"Jean Grey: The First X-Woman"
by Ali

When Jean Grey first arrived at Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters, she arrived at a time of turmoil, and not just in the world of the X-Men. The year was 1963, and women's liberation was in full swing. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan became a best seller and after twenty years, the Equal Pay Act was passed by the U.S. Congress. Not surprising, then, did comics begin to reflect the world around them, and women began to emerge as comic book heroes. Just years before, another Marvel team, the Fantastic Four, earned their own title, which included a female team member, Invisible Girl (later Invisible Woman). Thus, when Marvel's newest comic reached stands, Marvel Girl graced it's cover, and the destiny of the X-Men, which would later give birth to some of the greatest comic heroines of all time, was set.

Jean was recruited to the team later than her male counterparts. In fact, they had already begun their training when she first arrived to learn more about her mutant powers. This didn't seem to bother her though. Bold as well as beautiful, Jean had a way of keeping the boys in line, despite their flirty and somewhat reckless behavior. She did, however, receive her share of sexism, from her male teammates gawking at her in her tight costume to their overprotectiveness of her in a fight. For many years, she remained in the background, there to cause some friction between the other X-Men and to give them someone to save if a fight went bad.

Things continued this way for a while. Despite her adaptation to a more revealing costume and her growing relationship with Scott Summers, Jean was far from being one of the more popular characters of the day. In fact, the X-Men as a series was beginning to falter. So, in a bold effort to try and increase sales, a new team of X-Men were introduced in Giant Sized X-Men, including another female team member named Storm. She and Jean, despite a few setbacks in the beginning, became fast friends, a friendship that continues to bloom today. This team would mean big changes for Jean, ones that would both bless and shatter her world forever.

The first of these changes stemmed from the arrival of a different new X-Man, the feral and hot tempered Wolverine. Wolverine made no effort to conceal his attraction to Jean, much to the anger and frustration of her teammates. Jean, though she did not wish to admit it at the time, also felt drawn to Logan, but refused to give into her feelings. It was decided at that time that the original members would go their seperate ways, allowing the new team to grow into their new roles as X-Men, and Jean began the first of one of her many seperations from the team.

This seperation did not last long, and in seemingly no time Jean found herself back among the X-men, clinging to life as she desperated tried to pilot a space shuttle that fateful day back in 1976.

To be Continued in Part II: Phoenix Reborn.