Review — ‘X-Men Red’ #17 Worships The Goddess Of The Storm

For years prior to this series, the character of Ororo Munroe languished as no writer seemed to know what to do with her. In X-Men Red #17, we see why this series has been the perfect vehicle for the Marvel Universe’s greatest superheroine.

Al Ewing, Yildiray Cinar, Federico Blee, and Ariana Maher enter the endgame of the war for Mars.

Genesis is winning the war. Her forces have driven Storm and Sunspot’s followers in refugee camps. Nova is fighting for his life. But Apocalypse has reentered the battlefield. His actions could swing things in either direction. Can Storm accept his help, and what will his mutant magic do?

Ewing is one of the most masterful writers in comics right now when it comes to building up plots and paying them off. Storm, Sunspot and their allies have been against the ropes pretty much this entire arc. Now that Apocalypse has reentered the picture, he’s able to turn the entire plot around. He uses every bit of the history and characterization of all the characters in play to create a spectacular and exciting climax to this issue. And then he ends it with two single splash pages that are just absolutely thrilling.

Cinar and Blee step up and give that excellent plot and script the art it deserves. Cinar paces the slower moments deliberately so the impact of the emotional beats lands. He makes the layouts more chaotic as the action builds. He give the big moments proper wide shots so we can take it all in. Then in the last two pages, he’s able to thrill us with a massive reveal, and a single page shot of Storm that’s the best moment yet in a series full of “hell yeah” moments.

Blee’s colors are generally bright, but he centers that brightness on the characters’ powers. The light sources affect how the scene appears, whether it’s the blinding white of Storm’s lightning, or the more subtle orange glow of Jon Ironfire. Through it all, there’s just a hint of red, reminding us where the story is set, and the title of the whole book.

Maher’s work is excellent. She makes the dialogue feel dynamic, and continuously mirrors the pattern of speech. There’s a lot of dialogue and it never feels like it’s in the way, or drowning the art. And the way she letters Apocalypse’s incantation makes it come to life, practically giving it weight like a spoken monologue.

The entire issue however hinges on Ororo. Without everything Ewing has done with Storm since the first Hellfire Gala, this issue wouldn’t work. Everything all together makes us believe she’s a goddess. Ewing pays off almost two years of stories starring Ororo to remind us why she’s held in such high esteem. Cinar and Blee make her look powerful both in the contemplative moments and in her action shots. And Maher’s dialogue centers everything on what Ororo is saying. She’s Storm, the goddess, and everything about this issue pays that off.

X-Men Red #17 is available now from Marvel Comics.