About to Read Dark Phoenix Saga: What Do I Need to Know Beforehand

[miyamotofreak]

The only X-Men experience I have is the movies, tv shows, and first year of Ultimate X-Men comics. And I vaguely remember the tv shows and movies. What background info do I need to know? Since this is a Jean Grey story is there anything specific I should know about her beforehand? Any team members that may be obscure?

[conorkilpatrick]

Not much. Back then comics were written to be new reader friendly.

[miyamotofreak]

Not much. Back then comics were written to be new reader friendly.
Thanks. I was going to go into it vanilla, but everyone always talks about the X-Men like it's drenched in the stories of the past and wasn't sure how far that extended. Another thing I want to say though is how damn expensive the book is. $25? DKR is comparable and that's $10 less. I'm happy I got it for $5.
EDIT: Just began it and came back for one last thing before I finish it. The book actually went out of its way to introduce X-Men from the past. That really is something you don't see these days.

[conanobrien]

Thanks. I was going to go into it vanilla, but everyone always talks about the X-Men like it's drenched in the stories of the past and wasn't sure how far that extended. Another thing I want to say though is how damn expensive the book is. $25? DKR is comparable and that's $10 less. I'm happy I got it for $5.
EDIT: Just began it and came back for one last thing before I finish it. The book actually went out of its way to introduce X-Men from the past. That really is something you don't see these days.

Good to hear that this is indeed new reader friendly. Im going to pick this up once I finish First Class.

[conorkilpatrick]

EDIT: Just began it and came back for one last thing before I finish it. The book actually went out of its way to introduce X-Men from the past. That really is something you don't see these days.

Like I said, times have changed. Back then, every issue of a comic would introduce the characters, who they were and what they did. It's how people got into comics without the internet. :)

[conanobrien]

Like I said, times have changed. Back then, every issue of a comic would introduce the characters, who they were and what they did. It's how people got into comics without the internet. :)

It also seems like the older the comic I read the more story it conveys in a smaller number of pages. I have read new stories that take 30 pages to tell as much story as old Allen Moore Green Arrow did in 7.

I imagine it's because there are large numbers of panels instead of two page spreads and things but I wish there could be more of a middle ground. I'm actually sure there is and someone will come in here and school me and list books that get this balance right.

[conorkilpatrick]

It also seems like the older the comic I read the more story it conveys in a smaller number of pages. I have read new stories that take 30 pages to tell as much story as old Allen Moore Green Arrow did in 7.

I imagine it's because there are large numbers of panels instead of two page spreads and things but I wish there could be more of a middle ground. I'm actually sure there is and someone will come in here and school me and list books that get this balance right.

It's called "decompression" and "writing for the trade", two foreign concepts in comics in the 1980s.

[johnvferrigno]

I kind of miss the old Jim Shooter edited issues where there would always be a panel on like page 3 where every single character was standing around and they all made comments and called each other by name, so you knew who everyone was. And usually Hawkeye said something smart ass. It kind of silly if you read a bunch of issues in a row, but it was nice when you picked up a new title on a whim.

[georgexjr]

ya know those hardcovers marvel puts out everymonth? "marvel premiere classics" dark pheonix should be one of these. i'd pay like 30 bucks for that ...or 37% of of 30.

another one would be infinity guantlet. though i can see marvel doing a infinity gauntlet/war/crusade omnibus.

[miyamotofreak]

So far I'm reading through this very slow. After every issue it's like I had my fill for the day. Quite satisfying compared to current comics. Also as I'm reading some similarities to Batman RIP keep showing up. Which reminds me that I still don't have the last issue of RIP.

[miyamotofreak]

Just finished it. A great story that at some points really shows its age. I imagine it would read much better in issues than in trade and I see what points Conor was trying to make in iFanboy episode one (five). I'm interested in what people think of the story (other than unabashed praise) so if anyone has any links to essays about it or anything else, I'm very interested. Looking at the wikipedia alone though, it's interesting yet a bit unsettling to see how much Jim Shooter changed the story. I know it isn't too far off from say Quesada with Spider-man but still unsettling.