SPEAKER_01: 0:09

Hello and welcome to Uncanny Book Club. I'm Isaac Vader Trio, and joining me today is my co-host Adam Ward. Hello. I still have not watched that X-Men Phoenix, dark Phoenix movie.

SPEAKER_02: 0:23

Is that what it was?

SPEAKER_01: 0:24

I was wondering. Uh I think so, yeah. Yeah, I still haven't watched it. That's okay. Maybe you're just saving that for when we wrap things up with the next episode. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. You probably might have a few better things you could do with your time.

SPEAKER_02: 0:44

I mean, now that I've at least read uh a bulk of the story, I can at least go into the movie with a proper critique of how it plays out. I definitely saw the shades of X-Men X3, whatever that movie was. The third X- Original X-Men. The last stand. Last Stand, that was it. Thank you. I definitely could see where they got the inspiration for some of the scenes that happened in that film. I don't think we actually see Gene like go full Dark Phoenix, like at all, or even Phoenix. She was just kind of She's just evil. I think she was just being talking about the movie? Yeah, yeah. In the m in the movie, she was being exploited by Magneto, basically.

SPEAKER_01: 1:28

Yeah. I, you know, when I was reflecting on this and making notes, I was thinking back and I was like, man, I do not remember what happens in that movie. Like there's the beginning, she kills Scott. There's that scene where like Magneto and Professor X are there, and then I think Xavier dies for reasons or something. And then, you know, he like locked away parts of her brain and powers and stuff like that. And then I remember the end when Logan stabs her with his claws. Well, you definitely remember a lot more of that movie than I do. I mean, I I don't remember the entire middle. Like I remember like the first 10 minutes and the last three minutes. I didn't even remember that she killed Scott. Yeah, he's like missing from the entire movie. It's it's a weird death, too. You don't like see it. It happens semi-off screen, and I think it's just like a big flash of light, and maybe somebody goes back to where it is, and all that's left of him is a visor. I'm not sure. Imagine making an X-Men story without Cyclops. Feels like a sin. Imagine making this specific story without Cyclops.

SPEAKER_02: 2:43

Yeah, they're definitely, you know, pulling probably elements from Logan's and Scott's stories and kind of just melding them together and throwing Cyclops to the side. Like that's essentially kind of like at least part of what happens, you know? Although it doesn't play out the same way as it as it does in the movie, as it does in the book. Which I think is for the better. I actually really, really enjoyed these two issues we're gonna talk about. I very good. I'm a little nervous about what's gonna come after this, because I feel like what kind of happens in these two issues together is excellent.

SPEAKER_01: 3:26

Like I think you could put it up there with Proteus. I think that's fair and accurate. And I think generally I think that's kind of the the top shelf stuff. It's yeah, yeah, it's not a hot take.

SPEAKER_02: 3:39

It it is the take.

SPEAKER_01: 3:41

Well, to just to make sure we don't spend too much time lingering on a couple of maybe bad movies, should we uh just get into it then?

SPEAKER_02: 3:51

Yeah, I think so, because this is a treat that these this is I didn't know what I was expecting based off the terrible experiences from the films, given that has kind of been my true experience with the story mixed in, I guess. Like I think it was covered in the animated show, but I could not so I think that's actually probably where I saw the majority of this like pre-reading. Obviously, being aware of the characters and the general concept, like you know, she goes crazy. But this was so much more complex, it was so much deeper between the character interactions, the you know, some of the characters who were kind of coming back into this story to provide like assistance, like we see Hank, we see Charles come back, I think in a very more meaningful way. In a very Charles Xavier way, based on the version of Charles that we've seen in these issues.

SPEAKER_01: 4:54

Yeah, I'm interested in hearing some of your takes about Charles and issue 136, but we'll get there. We'll get there.

SPEAKER_02: 5:01

Yeah, so why why don't you kind of give us the scene set here? Because there's kind of a lot of uh story for us to go through.

SPEAKER_01: 5:08

Issue 135, we are greeted with the text Witness the Birth of a God. Dark Phoenix immediately begins fighting the X-Men, who are outclassed and holding back due to not wanting to hurt Gene. We get to meet Senator Mark Kelly, a presidential candidate, who is meeting with his old friend Shaw in the aftermath of the supposed X-Men rampage in his club. The police tell Senator Kelly that they aren't equipped to deal with mutants, and Shaw slyly suggests that Sentinels may be a better long-term play, and one that is under the control of the federal government. Meanwhile, the outburst of Phoenix's power is noticed by the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and the Silver Surfer. Beast arrives just in time to see Phoenix leaving Earth, and we see a Wii chat between Professor X and Moira regarding Phoenix and the power readings that they're getting. Phoenix does a little bit of space travel, opens a Stargate, and goes to a whole new solar system, and in her hunger for power, decides to consume an entire sun, exterminating 5 billion people on a nearby planet. This act is witnessed by the strongest ship in the Shiar fleet, which engages Phoenix in battle while hailing Lilandra. Lilandra ends up recognizing both Jean and Phoenix, and after the ship is destroyed, she says to summon her ministers, the threat must be dealt with once and for all, no matter the cost. We then jump back to the X-Men who are bumming around the X-Mansion's kitchen, having a soothing kappa besides Logan, who pops a beer, and they're all kind of contemplating what went down. They're worrying about Scott, who is sort of just not talking or responding to anything and just sitting there. But in the final pages, he jerks to his senses and announces that he can sense Phoenix returning to Earth and that she's hungry. I think we need to start with the cover. Yes, I think that's very fair. I think looking at and a little bit of a spoilers for the next issue, I think it's fair to say that 135 and 136 are some of, if not the most iconic, X-Men covers, and maybe some of the most iconic in comics just in general.

SPEAKER_02: 7:40

Yeah, certainly 135, like this whole front page look that they're giving Gene, you know, crushing the uh the X-Men's uh title, that has been redrawn many, many times over and over with other characters in some shape or form.

SPEAKER_01: 8:00

Overall, awesome, like so awesome. It's very attention getting. Like you would notice that on the uh on the shelf of a comic store.

SPEAKER_02: 8:09

Yeah, I uh agree 100%. You know, they've really done, and I've complimented some of this in the past, but the colorist is just nailing the depth and I think flavor of some of the characters, like looking at this costume for Dark Phoenix, like just the kind of like black and red sort of outlining that they did, um, with like the golden Phoenix emblem and the belt swishing in the air. It's just an awesome, it just looks awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 8:42

And a crazy look on her face. That is a feature of a lot of art panels uh throughout these this story, though. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 8:51

There was a lot of fun, you know, you could tell uh fun panels where you could see that John was having a lot of fun, probably like depicting this pretty intense fight between the X-Men and Gene. There's like a scene where I think it's near the end of the fight, where Gene's now kind of taken out all of the X-Men and kind of incapacitated them, and she's just like standing there with like her arms raised to the sky and her hair is like you know, in the wind. It looks great. It's she's uh she's summoning some lightning. Yeah, it's uh just awesome, and then even later on, there's like the a lot of big Phoenix art that was you know really delicate and descriptive. And then of course we get like the space scenes that are just so awesome.

SPEAKER_01: 9:43

I love it. They are very good. And obviously, art is like a very good uh discussion point for an audio-only podcast, but I mean, we really do have to call it out because it's just excellent. And not even while we're talking about like the space stuff, not you know, it's not even just the art of her, you know, consuming the star, it exploding, destroying the I I believe we learned later it's uh called Dabari, the planet. Like the descriptions that they wrote alongside it is also very good. And I've been critical about you know, moments where you know we're leaning too heavy into exposition, but yeah, I found it all just very interesting and just really it really helps to paint more of like a personal picture of what people experienced on like the planet. And I I love the kind of details that Chris goes into about like, you know, here's what happened on the side of the planet that was facing the star. Here's you know, the people on the other side experienced the craziest Aurora Borealis, and then they all died.

SPEAKER_02: 10:52

Yeah, even the you know, kind of the horror that you end up seeing too on some of the faces as they're kind of facing Phoenix in this like space battle is just like very illustrative of the needed emotion kind of in this conflict. It really raised the stakes and made this more than just an X-Men story on Earth. And I like that that's kind of where I'm very curious what's gonna happen next after these two issues. Um, because we have this big, you know, uh space element that really tie kind of ties these stories that we've had ongoing now for several issues with Lalandra and you know, back home now, she's the Empress. Charles has kind of left her side, but like that's kind of been like this lingering thread that's out there, and to see kind of Chris pulling it here to kind of tie this Phoenix story back to where it all started, you know, when Jean had the interaction with Lalandra and her brother the first time. So it's it's kind of a nice puzzle that's been all put together, and Chris did a nice job leaving it all, for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 12:04

One of the things I was a little surprised to see, and I think over the past several issues, we've just been kind of getting a lot of big characters or important characters thrown into the mix, even if it is just a quick view of them. Uh, we got Senator Kelly in this one. Big character making his first appearance. Yeah, I wasn't sure if this was his first or not.

SPEAKER_02: 12:27

I had to go actually and look that up because I was immediately. I only just assumed. Uh it was. Yeah. No, no, yeah, it is. Yeah, a huge X-Men antagonist. And to see the mention of the Sentinel program by Shaw is like a nice thread of probably what's to come. Mm-hmm. I'm assuming. And I I imagine that's kind of where Kitty's gonna kind of come back into the fold.

SPEAKER_01: 12:52

Sure. I did kind of make a note that you know, the Dark Phoenix saga is such an incredibly pivotal moment in X-Men history. And even though it's less of a focus of this specific issue, Shaw suggesting Sentinels to Senator Kelly story-wise, is also just crazy impactful about you know the cascading effects that lead from that conversation.

SPEAKER_02: 13:19

I don't know that I ever knew it was Shaw that kind of laid the breadcrumbs, so to speak. But like obviously we know that the Sentinels have existed to this point. It's not like it's uh necessarily an original idea by Shaw, but I don't know that I ever tied him to the origins of Kelly, nor Kelly's exposure to kind of like being the face of the Sentinel program. A fun little note, right? Like I'm I'm happy that we're kind of seeing Chris uh push forward. It'll be interesting to see where things go from here. I was curious what your thoughts were about like that first fight that we kind of see unfold between Gene and the X-Men. You know, there was a lot of moments where there was hesitation, I think, to like really take her at face value and at the power level that she was kind of presenting herself at. Like they were pulling their punches, right? They didn't want to hurt Gene. Do you think that fight would have gone differently had they went all in?

SPEAKER_01: 14:21

No, not really. Um, I and I think part of the reason is I don't think we can assume Scott would go all in, even if the others did. I don't I mean, does he do anything really in this fight? I don't remember him doing much, if anything. But I mean, no. I think it's really just a demonstration of how much power she's amassed at this point. And we see just some interesting things happening too, where previously a lot of what we've seen of Gene is like, oh, she's super powerful, but it seems like you know, this whole Phoenix business is really just like amplifying her existing power set. Whereas at the beginning of here, we have a wild interaction where Gene untransforms Colossus and then also turns a tree that he's carrying into gold. So we're kind of dipping our toes into more of that reality warping sort of power set. Yeah. I think at times maybe it's been explained as her TK is so powerful that she's like reorganizing like the atoms and molecules, but I I have no idea.

SPEAKER_02: 15:37

I thought the inclusion of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers and uh Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, like really kind of amped up the stakes here. Like this is getting the recognition of all of the big players on Earth, but also Silver Surfer who is off planet someplace. And I'm I'm hoping that we see him show up. Like that was kind of the implication, right?

SPEAKER_01: 16:03

I I mean a little bit. He he says, can it be? I sense a kindred soul. She is human, flawed, and that flawed bids fair to destroy her. I must aid her if I can. A child of the stars, so like the Silver Surfer, and yet not like me at all. Maybe this is just meant to be an advertisement for Silver Surfer, like that panel. It's kind of just like a hey man, remember this uh character exists? Maybe buy some comics. I mean, you could be correct.

SPEAKER_02: 16:35

We could also conceivably see him, given the fact that we are heading into what I can only assume is a confrontation in space, or at least Gene is held accountable for destroying an entire planet. I both enjoyed like I both enjoyed that. Like, I think it really provided Gene with the the gravity needed to be this massive threat to everything. But then to have her kind of come back to Earth seemed a little out of left field. Like, why go all the way out to this random planet? And unless it's just Gene kind of feeling, I guess, like uh sentimental, or she wanted to go and close the book on seeing her family, which I have a lot of opinions about because yeah, I mean, well, we'll get there. Well, we'll get there in issue uh 136. That whole interaction like really made me not like Gene's father.

SPEAKER_01: 17:33

But we'll get there. We'll get there. Super fair. Yeah. I like that it's just sort of brushed off after two. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 17:42

Maybe that's they're just uh that's just how he is. Gary. I think that's his name. I actually don't know. Gary Gray? That sounds like an awful name.

SPEAKER_01: 17:50

That does sound pretty bad. Gary Gray. Gary Gary is used quite frequently for superheroes, but Gary Gray just sounds and feels bad coming out of the mouth. Uh her father is John Gray, which No, we're gonna we're gonna call him Gary the rest of this episode for sure. Yeah, Gary Gray.

SPEAKER_02: 18:16

Anywho, that was it. Um, I th I felt like there was a lot of nice um character interactions, especially in that early fight, you know, really seeing Storm show uh some leadership and kind of trying to give the X-Men like a like a minute to catch their breath, given that, you know, their plane has exploded and they're now like falling out of the sky.

SPEAKER_01: 18:41

I do love that Kurt made a quick thing about that. Oknine, not another aircraft destroyed. I love that it's always him that makes these little notes. He's uh the meta breaker. He's like Spider-Man. He's just keeping count of like how much cash they've wasted. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 19:01

But yeah, I I felt like the Storm, I think amongst the characters, like Storm plays a very important role as like this sister figure with Gene, which we kind of see especially touched upon in the next issue. But even her approach and a lot of the approach by the X-Men, like really came from a place of love, like really trying to reason with Phoenix and try to, I guess, like can talk Jean out of whatever's happening to her, which they obviously don't really truly understand. So I I I really liked kind of this picture that we're getting between Gene's chosen family and her legitimate family.

SPEAKER_01: 19:44

I think that might be most of what I have. So if you want, we can go through the 136 plot and then we can talk a little bit more about her legitimate family, Gary Gray.

SPEAKER_02: 19:56

Yeah, I think the only other thing that I just want to mention is again the scene of Gene destroying the sun and absorbing it and how it is laid out and the descriptions of how this scene is unfolding. It was super cinematic. I really hate that I feel like if I do watch this movie, not exist. I'm assuming it is it this happens. Do you want to know? Yeah, I want to know. Does that happen in the movie? No, no, dude. It is like made for a movie or a TV show or something. Like it's it's literally shot for shot cinematic.

SPEAKER_01: 20:32

It's too much uh budget to to make it make a make a um play it and explode it. It's more that this event occurs, but it's not Gene that does it. It's the Phoenix that does it, and it's before the movie starts. And there's a few Dabari people who are the bad guys in the movie, and they're trying to get Gene to give them the Phoenix power. Wow, that sounds so it's a weird repurposing of what's there. That is so awful. What the hell? They're plant people. They're plant people? These, so the Dabari people, this is in my notes for next issue, but they are, I think, in an official guide or something like that, or I I tried to do like a slight amount of research on it, but the Dabari are called asparagus people. That's like their intergalactic slang term that people call them. Huh. Are you trying to look at what they look like? I mean, I am trying to find it, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:38

Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, I don't know that I necessarily got that from the art in the book at least.

SPEAKER_01: 21:44

It must be the official like tie-in book that really explains it when they call them asparagus people.

SPEAKER_02: 21:51

Well, I mean, looking at the panel as it's drawn, like, I don't see plant people. Like, they just kind of look like they have fluffy hair. Aliens. Yeah. My I mean, literally, my note in the next issue is goddamn, do they make some ugly aliens in the in these books?

SPEAKER_01: 22:09

They're just absolutely terrible to look at. Between the Dabari and the and the Shiar, it's it's rough out there.

SPEAKER_02: 22:16

Well, the Shiar and all of the even the council species that are included just are so hideous.

SPEAKER_01: 22:26

Issue 136 starts us off with a menacing reimagining of the Phoenix destroying the star, and we see Lalandra briefing her ministers. We also see the president calling the Avengers mansion. I rate that there isn't an Avenger on standby to answer. Poor Jarvis worries about what happened to Beast. Speaking of Beast, he's building a cool contraption to try and lock down the Phoenix's power while Peter, Logan, and Kurt train in the danger room. Phoenix returns home to Earth in the middle of the night, and then home home to her parents' house, and we see her experience a lot of inner turmoil. It seems Jean Grey is still in there after all. Her parents and sister all come down to talk to her. They're worried. Dark Phoenix comes out a bit and changes a plant into crystals, and her dad exclaims, Who are you? What are you? In heaven's name, what do you want from us? You're not mine, not any part of me. I deny you, I cast you out. It's very dramatic. Phoenix notices it's getting a little misty outside and heads out to confront Storm, but is surprised by Kurt teleporting Beast's device onto her head. The X-Men begin fighting her. Unfortunately, her powers aren't completely locked down, but they are reduced. Wolverine notices that everyone is still holding back, and he jumps in to do what needs to be done. But right before he strikes, Jean comes back to herself and begs him to finish her. He hesitates just for a moment, and Phoenix removes the scrambler. This is when Scott appears. Phoenix is eager to fight him, but Scott says that she can essentially kill him if she wants to. He's not gonna fight back or anything like that. Instead, he points out how Phoenix could have killed all of them at any time and hasn't yet. Why? He points out that Gene Grey's love for the X-Men led her to sacrificing herself. Love for him led to her resurrection, and love for the whole universe almost caused her death a second time, when she saved all of reality. He says, quote, your existence, your very creation springs from love, from the noblest emotions a human can obtain. And now you want to deny that? To deny yourself? It seems like he's really getting through to her. When from out of nowhere, a rogue Professor X slides in and mind blasts her. The two engage in a mental battle, but Professor X is able to install more permanent psionic circuit breakers. He thanks Gene as he notes that he would have lost the fight if not for her helping internally. Uh, I think we essentially have to read a little bit word for word here too, but Scott scoops her up saying, Gene, she's so still, I'm not even sure she's alive. I want her to live, but what if she hasn't changed? What if she's still Dark Phoenix? I'll love her just the same. For better, worse, richer, poorer, sickness, health, till death do us part. Gene awakens and says it sounds like Scott has just proposed. He asks what she says to that, and Gene says yes, with the two embracing, officially fiancés, I guess. It's looking like a happy ending with the X-Men and her family, when suddenly the X-Men all glow and are spirited away to parts unknown, probably space. But we'll have to wait for the next issue, the fate of the Phoenix. Yeah, what's Gary Jean think? Gary Gray. Gary Gray. Not Gary Jean.

SPEAKER_02: 26:12

Yeah, Gary Gray. Standing there aloof. I don't know. The X-Men seemed as surprised as we were. Dude, I do not like do not like Gary Gray. It's the the whole interaction between him and Gene. I actually felt how this started, the interaction was actually, I think, what you would expect in a situation like that, right? Like it's understandable that her parents, while trying to show their love and concern for Gene, still felt afraid of her. I think that's a very natural way of dealing with that situation to see somebody you love appear uh in the middle of the night at your house, dressed strange. Seemingly without a reason. Seemingly without a reason, with a crazy look in your eyes. Yeah, you know, like they're concerned and they love you, and they're, you know, hoping that you don't do something crazy. That you're not on meth. But then, you know, things obviously escalate as you know, the Phoenix is really kind of preying on Jean's uh vulnerabilities and faults and probing deeper, and I think trying to make a mountain out of a molehill of how her parents are reacting. And then we kind of see the entire situation just go off the rails as she starts kind of like acting out and trying to demonstrate her power. We see her like create like this crystal, you know, with the with just the thought of her hands. And honestly, like the whole way that the father was just suddenly like, you know what? Yeah, who are you? And it goes berserk.

SPEAKER_01: 27:52

What are you in heaven's name? Yeah. I deny the it's a little much. You are not mine.

SPEAKER_02: 28:00

And and even seeing Gene having like the thought bubble, like her initial thought bubble was dad, no, please.

SPEAKER_01: 28:09

And then what she says is, watch your tone with me, old man. You dance with death, and worse than eh? That fog? Where did it come from? She's easily distracted by fog.

SPEAKER_02: 28:22

Yeah. Well, I mean, she probably knows. And I I imagine for somebody who can sense your deepest, darkest, even unconscious thoughts, not detecting that suddenly would probably be incredibly alarming. Especially when you know the only person capable of doing what's happening is Storm. And well, I mean, as we've seen, Storm is by far one of the strongest members, I think, still at this point. But I think I mentioned earlier, we kind of see this contrast through this entire two issues of the X-Men still trying to approach Gene from a place of love. Like they're still, despite being defeated once, despite knowing that she's incredibly strong, they still, still are trying to save her. And when you compare that to her family, who disowned her when things got hard, it kind of really shows the love that having people like Scott and uh Logan and all of the other X-Men around her really brings and how meaningful that connection is. And even obviously seeing the proposal that happens at the end with Scott, I think, really kind of completing this hero's journey of love that he's been on to indirectly and then directly propose Gene and have a really lovely moment. I thought their whole story here was beautiful, the way Scott diffused the situation and was clearly getting through to Gene and you know, really trying to plead to the good that still remained in Phoenix. You could probably argue that Scott. Kind of making the approach he did really probably allowed the situation that followed with Charles to play out the way it did and really kind of give Gene the room she needed to start mentally fighting back. However, Charles, however, Charles just mucks it all up again, man.

SPEAKER_01: 30:19

Just mucks it all up. You know, I thought you would point this out. And the first time that I read through this, I was like, God, this is so typical, Charles. You know, when I've looked at it like a second or like a third time, it seems less egregious and ultimately is probably the right call. It doesn't feel as bad.

SPEAKER_02: 30:48

I'm assuming you're saying it was probably the correct call because of how it turned out. Um like, is that pretty much your reasoning? I could be devil's advocate and say if Charles didn't do that, given that Scott was getting through to Gene, they could have diffused the situation and had a consenting conversation between Gene and Charles to then do the thing that Charles did.

SPEAKER_01: 31:15

Yeah. That is a good take on things. I don't have anything for that. I I mean, I think ultimately it's something that needs to occur. I don't think this is a situation where they just talk her down and then she's good forever. Like, even when she's pretty much fully herself, I would say, she's like, I hunger, Scott, for a joy, a rapture beyond all comprehension. That need is a part of me too. It consumes me. And that's like right before she's blasted. She has the you know, the urge of like consuming power or I mean energy vampire is not at all what the situation is, but you know, she's just got like an uncontrollable hunger. Yeah, she's got uh galactus syndrome. You know, my brain was thinking the exact same thing as soon as he started talking. I was like, he's gonna say galactus syndrome.

SPEAKER_02: 32:15

Yeah, I mean, I will slightly give you the nod on that it was probably the right choice. As it turned out well.

SPEAKER_00: 32:24

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01: 32:25

There's a really I the he also has a really sick line when they're starting their psychic battle. So I'm gonna I'll read this one out. Power without restraint, knowledge without wisdom, age without maturity, passion without love. I must fight you, Gene. I think it just paints such a good picture. Like that whole, like, you know, you have incredible power, there's no restraint. And by you, we're talking Dark Phoenix. Gene loves. Dark Phoenix is no love, all passion.

SPEAKER_02: 32:56

Even the way that this is illustrated in color too, like the entire sequence, all of these panels of this giant pink Phoenix in behind Gene representing her incredible power. You know, you have Charles crawling on his hands, and you know, is is prone crying because he knows what has to happen. It's it's very emotional and very well done. And you're probably right that I'm being overly critical of the Chuck situation, but he really does just come in and muck it all up, though, doesn't he? He definitely comes and mucks it all up. I think it would be different if that was like the plan, you know, like Scott kind of yeah, maybe not doesn't directly mean to like cause this situation to unfold the way it does, like with the proposal and oh sorry, the proposal happens after. But the way like his his plea was kind of unfolding.

SPEAKER_01: 33:54

Um, but like that could have been the play, you know. Yeah. I mean, one thing that we'll give to old old man Chuck, everybody else had a problem with holding back, you know, was the issue. They couldn't really make any headway. Not not him. Yeah, yeah. I I think that's part of, you know, he's got the age and the wisdom. So he knows, you know, this sucks. I hate this. This does need to happen.

SPEAKER_02: 34:23

It's uh very similar to Logan's sort of interaction here, where we see him admit that what needs to happen is something that no other X-Men could do. And then he can't do it. Yeah, he can't do it. He has just that moment of pause when he sees Gene, D Gene, pleading for him to kill her, and then he can't.

SPEAKER_01: 34:50

And that's where we connect to X-Men 3, the last stand. Yeah, that's lift that's lifted, except things go way different in that movie. Yeah, way different. Yeah. They may have fumbled the message of unconditional love a little bit.

SPEAKER_02: 35:09

Going back to what you said at the beginning, the fact that they did that story and Cyclops wasn't involved is crazy.

SPEAKER_01: 35:15

It's well, I mean, I you know, I I you won me over a little bit by saying like Logan takes his place. Yeah, yeah. But like, because, you know, they just gave up on Scott. But yeah, that's a weird. And you know what? Scott is part of the newer Dark Phoenix movie. However, I do think he's also just super like he's sort of just there. And maybe it's because he's also boring in that movie, and man, they just don't know how they just don't know how to do Cyclops real good for like the movies. They'll probably nail it on the next one, but I mean he's just sort of second fiddle to Xavier, Meg's, Phoenix, Beast. So, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 36:03

I think mostly because he wasn't really there from the start. Like, I think if he was there and Gene was there in the same capacity that Hank was, and and like they've now been in a few movies at this point. Yeah. Whereas I think they like start recruiting them in an apocalypse, right? Yeah, that's what we saw.

SPEAKER_01: 36:25

Yeah, that was terrible. It's really bad. I think I fell asleep during that one, actually. But that's another weird one where like Apocalypse and Gene are having like they're blasting each other, and then suddenly it's like the there's like a Phoenix tease, and it's like, oh god, I guess we're going here next. They're really bad at building to it.

SPEAKER_02: 36:47

I th honestly, I feel like to do it right, it would need to be built out over a series of films. Because when you look at like three or four movies, yeah, it either needs to be over like three or four films, or it has to be like a TV series, where you know, you you have more wiggle room to you know provide the breadcrumbs and I think build the relationship. Like that's the big part. This story works because of Gene and Scott's relationship, the relationship that Gene has with all the S-mens, the relationship she has with Logan, the relationship she has with Chuck. Like it's all a very emotional place. And you could honestly probably take everything from the introduction of this team to now, take some of the filler out, and you would probably have like a decent series to like start off with the team kind of like fresh face, recruiting them, you get everybody going, you bring Gene and you know, back in the fold, you know, she comes back to the team, blah, blah, blah. You literally could do it shot for shot, and I think it would be like good. And then like the climax of all this is like what we're seeing here.

SPEAKER_01: 38:04

Yeah, I mean, the issue is they start the movie with what happens in issue 100 and then jump to issue 135. Yeah. Yeah. It's like there's been a lot that's gone on in between there.

SPEAKER_02: 38:17

100%. And I think that's why like you would really need to build a relationship because this story that we read is just the culmination of everything involving Phoenix since Phoenix has been introduced to the story, and all of the developments and friendships, believe death of the characters and how they each individually coped. And, you know, this really is the culmination of that story with Phoenix and you know, having this proposal at the very end, and then presumably space court or whatever the hell's about to happen.

SPEAKER_01: 38:53

I think the only other thing that I wanted to mention, and we sort of danced on this a little bit with the reaction of her family and thinking, like, hey, where's things going next? I think it's such a good turn right at the end. Just enough happens in the book that you sort of forget about the Shiara a bit. Yeah. And it's like they've really won the day. This is gonna be a happy ending issue. And then it's like, ah, beans, things gonna get bad again when they all disappear.

SPEAKER_02: 39:24

Yeah. I really like these two issues. If they left it at that, then I would have probably been satisfied. I hope that it's as good as this. That's it. That's all I have. Like, I hope then I hope the next one, I'm assuming, is where this kind of gets wrapped up because it's a special double-size issue. A double boy. This Marvel comic could be worth$2,500 to you. I tried looking for the details inside, they weren't there. So what's uh what do you what are you giving this?

SPEAKER_01: 39:55

What's the rating? Nine? Like a nine, a solid nine? That is very good. Maybe slightly too heavy on exposition over the two issues, but I mean no overall not too bad. And a lot of the exposition that they did have was also very good. So kind of hard, but they you know it it finds a a a pretty good balance. Um I think it's a good example of the power of love saves the day, similar to Thunderbolts out now on Disney Plus. I just watched that actually. Me too. They should give us money for the mention just throwing it out there. Yeah, Disney, give us some money. I liked I liked Thunderbolts pretty good. Bummed about Taskmaster. I'm not uh but yeah. It wasn't Taskmaster, you said for Yelena, you know? It was it it's that it wasn't the right one. You said for character. Yeah, I like Yell Yelena, Yelena.

SPEAKER_02: 40:54

Yelena. Solid, solid nine. Yeah, solid nine. Uh same with me. I really enjoyed it. I kind of left not really having anything massively negative to say about it. I enjoyed it pretty much start to finish. Uh, I really loved the character development that we saw, and you know, I've been talking on and on and on about relationships and how great they are when they work and how terrible they are when they don't. We kind of see that play out here. So this is all to say. Nine for me. I will be very curious to see how this all fits together, because you know, I am expecting space court. Uh, they're gonna want to put Gene to death or imprisonment or something to that effect, or you know, they'll be like, well, we don't want to kill Gene, but we want to kill the Phoenix, and you the Phoenix is in you, so sucks to suck. They'll get She-Hulk as a lawyer. Yeah, maybe Matt Murdoch will come too. It'll be uh, you know, they'll have to go to some sort of reality space courtroom and uh settle it, probably run by mojo.

SPEAKER_01: 41:59

Yeah, and then then you uh broadcast it around the the galaxy probably be a big hit. God, have they ever done a like mojo as a reality court judge? It feels so right. And I'm not a big like I'm not real big into when we like comics on little mojo arcs, but it feels very right. Make it happen, Marvel. That's a freebie. Run with it. Just but yeah, I do feel bad about splitting us up into 135, 136, and then 137, 138 separate, just because I feel like discussing them as a whole would be great. But also, with 137 being a double issue, it sounds like a bit of a logistical nightmare from our end.

SPEAKER_02: 42:48

Oh, it's totally fine for me. I felt like we had a lot to say, and it's I'd rather it all be good content than us having to like shred it down just to talk about Gary Gray? Yeah, Gary Gray would never see the light of day.

SPEAKER_01: 43:02

I would have had to cut it for time. So sad. Gary Gray lives. Alrighty. Well, that does it for this episode of Uncanny Book Club. Thanks for listening, and we hope to see you next episode where we'll discuss issues 137 and 138. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Uncanny Book Club. If you enjoyed this podcast, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share with a friend.