Over the years, it’s become easy to reduce comic book characters to one or two events that define them. Jean Grey’s gotten this the hardest: she’s either forever connected with the Phoenix Force or jokes have been made about her constant death and rebirth. Phoenix #4 is a reminder of her humanity – or rather, that others should remember that she’s just a woman with extraordinary power.
Phoenix #4 kicks off with that rare occurrence in superhero comics: the protagonist gets a day off! But since Stephanie Phillips and Alessandro Miracolo are doing a cosmic-based Marvel book, Jean’s day off involves her mingling with different alien races and catching up with Carol Danvers. Things soon go south when Jean is challenged to a battle by Gorr the God Butcher, who’s added her to his list of godly victims. But he’s not the only one looking to extinguish the Phoenix’s light…
Once again, Phillips finds a balance between the cosmic spectacle and the humanity that permeates the best X-Men books. It’s especially prominent in the way she writes Jean and Carol’s conversation; Carol herself is no stranger to having immense power, and she gives Jean a talk about not letting her power define her. “Just because you’re made of fire doesn’t mean you have to burn yourself out,” Carol says, and I’d be lying if I said that line didn’t resonate with me. So does the debate between various alien races: is the Phoenix a force for creation, or a harbinger of destruction?
Miracolo has been refining his art with every issue, and Phoenix #4 might have some of his best work yet. The battle between Jean and Gorr is a standout, especially with Gorr’s new powers; turns out that bonding yourself to an ancient symbiote has some side effects. Miracolo draws Gorr’s cloak as a never ending mass of tendrils that threaten to swallow Jean – and maybe the reader – whole.
Marvel Comics
It doesn’t hurt that he has David Curiel on colors. Curiel fills every page with pops of light and different hues to show how vast the alien races of the Marvel Universe really are. The standout, once again, is the Jean/Gorr fight. Jean’s blazing cosmic fire is the perfect contrast to the writing mass of darkness that surrounds Gorr, and provides a visual spectacle worth the cover price.
Phoenix #4 is many things: a compelling read, a battle between godlike forces, and more musing on the nature of godhood. But above all else, it remembers that Jean Grey is human – and that, not the giant cosmic fire bird, is what keeps me coming back to this title.
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