Storm 1

Storm 1
Pak (w) and V. Ibañez (a) and Redmond (c) and Petit (l)

Storm kicks off her solo series by aiding the small African village of Santo Marco right on the brink of a tsunami (I sat here for a WHILE trying to get a better sentence than that but it's just not happening, sorry guys). It's hard, but she holds the tsunami off to protect the villagers, though she draws the ire of the anti-mutant government forces in the village and is forced, with Beast in her ear, to leave before she upends the mutant community's work to get the anti-mutant government ousted. She returns home to find new mutant student Flourish deciding on the new name Creep, bequeathed to her by the other kids, and accusing the Jean Grey School of indoctrinating kids and brainwashing them before calling Storm a sellout. The insult and the tone of the teenager cuts at Storm, who leaves and, against Henry's wishes and perhaps her better instincts, returns to Santo Marco to aid in the cleanup. She's well-liked by the community but the government jerks come back and threaten her, goading her into conflict, which she, you know, annihilates. It's caught on camera but it seems like it may lead to better conditions in the village as it empowers the villagers and shines a light on local politician greed and corruption. She returns home, apologizes to Creep, and returns her to her home in Mexico, where she happily reunites with her family.

It's a very solid first issue for Greg Pak and Victor Ibañez on the new STORM ongoing. I was nervous at first as Pak started to give more background history on Storm than I think we needed but he quickly righted the ship and made the narration work to the story's benefit and to Storm's benefit. I was surprised, in fact, when I realized how quickly the story was reading despite what I saw as a rather slow start. It became a compelling story, one that really got right to the core of Storm and managed to show her in a few different lights, particularly important as Storm is the sort of character who's lived a very complex and very accomplished life. Looking forward to see where the series goes next.

Total Score: 5/5