When does phoenix force (in marvel comics) actually appear for the first time (and what was the original origin of phoenix)?
When does phoenix force (in marvel comics) actually appear for the first time (and what was the original origin of phoenix)?
Marvel wikia retcons its first appearance as xmen#101, but phoenix force isn't in this issue, phoenix is. At some point between its publication and now the story must've changed to involve a cosmic god, but I wonder if before then phoenix's origin was intended to be an extreme version of fantastic 4's origin beyond just an homage.
I just started reading xmen#125 and once again in a flashback this is how the event is described:
Her body was consumed by the intense radiation. But her mind refused to die. Driven by her love for Scott Summers, she achieved her full potential as a psi --becoming, briefly, an entity of pure thought-- before finally reforming as Phoenix.
So when does phenix force actually bocme a thing? Were there any other out of universe (as I'll reach the in universe ones eventually) explanations of the phoenix's power before then? Shouldn't the wiki at least mention if a part of an article is a retcon?
Edit: I think it appears first in xmen 153, where Kitty pryde tells colossus's sister a bedtime story loosely based on the xmen. In the story Jean's soul manages to defeat Phoenix.
As with any good comics story, it's complicated. :)
Jean crashes into the bay and energes as Phoenix in X-Men #101
The cosmic threat of Phoenix is explored up until X-Men #108.
Then you have Dark Phoenix from #129 to #138.
But the idea of Jean and Phoenix as separate entities was a retcon from much, much later, starting in Avengers #263 when a strange pod is discovered at the bottom of the bay, which is then opened in Fantastic Four #286.
And that brings Jean back for the OG X-Factor #1.
Beyond the excellent answer already given, I'll add a silly comics-are-weird, chronological answer:
We do see an appearance by the Phoenix (or something likey destined to give birth to the Phoenix) in around 100,000 BC - meeting with the cave-person version of the Avengers.
For anyone who hasn't read the cave-person avengers, I'll just say:
Spoiler for who one cave Avenger is
Mastodon riding Ghost Rider
That's cool