EMMA FROST: THE WHITE QUEEN #1 – Eyes on the Inside

Creative Team – Amy Chu(writer). Andrea Di Vito(artist). Antonio Fabela(color artist). David Nakayama(cover artist). VC’s Ariana Maher(letterer).

Published by Marvel Comics

More review from Megan here!

The Story

Emma Frost is a complex powerhouse who is the center of attention in every room she walks into. She makes her presence known, and unapologetically flexes her status and power whenever she needs to. In Emma Frost: The White Queen #1, you take a look back into the past of Emma Frost all the way back to when she was The White Queen of the Hellfire Club, and the head of the Inner Circle.

Emma and her telepathic right hand person, Noor, are at a party hosted by the Hellfire Club, expecting to have a meeting with the Inner Circle. While waiting, Emma and the rest of the party are attacked by an intruder who is there to protest fascism. Emma handles the intruder quickly after realizing that they’re also a mutant, and one of the very few as the presence of mutants isn’t known about in the Inner Circle by most.

Now it’s time for the Inner Circle meeting to start, so Emma gets right down to business. The Inner Circle starts to go over issues at hand when Emma is distracted by the smell of brimstone. Telepathically pointing it out to Noor, Emma knows that smell can only mean one thing, the X-Men are here.

That is confirmed not a second later when Nightcrawler teleports into the meeting room, causing a ruckus. The rest of the X-Men make their grand entrance into the ballroom, creating a spectacle for the party attendees. The X-Men are here to save the intruder that crashed the party earlier, but the question is who did they know about him? Who told them? Who can’t be trusted at the Hellfire Club?

The Writing

Amy Chu gives a great look into Emma Frost’s past when she’s the White Queen of the Hellfire club. As this story takes place sometime after X-Men #138, which was in the 60s, this was an excellent jump back to the Hellfire Club days. Seeing Emma in all her glory of being adored, while intimidating those around her was portrayed perfectly in the story, and felt true to the character. I believe Chu captured the essence of what makes Emma Frost the iconic White Queen with this spotlight run.

I’m interested to learn more about Noor as Emma’s right hand, as it seems they are the only one that Emma feels she can trust. Besides Noor, there was a lot of different factors in the comic that I’m excited to see come to fruition. This just shows how well of a job Chu did keeping you hooked into the story.

The Art

The artwork really takes you back to the older days of the X-Men, as Andrea Di Vito illustrated the X-Men perfectly, all the way down to Wolverine’s brown suit. Di Vito is accompanied by Antonio Fabela, who handles the colors. Both Di Vito and Fabela work so well together in Emma Frost: The White Queen #1, as their talents compliment the other’s so well. Fabela brings more depth to Di Vito’s art by giving the vibrancy and juxtaposing colors to each panel, making each page pop. Alongside these two, they’re joined by Ariana Maher, who always does a fantastic job handling the letters. Together, the artists created a beautiful comic, and I can’t wait to see what they bring in the next issue.

Final Thoughts

I love these comics that fill in the blanks of the past timelines in Marvel Comics. There’s so much to work with in the past, and Emma Frost getting more added to her story is such a great idea. Amy chu started this run strong, and makes me very excited to see what else she brings to this run.

Overall grade – 9/10

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This review was written by Megan from the Vigilante Vibes Podcast. If you liked my review, be sure to check out my other reviews! Let me know what you think of Emma Frost: The White Queen #1, or tell me what comics you’d recommend me trying out! Find me on my socials, and check out my Marvel podcast, Vigilante Vibes, by clicking here!