@koays: i disagree about jean ever becoming leader of the x-men. Headmistress of the school certainly. Jean, however, never showed the true capabilities at leadership that we saw from Cyclops, Storm, even Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine and Beast. A reasonable go-to perhaps, but not a first or second choice field leader.
Emma's high class and mouthy and Jean's polite but powerful.
You nailed them in one simple sentence. And it explains precisely why Emma has become far more popular than Jean for so many people. Not all certainly, but so many - including myself - appreciate some personality. Jean always comes across so dull and uninteresting, unless she's being possessed by a cosmic force of life and destruction.
i love Emma but like Jean
Jean was never leading lady of the x-men... and certainly she could never have claimed it outright like Emma did before the White Queen became an X-Man. I think Emma's arrival co-incided with the departure of Storm from the Mansion X-Men. Leaving a gap in the team that couldn't be filled by someone as bland as Jean. Jean is the nicer person, and much more powerful, but she's also dull-as-a-post to read about as Just Jean... Phoenix was SOMETIMES interesting, but Jean has never been.
I always found Cyclops and Jean to be the MOST boring couple in marvel-dom aside from only Peter/Mary-Jane. They were far worse for each other than good. She neutered him. He stifled her.
Emma and Scott are a brilliant couple. They are a couple who can count on each other for greater STRENGTH rather than being each others weakness. Which i find Scott/Jean to be - together they are weaker than the sum of their parts, whilst Scott/Emma are stronger than the sum of their parts.
Did Emma make the team better? Yes and indirectly yes. Firstly her presence brought an edge to a team comprising some of the more goody-goody x-men. At that time, only Wolverine of the darker characters were still at the mansion - all the other "cool" x-men were off with Storm being X-Treme. She brought interpersonal conflict, and thereby strength to the team, backbone, fire, and all with a degree of elegance and sophisticated wit that improved the reading of the team if nothing else. Indirectly she also gave us a MUCH better Cyclops. And HE made the X-Men better with choices and decisions that Emma may have influenced, thought up entirely, or encouraged.
Don't mistake me for saying Jean made the team worse. She was a stabilizing influence, and a powerful resource to utilize as needed. She just didn't add much else to the betterment of the team or the school (she wasn't given much chance really before being killed off good and proper).
Naturally, i prefer Storm to both, by a huge margin. But both Emma and Jean have lots of history with Ororo. So there's plenty of storyline potential for each. Frenemies and Besties. I appreciate Emma/Ororo interactions, because if not for Emma's White Queen days, Storm would still be a walking buffet of phenomenal powers just ripe for an omega class telepath to dominate. Thanks to Emma body switching Storm - that can't happen anymore. Their antogonistic sniping is also far more cleverly done than the Emma/Kitty stuff... Ororo never acts so childish as Kitty does. Additionally they reached a level of mutual respect that was quite refreshing. To see two such powerful and fierce women acknowledge each other's strength and personal value was very mature writing.
Ororo/Jean moments are very sisterly, and always pleasant. There's not much fire and sizzle, but its nice. Usually delivered only sparingly, making it more effective.
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