This essential X-Men tale will be the first of five stories written by Head of X Jonathan Hickman, each one specifically designed to showcase some of Marvel’s best artists! First up is Russell Dauterman, known for his incredible work on titles like MIGHTY THOR and WAR OF THE REALMS. Dauterman also happens to be an avid X-Men fan, and in preparation for his GIANT-SIZE X-MEN debut, Marvel.com spoke to the superstar artist about how it felt getting into the minds of some of his favorite characters!

While some would call them rivals, Jean Grey and Emma Frost have always had a much more complicated relationship than that. How do you view them?

Yeah, complicated is a good way to describe their relationship. I think that recent scene in X-MEN #3, with Emma and Jean at the council meeting, sums up their relationship really well (with great dialogue from Jonathan). They haven't forgotten the drama, but they're moving past it. They're not going to spend this issue fighting over Scott.

Jean and Emma are both telepaths, but they each have different methods when using their gifts. Does your approach differ when depicting their telepathy and power signatures?

Jean is Omega level, so to represent that I generally made her powers bigger and more imposing than Emma's. In a few spots, I have Emma's power signature taking the vague shape of a crown as a nod to her personality. And, there's been some variety in power colors over the years, but I wanted to give each character's power signature a distinct color here.