Origin

Jean Grey's father. Both John and his wife Elaine had to cope with a lot of grief in their lives. As the loving parents of X-Man Jean Grey they could only stand on the sidelines watching Jean's remarkable mutant power's come to fruition. Having contacted Professor Charles Xavier in hope of him helping Jean cope with the loss of her best friend Annie's death and her newly gained mutant powers, they saw their daughter make a remarkable recovery from her depression. It would take another few years before Jean went off to study at Xavier's school for gifted youngsters (in the mean time learning more about her mutant powers).

Creation

John Crey was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in (Uncanny) X-Men Vol. 1 issue 5 (1964).

Major Story Arcs

Phoenix

When the Phoenix Force took over as Jean Grey it let everybody think (including her parents) she was Jean and had become more powerful then ever (when in fact the real Jean lay comatose in a protective cocoon in the waters near New York city). John and Elaine would, for the first time see Jean (actually the Phoenix) as the powerful woman she had become when she visited them, showing them her new awesome powers just before she and the other X-men where teleported away by the Shi'ar, letting a baffled Elaine and John behind. Not long after these events the Phoenix killed herself in hope to stop her Dark Phoenix persona from striking more harm to those she loves.

John and Elaine where grief stricken with the loss of their daughter. Luckily for them Jean turned out to be alive and well, having been comatose for as long as the Phoenix force had taken over. However, Jean did have all the memories the Phoenix had.

Losing a Daughter a Second Time

Her parents had a long few years filled with joy and where there when Jean finally decided to marry her soul- and teammate Cyclops with whom John and Elaine had a good relationship with. Not long after Jean and Scott had marriage problems. During this time Jean died for real, having a massive stroke given to her by Xorn, posing as a mad Magneto. Once again, Elaine and John where grief stricken, having the feeling they lost their daughter for a second time.

Shi'ar Death Squad

Rachel Grey, the daughter of Scott and Jean from another time-line contacted her 'grandparents' not long after. She build up a good relation with her 'grandfather' John. He even invited her to come to the Grey Family reunion party. That's when disaster struck. During the party, John and Rachel where outside playing a game of basketball. John died while trying to protect Rachel from a Shi'ar death squad. His death was soon followed by most of the other Grey family members.

This was done to prevent the Phoenix Force to ever find another "Grey" host. John's wife, Elaine was protected from harm thanks to Rachel and the intervention of the X-Men. Seeing her husband and most of her family dead Elaine lashed out at Rachel, saying this would have never happened if she wouldnt have been there. During this lashing out one member of the Shi'ar death squad saw their chance & killed Elaine.

Right after the carnage that had taken place there was an astral projection in which Rachel could see both her grandparents John and Elaine smiling at her and saying goodbye to her. All seemed to be forgiven, but Rachel was still left with a feeling of grief, loss and responsibility for the death of her grandparents.

Powers and Abilities

Although the father of the extremely powerful Jean Grey, John was not a mutant and possessed no special powers.