Jean Grey is the patron saint of the X-Men, and one of Marvel’s greatest heroines. She was the first female member of the team, building her relationship with characters like Cyclops and Professor X before the team faded away. She’d return as the Phoenix after the premiere of the All-New, All-Different version of the group, die, return, die, and so on. When most fans talk about Jean, they usually talk about her deaths or her time with the Phoenix or her love triangle with Cyclops and Wolverine, but there’s one thing about her that never really gets talked about: her awesome costumes. The X-Men generally have amazing costumes, and Jean has had some of the best of all time.
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The X-Men have had some amazing artists across the decades, and looking at Jean’s costumes, they all must have loved her. She’s been gifted with so many flawless looks over the years it’s not funny. These are Jean Grey’s ten best costumes, amazing examples of sartorial brilliance.
10) Post-“Hellfire Gala” Krakoa Costume
The Krakoa Era changed the X-Men, but Jean was given an old school costume when it started (we were told there would be a reason that she went back to this costume by Jonathan Hickman, then he left the books before ever explaining why). However, during the first Hellfire Gala, she got a new costume that soon became her main look for the rest of the era. This costume was basically a color-swapped version of the classic ’90s costume, which is why it worked so well. It’s a cool costume, even if the colors aren’t the best.
9) X-Men Red Costume
Jean Grey was killed again in 2004, and wouldn’t come back until 2017. She became the star of X-Men Red and was given a new costume. Looking at it reveals that it’s mostly a palette swap of the ’90s classic, like the Krakoa Era one, playing off the endless nostalgia for the ’90s era Jim Lee costumes. However, this is the superior costume of the two knock-offs. The colors are better and there’s an armored look to it that makes it more unique than the later one. It’s a great costume, and it would be cool to see it more.
8) The Original X-Men Uniform
Jean Grey started her superhero career wearing a costume that doesn’t really get any credit for how great it is. The blue and yellow original X-Men uniforms have always been cool, which makes sense since they were designed by Jack Kirby. It’s a nice and simple costume, the colors contrasting nicely, and the best part is the mask. Later costumes would go a different way with the headpiece and this one shouldn’t work at all, and yet it does. Fans got to see how great it looked in modern art styles in All-New X-Men, proving its bona fides.
7) The Marvel Girl Miniskirt
The X-Men wore the blue and yellow school uniforms for a while, but eventually they got their own unique costumes. Jean got an amazing new outfit, one that fit the go-go 1960s to a tee. Jean had a green miniskirt, the gold mask, and yellow gloves and boots. It’s a classic costume that was definitely modern at the time, and it has always looked fantastic. She stopped wearing it when she became the Phoenix, but took it back up in the early days of Krakoa, showing that classics never go out of style.
6) New X-Men Leathers
New X-Men is the pinnacle of 21st century X-Men, and it changed the look of the team completely. Instead of wearing their usual superhero costumes, they switched to utilitarian black leathers, with big yellow Xs for contrast. Jean started wearing a leather trench coat, a ribbed back top, and leather pants, a look that worked for the school, for fights, or a night club if she was so inclined. These costumes get made fun of by certain fans, but they are fantastic, and Jean’s the best of them. She looked perfect in this fit, and it would be great to see her in it again.
5) The Red and Yellow X-Factor Costume
Jean Grey returned to life in the mid ’80s to join the cast of X-Factor, and her first costume back was sort of a palette swamp of the original X-Men costume, except in green and gold. Eventually, she’d lose the full head piece and the colors would be changed to red and yellow. This costume was sensational. It showed off her amazing head of hair and the colors reminded readers of the awesome Dark Phoenix costume. This one made a come back in one issue of X-Men (Vol. 5), reminding readers why this costume was so great.
4) 2nd Claremont Run Phoenix Costume
Chris Claremont’s 2000 return to the X-Men wasn’t as successful as Marvel wanted, but one place where it excelled was the costumes. Jean had been wearing the old Phoenix costume at the end of ’90s and got an entirely new one for the 2nd Claremont run. This red and gold number combined the Dark Phoenix colors with the ’90s head sock/tiara combo, with no sleeves. It’s a great costume that she only wore for about a year, if that, and it doesn’t get the love it should get.
3) The ’90s Jim Lee Costume
1991 was a huge year for the X-Men. Chris Claremont’s first run ended, X-Men (Vol. 2) kicked off, X-Factor was brought back into the fold, and the Blue and Gold Teams were introduced. Jean was one of several members of the team who got a new costume, one that was based on the last costume she wore in X-Factor. This costume is iconic. Designed by Jim Lee, it’s a fantastically ’90s look that somehow hasn’t aged as badly as other very ’90s looks. This costume was the one from X-Men: The Animated Series, so it’s the one that an entire generation of fans think of when they think of Jean Grey.
2) The First Phoenix Costume
Jean Grey’s Phoenix costume is one of the greatest costumes in the history of Marvel Comics. Designed by Dave Cockrum, one of the greatest costume designers in X-Men history, it’s become an iconic look that has returned numerous times over the years. It took the colors of the miniskirt costume, and went to town with them. It’s a costume that has a regal feel to it, the kind of thing a powerful being would wear in the Marvel Universe. Everything about it is awesome, from the thigh high boots to the sash to the Phoenix crest. It’s a classic and you know what they say about those: they never go out of style.
1) The Dark Phoenix Costume
“The Dark Phoenix Saga” is the X-Men’s greatest story, and it was topped off by the best Jean Grey costume ever. The Phoenix costume was pretty hard to top, but changing the green to red was the perfect choice. The original Phoenix costume looked regal, but this one had a demonic air that suited it to a tee. Jean just looked evil in this costume and it was perfect. The dark red and gold are perfect together, taking an already great costume design and pushing it into best of all time territory.
What’s your favorite Jean Grey costume? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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