November 3, 2004 Meeting

Last month, the Comic Club delved into Marvel Comics by reading The Sentry.  This month, we're going back a few years to read one of the all-time classics from the House of Ideas.  By popular demand, it's time to read Chris Claremont and John Byrne's super-hero epic, The Dark Phoenix Saga.

Most comics readers have a passing familiarity with Dark Phoenix — even if they've never read the original stories.  Jean Grey's transformation from sweet, super-powered girl next door to power-mad destroyer of worlds has been the key element of the X-Men mythos for the past 20 years.  It's near-impossible to read an X-Men story without catching a reference to it, and "Dark Phoenix" has become synonymous with the axiom, "Power corrupts."

With the popularity of Dark Phoenix in mind, we're inviting everyone to join us for this month's Comic Club meeting.  If you've been meaning to ask about Comic Club (or maybe drop in on one of our monthly meetings as a guest), here's your chance to do it without disrupting your weekly schedule:

This month only, we're having our Comic Club meeting at 7:30pm Wednesday (November 3) instead of Thursday.  No special trip to check us out — just walk back to the H&D Game Room after you pick up your weekly comics on Wednesday, and we'll be there!  Look for our friendly Comic Club reps, who'll be passing out refreshments and stirring up scintillating conversation about Dark Phoenix!

This month's reading is available in several formats.  "The Dark Phoenix Saga" originally ran in Uncanny X-Men # 129-136, and those issues have been collected several times over the last 20 years.  The current edition is Marvel Legends: X-Men — The Dark Phoenix Saga.  There's no introduction or afterword in this bare-bones trade, but it does feature the complete, unabbreviated original issues — presented on high-quality glossy paper that really brings out the best in the art.  Comics have never looked better!

Marvel Legends: X-Men — The Dark Phoenix Saga is available now with a retail price of $19.95.  BUT — Comic Club members pay only $15.96 when they flash their membership card at the register.

Or, if you'd prefer to get a whole two years' worth of X-Men, you can opt for The Essential X-Men, Volume 2.  This massive trade paperback is printed in black-and-white on newsprint, but it includes every single panel of art from Uncanny X-Men # 120 to # 144!  In addition to "The Dark Phoenix Saga," you get several issues of build-up and a whole year of follow-up, leading you into lots of other X-Men sagas.  If you already know you like the X-Men, this is a great buy — and you can use your HDCC Membership Discount to save 20% on it, to boot!