X-MEN : STORM

This is my first critique of a Marvel Comics-based work of art, and being a massive fan of Marvel I could not resist the opportunity. So where to begin with this depiction of Storm! Well, for starters I love her expression… it is one that conveys so many things: regality, serenity, and a certain level of “I am going to kick your butt, big time!” and all of that blends well with this character. Overall, the image plays up Storm’s goddess persona to the max and runs with it as far as you can go, and that is a good thing because it’s how Storm sees herself other than as an X-Woman and normal girl she’s also got this whole powerful goddess aspect. And that is what we’re seeing here, totally unleashed, and it is a beautiful thing to witness in this image! The costume is gorgeous, sexy (as is Storm herself who rocks said costume, naturally), and brilliant. It is instantly recognizable as classic Storm, but at the same time it looks very original and unique due to the realistic style of the painting. That red ruby-like gemstone is simply amazing and looks so real! And as such, it goes ideally with the realism of the image as a whole. Storm’s hair in this image appears ethereal, wispy and blown about by the wind, which is only proper since she is obviously brewing up one heck of a storm here what with the lightning crackling in her hands. And what cool hands! Her right hand appears to be handling the lightning almost delicately, like she’s playing with it, whilst her left hand seems ready to unleash the power at Storm’s disposal with a blast at some villain or another. It is cool seeing this uniqueness and depth in a work of art depicting a comic book character, since it adds that much more extra needed realism to everything. The glow of the lightning is very perfectly handled here too, speaking of realism, as is the fog and everything else. Vision-wise, the whole image is perfect in that it achieves the artist’s goal of depicting this character in a recognizable but refreshingly unique way, so full marks for vision. Naturally, one can’t go too high with originality since Storm is a character that has been done so much in art she’s not terribly original a subject, however I can’t go too low with it either since this a very original take on her that I’ve not seen done quite this way before. So I’d only take a couple points off of originality just to be fair, but that’s about it. Technique here is flawless, and only one tiny detail (and it’s but a minor nitpick really) jumped out at me… her fingernails. Realistically, if the gloves weren’t made of some very strong material she could possibly rip them with fingernails that long and sharp looking (being a girl myself, that is something I’d actually be worried about if I were Storm as depicted in this painting, enough so that I would possibly cut my fingernails a bit before donning those gloves, just to be on the safe side). But, I can understand the desire to make her have them to add to the impact of how her hands look! However, in this case, I do find them a tiny bit distracting and impractical, so I have to take one point off of technique only for that. Now impact-wise this image is phenomenal! Oh my Goddess is it ever phenomenal!!! It draws one’s attention and doesn’t let go… I mean, I was instantly drawn to this painting the moment I saw it, I was like: “Now that is one cool Storm! I’m totally going to add that to my favorites.” And that is what great art does, it draws your attention and captures your imagination and holds it like that. Plus, this particular Storm has a powerful impact in every way since it shows her in a powerful light. And so we come to the end of this critique, and I’ve tried to be balanced, honest, and fair all throughout. I totally love this image of Storm, and would easily recommend it to any Marvel fan as a definitive image of her. This is so good it looks downright professional, like as if someone at Marvel did it! It is just that great. <img src="e.deviantart.net/emoticons/b/b…" width="15" height="15" alt="" data-embed-type="emoticon" data-embed-id="366" title=" (Big Grin)"/>