(Colored by Sonia Obacktothefuture)

Not sure if the different styles go well together. They were drawn as designed from the get-go, but the Dark X-men figures were made bigger on the final piece to further "showcase" them. Unfortunately it REALLY took away from the intended "they're-in-Norman's-head" imagery, but I guess for a cover to appeal to retailers and store-shoppers, I thought it best to just go in this direction. I originally wanted the four Dark X-Men characters to have been wearing Green Goblin masks, but once editorial nixed that, the whole "in-his-head" could just be thrown out completely.

By the way, I LOVED doodling Beast when I first started reading comics. I loved the freedom of not caring if he looked pretty, as long as he looked cool. Honestly, while I loved it as a fan, I hated the idea of drawing Hank McCoy as Mufasa (actually, inside tip, I draw him as a tiger. Tigers, even without the stripes, are structurally cooler-looking than lions. Fact.) So I really loved getting the chance to draw this Beast, even though it was an older, slightly more insane Hank (that backstory is so awesome, by the way.)