Storm #2 review

“Thief. Goddess. Heistress. 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 ? 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 s 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  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 (the height difference between Storm and Wolverine whilst dancing in the first scene gave me a good chuckle) – reflecting Pak’s plot, in later s (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.

Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.