"... What? How dare you even ask."
Pepe Larraz was the main X-Men series artist after the first Hellfire Gala, and I love his run with that first team (especially Polaris). Here is one of my favorite pages from issue #3, when the X-Men have a bit of down time after fighting off the High Evolutionary. I love the first panel with the X-Men being silly (and showing off their humanity) with the Vietnamese locals, but my favorite is the whole exchange between Scott and Jean as they play "rock, paper, scissors". It starts off all gloomy with the shadows in panel two (to break up the silly in panel one), then the dialogue kicks in to lighten the moment (also love that the scissors and rock captions were actually included on the monoprint, in all their pink psychic glory... the page simply isn't complete without them). Of course, after losing, Scott can't help but ask if Jean's psychically peeking, and Jean feigns indignation at such an insinuation. This is my first Scott/Jean page, and it's a nice glimpse into their playful rapport when they aren't busy fighting to save the world (or mired in some other melodrama). Also, this is one of the few times where Scott appears in the Krakoa outfit with his hair out (like his classic 90s look), which I think is a better look for him.
Fun note- Pepe included the Scott/Jean sequence in his
farewell post to the Krakoan era. He had so many great images and moments to pick from, and it's cool that he thought highly enough of this one to include it.
Thanks, Icíar (and Pepe)!
