Marvel Comics released Giant-Size X-Men – Storm #1 on September 16. As with the previous issue, Jonathan Hickman is listed as doing “story and words,” while artist Russell Dauterman is credited with “story and art.” They are joined by color artist Matthew Wilson and VC’s Ariana Maher.
Hickman’s writing room must be an intimidating place to walk into! One might imagine multiple dry erase boards with multiple lines drawn around the room, attempting to connect different plot threads. One of those plot points concerned the impending death of Storm due to a techno-organic virus she acquired from the Children of the Vault. This issue brings that narrative thread to a conclusion, which began in X-Men #5 and carried through to Giant-Size X-Men – Jean Grey and Emma Frost #1 and Giant-Size X-Men – Fantomex #1 (while setting up a new narrative thread). These one-shots have been surprisingly interconnected, with that connection being made poignant with this issue.
Dauterman’s art in this issue is inventive, as any artist might have been, since any trip to The World, with all of its strange machinations, gives any artist drawing it a chance to be quite imaginative.
These eyeball monsters are indeed a bit eerie, and they only become more so as the story progresses. While Wilson’s colors are a bit “solid” in this panel and even Dauterman’s background work is a bit plain, the strangeness escalates as the story unfolds with Dauterman and Wilson combining some nice action scenes with some very cool perception-bending imagery.
This isn’t to say that Dauterman and Wilson don’t have other moments to shine. There is a really well-done sequence with Storm where we see her irritation manifest via her powers as Fantomex and Monet haggle.
Panels like this remind readers that Storm is a badass! Dauterman draws a gorgeous all-around panel, and Wilson’s colors and shading for the lightning and for Storm’s figure are perfect!
They are, of course, joined in this sequence by Maher’s lettering, whose “Kra-Koooom” speaks volumes and is beautifully drawn, serving as a brilliant background for Storm and highlighting the aforementioned badassery.
The lettering throughout is terrific, accentuating each scene without crowding out any of the imagery and servicing a very visual story.
If there’s anything one can learn from reading Jonathan Hickman, a one-shot is never just a one-shot as Hickman has brought to a close a plot that began in the main X-Men title and has run through two other one-shot stories. If readers were wondering (as I was) about some of these random one-shot stories, it’s safe to say that no narrative thread will be left unexplored. Hickman continues to play the long game and has a lot of plates spinning!
What did you think of Giant-Size X-Men – Storm #1? Tell us in the comments below!
