Marvel’s first lady (no offense, Carol Danvers), finally gets her own on-going solo comic.  Ororo Munroe, better known as the weather manipulating mutant Storm, is finally stepping out on her own after strong leading roles in ‘X-Men’ and ‘Avengers’ and being (briefly) married to the Black Panther.

Written by Greg Pak, the book is overall pretty great.  Unfortunately, I think when it comes to female characters, there’s a tendency to fall into certain tropes, including making her a mother figure for a younger female character.  This is nothing new of course, as Storm has served as a “big sister” to Colossus, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Jubilee, Armor and others.  Many of these characters appear in this story, as a matter of fact.

Her ties to the X-Men are firmly established as Beast/Hank McCoy plays a major role in the story.  But there are attempts to let the character step out on her own.

I’m actually torn on the art.  I think it’s beautiful… but not beautiful at the same time.  The artistic side of me completely respects the art and thinks it’s gorgeous.  But it’s just not… pretty.  I’m going to let it go.  It’s beautiful just not overly so and whenever I compliment art, I tend to get pounced upon as it’s too porn-y.

This was a tricky endeavor from the start.  Storm wasn’t designed to be a free-standing character.  She was designed to be “the girl” in the X-Men.  But she struck a nerve.  She’s the most beautiful woman to ever appear in comics.  She has unique, amazing powers.  And she’s not derivative of a male character.  It’s about damn time she got her own book.

Is it flawless?  Not 100%.  But it’s a strong start and I’m coming back for more.  (Also I have never snapped my fingers so much while reading a comic.  Wurk it gurl.)

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STORM #1
Written by Greg Pak
Art by Victor Ibañez
Cover by Simone Bianchi