(Image Source: Marvel Comics / Elizabeth Torque)
There’s an old saying about comics writing often attributed to Stan Lee – “Every comic is someone’s first.” Generally, this is taken to mean that writers should make stories accessible to new readers. Either through the dialogue or a blurb summing up the story so far. This is particularly important in first issues centered around popular characters or long-running franchises like X-Men, which are presumably aimed at new readers. Unfortunately, Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #1 fails this classic standard.
Those who only know Ororo Munroe from the X-Men movies are in for an uphill battle. The past two years have seen Storm largely part ways with her old team. She pursued a life as solo superhero, before joining the Avengers. She also became an effective god, preparing Earth for a “Thunder War” against various weather deities.
(Image Source: Marvel Comics / Federica Mancin)
The first page of Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #1 tries to explain all this, but the events it describes seem random. So does the story which follows, which flits between plot points like a hummingbird. These include Storm facing another god threatening Earth, a brief team-up with the Avengers, and the death of a newly introduced hero called Death Siren. Her death serves no purpose beyond giving Ororo something to angst over.
(Image Source: Marvel Comics / Federica Mancin)
Also, a couple in Little Rock, Arkansas, suffer a sudden death by exploding head. What this has to do with Storm is anybody’s guess. It does, however, result in a cameo from Scarlet Witch, who visits the crime scene and appears at the end of the book, hovering outside Storm’s bedroom, asking “Storm – what wrath have you brought down upon us all?”
New Storm title too heavy on exposition
Writer Murewa Ayodele can write a good story. The problem is that she seems to be writing five good stories at once with Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant. As a result, this book is a bit much and I found myself confused at times despite reading the earlier series. All in all, there seems no good reason for this issue to be a #1 apart from allowing Marvel a chance to sell more books to speculators. It certainly doesn’t feel like a first issue.
(Image Source: Marvel Comics / Federica Mancin)
The artwork is similarly conflicted. Federica Mancin has a good eye for detail, but the panel placement of this issue seems odd. Intense action sequences are crammed into many little panels, while more static scenes are given full splashes. There are also some odd expressions throughout Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #1, which seem in appropriate to the emotions of the scene.
Overall, Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #1 makes every mistake a first issue could. The story is loaded with dense continuity and feels like walking in on the middle of a movie. The artwork is muddled and oddly blocked. Fans of the previous Storm series may enjoy it. Newcomers, unfortunately, will have a hard time understanding it.
Grade: 5/10
Storm: Earth’s Mightiest Mutant #1 is now available in comic shops everywhere.
