Friday, December 22, 2017

"Trying not to set the atmosphere on fire"



Not knowing anything about the X-Men, I picked up the comic book Storm (by Greg Pak, Victor Ibanez, Scott Hepburn, Ruth Redmond, VC’s Cory Petit, and others) solely due to her day job - “Headmistress of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.”

The first few pages reveal her backstory: “Ororo Munroe aka Windrider aka Princess of N’Dare aka Queen of Wakanda aka Storm.”

In this particular volume, Storm protects villagers from resort developers, finds a group of missing kids (only to find out they want to be missed), and returns a rebellious student to her home in Mexico. Storm feels it’s the right decision since, like her, “She’ll lose and find where she belongs a hundred times.”

We also get a glimpse of her relationship with Logan (aka Wolverine).  As he sets out for his mission in a downpour, she sweetly gives him a patch of dry sky. She assists and old friend (enemy?) who’s invented a rain machine for drought-stricken Africa. Fearing the weather machine will tempt someone to abuse his power, Storm smashes the machine to force the inventor to work as a team with the people to rebuild it.

As mutant of the X-Men, if you haven’t already figured it out, Storm has the power to control the weather.  When she discovers Logan’s death, her grief lights up the world.  With Logan gone, she gets involved in a battle between underworld clans.  Not content to stand in the background and look tough, she does, indeed, make it rain. 

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