Storm #1Issue(s): Storm #1 Review/plot: So i started thinking along those lines, but then i realized there aren't too many examples of characters that were introduced as team members who managed to sustain solo books (i.e it's not just a problem for X-Characters). The Thing, especially if you count Marvel Two-In-One, is a counterexample, and Hawkeye has had a few goes at it (technically he started as an Iron Man villain but we'll count it). The new point, then, is that we shouldn't think too poorly of Storm, and/or of the creators of this miniseries, for failing to turn this into an ongoing. She's a great character, and the creative team is nothing to sneer at (i don't like Terry Dodson but he has his fans and has had a successful career; it's not like Storm got stuck with Marvel Comics Presents-level art). The odds were just against her. That said, the plot for this issue does show the limitations that are put on team characters. Without much of a "mysterious past" to work with (she does have the pickpocket in Cairo/Shadow King thing), Warren Ellis correctly seizes on one of the other main things about Storm that was introduced in Claremonts run but never got much development: her leadership of the Morlocks. Or, more accurately, her weird non-leadership. This was basically one of Claremont's many threads that he didn't get around to developing, and unlike a lot of them this one got a hard conclusion thanks to the Mutant Massacre. Since then we've had Storm occasionally dealing with angst over her failings (to the point where i don't think we needed any more of that, thank you). But it might have been interesting to do a fresh start on the Morlocks, either by having Storm finding a group of surviving Morlocks (or other lost mutants) and taking responsibility for them, or creating her own such group. The problem is that the post-Massacre Morlocks already had a lot of baggage, thanks to stuff happening in X-Force as well as the whole Mikhail Rasputin plotline, which even though i READ AND REVIEWED IT FOR THIS PROJECT i still have trouble remembering what happened (i try and my brain just says "Don't care!"). The other thing is that from the start this issue is just immersed in current X-Men continuity. I've often reflexively disagreed, in a general sense, with the criticism that the X-Books were so mired in continuity that they were impenetrable to new readers, because the people making those criticisms seemed to be advocating for NO continuity. But there's no doubt (as i noted in the Age of Apocalypse) entry, that the current X-creators were out of control when it came to "continuity" (usually in the sense of "you had better know what is going on in every other X-book if you are reading this", not "here's a reference to a plotline from 5 years ago"). The real problem is in execution, not continuity itself. And some of that is just a lack of skill on the part of the creators as well as a deliberate abandonment of the tools that help new readers: flashbacks, footnotes, expository dialogue. So basically this issue reads like Uncanny X-Men #334 and that's a problem for me, who hasn't read an issue of Uncanny since LegionQuest, and would have been a problem for any potential new reader who might have been attracted to a Storm solo series. Storm is angsting about having (seemingly) killed "Sarah" - Marrow - because she had a bomb attached to her heart as part of the "Gene Nations" plot (no footnote! But it is said that Gene Nation grew out of the Morlocks, which Storm attributes to her failure to lead the Morlocks). Storm has heard from Cable about a "Ceremony of Light" that she can perform in the Morlock tunnelts to get rid of her angst. She goes to the tunnel to perform the ritual but is instead grabbed and pulled through a portal into Mikhail Rasputin's domain. That's literally it in terms of the plot, and the fact that that's all that happens, while building off of stories that i hadn't read and aren't well explained, is definitely why i didn't go beyond issue #1. There's also a weird idea attempt at a romantic connection between Cable and Storm. We see Cable thinking about how Storm has a "natural" sandalwood scent, and then we see Storm having a frustrating conversation with her ex, Forge, which includes a line about he "can't read her mind" (unlike Cable!). Quality Rating: D Chronological Placement Considerations: Wolverine is still roaming feral on the X-Mansion grounds, but he's eating Kentucky Fried Chicken instead of animals he catches himself; it seems to take place before he loses his nose circa Wolverine #100/Uncanny X-Men #332. Forge talks to Storm over a computer screen (not in person). References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (2): showCharacters Appearing: Cable (Adult), Cyclops, Forge, Jean Grey, Marilou, Mikhail Rasputin, Storm, Wolverine Comments are now closed. |
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