The Phoenix years begin with the X-Men coming home from space and discovering that surviving the trip has changed Jean Grey. In X-Men #101, she rises from Jamaica Bay with a new…

The Phoenix years begin with the X-Men coming home from space and discovering that surviving the trip has changed Jean Grey. In X-Men #101, she rises from Jamaica Bay with a new costume, a new name and a level of power nobody around her fully understands. The people gathered around that change are Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Banshee, with Phoenix at the center of the period and Charles Xavier in the mentor's chair. They are still learning how to live together. The international recruits have brought their own histories, tempers and expectations into a school that used to revolve around a much smaller circle of teenagers. What makes this stretch work is the room it gives those people between emergencies. They travel together, argue over training, make plans for dates and worry about whether somebody they care about is still alive. A holiday can take them to a castle full of trouble. A return home can expose how badly the person in charge has misunderstood the team developing under his roof. Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, John Byrne and their collaborators let the scale keep changing. One story threatens the universe. Another puts the team in a circus where their identities have been stolen. Proteus brings the danger painfully close to Moira MacTaggert, and the Hellfire Club gets its hands into Jean's private life before the others understand the attack. This snapshot runs from #101 through #137, with #138 providing the farewell. It includes absences and reunions rather than pretending the seven central characters spend every issue together. By the time that circle breaks, the ordinary moments have given the loss somewhere to land.