The Dark Phoenix Saga – Stuart Moore
One of the most popular X-Men epics of all time, revealing the birth of perhaps the deadliest force in the galaxy—Dark Phoenix
Piloting a shuttle through a deadly solar flare, Jean Grey saves the X-Men, but is possessed by one of the universe’s most powerful forces—the Phoenix. As she adapts to her new powers, the mutant team launches an assault against the clandestine organization known as the Hellfire Club. Once inside, however, Jean is tricked by the villain Mastermind into betraying her teammates. She becomes first the Hellfire Club’s Black Queen and then Dark Phoenix, as the power to destroy worlds bursts forth uncontrolled.
Shooting into deep space, Jean destroys an entire star system, then encounters a cruiser piloted by the spacefaring race the Shi’ar. When the cruiser is obliterated, the Shi’ar queen decrees that the Phoenix must die. But only the X-Men can hope to stop Dark Phoenix, and save Jean Grey.
I received a review copy from Titan Books
Currently streaming to a tv screen near you (and recently released on Blu-Ray and DVD) is the latest X-Men film: Dark Phoenix. To coincide with the release of the movie, Titan Books published the full prose novel of the Dark Phoenix Saga and it adds new depth and dimension to the original comic by Chris Claremont.
I first need to address the fact the movie seemed to receive mixed reviews – the first voices were not too flattering but I felt that as more people saw Dark Phoenix the perception shifted and the response seemed pretty positive. The original source material is a classic X-Men story and Stuart Moore’s novel of the story covers a lot of story, adds background and gives us more time with the characters we love and does a great job in bringing this much loved story to new readers. Also – it is a well established rule that the book is always better then the film!
We join the story just as the X-Men are facing imminent destruction. Only Jean Grey can save her friends but to do so will result in her own death. Jean knows she has only one option open to her and takes the heroic decision to make the supreme sacrifice to ensure the other X-Men survive.
Needless to say her death casts a long shadow and the X-Men take time to regroup and come to terms with the loss of their friend. Realising there are other mutants who may also need their help and guidance Storm and Colossus try to track down a young woman who has just come into possession of her powers – Kitty Pride. Unbeknown to the X-Men, Kitty has also come to the attention of Emma Frost. Ms Frost is Queen of the notorious Hellfire Club and she wants Kitty to come and learn under her guidance.
Dark Phoenix brings the X-Men into their first confrontation with the Hellfire Club and it is a great overview of how two powerful forces in Marvel’s universe became aware of each other. Clearly the characters are substantially developed in the comics and their original appearances don’t reflect the subsequent alliances which may be forged. However the book takes a good snapshot into a significant moment of X-Men history and gives much more background detail.
Here was where I found it a little strange – that expanded background. To take an iconic storyline and bring more detail and information to such a well known piece must have been a fascinating challenge. There were times I felt I was being treated to slightly too much additional detail and once I actually lost the thread of where we were in the narrative. But it was pulled back and the story progressed with me in tow.
Very much a story for the fans of the franchise. Despite being a big Marvel fan the X-Men has never been my favourite – just too many characters to keep track of down the years and I found it hard to dip in and out. But this book did what I wanted by delivering an exciting story with characters I knew well. Can’t ask for much more than that.
The Dark Phoenix Saga is published in Hardback and digital format by Titan Books. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/X-Men-Dark-Phoenix-Stuart-Moore/dp/1789090628/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1798QSFP0MP9H&keywords=dark+phoenix&qid=1559592020&s=gateway&sprefix=dark+pho%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-3