“I love the life, death, rebirth nature of the Phoenix, and the symbolism of second chances—you can always come back and try again.” -Jason

“I liked that Rachel was a character who was still trying to figure out who she was, while still being very confident.” -Jason

“I had my Phoenix Force fan club letter printed in Excalibur #51… at which point Rachel promptly left the book for ten issues. Even though it’s not quite her—I was so thrilled to have her back.” -Jason

“They go out of their way to say there’s no atmosphere on the planet, so there’s no sound effects to interfere with the beautiful splash pages.” -Jason

“This language about the sea of life yet unborn… and the idea that eliminating potential babies is a greater crime than what Galactus does… whether the story intended it or not, this is the philosophy of pro-life-ism. Potential life is more valuable than people who already exist. And that burden is placed on a powerful woman as a punishment for her power. There’s a deeply anti-feminist reading of this scene that makes me very uncomfortable.” -Anna

“My critique of the Brian and Meggan plot is encapsulated by the proposal, where Brian is like, ‘I’m a broken person and I can never offer you the attention you deserve but I don’t want to be alone so marry me anyway.’ And Meggan’s like, ‘yeah, sure!’ Brian’s words are all about himself; nothing about Meggan.” -Andrew

“I’m more generous on the proposal than Andrew is, only because this is a by-the-number soap opera/rom-com proposal from the era in question. I’ve seen Meg Ryan receive this speech a dozen times. And she always says yes.” -Mav

“Davis does a lot of work with the art to sell us on the engagement. Brian is gaze-y and vulnerable, and it’s probably the most sexy-romantic moment Brian and Meggan have had. Previously, Meggan’s most romantic moments have involved Kurt.” -Anna

“I get where Davis is trying to go with this scene—Kurt and Brian have matured and can talk about stuff now without competing. But they’re still talking to each other about Meggan rather than talking to Meggan. Kurt has still never had a conversation with Meggan about any of this.” -Anna

“I think the scene with Kitty & Feron is well done because it’s not forced. Everyone has those moments in life where you realize—wait, I’m talking about someone else, to someone else, but I’m actually talking about myself.” -Jason