Phoenix #14 annotations
PHOENIX #14
Writer: Stephanie Phillips
Artist: Roi Mercado
Colour artist: Java Tartaglia
Letterer: Cory Petit
Editor: Annalise Bissa
COVER: A symbolic image of Jean and Sara.
PAGES 2-4. Sara and the In-Betweener.
Last issue, we established that Sara was not in fact Jean’s real sister, but rather had been inadvertently created in issue #10 from Jean’s memories of Sara. According to Cable, Sara’s continued existence somehow guaranteed a future timeline which was a zombie wasteland, though quite why wasn’t explained. The final scene of that issue saw Sara and her followers Vex, Kel and Rho trying to follow Jean and Cable, and winding up in the right place but in the present day. The issue ended with the In-Betweener appearing, making the same claim that Sara leads to a ruinous future, and calling her “the one between reality and imagination”.
This scene picks up from that cliffhanger, though Sara’s followers are nowhere to be seen (and aren’t mentioned anywhere in the issue). The In-Betweener has evidently taken her somewhere else, and we learn later that it’s the White Hot Room. The background is broadly the same as in the WHR scene in issue #11.
The In-Betweener offers an elliptical “explanation” broadly to the effect that Sara is a “shadow” cast by the Phoenix, though quite what that actually means isn’t desperately clear. Sara takes it to mean that she’s Jean’s creation, which we already knew. Jean, in the next scene, seems to draw the conclusion that Sara is an aspect of her – presumably in the same sense that she and the Phoenix are the same thing (at least in some sense).
Somewhat more informatively, the In-Betweener also tells us that Sara was “born of the White Hot Room”, which wasn’t directly asserted last issue. However, issue #11 did tell us that something was blocking Jean’s connection to the White Hot Room, and perhaps threatening the Room itself.
The In-Betweener’s claim that Sara is both real and not real is rather more straightforward to make sense of: she isn’t the original Sara but she does exist now.
PAGES 5-6. Phoenix senses Sara.
This picks up from Phoenix and Cable’s conversation last issue; obviously, the art is trying to convey the link between Sara and Jean by drawing them in the same pose. Phoenix refers to her attempt to visit the White Hot Room in issue #11.
Not unreasonably, Cable assumes that Jean has resigned herself to the need to eliminate Sara – the previous issue seemed to suggest that he wanted Jean to reabsorb her in order to prevent some sort of catastrophic chain reaction, though everyone here acts as if that would be akin to killing her. However, even having the plot explained to her has not dissuaded Jean from her determination to keep her “sister” alive.
PAGES 7-11. Flashback: young Jean and Sara at Hallowe’en.
This is apparently a real (and original) flashback, showing Sara taking Jean to the basement of an abandoned house where the occupants were murdered, so that they and two friends can try to contact the family with a ouija board – a story nobody else seems to take entirely seriously. For some reason the lights go out and the murdered mother apparently speaks through Jean.
This is an odd scene, partly because it seems to show Jean having a psychic episode before the Annie Richardson incident which is normally taken to be the emergence of her powers (it must be before, because if it was after then Jean would either be catatonic or far too old). But it also doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the rest of the plot beyond being another illustration of a sisterly bond. Maybe it’s building to something next issue.
PAGES 12-16. Phoenix fights the In-Betweener.
Phoenix manages to travel to the White Hot Room. She couldn’t access it in issue #11, but then that seems to have been something to do with Sara, and as we’ll see later, Sara seems to have come round to the need for Jean to eliminate her. Also, a bunch of other cosmic entities want to bring Jean here – this may be why it’s described as a “fragment” of the White Hot Room. Or perhaps it’s a fragment because Sara is a fragment. Who knows?
Obviously, this location manifests as the Grey family home, presumably because of its importance to both Jean and Sara. Whether that’s because it’s on their minds or because someone has chosen it for its psychological impact isn’t clear (but it seems more likely to be the former, because reminding Jean of her feelings about Sara hardly seems smart).
Jean gives us a rather odd monologue to the effect that she’s always been afraid of her own power – not exactly an obvious reading of the character in past years, but perhaps driven by the fact that post-Krakoa, Jean apparently is Phoenix and always was, which requires a lot of earlier stories to be recast as a sort of self-denial.
We’re back to the theme of a tension between Jean’s humanity and her cosmic aspect; the first arc brought up the idea that Jean was reasoning like a superhero rather than a cosmic entity and thus failing to look at the big picture (at least on the scale that her powers demanded). Here, she’s threatening to use her cosmic powers to do something incredibly ill-advised and dangerous because of her own emotional investment in it.
Jean flags up that this is a single life – she still seems to be treating Sara as authentic – and frames it as trivial compared to the deaths that have already been associated with Phoenix. She cites the slaughter of the Grey family in Uncanny X-Men #468 and the genocide of the D’Bari in X-Men #135, although it’s hardly the great moral argument she seems to think it is. The In-Betweener (and apparently the other cosmic entities) regard this as a refusal to maintain the cosmic balance and thus a dereliction of duty.
PAGES 17-20. The other cosmic beings and former Phoenix hosts arrive.
Sara has apparently been persuaded that she needs to be destroyed; Jean seems to acknowledge the need here, but says that she can’t do it.
The cosmic entities show up in their human redesigns from G.O.D.S. Eternity, Infinity, Order, Chaos, Oblivion and the Living Tribunal are all long-established and likely to be familiar to anyone reading this; if not, suffice to say that they represent exactly what you’d think they do. Eternity is supposed to be tied up in a lengthy storyline over in Storm at the moment, so evidently this takes place either before or after that arc.
The Preordained is a servant of the Living Tribunal and Oblivion, whose only previous appearance was in G.O.D.S. #6. Continuum is a servant of Eternity and Infinity; an alternate timeline version of him appeared in G.O.D.S. #8, but technically this is the first appearance of the mainstream Continuum. These two characters are a step down the pecking order from the other cosmic characters seen here.
The issue ends with the arrival of “all of the Phoenix hosts who have transcended the physical world, living or dead”. These characters are:
- Fongji Wu. This obscure character is a sixteenth century Iron Fist who doubled as a Phoenix host, and eventually ascended into cosmic awareness. She appeared in New Avengers vol 2 #25-27 (which were part of the Avengers vs X-Men crossover).
- Rook’shir. Remember the Shi’ar guy with the huge sword from Ed Brubaker’s Uncanny X-Men run? Well, this isn’t him. This is his ancestor, who bonded with the Phoenix Force and became a Dark Phoenix. He was killed by the first verison of the Imperial Guard in a flashback in Uncanny X-Men #479, which was his only previous appearance. Quite what qualifies him as having transcended the physical world – beyond the bare fact of being dead – isn’t clear; it might be something to do with the fact that his fragment of the Phoenix force, which was trapped in that big sword, eventually freed itself and left in X-Men: Kingbreaker #4.
- Rachel Summers. Have we dropped “Askani”, then? Obviously, Rachel was the Phoenix host in 80s Uncanny X-Men and latterly in Excalibur. I’m not entirely clear what’s supposed to qualify her as having transcended the physical world, but it could simply be a reference to her “chronoskimming” abilities allowing her to send consciousnesses through time.
- Quentin Quire. This is more straightforward – Quire apparently left the mortal plane in New X-Men #139.
- Hope Summers. Fairly obvious – she becomes a permanent resident of the White Hot Room at the end of the Krakoan era, in Rise of the Powers of X.
Firehair from Jason Aaron’s Caveman Avengers could technically be in that group, but not referencing them is probably the best decision this book has made in a while.
The White Hot Room exists outside of time and space. Isn’t it simply a case that every Phoenix host, past or present, has transcended the physical realm? During Morrison’s run, we saw Quire in the White Hot Room as a future host of the Phoenix. Yes, Quite left the mortal plane, but he had not been a host for the Phoenix yet when he showed up in the White Hot Room. So, I think it’s the case that Rachel is there because in the future she will transcend the physical realm, meaning she is eternally a part of the White Hot Room.
Although, how any of this is applicable with the revelation that Jean has always been and will always be the Phoenix, I think is more questionable. Rachel and Hope make sense as they were birthed as part of the Phoenix (Phoenix was the seed for Hope’s mother, and Phoenix impregnated Jean to birth Rachel or Jean impregnated herself), and so therefore could be considered the same as Jean.
“She cites the slaughter of the Grey family in Uncanny X-Men #468 and the genocide of the D’Bari in X-Men #135, although it’s hardly the great moral argument she seems to think it is”
I think Jean’s argument is “I didn’t bring the D’Bari back to assuage my guilt. I didn’t bring my family back. Let me bring my sister back.”
Next issue wil be Stephanie Phillips’s last issue on the title, not counting the Binary issues. We’ll have to see how it wraps up. It’s amazing Breevort let her stay on this long.
“It’s amazing Breevort let her stay on this long.”
No, that’s his Earth-2 counterpart, remember? It’s Brevoort.
Eternity isn’t necessarily tied up in Storm’s story. It is, after all, Eternity. It can manifest literally anywhere.
The way I see Jean’s argument, it is essentially a request for lenience. A warning that she can’t very well carry on dealing with the responsibility that comes from being Phoenix. She can’t rationally offer that since so many more died because she is Phoenix Sara should be allowed to live on. Bravado aside, that is just an expression of what she wants to hope for. It won’t surprise me too much if this is leading to her distancing herself from the Phoenix Force somehow.
I am not really following the explanations given above for why these particular former Phoenix Force hosts are manifesting here instead of any combination of the other dozens or hundreds of known former and future hosts.
Nor do I see any way in which Hope’s presence among them can make logical sense given the events at the close of the Krakoa Era. But I won’t be caught claiming that I think Phoenix is a logical , well-explained entity with predictable properties and behavior now, when it is really anything but.
Then again, I don’t expect that any of those are real, self-sustaining entities, but rather aspects of the White Hot Room and/or of Jean’s subconscious, given form and personality by Jean’s expectations. Those five are there because of all known and eventual Phoenix hosts (an embarrassingly long list) they are the ones that Jean can most easily convince herself to be willing to support her attempt at rebellion against cosmic duty. In nature they are really very similar to Sara herself, as doubtlessly the Cosmic Entities will point out next issue.
Jean: “Phoenix is Jean, Jean is Phoenix. Now and forevermore.”
Two years later: “I will no longer be the Phoenix.”
Two years later: “I must become the Phoenix, as I have always been and will ever be.”
Two years later…
Ugh. Let’s just move on, Marvel.
I wonder how long it will be before done writer decides to make it that Jean has DID and there is no Phoenix Force?
What if the Phoenix Force is actually like the Police Force, and Jean’s just the commissioner.
I wish the original Dark Phoenix Saga was just a story about a blackout in Phoenix, Arizona that maybe lasted for a little longer than usual. So it was really saga-like for the people going through it.
It wouldn’t have been as good as the story we got, but then we wouldn’t have this recurring nonsense.
I’m glad this book is coming to an end, so Jean can come home to her family. Presumably, they’ll figure out a way to tone her down so she can be on a team without every story ending with Phoenix Ex Machina (which they managed just fine in the era when she was a member of Gambit’s team alongside Cable and Storm, before either was given godlike power) .
Her reference to the slaughter of her family in Uncanny 468 is both one of the highlights of that one and one of the most heartbreaking comics I can remember, and I like that both Jean and Marvel are giving themselves credit for not undoing it.
While the hook for this arc was supposed to be interaction with Cable, he really just kinda showed up, shot some people like he does and dropped some information – there hasn’t been a ton of interaction with Jean as both stepmother and the women who raised him in the future. It feels like an obligation Phillips agreed to, rather than something she wanted.
In terms of “concept in X-Men comics that most makes me immediately mentally check out of the book,” the White Hot Room may have finally ended the decades-long run of the Siege Perilous.
“White Hot Room”
Also what many women refer to as my bedroom.
(music) Bom-Bom-chicky-chicky-bom-bom!
…aaaaand nobody here is going to buy that for a second.
I think there are 2 likely points Rachel could arrive from.
1. After she was lost in Excalibur before she arrived in the Askansi timeline. Having Cable in the story could lead to him inspiring her to take that role.
2. Between the twelve that remove the askani timeline and her return in Xtreme (prisoner of fire), this could be where she was before Bogan took control of her
I always find it amusing that an almost throwaway Morrison line about a metaphysical “White Hot Room” has ended up being instantiated into an actual location that many if not thousands of characters have travelled in and out of. I mean, at this point it may as well be the Savage Land.
I like the quandary that Jean has about a ‘Sara’ she has created and if this Sara can legitimately continue to exist. It’s humanising. But the story is being very drawn out and needlessly complex.
Maybe Sara plot resolution will somehow help bring Jean down to everyday workable power levels?
Bleeding Cool is reporting that Age of Revelation is going to run through February. I would expect very little of the solo titles that are ending soon to continue after that. This is a long time in the publishing world and people’s attention spans are short these days.
@Uncanny X-Drew- Yeah, but as pointed out on CBR, the trades for Age of Revelation are coming out in April:
https://prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=9781302968397
https://prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=9781302968403
https://prhcomics.com/book/?isbn=9781302968380
That’s pretty quick if the crossover ends at the end of February.
Plus, it’s a total of 1,192 pages.
There are 16 limited series plus probably 3 one shots. So if you assume each limited series lasts 3 months, that’s 51 books. If you divide 1,192 by 51 that’s about 23 pages. So if you do the math. 3 months is what makes sense.
I expect that Uncanny, X-Men, Exceptional will return, along with Wolverine featuring a new writer, and Magik will stick around in some form with the “Sorcerer Supreme” stuff. Then, Brevoort will have to come up with six or seven added titles to round out the line again (as cannon fodder).
Brevoort is going to have work hard to come up with a bunch of brand-new mutant titles at this point…New Mutants or Generation X…otherwise? Rogue. I don’t know.
I’m amused by the way the White Hot Room has been turned into an actual location that isn’t white, hot, or a room.
Days ago Bleeding Cool reported rumors about a Cyclops solo series… But Brevoort spoke against the idea of a solo series for Scott some week ago saying that being a team leader is the central thing of the character of Cyclops… We’ll see…
@Midnighter- the exact wording of the exchange with Breevort was this:
ANANAIS: I’m also a big fan of Cyclops. Will he get a Solo this year? I’ve been hoping he gets one. 616 adult Cyclops has never had a Solo ongoing.
TOM: I don’t know that I think that a Cyclops solo series is a viable long-term proposition, Ananais. But a limited series, sure.
Man, between this and Storm there are a weird number of X-books that are just people yelling at cosmic deities. I don’t remember even Jim Starlin breaking out Eternity et al this often back in the nineties. I feel like that’s a sure sign of something gone wildly off the rails for an era that was billed as a back-to-basics approach after Krakoa.
Morrison just gave a name to the ‘place’ that appeared in that Classic X-Men backup though, right?
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