Madelyne Pryor - Publication History

Publication History

Madelyne Pryor was introduced during the acclaimed 1983 Uncanny X-Men run that saw long-time writer Chris Claremont pair with artist Paul Smith for a series of issues that would see the Jean Grey look-alike marry the retired X-Men leader Scott Summers (Cyclops).

Madelyne's hairstyle was modeled after the book's editor, Louise Jones (later Louise Simonson)—a look the character would retain until 1988. Claremont named the character after Steeleye Span singer Maddy Prior. Claremont had already created a character named "Maddy Pryor", a little girl that appeared very briefly in Avengers Annual #10 (1981). Readers have searched for any in-story connections between the two characters, but there is none. Claremont, nonetheless, years later used the opportunity to indulge in an in-joke: in Uncanny X-Men #238 (1988), a similar child would appear as Madelyne's mental image of herself, wearing the same clothes as the little girl from Avengers Annual #10, repeating the girl's same line of dialogue, but also singing "Gone to America," one of Steeleye Span's biggest hits.

According to Claremont, the original link between Madelyne Pryor and Jean Grey was entirely the product of Mastermind. Seeking revenge against the X-Men after Jean (as Phoenix) had driven him insane, Mastermind used his powers of illusion to convince Scott and the others that Madelyne was Phoenix incarnate—a cosmic threat—in an attempt to have the team kill an innocent. Mastermind's plan failed, and Madelyne and Cyclops were married shortly after the conflict was resolved. Claremont had conceived Madelyne as a device to write Scott Summers out of the X-Men and have him retire "happily ever after" with Madelyne and their child.

The story became more complicated in 1986 when moves by the editors and other writers to reunite the original X-Men, for the new title X-Factor, resulted in Jean Grey's resurrection and Scott leaving his wife and son. The staffers had created a predicament that deeply compromised the character of Cyclops and left little room for Madelyne, and Cyclops' uncharacteristic (at the time) behavior has been controversial with fans ever since. It was then attempted to address these problems through a retcon, in the 1989 Inferno crossover, where Madelyne was not only revealed to be a clone of Jean Grey, created by Mr. Sinister to produce a child with Scott Summers, but corrupted by her anger and demonic influence into the Goblin Queen.

Asked about his intended plans for Madelyne's character, Claremont said:

Then the character was revived in 1995 as a supporting character in the pages of X-Man, but details are ambiguous due to murky writing and conflicting editor decisions. Whether this was intended to be the true Madelyne or not was further complicated by the character later being supposedly revealed to be a Jean Grey from an alternate reality. In the years following this conclusion (in 2000) of what has become a false start at reviving the character, Madelyne Pryor would be entirely absent and unreferenced within any X-Men related books, until Chris Claremont included the character in his non-canon limited-series, X-Men: The End.

Ironically, however, almost 2 decades since Marvel brought Jean Grey back, later editors decided to again drop Jean Grey as a regular character nearly altogether. Immediately before that, Marvel also decided (in a foreshadowing of Marvel editorial's decisions regarding Spider-Man and Mary Jane) to terminate the relationship of Cyclops and Jean Grey.

In 2008, exactly twenty-five years since the character's debut in Uncanny X-Men, Madelyne Pryor was supposedly brought back in the flagship X-Men title; even though in interviews over the following months, the book's writer at the time, Matt Fraction, made contradicting statements as to whether or not it was actually Pryor at all. Not until the following year—twenty years since the Inferno retcons—was the character's identity seemingly confirmed in-story. Afterward, however, Fraction continued to be contradictory in one more interview, by describing her as not being the real Madelyne Pryor; although, what he stated has not been confirmed in the comics, as of yet.

More than a year later, Marvel attempted to conclusively settle in-print (but not in-story) all lingering questions and complications regarding the character; stating as confirmation that the Pryor that appeared in Uncanny X-Men, from 2008 to 2009, was indeed the original from the 1980s stories. (Also stated is that the "Maddy Pryor" child from Avengers Annual #10, and the "alternate Jean Grey" from X-Man #67-70, were both entirely separate characters from Madelyne Pryor.) However, all the 1990s appearances in both the X-Man and Cable titles are dismissed and disregarded entirely by Marvel, and they conclude by declaring her "apparently destroyed".