50 Greatest Super Villains In Comic Book History

31. Dark Phoenix

(Write-up by Matt Conner, Bam Smack Pow Staff Writer)

I want to say that Dark Phoenix is one of the greatest villains because of the excellence of her story. The marked oversimplification is that Jean Grey, founding member of the X-Men, was believed to be possessed by a cosmic force called The Phoenix as the only way to save her friends from a crashing space shuttle. Imbued with grand power, she fell under the psychic manipulation of the Hellfire Club’s creepy Mastermind, betrayed and tried to kill her teammates, then left the planet.

She ate a star, leading to the death of an entire planet populated by broccoli people. (Keep in mind, fifty issues previously, she was on the same power level as Shannen Doherty’s first episode of Charmed.) This earned her the condemnation of the Shi’Ar empire, and she regained her sanity just in time to stand trial for her actions. Judgment was to involve a fight between the X-Men and the heroes of the Shi’Ar, and during the battle, Jean Grey committed suicide right in front of her lover, Cyclops.

This story had so much. Marvel Girl had been the heart of the team for decades, and Dark Phoenix was a perversion of that character into an uncontrollable nightmare. Some of this was a scary monster possessing a teenage sweetheart, but there was clearly an element of Jean’s repressed sexuality and empowerment expressing themselves through this visceral release. It would be hard to imagine this story ending without one of the X-Men’s greatest losses. The Phoenix Force has returned several times, most recently in the Avengers vs. X-Men crossover, but it never shows up without a pause to remember how hard it was to say goodbye to Jean.

And I wish that was why I voted for her when BamSmackPow.com was seeking our rankings.

It’s the costume.

Seriously. It’s amazing. Dramatic primary colors of red and yellow, awesome flame effects in the background, an iconic logo across the chest, long gloves and boots, and the best sash in comics. When I started reading comics in the early 90s, she had been dead for years, and every time I read an X-Men comic, I crossed my fingers to a flashback of that amazing Phoenix icon clasp resting on a hip as flaps of fabric waved in some cosmic fiery winds.

Dark Phoenix qualifies for Greatest Villain status because she’s a genocidal monster who took out a founding X-Men member. I just appreciate that she also left an indelible mark on the visual glossary of the Marvel Universe.

Next: No. 30: Truly immortal evil