Tag: David Lopez

X-Men’s Storm Vs. Colossus

 

X-Men #37 courtesy Marvel

  Brian Wood and David Lopez deliver their final issue of X-Men this week. I hate to see this end of this creative team. They have crafted one of my favorite Storm stories of all time. Wood writes her as the strong, decisive leader that Chris Claremont made her.

  Storm and her unit (Colossus, Psylocke, Domino, Pixie) discovered the remains of a race of proto-mutants that lived on the planet before modern mutants. The team’s search for the truth led to a ruthless scientist, a deranged cult and finally to the one proto-mutant left alive on Earth.

  Storm felt this discovery was so powerful she kept it from Cyclops and Wolverine. The tension between Ororo and a disapproving Colossus has been building. In each previous issue you can feel the confrontation building. In this issue the tension explodes into a bitter, violent confrontation between the old friends.

  Pixie confronts Gabriel hoping he can give her answers missing links in mutant evolution.  In a masterful exchange the young mutant tries her best to argue with this ancient solitary ancestor.

  David Lopez’s art is beautiful and powerful. He conveys the shifts of confidence and conflict in Storm, the hope and desperation in Pixie, the anger and pain in Colossus.

  I’ve said it before – this storyline reminds me of the classic Chris Claremont/Paul Smith era with generous twists of a Torchwood or X-Files case to create a compelling mystery of corrupted science, the burden of secrets and search for answers about the origin of mutants.

  I hope Brian Wood and David Lopez will soon be added to a Marvel Now book. The revamp is about new ideas and new takes on Marvel characters – they already delivered this year in a big, creative and satisfying way.

By Editor

Brian Wood On Leaving X-Men

X-Men #31 courtesy Marvel

  Brian Wood has completed his last X-Men script for now. Wood will continue writing Ultimate Comics X-Men for Marvel and The Massive for Dark Horse. I love those books but it’s hard to see Wood leave the X-Men. Wood and artist David Lopez crafted a beautiful and thrilling run starring Storm, Psylocke, Domino, Colossus and Pixie. The Wood/Lopez run reminded me of the Chris Claremont/Paul Smith era mixed with a Torchwood modern edge.

  I wanted to share some fan questions and Wood’s answers from today’s X-Position on Comic Book Resources. He was asked about a dream project and the artist he would work with.

  “I like writing the X-Men, and I’d love to do more of it with David Lopez. Second to that, I’d love to write a new Runaways book and a Thor MAX that’s heavy on the Viking stuff.”

 If you’re not familiar – Wood has an amazing series of Viking graphic novels  – Northlanders so the idea of a Thor MAX book is very exciting.

  Wood’s X-Men team dealt with the discovery of ancient mutant DNA and inspired a fan to ask what Psylocke meant when she was “being a mutant…it means something different now.”

 “All that means is they have a greater understanding of their shared history. The proto-mutants weren’t just ancestors, they were a whole different species, one that died out. It would be like if we, as humans, just now discovered that there were Neanderthals. It casts everything that came after it in a new light.”

 One of my favorite part of Wood’s run was how he portrayed Storm as team leader and how his script worked so beautifully with David Lopez’s pencils. Wood revealed the best part and biggest surprise of this run was Lopez and Storm.

“If I had to say just one thing, it would be finding a great partner in David Lopez. Sometimes you work with an artist and something about it just feels right it just click with your words in the perfect way. That’s how I felt about David’s work, and I keep coming up with new project ideas for him to draw.

“I wouldn’t say I wasn’t crazy about any of them, really. Some of them surprised me. Considering how well received my Storm was, I really had a strong vision for her as a character at the very beginning. But once I started writing the first script, it all clicked into place and I was like, “Oh yeah, this is working”. And so it went.”

X-Men #36 courtesy Marvel

Will Wood be back writing the X-Men?

“People at Marvel can answer that better than I can. I hope the chances are 100%.”

X-Men #36 is out this week.

Op/Ed

  I have no knowledge of the inner workings of the Marvel offices and don’t mean this in any disrespect to other writers that I enjoy but I can’t help but think this title is falling victim to the Marvel Now revamp.

   Every X-book has to be part of a biggest picture. This book was perfect and stood on its own. In fact – I recently was asked to recommend an X-book for a newbie at my local shop and this was the only one not tied to AvX. so it was perfect for a jumping on point. I’m proud to say I converted a new X-Men fan! I really hate to see this title go and hope both Wood and Lopez are back on an X-Men book.

By the way – The Massive is my favorite non-superhero book right now – pick it up!

By Editor

Storm Leads the Torchwood of X-Men

 

X-Men #31 courtesy Marvel

Colossus crushed. Psylocke driven to tears or is that panic sweat?. Storm keeping secrets. Brian Wood and David Lopez’s X-Men #31 is tight, tense and clean storytelling about a nasty secrets coming to light.

 After investigating a monster attack Storm’s covert security force encounters a bigger behemoth. Using her own secret network of human scientists – Storm discovers a genetic secret so scary she hides it from Cyclops. Ororo’s team even fears the truth could cause an even more violent rift that the events in the Schism event.

 This book is a refreshing change from the other titles but it’s focused on a small team where everyone gets screen time and every character is part of the story.  

  I have to again state how this book reminds me of the Chris Claremont/Paul Smith in terms of tone, storytelling and art. David Lopez is an excellent fit for Wood’s crisp clean pacing and the expressions. Instead of a big screen action stuffed with characters on top of characters, we have a small cast uncovering a scientific mystery, burdened by the knowledge and tactically moving at the small covert unit their set up to be. You might call this a Torchwood (minus the sex but it’s only their second issue) X-Men team?

  If you love the old school Storm when she was a confident, commanding, tactical and thoughtful leader then you’ll enjoy this book for that reason alone. Lopez conveys her powerful presence and steely looks perfectly. 

Giant monster, strong women, freaky scientific mysteries makes this one badass X-book.

By Editor