Post by Icefanatic on Aug 7, 2023 16:03:15 GMT -5
Jay Jurden: Getting to write for Marvel’s Voices: X-Men was an honor so great, that it is hard to put into words. I have been obsessed with the X-Men since I was a kid. The Fox Animated Series. Pryde of The X-Men. “A Firestar Is Born.” X-Men Evolution. The toys. The movies. (Yes, even the bad ones you’re thinking of right now). The first physical comic I remember holding was Uncanny X-Men #350 which was definitely WAY too complex for me to grasp but I was so interested in all of these instantly captivating figures. Needless to say, when Marvel reached out the answer was an extremely enthusiastic “YES!” I have to thank Stephanie Williams, Anthony Oliveira, Connor Goldsmith, Cody Ziglar, my editor Lauren Amaro, the visuals artists Wilton Santos, Oren Junior, Andrew Dalhouse, and the X-Office for helping make this happen. All of them played some part in this even if they didn’t know it. Oh! And thank you, Krakoa.
Jay Jurden: My elevator pitch for the story which would become “Cryo-Therapy,” was very simple. A fun and funny sparring match between two Omega-level mutants. Very much in the style of an anime sparring match between rivals. The physical conversation and the verbal conversation being held at the same time offered a level of storytelling that really excited me. The idea of Storm and Iceman being able to really cut loose and get innovative with each other based on their unique power connection was also inspired by Storm and Magneto’s relationship during Uranos’ attack on Arakko. A mutant circuit but something even more intimate and elemental. Storm and Iceman training together is also (and eagle-eye Twitter/X users have spotted this) a concept that originated in X-Men #48. These two characters BOTH mean so much to me that I was thrilled when I started to outline. Did I mention it’s funny btw?
AIPT: X-Fan Wiccan Phoenix wanted to know why you chose to focus on Storm vs. Iceman. Would you say it’s because their powers are very similar in some ways? Do you think that Bobby is one of the only people that could actually post a challenge to Ororo? What can you tell WiccanPhoenix?
Jay Jurden: Thank you for the question, Wiccan Phoenix! (The demiurge + the cosmic entity of fire and life incarnate… no pressure on me to get this right.) I can say that when I found out that Storm and Iceman were available I reverted to my younger self and screamed out, “MINE!”
Their shared status as Omega-level mutants is one connection but the deeper connection of them both being Omegal-level with hydrokinetic and cryokinetic powers was really fascinating to me. Weather is a bit of an umbrella term (pun count is at 1) so if we break it down: Storm can manipulate water (in various states) and temperature (in both directions) and atmospheric pressure (which is directly tied to temperature) and create a host of atmospheric phenomena plus tons of other stuff. Damn, she really is good huh? But those first two things water and temperature, Iceman is also VERY good at manipulating those, so my nerd brain just thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun IF…” plus they both have a bit of natural immunity to each other’s powers so they can go pretty hard and BOOM! a lil training short story was born. I’ll also confess that for a silly Queer person like me, getting to play with Storm and Iceman is a dream because MuthaNature and Otterpop/Twinksicle are definitely LGBTQ+ community favorites.
Jay Jurden: My elevator pitch for the story which would become “Cryo-Therapy,” was very simple. A fun and funny sparring match between two Omega-level mutants. Very much in the style of an anime sparring match between rivals. The physical conversation and the verbal conversation being held at the same time offered a level of storytelling that really excited me. The idea of Storm and Iceman being able to really cut loose and get innovative with each other based on their unique power connection was also inspired by Storm and Magneto’s relationship during Uranos’ attack on Arakko. A mutant circuit but something even more intimate and elemental. Storm and Iceman training together is also (and eagle-eye Twitter/X users have spotted this) a concept that originated in X-Men #48. These two characters BOTH mean so much to me that I was thrilled when I started to outline. Did I mention it’s funny btw?
AIPT: X-Fan Wiccan Phoenix wanted to know why you chose to focus on Storm vs. Iceman. Would you say it’s because their powers are very similar in some ways? Do you think that Bobby is one of the only people that could actually post a challenge to Ororo? What can you tell WiccanPhoenix?
Jay Jurden: Thank you for the question, Wiccan Phoenix! (The demiurge + the cosmic entity of fire and life incarnate… no pressure on me to get this right.) I can say that when I found out that Storm and Iceman were available I reverted to my younger self and screamed out, “MINE!”
Their shared status as Omega-level mutants is one connection but the deeper connection of them both being Omegal-level with hydrokinetic and cryokinetic powers was really fascinating to me. Weather is a bit of an umbrella term (pun count is at 1) so if we break it down: Storm can manipulate water (in various states) and temperature (in both directions) and atmospheric pressure (which is directly tied to temperature) and create a host of atmospheric phenomena plus tons of other stuff. Damn, she really is good huh? But those first two things water and temperature, Iceman is also VERY good at manipulating those, so my nerd brain just thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun IF…” plus they both have a bit of natural immunity to each other’s powers so they can go pretty hard and BOOM! a lil training short story was born. I’ll also confess that for a silly Queer person like me, getting to play with Storm and Iceman is a dream because MuthaNature and Otterpop/Twinksicle are definitely LGBTQ+ community favorites.
I upscaled the art. Art is fantastic, dialogue is cringy not funny.