Legendary Marvel scribe Louise Simonson returns to the X-Men with JEAN GREY #1 to retell moments of the titular character’s life as she deals with her own death during this year’s Hellfire Gala. Simonson is joined on the issue by illustrator Bernard Chang, colorist Marcelo Maiolo, and letterer Ariana Maher. The issue plays out like an entry in Marvel’s “What If…?” franchise as we see what might have happened if Jean leaned into her powers more at a younger age and took a more “proactive” approach to using her telepathic powers to influence humanity’s views towards mutants.

This relatively low-stakes affair gives Simonson space to write an interesting self-reflection from Jean’s POV that covers several decade’s worth of key X-Men events that have shaped her world view. A beautiful two-page spread by Chang and Maiolo showcases moments from Jean’s life as she tries to pinpoint a moment in time where should could have done something differently to avoid the Orchis attack. She selects the moment when she and the original X-Men team arrive back to their timeline after the events of the Extermination story. Simonson revisits the ethical dilemma of memory wiping that occurred during this event, which sets the tone for the rest of the book.

Chang and Maiolo’s art does a good job paying homage to the original moments that are referenced throughout the book with minor updates made to keep the book fresh. I really liked the design for the X-Men outfits that the team dons about halfway through the book. Action sequences are crisp and spring to life and the team also does an outstanding job of visually representing Jean’s powers.

Even though I enjoyed this as a standalone story, it was hard for me to take it too seriously as I don’t know how much this series will impact Fall of X’s end game. The first page teases that whatever Jean discovers in her memory could help her fix “everything,” but I find it hard to believe that the plot point that defeats Orchis stems from a miniseries that’s basically Jean Grey’s greatest hits. As long as it stays a bit removed and Simonson continues to showcase what made her a Marvel legend, I’ll happily enjoy this trip down memory lane. And next issue we get the Phoenix!

Rating: 6.5/10