Storm Sunday: Chris Bachalo

I’m not sure why I’ve waited so long to celebrate Chris Bachalo‘s interpretation of Ororo, but this Storm Sunday is all about Mr. Steampunk himself.  I remember being bowled over by his work on the Sandman spin off mini-series Death:  The High Cost of Living.  He seemed especially suited to drawing that character.  I followed his work on Generation X, but didn’t really like many of the characters besides Banshee, Jubilee and M.  I still read the title and enjoyed his art for the most part.  When he drew Storm for the cover of X-Men Unlimited I was really excited because I felt that he merged Ororo’s punk phase with her post-punk self really well and liked his design for her hair.  All the buckles and belts really worked for me.  I’ve seen his style look clean and crisp and a bit chunky and clunky at other times.  For the most part I enjoy his cartoon kinetic lines.

Recently, Bachalo got to draw the X-Men during the Messiah CompleX crossover and he brought his unique style to Storm’s design once again.  I like the mix of old and new costume elements.  My fave being the corset he drew here.  It’s a bit Black Queen from the Hellfire Club, but it’s not a radical departure for Storm who still has her ruby, her cape, thigh boots and tiara (although the latter is a bit too small for my liking).

This artwork is from X-Men #205, depicting a fight between the X-Men and Mr. Sinister’s Marauders.  Storm’s using Harpoon’s, er, harpoon against Sinister in a pretty cool way, although Goddess knows why she thinks she needs it.  And Angel is looking particularly awesome in the upper right hand corner.  This is my favorite iteration of Angel’s costume, btw.  

These pages are the only times Storm is used as anything other than wallpaper in Messiah CompleX.  I suppose I should be thankful she got to do anything since the spotlight has been all about Cyclops and Cable and their paramilitary blackops hardcore machismo for a while now.  

Bachalo has a great site and one of the images in his Gallery features the Age of Apocalypse Storm.  It’s totally worth checking out.