To save STORM from THE WAR ABOVE ALL, a mysterious entity abducts ORORO out of the Multiverse completely. STORM must find her way back to EARTH-616 by any means necessary.
This story delivers an exciting new perspective on Storm, placing her in a high-stakes adventure that goes far beyond the boundaries of her usual world. What I enjoyed most was seeing Storm pushed into an unfamiliar situation where her strength, determination, and resilience are tested in completely new ways. The mystery surrounding Ororo’s disappearance and her struggle to find a way back to Earth-616 creates a strong sense of urgency and keeps the story engaging throughout.
The narrative combines action, cosmic-scale stakes, and character development effectively, making it more than just a superhero adventure. It explores Storm’s identity and perseverance while delivering plenty of suspense and intrigue. A compelling read for Marvel fans and anyone who enjoys multiverse stories with strong, determined protagonists.
What the fuck is even happening in this book? This Ayodele person has been writing about Storm for more than a year now, and every single issue feels like we jumped ahead and missed three comics' worth of plot.
Storm is traveling between different afterlives? How? I'm going to set aside the plot questions, and go directly to, how? I have complained before about this recent development where writers try to say that Storm is a literal goddess. It conflicts with decades' worth of comics, it's blasphemy, and it gets more offensive the more you think about the fact she is a flesh-and-blood woman born in the U.S., but she seems to honestly expect African villagers to truly worship her. But, are we at the point where writers are just going to handwave away her powerset and now say she can do whatever the fuck she wants?
Also, I know that I have said it before, but WHAT THE FUCK IS HER RELATIONSHIP WITH MAGGOTT!? She sees him in an afterlife (I guess I hadn't realized he was dead), and she explicitly refers to him as a loved one. She fucking loves him? Since when? There were like four issues in a row where he was just randomly around, hanging out with Storm and getting a cosmic powerup, and we never had any fucking clue WHY they were together. Are they dating? Did Ayodele decide to change continuity and say that they're related because they both have connections to Africa?
(Ayodele has tried to claim that Storm's mother was from Nigeria, when she is actually from Kenya. Meanwhile, Maggott is from South Africa, and clearly stated to X-Men back in the 90s that the part of Africa he was from was hundreds of miles from the different part of Africa Storm is from that they were visiting for a mission.)
YOU NEVER TOLD US WHY THEY WERE HANGING OUT IN THE FIRST PLACE. Are they friends? Lovers? Relatives?
He wasn't even the only one. The writer also included an issue where Storm was just randomly hanging out with Frenzy, for no particular reason. I don't dispute that Black mutants might want to befriend each other, but can you please TELL US IF THEY'RE FRIENDS? You at least need one text box in the corner of one panel to give some sort of explanation for why these characters are together. Even back in the 90s, if Spider-man and Daredevil were going to have a team-up, there would be a text box where Peter would explain that he called Murdock in so he could use his super senses to check out the scene of a crime. I don't dispute that the story can start in media res, but I still need some in-story explanation for how we got to this point.
While Storm was visiting afterlives, she made some comment that her mother was avoiding her? Then this issue introduced an alternate reality version of Storm's mother? This version said that she couldn't fly. Storm's mother hasn't appeared in comics very much, but isn't she rumored to have been a "wind rider"? Shouldn't she have some portion of Storm's powers? I get that the writer can fob that off by saying that this is an alternate version of the woman, but, still.
How did we get to this point? What is this book even about? The villainous FBI agents went another issue without any real dialogue. This is the second issue in a row where we see "Galacta" floating in a tank, presumably to serve as an energy source and/or waiting to be activated as a champion to fight Storm. I can't believe we had two issues in a row of just waiting. I can't believe that A) the FBI are the villains at all, and B) we still don't understand how/why they're villains in the first place.
This book is a mess and I want Ayodele fired from ever working for Marvel again. The next time Storm appears, I want her back to being a humble member of the X-Men, claustrophobic, and aware of her own limitations. No more talk of being "omega" or a "goddess" or "Earth's mightiest mutant." I want her back to being the sort of person I could feel like I could actually talk to. Not the sort of person I want to slap and yell at to stop blaspheming.
This got bumped up to 2 stars becuase there really is some great artwork in this issue. The story is incomprehensible to me. I hope Storm's daughter appearing in the next issue gives me something to enjoy in the story.
This issue of Storm was too over the top with cosmic mythology. The demigod of this and that against the avatar of so and so. A creation of Storms very own multiverse only time will tell how this will play out.