PHOENIX #10 – The Great Battle of Light and Dark

Creative Team – Stephanie Phillips(writer). Alessandro Miracole(artist). David Curiel(color artist). VC’s Cory Petit(letterer). Yasmine Putri(cover artist).

Published by Marvel Entertainment

Catch up with Phoenix #9 here!

The Story

Jean Grey has experienced several lifetime’s worth of trauma in her life, starting from the moment she tossed that frisbee that ended with her best friend losing her life. She talks a lot about the moments before and after a life altering decision, which Adani is about to experience herself.

Jean knows what it’s like to see your entire life change for the worst by a decision that takes a second to make and she refuses to let Adani experience that. Now that the final battle is here, it’s time for Adani to make this decision for herself, and not allow Perrikus or the other Dark God’s to make that decision for her.

Speaking of Perrikus, he says that while Jean has limitless power, she limits herself by having empathy. Moments such as when she chose to save a prison from a black hole, rather than stopping Perrikus’ escape pod is when he says she has failed, more specifically failing Adani. Showing empathy towards the prison allowed the situation with Adani to come to fruition, making this all Jean’s fault. But Jean says she made the decision to save the most amount of people, while killing Adani’s father and bring her to the God Quarry is Perrikus’ fault.

The Dark God’s think they’re able to distract Jean while Adani, who has power from the Phoenix Force, acts as a vessel to spread parts of the Shadow Realm to all parts of the universe. But Jean is on to their plan, and and can play the same game even better.

Back on Throneworld II, Adani is in the midst of pulling off the Dark God’s plan, but Jean refuses to let her go through with it. It’s time for Adani to make a choices between darkness and the light.

The Writing

Phoenix #10 is such a strong representation of what Jean Grey strives for, to help wherever she can in the universe, take accountability for her decisions, and ensure that no one goes through the trauma she’s gone through herself. Jean is exactly who Adani needs, and vice versa.

The inner dialogue of Jean throughout the comic is powerful, to say the least. Each memory she speaks of hits like a ton of bricks, and it starts from when Stephanie Phillips immediately sets the tone at the beginning of Phoenix #10. It feels like you’re reading straight out of Jean’s soul, and shows you just how far she has come since accepting her role as the defender of the universes using the Phoenix Force.

While you may think with a comic with this big of a climatic battle, that this is the end of the story, but that’s absolutely not the case. Phillips set up something even more excitement coming Jean’s way, or should I say someone? You can read about it here!

The Art

The artwork in Phoenix #10 is fantastic all the way through. There are some pretty off-the-wall panels dealing with illusions courtesy of D’Chel, and they’re as stunning as they are odd. Alessandro Miracole does a great job making the comic a feast for the eyes, with David Curiel and Cory Petit. Phoenix looks as gorgeous and abstract as ever, giving her a perfect otherworldly vibe. Her fight against the Dark Gods was as exciting as it was fun to look at.

Overall Grade – 10/10

Let me know in the comments below what you thought of Phoenix #10!

This review was written by Megan from the Vigilante Vibes Podcast. If you liked my review, be sure to check out my other reviews! Let me know what you think of Phoenix #10, or tell me what comics you’d recommend me trying out! Find me on my socials, and check out my Marvel podcast, Vigilante Vibes, by clicking here!