Phoenix #6 is a massive shift in the story Stephanie Phillips is telling. It has a new foe for Jean Grey in the form of Thanos. It gives her a new group of cosmic allies, including Nova. And it continues to explore the strange dynamic between Jean and the fledgling godling Adani. But the biggest change is in the art team, as Alessandro Miracolo is now replaced by Marco Renna.
It’s not a surprising shift, as Renna previously worked with Miracolo on Phoenix #5. But it will take some getting used to, especially since Miracolo’s rendition of Jean’s Phoenix powers is a visual spectacle that few artists could match or exceed. Renna deserves some major props for balancing the cosmic spectacle with smaller scenes of Adani tormented by visions of her past selves, or Thanos doing what he does best.
Renna’s best work comes toward the middle of the book, where he draws an extended sequence pitting Jean against a fleet of starships led by Corvus Glaive. What follows is the kind of space battle that rivals anything in Star Wars or Star Trek. Enemy ships are either swallowed up in cosmic fire or obliterated by Nova’s energy blasts. And if you think that’s cool, Renna also manages to top it with a fight sequence that calls back to his work on Power Rangers and Rogue Sun. It doesn’t hurt that David Curiel continues to bring his epic colors to the table; Jean’s golden-orange cosmic fire and Nova’s bluish-white Nova Force are literal beacons in the dark depths of space.
Marvel
Though Phoenix has a new artist, Stephanie Phillips’ scripting still remains stellar. She zeroes in on the age-old struggle that mutantkind faces – being hated and feared, even by those they’ve sworn to protect – but puts a new spin on it: Thanos is turning the entire galaxy against Jean, and she’s too far away for any of the X-Men to help her. This leads to another conversation with her husband Cyclops, and I love that Phillips knows Jean well enough to have her confide in Cyclops but also make sure that the two are presented as equals. Many writers feel that writing a healthy relationship is a struggle in genre fiction but Phillips is proving them wrong.
Phillips also introduces a new group of allies for Jean toward the end of Phoenix #6. Keeping in line with the cosmic theme, they’re all heroes who have cosmic powersets or deal with the otherworldly, and it makes a nice surprise. Phoenix #6 is a shift in more ways than one: not only does it introduce a new artist, but it gives Jean a new foe in Thanos and new allies to boot.
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