Phoenix, Vol. 3: Astral Bond

Phoenix (2024)

by Stephanie Phillips, Tba (Illustrator)

More than ever, the Phoenix is a cosmic force of nature! A booming voice sounds across the the voice of Ego, the Living Planet! And he speaks in distress of a great imbalance! A fracturing! A coming death. And the only one who can stand in its way is the Phoenix! But that's not all, because Jean Grey's new calling to space and responsibility to the galaxy becomes suddenly, critically personal with the return of a long-lost loved one - whose presence will throw everything Jean knows into total chaos! How has this person returned? Why? While Jean's reunion may be joyous, other forces at work in the universe are less than thrilled - especially the psychically attuned ones like the telepathic, time-traveling soldier known as Cable! Collecting PHOENIX (2024) #11-15.

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

112 pages, Paperback

Published January 27, 2026

Reviews

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the face of it, you'd expect Astral Bond to be a more grounded Phoenix story since it focuses on the unexpected return of Jean Grey's long-lost (dead?) sister, Sara. And, at first, it sort of is: Jean and Sara reconnect in/near the White Room and we get some backstory on where Sara's been.

Then Cable crashes the party from the future, announcing that Sara's appearance is disrupting the timeline. This is followed by all of Marvel's cosmic gods arriving on the scene with a similar complaint. Not so grounded anymore.

The plot is a bit tough to wrap your head around, but it does feature a few good character moments for Jean Grey. Anytime the cosmic gods are brought out of the toybox, it diminishes their standing in my view - you can't just pop the Living Tribunal off the shelf for a non-event like this book! Maybe that's just me though. Astral Bond is still a fine read, even if the stakes seem ridiculously high.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate what this final arc of Phoenix was trying to do - bringing back a character like Sara Grey was always going to be a big swing. But then things get complicated, hinging the fate of the entire universe on her, and Cable shows up, and then Oblivion and Eternity and all the other concepts, and the previous incarnations of the Phoenix and- oh no, I've gone cross-eyed.

It's ambitious, I'll give it that. It tries to do something big, but I don't think it quite succeeds. Especially since it basically boils down to one woman who may or may not be real daring the gods of the universe to keep her alive. It's weird. And the series ends on a strange note that's just like 'I'm Jean Grey, and I'm happy!', like that was ever really in doubt?

Not helping matters is the artwork from Roi Mercado, which is serviceable, but doesn't feel epic enough for a storyline like this. It plays well when it's just Jean and Sara talking, but once the concepts turn up, it becomes painfully obvious that we're just getting swathes of colour and blobs of people. A story on this stage needs an artist that can handle it, and I don't think Mercado's quite there yet.

A bit of a letdown after the first two arcs of the book, both in story and art. It tries really hard, but that old adage of shooting for the moon and landing among the stars only works if you're not already in space.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a life long Jean Grey fan. I have a full Phoenix tattooed on me (along with Cyclops).
But I am not sure how I feel about the plot and resolution of this Volume.
Basically, Sara Grey, Jean's long lost sister (thought dead) shows back up in the galaxy. Not only that, but now she has a mutant power that allows her to awaken the full potential of any mutant she touches. When Cable comes back to take out Sara, claiming she isn't real and that her being alive will cause horrible pain to the future of the mutants, Phoenix refuses to believe it. Even forces of the Universe (In-Betweener, Eternity, Living Tribunal, etc) tell her Sara can not be. But Phoenix gets what she wants, by any means necessary. Previous holders of the Phoenix Force (minus most of the Phoenix Five from AvX) band with Jean against the cosmic forces, and eventually they cave and set up Sara as Beacon, a light who will help guide the Gods.
While I am happy for Jean, this feels like overstepping the bounds and limitations of the character. Not sure how to feel about it and I hope it doesn't come back too hard to hit them later.

Recommend. Wish this title was continuing, but I hope Jean can head back to Earth to be with the rest of the X-Men soon.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

What is even the point of some of these X-Men arcs of late? I’m all for Jean getting some character growth and compelling emotional beats, but I’m not sure the growth actually manifests in this volume and the emotional beats all ring pretty hollow for being tied to Jean’s suddenly magically reappearing sister. The White Hot Room was a neat concept but that bit continues to be the “space we send characters when we need something to happen and otherwise can’t work it out with any other pre-existing settings. The ending of this was also incredibly cloying — good on Phillips for obviating the fighting but having all these (new to me!) gods appear and then letting Sarah walk given her compelling speech just fell entirely flat for me. Just a real bummer of late!

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

We might have been better off with several psychic conversations between Jean and Scott...
This series is just a 'Is Jean Grey happy?' run for a year.

This hasn't done much to advance the whole Phoenix/Jean Grey identity.

It's just reminded everybody:
- that Nova isn't dead.
- The Dark Gods weren't gone
- Jean sorely needed a costume update
- the cosmic entities are still in flux since G.O.D.S.
- Jean lost her whole Grey family back in the Cameron Hodge era
-----
Bonus: End of the series with the upcoming garbage pile, 'Age of Revelation' showing us the FUTURE?

[Adrienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a decent, lively, colorful book that spoke about how the Phoenix brought her sister back to another universe, or future, and wondered with the X-Men series--I do not recall her having a sister named Sara, or a sister, in fact. Yet I finished in a sitting and added to our library book order list for a future purchase.

[canivetepreto]

(read all the chapters separately)

[Justin Biondo · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the very end it felt a bit rushed but I liked what this story was trying to do for the series

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scifi Starlin drama with an emotional human twist.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the strongest in the series, but still an interesting exploration of Jean Grey’s relationship with her family.

[Drina Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

COLORFUL. she recreated his sister, as if she was alive, yet not alive. Odd. And after introducing her daughters, not Scott Summers, and other characters even in the universe like infinity, eternity, etc. her sister Sara still lives. Hm. That's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.