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The X-Men #136

Aug 1980
Chris Claremont, John Byrne

The X-Men #136 cover

Story Name:

Child of Light and Darkness!


Synopsis

The X-Men #136 synopsis by Anthony Silvestro
Rating: 5 stars

As Jean Grey, as Dark Phoenix, makes her way back to earth, Lilandra holds an emergency meeting with her council. They summarize her terrible deeds from last issue and ultimately decide that Phoenix must be eliminated, for the good of the universe! Meanwhile, the President of the United States contacts Avengers Mansion, finding only Jarvis there. He wants the Avengers to deal with the energy signature that was registered approaching earth and Jarvis wonders where Beast could have gone to, having been the one assigned to monitor duty. Of course, we know that Beast came to help the X-Men, where we find him in the process of whipping up a mnemonic scrambler that he hopes will prevent Jean from using her powers. Storm tries to comfort Cyclops, who knows he has to stay in control, lest the gravity of everything that may soon happen overwhelm him!

Meanwhile, Wolverine, Colossus, and Nightcrawler work out in the Danger Room, at a loss for what else to do. We then cut to Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where Dark Phoenix lands outside the home where she grew up, not knowing quite why she came here. She enters in the dead of night and is soon found by her parents and older sister, who are surprised to see her there. Jean is unable to block out their thoughts, and she can feel their fear of her, buried under their worry. Overwhelmed with their thoughts, and warring with herself, Dark Phoenix lashes out, turning a plant into crystal and threatening to do the same to her family. Her father rejects her and casts her out, while Jean continues her internal struggle.

She then notices a pea-soup fog outside and flies out, knowing the X-Men must be near. Nightcrawler then suddenly teleports on top of her, jamming Beast’s device onto her head, causing her pain as well as limiting her powers. The X-Men try to restrain her, but she quickly deals with both Colossus and Storm while Beast notes how Jean is quickly starting to burn out his scrambler. Wolverine tackles the momentarily off-balance Dark Phoenix, intent to finish the job, once and for all! The real Jean regains control for moment and pleads with Wolverine to kill her before she can continue to hurt anyone else. Wolverine is unable to go through with it and Dark Phoenix regains control, shorting out the device and telekinetically freezing the X-Men!

Dark Phoenix starts to torture them when Cyclops shows up, not even attempting to fight, and simply talks, in order to get through to Jean. He knows that the real Jean is still in there and that the real reason she hasn’t been able to kill them is because her love for them all still remains. Jean continues to struggle within herself and briefly peeks through again, Scott’s words reaching her. She then suddenly gets mind-blasted by Professor X, having just arrived with Angel. Dark Phoenix and Professor X then engage in an epic mental battle, fought on all planes of existence! Energy lights up the sky, when suddenly Jean collapses, Xavier having managed to successfully seal away Dark Phoenix once again! He admits he would have lost, but Jean was fighting with him, helping him from within herself. Scott mentally proposes to Jean, overjoyed that everything seems to be okay, and she accepts! Jean’s father demands an explanation, but just before Xavier can give it, he and the X-Men all suddenly disappear, whisked away to parts unknown! To be concluded!


 

Review / Commentaries


The X-Men #136 Review by (September 11, 2024)

Review: The penultimate issue of this landmark story starts with yet another breathtaking splash page as Dark Phoenix returns to earth! Some cool action and big emotions this issue as the X-Men fight Dark Phoenix once again, with the help of a device that Beast whipped up. Honestly it only helps a little bit, meant to signify how impossible these odds are. Some very poignant moments between Jean and a number of characters; Wolverine is unable to kill her, even after she pleads with him to, and Cyclops is able to get through to her in a very moving speech about how Jean’s love for all of them is still shining through the darkness. Jean’s war within herself throughout the issue is honestly heartbreaking. Not to mention, the absolutely epic mental battle between Dark Phoenix and Professor X, with some excellent staging and building tension, before everything seems to turn out alright. Things are not that simple of course, as the X-Men disappear right after their supposed happy ending, leading directly into the unforgettable conclusion to this landmark story next issue!

Comments: Part eight of the Dark Phoenix Saga. The President of the United States is drawn to look and sound just like Jimmy Carter, the actual President at this point in time.



> The X-Men comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

John Byrne
Terry Austin
Glynis Wein
John Byrne (Cover Penciler)
Terry Austin (Cover Inker)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Angel
Angel

(Warren Worthington III)
Beast
Beast

(Henry Phillip McCoy)
Colossus
Colossus

(Piotr Rasputin)
Cyclops
Cyclops

(Scott Summers)
Jarvis
Jarvis

(Edwin Jarvis)
Lilandra
Lilandra

(Lilandra Neramani)
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler

(Kurt Wagner)
Phoenix
Phoenix

(Jean Grey)
Professor X
Professor X

(Charles Xavier)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)



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