Review: Giant Size X-Men: Jean Grey & Emma Frost #1
The recent Krakoan revolution continues somewhat unabated with new books and the new status quo pushing previously recognised enemies into a sort of “frenemies” holding pattern. As the mutant populace enjoys, for the majority at least, a Garden of Eden type of existence; in every rose garden a few thorns grow.
In this case, it’s a comatose Storm reappearing after her recent battle with Orchis and the Children of the Vault that brings the unlikely pairing of Jean Grey and Emma Frost together. The pair, the premier telepaths, apart from Xavier, along with their telekenitcs and diamond form respectively, look to enter Storm’s mind in order to find out what happened to the one time X-Men leader.
Jonathan Hickman, the Dawn of X leader as such, takes the reins for a book that carries more than the usual level of pretension that you have came to expect from this range of books. Hickman sets the scene well, building on the previous action, not assuming you read said battle thanks to the “previously on” blurb. From there we have snippets of the lifestyle of the X-Men. Jean showing outward affection for Wolverine in front of Scott to go with the seemingly awkward heroine/not quite heroine pairing as they tackle a number of various astral plane monsters. With this unusual not quite reality so much in play, it is a brave choice for the book to be without words for the majority. Whilst Hickman certainly looks to drive Jean and Emma through to a conclusion, you have to wonder how effective the whole book is, given that a spoken explanation has to be said anyways. It almost makes you wonder what the point of it was. Still, the set pieces work well, with some nice touches; how Jean and Emma’s view on relationships with others causing a wry smile; you may be able to take the girl out of the Hellfire Club, but you can’t take Hellfire Club from out of the girl!
With so much emphasis on the art, the storytelling of Russell Dauterman needs to be top notch and whilst is does work for the most part, I do think at times it is an expectation just a little too far. The clean lines in places remind me of Paul Smith, who was on Uncanny X-Men from #165 to #175. Dauterman also looks to maintain the “house” style for the mutants. Being on the astral plane allows for all sorts of crazy shenanigans to occur; here the lack of words may in fact hinder what Dauterman was trying to show. There are some recognisable tropes in play which does kind of anchor things for the reader. The colors are provided by Mathew Wilson who probably gets to enjoy the most freedom due to the setting of this story. In fact, working in a fictional environment, within a fictional world must be a colorists dream come true. Through all the chaos, Jean and Emma stand bright within the encroaching darkness. Finally, X- font creator VC’s Clayton Cowles gets the easiest job, at least from a panel count point of view.
I don’t know what I was expecting with this book. I really wanted it to shed some light on the whole Scott/Jean/Wolverine/Emma relationships, if I am honest. I guess that’s a riddle that will be solved another day. Instead, this book is an attempt to give the reader a different type of experience, one that works due to it’s uncommon usage. This book may feed into the main X-Men book, so I am pleased that Marvel has kept the price point down. For a book that delivered a story that I wasn’t expecting, I quite enjoyed the experiment.
Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
Overall – 4 Stars
Written by; Jonathan Hickman
Art by; Russell Dauterman
Colors by; Matthew Wilson
Letters by; VC’s Clayton Cowles
Published by; Marvel Worldwide
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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