Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artist: Russell Dauterman

Publisher: Marvel Comics





All the way back in 2002 there was a challenge presented to the Marvel writers and artists to tell a story without using any words, only art. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s entry to this challenge was New X-Men #121 “Silence: Psychic Rescue In Progress” and it immediately impressed fans and critics everywhere. We saw Jean Grey and Emma Frost enter the Professors mind which is imprisoned in the comatose body of Cassandra Nova. They set out on a telepathic journey into Cassandra’s consciousness in hopes to rescue the Professor. The story was so engaging, emotional and exciting even without any words. It remains one of my favourite X-Men issues ever released.



Fast forward to today with the launch of ‘House of X/Powers of X’ and ‘Dawn of X’ you could see Jonathan Hickman paying homage to Grant Morrison a lot, and picking up a lot of the themes Morrison started and continuing with them. This week we get Giant Sized X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost delivering Jonathan Hickman and Russell Dauterman’s entry to the challenge.



“Into The Storm” takes Jean Grey and Emma Frost together for another psychic rescue. This time though they are on a telepathic journey to save a different mutant in psychic peril, telling the entire story without using any words, only art. I absolutely loved this issue and was completely blown away by it. While it follows a lot of the same elements of New X-Men #121, it still brings its own unique take on this amazing challenge. Hickman has crafted a story taking us deep into this mutant’s mind that is so utterly that mutant. While also tying the story to what has been happening in the main X-Men book.



Russell Dauterman being one of the best artists in comics today was the perfect choice for this book. His art is just so expressive that he can convey even the slightest emotion through his art. Every page is just a joy to see and you get pulled right into the exhilaration of this psychic journey.



Overall this issue is such a treat. Not only as homage to New X-Men, but as an amazing challenge to really test the creative teams ability to tell an engaging story, and this creative team just continues to raise the bar. Read this book. It is another milestone in modern day comics.

