Storm & The Brotherhood Of Mutants #3
The forces of the Red Diamond attack Arakko’s last stronghold in Storm & the Brotherhood of Mutants #3, by writer Al Ewing, artist Alessandro Vitti, colorist Rain Beredo, and letterer Ariana Maher. Ewing and company present an awesome battle in what has been the most exciting issue of Sins of Sinister so far.
As the Red Diamond comes to attack, Ironfire trusts Sinister. He’s brought a sample of Storm’s DNA and, using a surrogate Five, they resurrect her, although she has no memories. They create her just in time, as Emma Sinister herself, the Red Diamond Empress, has come to destroy them all. Launching her attack using various powerful Chimerae, she unleashes her ultimate weapon, the Diamond Sentinel, and attacks the castle directly. The Brotherhood falls one by one as the battle goes on, but Storm figures out a way to destroy the Diamond Sentinel, ripping forth the electrons that bind its atomic structure together, creating a nuclear explosion that destroys Emma’s ultimate weapon. However, the radiation released kills her as well. As John Ironfire mourns her death, Sinister strikes, killing him.
This issue plays into a classic X-Men trope: the battle against horrendous odds in an alternate universe that kills everyone. Readers have seen these a thousand times, and they’re usually very good. In the hands of a writer like Ewing, they’re better than usual. He uses a song as the issue’s narration, which gives the whole battle an epic feel that it might not have had otherwise.
So much of this issue is the battle that there isn’t much actual plot, but Ewing definitely finds a way to give readers things they’ve never seen before. Emma’s Diamond Sentinel is a cool idea, made better by Sinister’s reaction to it - “I could’ve grown you a body that was the thing of Summers’ nightmares.” Ewing laying out Frost’s Chimerae and their functions in battle on an info page is a wonderful little addition to the book. Storm controlling electrons is a use of her power that readers haven’t really seen before, and is yet another reason why Ewing is perfect for writing Storm. All in all, this issue is a well-paced action masterpiece, and a joy to read.
This issue’s writing was always going to be good, but Vitti’s art makes it that much better. His heavy line work makes the whole thing look that much more impressive, and his designs for the Chimerae are all great. Emma’s Diamond Sentinel has an old-school robot, clunky aesthetic to it, which somehow makes it more menacing. The action looks fantastic, but Vitti’s character acting makes the issue stronger. He captures the emotions of each moment, bringing the script to life in a way another artist may not have been able to.
Storm & the Brotherhood of Mutants #3 takes the baton that Immoral X-Men #3 passed it and runs with it. It’s built on a pretty standard X-Men trope, but Ewing does great new things with it, which is basically the most Ewing thing ever. Vitti and Beredo’s art is excellent, bringing the story to life in a way that really makes it sing. Year 1000 has so far blown the rest of SoS out of the water, and this issue shows why.
