As someone who has served, I know someone and have been someone who has lost something of themselves. I remember the first time I came home after I joined, my family and friends saw a change and after a few times even more changes. It was not until I saw loss while serving. I saw loss growing up but it was not the same.

Environment and people around you make a difference on how you experience loss. Some of the men and women I served with were not the same. After they suffered a traumatic injury, they felt they lost a part of themselves. This is why I was surprised that within comics this issue had not been really explored until one of comics’ greatest auteurs Chris Claremont sought to do this with one of Marvel’s greatest characters, Storm. In X-Men: LifeDeath, Claremont, along with Barry Windsor-Smith, explores how it is for a superhero once they have lost the powers, which in her case made her godlike.

We find Storm and Forge living together, sometime after she lost her powers by the mistake of Forge, who has become her caretaker, as her loss of powers has sent her on a downward spiral of depression. Meanwhile, we find Rogue living off the grid while still stopping evil mutants before they can do harm. We also find Professor Xavier and Nightcrawler looking for both women, via Cerebro, with no such luck. As Storm returns to Africa, where she goes home to her village, to not only connect with her people, she finds more about herself without her powers than she ever did, with them. We also catch up with Wolverine, as Lady Deathstrike looks to lop off his head during a blizzard. In the final story, we find out exactly how Dazzler became an X-Men in a battle with Malice.

Overall, an excellent set of stories which proves why Claremont is the one true voice when it comes to writing the X-Men. The story by Claremont, is smart, introspective, and action packed. The art by Windsor-Smith feels like a painting. Altogether, a story you soon won’t forget.

Story: Chris Claremont Art: Barry Windsor-Smith
Story: 10 Art: 9.9 Overall: 9.8 Recommendation: Buy