Storm #2 review

“Thief. Goddess. Headmistress. Queen” 

Storm (Of X-Men fame and all of the above) finally has her own book, and I cannot think of a better writer to helm it than Greg Pak. I didn’t review #1 for Den Of Geek, but if I had it would have got a mighty five stars. A pretty hard act to follow, and for the most part #2 does not disappoint. 

How does one refer to a character as widely respected as Storm? Are we on first name terms? Ororo just doesn’t feel right, so I’m sticking with Storm. 

We pick up with Storm closely after the events of #1, relaxing over a burger with Wolverine, lamenting on her newfound feeling of self-assurance and purpose in life. This issue follows a pretty standard narrative route, which Pak handles very well; walking past a missing persons flyer on the street, Storm decides to follow it up and in the process learns a little something about appearances and assumptions, clashing with her familiar adversary Callisto along the way. Again Pak uses the main plot to fill out Storm’s character (the quick re-cap panels on page six are nice) and whilst I did feel the reveal was a little quick, the emotional and narrative pay-off certainly make up for this. 

Pak’s dialogue sizzles in this issue – I loved the interplay between Storm and Callisto, heavy with anger and frustration, nicely setting up their (very!) complicated past relationship. In truth the only part of this issue I was not keen on were Wolverine’s appearances – I guess Marvel need to get as much mileage out of the character as possible before the upcoming Death Of Wolverine event, but it just felt a little out of place. 

Victor Ibañez’s artwork in this issue is just as impressive as his work on #1. His elegant drawing of Storm gives a recognizable human form to the character, building on Pak’s work. Ibañez at first gives Storm a strong, confident stance – her back arched high, towering over others in the panel (the height difference between Storm and Wolverine whilst dancing in the first scene gave me a good chuckle) – reflecting Pak’s plot, in later panels (such as on page 15) Storm stands a little less tall, defensively holding her arm across her body. Ibañez’s artwork is beautifully complemented by Ruth Redmond’s deep colouring, giving each scenes its own recognisable tone – Redmond’s work in the sewer scenes is particularly impressive. 

Issue #2 of Storm is a great read – It does feel slight, re-treading on much of the ground work set down in #1, and I am definitely waiting for a multiple issue arc to come into play, but whilst Pak’s writing and Ibañez’s is this good, I’m willing to wait an issue or two.

Storm #2 is out now.

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