A data-driven project analyzing the long-standing popularity of Jean Grey, aka the Dark Phoenix in X-Men.
From a team of five to a troop of mutants, the X-Men evolved from comic book papers to a Marvel cinematic powerhouse. The core members, especially female X-Men, have only become more marketable to American comic fans.
In 1963, a group of superheroes, humans whose mutated X-gene granted them natural superhuman abilities, became alive in American Comics.
Soon, however, a team of five could no longer satisfy the fanbase, resulting in a stagnation of sales and a reprinting of older issues.
After a downfall in sales in early 70s, under the direction of the writer Chris Claremont, X-Men kicked off with a new story, Giant-Size X-Men (Uncanny X-Men #129-138) in 1980 which quickly became readers’ favorites.
Well-known X-Men were developed during this time, such as Storm (Ororo Munroe) and Polaris (Lorna Dane).
By the end of the 1980s, X-Men had expanded from a team of five to 24, growing more diverse in gender and race.
The demand for an extensive storyline for each core member arised. Jean Grey, known as Dark Phoenix or Phoenix interchangeably and the first female X-Man who made her debut with Professor X, achieved an increasing fan base in 1980. The issue, titled Dark Phoenix Saga and released in 1980, pushes this character to be more collectable than others.
The story arc of Jean Grey was both surprising and intriguing enough to elevate Jean Grey and the title to a new level in American Comics. Out of complete expectations - she killed herself after she struggled to control the corruptive side of her telepathic ability. Dark Phoenix Saga was ranked the second best Marvel Comics of all time by both GamesRadar+, a website for updates on games and comics., and Goodreads, a community site for book reviews. Similarly, ComicVine, a comic book wiki, ranks Phoenix Jean Grey the 3rd in its “Top 100 Greatest X-men.”
Several X-Man fandom has measured a character’s presence in X-Men comics by how often they appear in a given decade. If they show up in an issue, it counts toward their total for that decade. Their presence percentage is simply the number of issues they appear in divided by the total number of X-Men issues published in that decade.
Fans were driven by the uncertainty of whether Phoenix made a comeback after her sacrifice. Understanding the interest in had only grown as time has gone - creators, writers and artists were all striving to find a way to resurrect her. As the chart infers, Phoenix Jean Grey rose from the ashes, in which her appearance was over 60 percent of issues she was featured in in the 90s. Six more female X-Men made their debut in the 80s, but they were quickly marginalized in issues published after 1990. Ororo Munroe, who almost dominated the narrative a decade ago, had been given less significance, too
As a result, most comic collectors are willing to bid at any cost for issues with the least portrayal of Jean Grey, seeing them as rare gems in the market. The scarcity of such issues fuels their value, making them highly sought after by enthusiasts looking to own a piece of X-Men history.
On eBay, among resales of X-Men issues released in the 80s, the resale price for Jean Grey surpasses that of other female X-Men, exceeding twice of the price of the second most popular superhero, Polaris. All female X-Men saw a devaluation after 1990, yet Jean Grey’s value only dropped by 12 percent - the minimal decrease among them.
Rachel Summers, Jean Grey’s daughter and who only appeared in one issue, receives more recognition with a market value of $50 per issue on eBay.
The death of Jean Grey did not fade her out of readership, and instead summoned more desires to preserve her as the flagship of X-Men. Had the controversial editorial decision of Jean Grey’s rebirth gone another way, her market value may have followed the fate of other females.