X-Lapsed, Episode 051 – Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey + Emma Frost #1 (2020)
X-Lapsed, Episode Fifty-One
Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey + Emma Frost #1 (April, 2020)
“Into the Storm”
Words & Story – Jonathan Hickman
Art & Story – Russell Dauterman
Colors – Matthew Wilson
Letters – VC’s Clayton Cowles
Design – Tom Muller
Edits – Bissa, White, Cebulski
Special Thanks – Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
Cover Price: $4.99
On-Sale: February 26, 2020
Shh!!! Psychic Podcast in Progress!
Today we’re taking a look at the (mostly) silent showcase of superstar artist, Russell Dauterman – Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey + Emma Frost! I even pull some tricks out of the Weird Comics History drawer (and an old Previews catalogue from my closet) for this occasion, and do a bit of chatting about Marvel’s 2001-2002 ‘Nuff Said! month! It’s a good time, and a great homage…
Also: Some wonderful listener mail, which really made your humble host’s day!
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What the hell is a “Madness Paisley”? Check out the Young Animal Gatherum:
https://www.podbean.com/eu/pb-jqkdr-96e23c
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@acecomics / @cosmictmill / weirdcomicshistory@gmail.com
chrisandreggie.podbean.com
Being reminded of Nuff Said month was a little painful. I didn't buy all of the issues but of the ones I got only New X-Men and Avengers were good. Fantastic 4 was dull and the rest were terrible. By far the worst was Uncanny X-Men which I think would have been bad with dialogue and was bad and incomprehensible without it.
Morrison was wise to choose a dream-like setting for a silent story and was blessed with Quitely as the artist. This retread works well but doesn't feel as urgent. Storm's injury comes out of nowhere. She gets hit with an energy blast back in the issue with the Children of the Vault but there is no suggestion that she is injured between then and now.
I was also surprised to see how the infection is dealt with. In later issues of Giant Sized X-Men Storm states that she doesn't want to give into illness but also that she doesn't want to kill herself and be reborn and yet it's never mentioned in Marauders. In fact I forgot she was meant to be ill because of the extended gap between issues of Giant Sized and her acting as normal in Marauders. I'm sure the coordination could have been better.
You commented that some readers might feel conned by the price. I don't know if I've mentioned it before but I buy all my comics digitally now. I have far too many comics and I am incapable of getting rid of them. My husband is convinced that one night the pile of 40-odd shortboxes in the corner of our bedroom will collapse and we'll be crushed to death in our sleep. In fact the idea behind our podcast is that I'm trying to convince him that I love all my comics and that's why I have to keep them all. That's why it's called Should I Love This Comic? I loved the art on this book so much that after buying it digitally I had to go out and get a paper copy as well. Yes, I was mad enough to pay the equivalent of $10 dollars for a quick read. I think I might have a problem.
Russell Dauterman and Matthew Wilson are an amazing art team. This is one of the best drawn comics I've ever read. I'd not seen much of Russell's work as I haven't really followed Thor since the DeFalco/Frenz years and I was blown away. You could tell he was good from the Marauders covers but this really was a revelation.
By the way, there was an element of "madness paisley" but I was surprised you didn't note that the paisley was made out of Storm's eyes repeated everywhere. I love the idea that Storm is watching. It was also great to see the call back to Storm and Jean cuddling during Inferno. Hickman also used the dialogue from that scene when Storm was announcing the resurrected Jean in HOXPOX. I like the idea of the Head of X loving Inferno as it's my favourite X-Men era.
Overall I was happy with this. I'm always prepared to have an issue here and there that exists more as an artist showcase than an actual story.