Scott Summers and Jean Grey by Bill Sienkiewicz

Phoenix (Jean Grey) by Adi Granov

Phoenix (Jean Grey) by Leo Matos

Scott Summers and Jean Grey by Steve Rude

1978 - Some early X-Men art by John Byrne

www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15916

"Oh Jean, things used to be so simple, so straight forward.  I loved you... but now?"

What if the Dark Phoenix Saga never happened?

Back in 2009, on his forum (http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30441), John Byrne wondered what might have happened if he could have changed Claremont's mind:

I was looking at THIS, in the Gallery, and got to musing on how different Marvel history might have been if the editors and I had leaned a little harder on Chris, every time he tried to boost Jean’s power levels no matter how I drew them.

Of course, Phoenix had already happened before I came on board, but if it had not been for my complaints that she was was rapidly turning the X-Men into fifth wheels in their own book, along with Chris’ determination to keep ramping up her power, Steve Grant might never have spoken those six little words, “Why not make her a villain?”

Steve’s idea was perfectly reasonable, in context. “Power corrupts” was a not uncommon theme in Marvel comics, and as Chris had already turned Jean’s powers well past 11, the notion that “absolute power corrupts absolutely” seemed an almost organic extension. Plus, Jean as a villain brought all kinds of additional angst to the book and characters. She was a favorite of mine, and I did not really want to see her go down that path, but it seemed like she needed to be sacrificed for the good of the other characters and the title itself.

I had no idea how literal that would turn out to be!

It’s undeniable that the Dark Phoenix Saga is what pushed UNCANNY X-MEN fully into the limelight, tho it took a while for the speculators to catch up and boost sales to match. In those early days we were still pretty much selling one comic to one warm body, and our sales lay well below the likes of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN or FANTASTIC FOUR.

But what if I’d thrown my weight around a bit more? Chris handling the characters in ways I didn’t like — principally using the captions and dialog to turn scenes into something other than what we’d plotted —would eventually lead to my leaving the book and moving on to FANTASTIC FOUR. A happier place for me, as it turned out (at least at the beginning), but what might have happened if I’d been able to keep X-MEN the happy place it had been when I first arrived? If Phoenix had been kept down to just Super Marvel Girl, rather than a nascent goddess?

There would have been no Dark Phoenix, of course. No need. Scott and Jean might have continued on their romantic arc undisturbed, so no reason for Scott to leave, or to fall for Madlyne Prior. Magneto would not have been allowed to “reform” — and any suggestion of him doing so would have been preposterous after what we’d planned for 150. UNCANNY X-MEN might well have stayed “small”, growing its audience, perhaps. but just as likely staying one step ahead of the cancellation axe, as it was for most of my time on the title.

There’s even the possibility that Chris, frustrated, might have been the one who left. There were already plans afoot to give me script approval (tho this was after Dark Phoenix), and if that had happened earlier, I might have found myself both writing and drawing the book.

Which, I suspect, would not have lasted long. UNCANNY did not really become “hot” until Paul Smith came along, and that was less due to Paul’s arrival than to the buzz the book was generating out of Dark Phoenix and all that followed. If Chris had left, or been reeled in, none of that would have happened.

Howard Chaykin has said that the present state of the comicbook industry is all my fault. That I, as the “first superstar” was the one who set everything on the path that led to what we see now. Looking back on my X-MEN days, and thinking about how different things might have been, I am suddenly thinking Howard might be right!

1986 - X-Factor house ad

1970s - John Byrne's Phoenix

Guessing circa 1976?

1989 - Anatomy of a cover - X-Factor #48

Phoenix by Jim Lee

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1986 - Anatomy of a cover - X-Factor #13

Grabbed from the Walt Simonson Appreciate Society Facebook page:

"X-Factor 13 cover. Pen and India ink. 10 x 15. 1986."

"Apparently, I drew this picture around the logo and corner box somehow, but no idea how I did it now. There are some cut lines on the cover, really more grooves, along the perimeter of the logo and corner box. In the printed version, there's a little bit of drawing over the logo itself. So it may be that the logo was added first, and then I did the final inking.  It's a mystery. 

Homages to Uncanny X-Men #138

Uncanny X-Men #238 is one of the more memorable covers of the 1980s. After Jean Grey's heartbreaking death, Cyclops needs some time away from the team to pull himself together again.

And here's a handful of homages to that memorable cover...

John Byrne's Fantastic Four Omnibus Volume #2 Has A Release Date!

Release date of December 18th, just in time for Christmas!

From Amazon.ca:

"Superstar John Byrne's legendary run concludes! Relive one of the most innovative periods in FF history, as the sensational She-Hulk replaces the Thing, Sue Richards becomes the Invisible Woman, and Mr. Fantastic is tried for crimes against the universe! Plus: Doctor Doom returns! The fate of Reed and Sue's unborn child! The resurrection of Jean Grey! And much more, as the FF confront deadly foes including the Mole Man, Doctor Octopus, Terminus, and Annihilus! Plus: the unfinished Last Galactus Story, collected for the very first time! "

"COLLECTING:Fantastic Four (1961) 261-295 and Annual 18-19, Alpha Flight (1983) 4, Thing (1983) 10 and 19, Avengers Annual 14; material from Secret Wars II 2, Epic Illustrated 26-34, What If? (1977) 36, What The -?! 2 and 10, Thing (1983) 7, Fantastic Four Roast and Special Edition"
Over 1,200 pages of Byrne FF Fun!

Byrne's X-Men End-Page sketches

http://www.comicartfans.com/galleryroom.asp?gsub=75415

1988 - X-Men: Inferno house ads

Some 1980s inspired cosplay from DragonCon 2012

Grabbed from LJinto's flickr page.

1986 - What Might Have Been - Byrne and Romita Jr. on the Fantastic Four

Over at Byrne Robotics:

"First, remember that I was not originally leaving Marvel. I had already planned to scale back on the FF, doing the writing only, with the possibility of John Romita Jr taking on the art. I intended to continue working on Marvel books at the same time I handled what was expected to be a single Superman title. 

Mike Hobson, then head of Publishing, wished me luck. He said he thought this would be good for DC, "and anything that good for DC will be good for the industry, and so good for Marvel."

Shooter, meanwhile, ordered massive rewriting and redrawing of the return of Jean Grey issue of FANTASTIC FOUR -- an issue he had approved in full just a few weeks before.
And THAT was when I realized I would have no choice but to leave Marvel."

Here's just an example of some lovely JRJR FF and what might have been...

Chris Claremont: "Dead Should Mean Dead"

I came across this article from the Austin Chronicle and thought I'd share it with you and get your thoughts.

Some of the more interesting bits...

- About Jean Grey returning to the Marvel Universe:

"We’d just gone to all the effort of saying, 'Jean is dead, get over it,' and they said, 'Haha, we fibbed.' So why should anyone trust us again? But that’s the difference between being the writer and being the boss."

- In conclusion, a rather provocative statement:

“The way we ended divvying it up is that Jean Grey is Marvel’s but Phoenix, and especially Dark Phoenix, are mine.”

1989 - X-Factor headshots for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe

From the Walt Simonson's Facebook albums:

"X-Factor's original members. Pencil. 9.5 x 15. 1989??. Found this as I was rummaging around for something else. These are the pencils for the portraits of the characters that appeared in the X-Factor entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. (Thanks to various folks who were able to identify the drawings, where I was clueless. )"

And here's the published version: