Long before X-Men: Red saw Storm become regent of the Sol system and long after she was a goddess of Kenya, the Windrider was the leader of the X-Men. With skill and the strength of will it took to claim control over the Morlocks, she defeated both Cyclops and Callisto to become the leader she was always meant to be. Ann Nocenti and Sid Kotian return to that era in Storm #1 in the hopes of seeing lightning strike twice.
SPOILERS AHEAD for Storm #1!
The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is at it again. The X-Men are forced to meet their classic foes in the field, and Storm isolates two potential weak points: Kitty Pryde’s teenage rebellions and Rogue’s former loyalties. No time to worry. There’s a fight to be had.
Kitty immediately proves Storm’s worries correct. Instead of somehow disrupting Destiny’s powers, she goes to Wolverine’s defense against Blob. Thankfully, Nightcrawler is there to take out the villain. Rogue lives up to her responsibilities, but not without overdoing it. After all, she downright punches Mystique into orbit. Whoops.
After the fight, the X-Men discover that the Brotherhood was luring them out into the fight. Someone wants to see the X-Men in action, and the Brotherhood is more than willing to comply.
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With a quick psychic lecture from Xavier out of the way, Storm chastises Kitty and Rogue for their behavior. Kitty is, unsurprisingly, rebellious. She’s furious at Storm’s change of clothes and attitude. What was once a loyal friend has turned into a stranger, and she just can’t trust her leader anymore.
The X-Men recover quickly and enjoy a nice beach run. Wolverine and Storm talk about the responsibilities of a leader, before Storm takes a dip in the ocean. There’s a brief — and horrifying — interlude where Storm is trapped beneath the surface as an undertow pulls her under. With no explanation for her escape, however, her survival is left somewhat lackluster.
While the X-Men face off against a few bigots, their leader contemplates her place in the world. A minor shift of the current to save a child from drowning could have ripple effects down the line. Is it her right to decide the world’s waves?
In the midst of her internal conflict, Storm goes for a ride on a motorcycle. On the way, she meets a fellow rider on a broken-down bike. He’s secretly a climate scientist working on new technology to improve the environment. They go for a ride together. For once, all seems calm.
Kitty and Rogue, meanwhile, aren’t interested in philosophy. They go off in search of teenage rebellion and return to the mansion just a little differently. Rogue is absolutely plastered, and Kitty has a few tattoos to her name and a haircut that evokes her look from X-Treme X-Men: Mekanix. Storm argues with them before they’re all subsequently dismissed for lectures by Xavier. Some things never change.
Storm goes for another ride. Yet, as she goes to manipulate the rain, she accidentally creates a storm of hail. Nothing is responding as it should, and it’s easy to figure out why. A corpse-like figure in a red cloak halts the hail and disrupts her powers. They fall into the ocean together, and Storm finally faces the world’s backlash against its goddess.
If the modern era of X-Men comics is all about introducing new elements to explore, Nocenti has proven that the classics still have some material to be mined. The issue drops at a good time too, since Immortal X-Men and X-Men: Red have been diving into the relationship between Storm and Professor X. More insight into the tension between them only informs future issues and offers a little more context to her fury.
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Still, it needs to be stressed that this isn’t the first time that Storm’s powers have proven to be inconsistent. X-Men: Lifedeath and even the fight with Cyclops that gave Storm leadership over the X-Men occurred when she lacked her mutant gifts. So to center the story around her distrust over her powers just feels like an overdone point that fails to acknowledge the character’s history.
Similarly, the conflict with Kitty feels somewhat contrived. After all, this exact issue has been addressed before in classic X-Men. Redoing it just feels like filler in a book already padded with more than enough content.
Sid Kotian’s art also doesn’t feel like a great fit for this mini. While the undertow page is genuinely harrowing, the faces can be downright eerie. Though they often smile, there’s an uncanny element to them that seems to evoke Greg Land’s style.
There’s a lot to like about seeing Storm get a book of her own. She’s a great character, and there’s nothing better than getting to see her wrestle with philosophy and the implications of her powers. Still, the story feels somewhat repetitive and the art is likely going to be a controversial element. Storm #1 is definitely worth the read, but it isn’t going to be a world-breaker.
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