An explosion leaves devastation in its wake in Storm #1. The world’s most powerful mutant, Ororo Munroe, can never turn away from those in need. But this rescue effort may put her body and soul in more danger than she’s ever been in before.
Storm #1
Murewa Ayodele (Writer), Jay Bowen (Design), VC’s Travis Lanham (Letters), Alex Guimarães (Colours), Fer Sifuentes-Sujo (Colours), Lucas Werneck (Artist)
Marvel Comics
October 2, 2024
Oklahoma City. A massive bang. A whole city reduced to rubble. Its people, buried under mountains of debris. Storm and fellow mutant Frenzy fly in to rescue everyone they can find in Storm #1. It will take a miracle, but that’s what Storm does.
Unfortunately, this is no ordinary earthquake. There are shockwaves after shockwaves. Storm must find the source and stop it once and for all before the people are further obliterated. But what Storm will find at the heart of the explosion will send her into a moral tizzy and could have lasting repercussions for the uneasy truce between mutants and humans.
When the new slate of X-Men comics was announced, my first thought was, “Where’s Storm?” I couldn’t believe that after everything that had gone down with Krakoa, everyone’s favourite weather mutant was being sent to the Avengers instead of leading a mutant team. I’m still annoyed about that, but slightly less so now that she’s got a solo series.
Storm #1 has everything I want in a story featuring Storm. Action, heart, politics, moral quandaries, hope. There’s also a touch of fear for us because Storm is in a precarious position by the end of the story, as is expected with mutants. Storm herself is fearless as she faces the unknown origins of the explosion. She is the most human on the page when the bigoted humans she and Frenzy try to rescue react with fear at the mutants’ presence. She keeps fighting to save more and more people, even when all hope seems lost. And she keeps Frenzy’s conscience in check when they’re charged with rescuing enemies.
But at the core of Storm #1, and all the new X-Men books, is the running theme that no matter what mutants do, who they save, what they sacrifice, the prejudice that humans feel isn’t going to go away. Mutants are always expected to rise above their fears of how humans will react to them, or worse, do to them, to help people and do good. They’re expected to be better in every way with nary an inch given for disappointment, let alone failure. And mutants don’t have the luxury of feeling prejudice towards their oppressors. These are familiar feelings for anyone marginalized. I am relieved that this new slate of books is tying into these experiences of marginalized communities. The Krakoa-era books, as imaginative as they were, lost that vital component about what made the X-Men so popular—they were relatable to people who’ve always been shunted to the periphery.
There’s an unexpected subplot in Storm #1 about humanity leaping to assign blame when disasters occur. Everyone’s on the chopping block—humans, mutants, aliens, you name it. Things can’t just happen—there needs to be a person who can be blamed for everything going wrong. And that causes the heaviest moral quandary for Storm. Because sometimes, it’s more than just one person who did a bad thing. It’s a system that doesn’t prepare or protect people from terrible situations. Looking at the world we live in now, the wars, the climate disasters, the increasing cost-of-living crisis, and the wealth gaps, can we blame one person? Or do we blame the systems that have put such people in power? These are the questions I want X-Men comics to make me think about. I’m so glad that Storm #1 does just that, and I’m hopeful the rest of the series continues in the same vein.
I can’t end my review without mentioning the absolutely stunning art by Lucas Werneck and the colours by Alex Guimarães and Fer Sifuentes-Sujo. This is the most beautiful and regal I’ve seen Storm in ages. Her supersuit is a showstopper, but even the civilian dress and turban are gorgeous. And the hair! Oh, how luscious Storm’s hair looks in this book. It’s long and big and curly. Majestic!
But beyond Storm, and it is hard to look beyond her, every character in this book has such a distinct face and expression that I could pick them out of a line-up. The attention to detail in Storm #1 is delightful.
I have been so frustrated by how Marvel Comics never seems to know what to do with Storm, but I feel like I’ve finally got a series that has given her purpose and meaning. She’s a mutant, first and foremost, a weather goddess, a bringer of light to darkness. Wherever this journey takes Storm, no matter how rough the seas, I’ll be with her.
