Jean Grey: Flames of Fear

Jean Grey (2023) #1-4

by Louise Simonson, Bernard Chang (Artist), Marcelo Maiolo (Colorist)

Legendary writer Louise Simonson returns to put Jean Grey in the spotlight! After the tumultuous Hellfire Gala, Jean's life is in pieces. Mutantkind is in dire straits - but there's nothing that this founding X-Man can do until she saves herself first! That means looking into her past - for the moment when it all went wrong - in a desperate attempt to protect herself and all of Krakoa's future. But what if the past isn't quite as she remembers it? Jean Grey is not where she is meant to be - and neither is the rest of mutantkind. Her love story with Cyclops is one of the greatest in Marvel's long history - but their hearts are about to be broken, along with their minds! Brace yourself for a story full of fan-favorite moments, heartrending revelations and pulse-pounding devastation! Collects Jean Grey (2023) #1-4.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, X Men, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 20, 2024

About the author

Louise Simonson (born Mary Louise Alexander and formerly credited as Louise Jones, when married to artist Jeff Jones) is an American comic book writer and editor. She is best known for her work on comic book titles such as Power Pack, X-Factor, New Mutants, Superman, and Steel. She is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Weezie".

Since 1980 she is married to comic book writer and artist Walter Simonson

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the end of days! Jean Grey is well and truly down. Struggling at the precipice Jean with her mutant powers(?) looks back at key moments in her life to see if she could have chosen a better path; meanwhile will the Phoenix take this instance to realign with Grey? Marvel brings back modern X-books classic writer Louise Simonson who truly delivers with pinpoint accuracy Grey's trips down memory lane, in this very much a must-read for long time X-men readers. Note this series probably needs to be read alongside the Fall of X volumes of Immortal X-Men. A lovely throwback centred read with key pointers for the future Three Star, 6 out of 12 read.

2025 read

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louise Simonson knows an awful lot about the Life and Times of Jean Grey thanks to her pivotal involvement in crafting and editing a lot of classic X-books for Marvel, but ultimately this is a Greatest Hits crash course in X-lore tying together different eras and the roads untraveled in a high level, not terribly satisfying way. The saving grace here isn't the writing, solid and knowledgeable as it may be, but the crisp and inventive art giving us easy to identify iterations of not just Jean but a lot of beloved characters.

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay book. I was expecting more, but it was interesting to see the different choices that could have been made and the way they could affect the world.

Following the events of this year's Hellfire Gala, Jean is looking back through her past choices and what she could have done differently. Is she putting too much pressure on herself? Is she becoming what the X-MEN has always fought against?

The book was pretty good until the ending that just got confusing and unsatisfying. I do hope that this does lead to something in the main storyline. The book finishes with a varient cover gallery.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this as I’ve loved Mrs Simonson’s work in the past.

This romp through Jean’s past only served to show how disjointed and muddled the x-books have gotten over the years. In fact, focusing on certain key shifts in 4 issues of story instead of over 30+ years highlights the problems more than it helps build a character arc

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Really interesting look at Jean’s thoughts on what she could’ve done to save the current state of the mutants. I appreciated this one as almost a history lesson of the character, but know I also would’ve enjoyed more had I been more familiar already with events in the past.

[Alex Sarll]

Ostensibly, the story of how Jean bootstrapped herself back to life after her death at the final Hellfire Gala – but really, that was told as well as it's ever likely to be in the main titles. So what we get here is three issues of What Ifs as she second-guesses decisions from her own convoluted backstory, where, in the grand tradition of What If (cartoon excluded), the answer tends to be 'everyone dies'. Yeah, I know, who could have guessed that Wolverine becoming the Phoenix instead might have ended poorly? And in the finale, the various alternate Jeans give Jean a pep talk to say she shouldn't second-guess herself, which before I'd read the previous three issues, hadn't seemed a lesson she particularly needed to learn. Almost impressive in its sheer lack of a reason to exist.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know why this is reviewed so poorly, I quite enjoyed it. Seeing Jean accept all of her different past eras and learn what it means to be the host of the Phoenix was good. I got to learn a lot of X-Men history I didn’t know. Excited to see what lies ahead in her future now that she’s tackled her past.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if we did a four issue Occurece At Owl Creek Bridge with a lot of Tibetan Book of The Dead blending in smoothly to do this strange lore-churning psychopomp. You never forget the first time you die on the Moon. Charming, with some great art and great splash pages.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Veteran writer Louise Simonson on board and it shows- it's well written. Was it necessary though? I think not. The what if? aspect of the series is as good and as innocuous as any other and in the end it keads nowhere in particular. Good art by Bernard Chand but still, recommended to Marvel Unlimited subscribers

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series was so good and its Weezy writing so not surprised there, she weaves such a great tale which takes place in Jean's past and we see what ifs essentially like what if Jean chose a diff. path like when the young X-Men returned to their timeline and what if she went extreme and that was the best written issue, its so dark and could have been a 6 issue thing lol but the main idea of Jean going hard is so well done.

And then you have the stuff with her rising from that SF bay and what if Logan was chosen as Phoenix if Jean rejected it and how it went super dark and meant Jean losing the love of her lives and a fun throwback to that era and the other one hinting at Maddie becoming one with the Phoenix force and also the Goblin Queen aspect of it and it taking place it during Inferno and that issue was so dark and literally that Maddie could be one of the most dangerous threats in the marvel universe and I love how Louise shows how dark it can get.

And then the last issue tying it all together with Jean weighing her options and lives upto the title of the volume that she doesn't need to fear the flame, but embrace the phoenix force and connects to the ending of Immortal X-Men really well and yeah I think we are in for a great ride to this ending of dawn of x/fall of x and this issue and series did its job and set up a great status quo for Jean which touched into her past and also paved the way for whats to come in her future.

This volume has a lot of philosophical questions asked for the reader and is a love letter to the history of X-Men and Jean particularly and does so well to show her relation with the phoenix and her fears and all that.. truly wonderful stuff with great art throughout btw! So I definitely recommend this!!

[Michael Church · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this at all, and I love Jean Grey. Essentially we get 3 “What If?” stories about changing various moments in her life. Unfortunately all of them are varying degrees of feeling completely off base for the character while also being rushed and underdeveloped. In trying to make one choice right, it’s almost like Jean goes to the exact opposite end of the spectrum to actively make things worse in the long run. It’s eventually revealed to be a plot device that this keeps happening, but it doesn’t make for an enjoyable read.

Unfortunately, I was really hoping to get more of a bridge between Jean’s death at the Hellfire Gala and her reappearance in Immortal X-Men, but this doesn’t add any depth to that story. It all basically boils down to telling Jean to trust her instincts, but given how that went after making one change in each scenario, I don’t really trust her instincts at all.

Bernard Chang’s art is fine. It has good and bad moments. Unfortunately, I really dislike most of the character designs created for this. Wolverine as the Phoenix has never looked worse. The new costumes for the X-Men all have this weird stripe motif that doesn’t look good. Even Maddie’s updated look is just bad. Other than those specific issues I had, the art is mostly decent. I will forever be mad that they chose THIS variant as the cover for the trade paperback instead of any of the absolutely stunning covers for the series by Amy Reeder.

If you’re on the fence about this one, go ahead and skip it.

[Jason Tanner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dying Jean Grey gets introspective for a few issues, and we get to follow along with her thought experiments as she examines choices she could have made at various crossroads in her life.

I am very fond of Jean as a character, and I enjoyed the book, but it did little to further the narrative. If anything, it served as a kind of introduction to the wild and weird life of Jean through a handful of what-if scenarios. That's fine, I guess, but not exactly what I'm looking for as Krakoa is coming apart. I could see an issue or two of this and then Jean getting amped up to lobotomize ORCHIS and bring everyone home, but what we got is, well, less than I hoped for.

This is not a knock at the creative team. Louise Simonson is a legend, and Bernard Chang did excellent work. It's just not the book I wanted to read...at least not right now in the meta narrative. And that's not fair, but it does affect my rating a bit. I'm giving it 3 stars but 4 would also be fair.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Volume comes off like a "What If?" Jean Grey edition, and being that I am a huge Jean fan, I love it! Though it was nice to see these alternates, I hope the post-Krakoan Age "Phoenix" title has more meat to it.
We cover 3 main story revisits: the return of the original team to the past after the events of All-New X-Men, the Dark Phoenix Saga, and Inferno; and due to the magic of the White Hot Room (where Jean has ended up after being killed at the Hellfire Gala), she is able to "live out" events differently. Coming to terms with her mistakes and forgiving herself, she is able to reconnect with the Phoenix entity, fully choosing it, putting fear aside, and accepting all good and bad things that go along with it.
I can't wait to see just how powerful Jean is now that she is fully bonded with the Phoenix!
Bring on more X-Books!
Strong recommend.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the epitome of Marvel filler content. It’s not even bad so much as it feels like it’s just here to spin wheels and provide an author/illustrator combo some time to have fun with a character they enjoy so long as they don’t touch any other storylines. I wish I came out of this feeling like I understood Jean better, but I feel like they’ve muddied her against Hope and Rachel Summers so significantly that I really couldn’t tell you what was the most important thing happening to any of them at any given time, nor who, if any, had access to the Phoenix Force currently. This just feels like it’s not even a weak setup for Fall of X so much as a last gasp at giving Jean real character spotlight before she gets shelved. And that seems weird.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically, an excuse to tell three What Ifs? about Jean Grey. What if the young X-Men remembered their trip to the future? What if Wolverine took on the Phoenix force? And what if Jean had recovered Nathan during Inferno?

There's nice continuity in all of these, particularly further establishing the canon of the X-Men's trip to the future. But the What If? stories don't have the zest of the best. What If ...? Things go badly.

The final issue is a nice link to the events of Fall of X and in the end offer a meaningful change in the status quo, but at the same time, I suspect that change will just be offered de facto in other volumes and that this story will be totally forgettable.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big things happened to Jean Grey at the end of the Hellfire Gala 2023...

This 4 issue miniseries gives us a bit of a 'What If?' of Jean's life. Would she do things differently? Did she do all she could to help the ones she loves. Only at the end of the book do we catch up with post Fall of X events. An open ended story isn't such a bad thing.

Bonus: Loved the inclusion of the 'All New X-Men' kids and what happened when they got back...
Bonus Bonus: Madelyne Pryor plus techno-organic virus equals...creepy AF

[Gunnar Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is the superhero equivalent of when you’re trying to go to sleep and you remember a cringe thing you did in middle school.

Except Jean is actually able to change those cringe events in this story.

I liked the story. It did lose me near the end with the more lore heavy X event stuff. But I had a good time with this.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

is this meant to be a jumping on book cos 90% of what it did was rehash jean's main storylines up till this point. fun when it directly tied into immortal x-men though! sometimes there are benefits to following a specific reading order

also all the scenes with the phoenix fire were sooo beautiful

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jean Grey (who is maybe dead, but per Immortal X-Men is alive in the White Hot Place) is struggling through something. Naturally, the best way to do this is to recap her past lives in a greatest hits episode of a volume.

Each issue is something we've seen before, bookended by Jean Grey looking constipated.

[Dakota · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louise Simonson is one of, if not my all time favorite X-Men writer. Although this book is successful in summarizing the complicated dynamic between Jean and Madelyne, not much else is done outside of that.

[vk chompooming · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Jean Grey and her stories, but this storyline overshadowed the events of The Fall of X and Jean Grey: Flames of Fear is poorer for it! Flames of Fear is good, but just a stepping stone for a bigger Marvel Comics event. Only die-hard fans will love this.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is exactly the sort of navel-gazing self indulgent comic I usually hate - But it was really well done this time, with a look at Jean Grey and the roads not taken. Does it "matter" in the bigger comic plots? No. But is it enjoyable? Yeah, definitely.

[Paola Melendez · Rating 2 out of 5]

The filler vibes were strong in this one.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inconsequential, filler content. Why does this even exist? Why?

[Braulio Valenzuela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Popurrí de la historia de Jean Gray después de lo que pasó en el último Hellfire Gala. No avanza en nada la historia de Fall of X.

[Jennifer Sigman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feels like it was written by someone who both didn't like the character AND hadn't kept up with her growth during the Krakoa era.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book is a let down but the rest are strikingly good.

[kam · Rating 4 out of 5]

good old fire and life incarnate

[Yuuto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the “what if” aspect of this, but the rest was rather meh.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly unnecessary but nice to have Weezie writing an X-book again.