that can neutralize Phoenix’s power for a short period of time. Xavier battles Dark Phoenix telepathically and Xavier was able to put the psychic blocks back in her mind and Jean would regain control.
The Shi’ar took the X-Men aboard their ship and accused Dark Phoenix of genocide and the only penalty was death. They then agree to battle for Jean’s survival. They were then teleported to a moon and fight the Imperial Guard and the Gladiator. They defeat the X-Men except for Jean and Cyclops. Cyclops was hit and this caused Jean to panic and become the Dark Phoenix. The X-Men subdue the Phoenix and she would commit suicide right after.
Associated Issues
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What's up with that whole Phoenix/Jean Grey business? Is Illyana Rasputin really back from the dead? Why can’t the Shi’Ar and the Starjammers just get along? And what the heck is a Predator X? Find out in X-MEN: MESSIAH COMPLEX MUTANT FILES – featuring profiles on teams like X-Factor Investigations, the New X-Men, the Exiles and Excalibur; new friends and foes such as Darwin, Armor, Anole, Korvus, Daken and Kimura; plus Cassandra Nova, Selene, Trish Tilby, the Savage Land Mutates, Mammomax, the Marauders and even a bonus X-Men Roster Update!
The Starcore ship crash lands into the Jamaica Bay, and all but Jean Grey swim out of the ship to safety. Cyclops is about to go back down under to find her, as emerges from the water, shouting her name to be Phoenix before fainting and falling into the water. They swim to shore and see that they have once again destroyed the Kennedy Airport.
They are all then shown at the hospital, waiting for Jean's diagnosis. The doctor announces that Jean is okay, and the X-Men rejoice, especially Scott. The Professor announces that all but Scott must take a forced vacation to Cassiday Keep, Banshee's home.
They arrive there, where Black Tom Cassiday is currently living there. They all get situated, and head to dinner, as a trap door opens up, sending them all tumbling down to face Juggernaut and Black Tom. Storm screams in fear, and the rest of the team are confused as to why.
This issue is credited as Black Tom's first appearance even though he appears in the shadows in three panels in issue #99
The Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy attack the New X-Men at Cassidy Keep in Ireland.
During the battle, Storm panics and reveals she has claustrophobia, resulting from a childhood incident where her parents were killed during a bombing back in Cairo. She also reveals all about his childhood in Cairo with the master of thieves Achmed El-Gibar and then her pain and fear reach prof. Xavier's mind and he tells Cyclops that the X-Men had been ambushed by the Juggernaut again! Cyclops denies going to help the others because of Jean and Xavier argues with him and during that a face from the dream that had been frightening Xavier during months appears in the mirror.
Back to Cassidy Keep, Juggernaut and Black Tom defeat the X-Men, and reveal that someone had freed them from prison.
It is up to Nightcrawler to rescue the captured X-Men from the clutches of the Juggernaut and Black Tom Cassidy. He is not alone, however, for he has the help of some very unusual allies... Leprechauns from Cassidy Deep. He discovers Eric the Red is behind this battle. He also discovers a new feature of his own mutant powers: in shadows, his body becomes invisible.
Black Tom is torturing the other X-Men, and then Nightcrawler uses his image inducer to looks like Xavier and start a battle with the two villains. During this, Juggernaut blows the wall, revealing the sky to Storm, witch was in panic with her claustrophobia, but now she is free to use her powers again and helps Wolverine and Colossus to escape with a hurricane. Black Tom and Juggernaut have Banshee as their captive and blackmail the X-Men, but the X-Men fight back, Nightcrawler freed Banshee. After a fight with swords with his cousin, since their mutant powers cancel each other, Banshee throws Black Tom from the tower, and suddenly, Juggernaut jump after him.
At the end, Eric the Red talks to a strange in a TV, who tells that princess Neramani is coming, and that the X-Men shouldn't contact them.
The X-Men charter a boat to take them to Moir's research station in Muir Island. However, upon nearing their destination the boat is mysteriously destroyed.The X-Men survive and reach the Island but are swiftly trapped within a bubble of force and pulled into the station by none other than Magneto. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Moira arrive and learn of Magneto's trap. Magneto quickly defeats the X-Men but Cyclops surprises him, given them time to regroup and return to New York to prevent Eric the Red from attacking Xavier. Magneto basks in his triumph, unaware that the battle has freed the malevolent Mutant X. Meanwhile, in space, Corsair and the Starjammers plan to oppose the Shi'ar's Emperor S'ken as renegade Shi'ar Princess Lilandra reaches Earth.
As the X-Men arrive back home, they discover Eric the Red has infiltrated the mansion and they attack, unaware that Eric has enlisted the aid of the former Herald of Galactus Firelord by convincing him that the X-Men are less than heroic. After seeing the X-Men attack Eric, Firelord swiftly defeats them. Meanwhile, Lilandra teleports to Earth just as her ship is destroyed, appearing before Xavier who recalls her name from his visions. Firelord then arrives to confront Xavier but is opposed by Phoenix, leaving Xavier and Lilandra to be captured by Eric. The X-Men arrive too late to prevent Eric escaping with Lilandra as Phoenix defeats Firelord. Phoenix then uses her powers to reactivate the stargate, allowing the X-Men to pursue Eric.
Firelord returns to confront Xavier. However, the strain of losing Lilandra causes Xavier to slip into a delirious state wherein he recalls the aftermath of the first of the nightmares that have plagued him recently. During a training session in the Danger Room, the X-Men were confronted by manifestations of their predecessors, which were created by Xavier's repressed dark side given physical form as a result of Xavier's mental control slipping due to the nightmare. Xavier forcibly regains control of his mind and defeats his evil doppelganger by turning the X-Men manifestations against him. As his delirium passes, Xavier realizes that the nightmares were the result of a forced telepathic rapport between himself and Lilandra.
.The X-Men emerge from the stargate on an alien world dominated by a massive crystal and are confronted by the Shi'ar's Imperial Guard. When the Shi'ar refuse to return Lilandra, the X-Men attack, despite being outnumbered. D'ken seeks to sacrifice Lilandra to the demonic Soul-Drinker; however, she is saved by Nightcrawler and informs the X-Men that D'ken's plan of seizing power from the M'kraan Crystal will result in the destruction of the universe. The X-Men face being overwhelmed by the Guard until the Starjammers arrive to help turn the tide. Despite the Guard's defeat, D'ken gloats over his impending victory as the Dath-Stars align and flood the Crystal with energy.
Flashback: Lilandra opposes D'ken and is forced to flee the Shi'ar Empire as result. D'ken's effort to capture her are recounted.
The X-Men and the Starjammers face the first of the M'kraan Crystal's Guardians, the first of which, Jahf, knocks Wolverine into orbit before being defeated by Banshee. The two teams then face the second Guardian, Modt, before Raza hurls D'ken onto the Crystal, causing the heroes to be pulles inside wherein they are forced to face their worst fears and memories. Phoenix quickly recovers and renders Cyclops unconscious lest his optic blasts injure anyone. However as he falls his beam strikes the sphere at the heart of the Crystal, causing it to crack. To prevent the neutron galaxy at the core of the sphere from destroying the universe, Phoenix's power is boosted by the life forces of the X-Men and Starjammers and she repairs the damage. The X-Men return home, followed by Lilandra who seeks to remain on Earth with Xavier until the Shi'ar High Council summons her home to replace her now insane brother as Shi'ar ruler.
Flashbacks: Corsair recalls the death of his wife & Phoenix recalls the fateful shuttle flight.
Notes: Corsair learns from Phoenix that Cyclops is his son Scott this issue.
Cyclops takes the X-Men to Angel’s New Mexico home, where he learns that he too is a member of the Hellfire Club, a club for millionaires. Angel gets them invitations for the Hellfire Club’s next big party.
The Hellfire Club’s Inner Circle attacks the X-Men. Mastermind finally gains complete control over Phoenix, turning her into the Black Queen and making her attack Cyclops. The Hellfire Club defeats the X-Men and Wolverine seemingly perishes in the fight. While the Inner Circle congratulates itself, Wolverine reappears and is ready for a rematch.
The Inner Circle has shackled up the X-Men. Cyclops tries to snap Jean Grey out of her role as Black Queen by reaching her through their rapport between them. Mastermind becomes aware of this, and kills Cyclops on the astral plane.
Wolverine attacks and badly injures several Hellfire Club mercenaries. Trying to find a way to his teammates, he runs into several Hellfire Club servants who attack him.
On Muir Island, Moira fears for Jean, as the latest tests show that Phoenix is now tapping into limitless power levels.
Cyclops has survived his encounter with Mastermind on the astral plane. Wolverine breaks into the room with his captured teammates and Mastermind orders Jean to kill Wolverine. Unaware to Mastermind, Jean has broke free of his control but attacks Wolverine and free Cyclops. Cyclops quickly frees the other X-Men. The X-Men then attack and defeat the Inner Circle. Elsewhere, Mastermind, trying to slip away unnoticed, is confronted by Jean with intent on revenge, mentally drives Mastermind mad. The X-Men flee in their plane, but the manipulations of Mastermind has turned Jean into the Dark Phoenix and blows up the plane. At the Avengers’ Mansion, Beast is aware of X-Men’s dealings with the Hellfire Club and leaves to help the X-Men.
The Dark Phoenix attacks and easily defeats the X-Men. The Dark Phoenix then flies into space and destroys a star for energy. The destruction of the sun causes a Shi’ar battleship to attack the Dark Phoenix. She easily destroys them, but not before they send a transmission to Empress Lilandra.
On Earth, the X-Men are joined by Beast and plan what to due with the Dark Phoenix.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Shaw suggests to Senator Robert Kelly, that Sentinels should be built again as a deterrent to mutant activity.
Dark Phoenix returns to Earth to face Jean Grey's former life there and finds the X-Men.
Features the first appearances of Touks'Enhaamin of the Shi'ar Grand Council.
The X-Men find themselves on a Shi’ar ship and are ordered by Lilandra to hand over Jean, as she is a threat to the whole universe. Xavier challenges Lilandra to a duel for the life of Jean Grey.
Later the X-Men and the Imperial Guard are teleported to the Blue Area of the moon where they will battle. Cyclops and Jean are the last to remain as the other X-Men are beaten. Cyclops is then taken down and this causes the Dark Phoenix to remerge. The X-Men fight her and after she became weakened, she kills herself in front of Cyclops, unwilling to take the risk of ever harming another life again.
The classic Dark Phoenix Saga from Uncanny X-Men 129-137.
| Story Arc: | Dark Phoenix Saga |
| 1st Appearance: | X-Men #101 |
| Appears in: | 18 issues |
| Publisher: | Marvel Publishing |
