About This Piece

Working on an X-Men piece was both a dream and a real challenge. There are so many characters, colors, and powers—how do you bring all of that together into one image? On top of that, the X-Men have such a deep history. Between the comics, cartoons, and movies, there’s arguably more lore here than almost any other team. The goal became figuring out how to distill all of that into a single moment.

The idea actually goes back to my time working on special forces video games, where I learned about the V-22 Osprey and its ability to lift straight up off the ground. That stuck with me. I knew the X-Men had the Blackbird, which launches from beneath the basketball court at the mansion, and I started thinking about how a vehicle like that could deploy a team directly into combat. From there, it clicked—what situation would call for a low-altitude combat drop from the X-Men? The answer was obvious: Sentinels.

Once I had the scenario, the next challenge was deciding who to include and how to place them. Wolverine went up front—he’s a fan favorite and a close-range fighter, so it felt natural. Cyclops and Magneto, both powerful leaders in their own right, were given strong, central positions as well. Iceman is a personal favorite, so I made sure to feature him prominently too. From there, Rogue, Colossus, Jean Grey, Xavier, Beast, Storm, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Mystique are all shown in ways that highlight their individual powers and personalities.

When I started assembling the final composition from the individual character drawings, I spent a lot of time moving things around, trying to find the strongest arrangement. In the process, something unexpected happened— Iceman’s ice trail and Storm’s lightning bolt overlapped in a way that formed a giant “X.” It was one of those happy accidents that you instantly recognize as right, and it became the visual anchor that ties the whole piece together.