Fifty years ago, Ororo Munroe, the iconic Storm, made her debut in Giant-Size X-Men #1. Meanwhile, in Storm #7, she faces five legendary thunder gods: Thor, Chaac, Sango, Mamaragan and Susanoo. But first, a mission to Brazil goes horribly wrong. Storm #7 is written by Murewa Ayodele, drawn by Luciano Vecchio, colored by Alex Guimaraes and Fer Sifuentes-Sujo and lettered by Travis Lanham.
20-year-old Jude Jones: So … you made a deal with the devil.
42-year-old Jude Jones: He’s not the devil.
20: OK, fine, so you make a deal with a malevolent apparition from a “Chaos dimension” with a flaming head who “isn’t the devil” to talk to your younger self — me — in a dream.
42: Yes…
20: But I’m only going to remember one thing from this encounter.
42: Like it was a dream that disappears after you wake, yep.
20: And instead of giving me stock tips, you want to talk about comic books? Son, I don’t even read comic books! I haven’t looked at one since that wraparound X-Men book when I was like 9.
42: I know. Obviously I know. That’s not at all what I want from you, though since you’re here and I’m trying to figure out how to write this comic review, I figured I’d use you while I have you. So … what did you think?
20: I think you … I … I think I’m insane. Also, who writes reviews of comic books?
42: You have no idea. On both counts.
20: I do. Anyway, fine, the comic … well, Storm looks great! She’s actually dark skinned! Her hair is like a cloud! She looks amazing. And so does everything else.
42: Now on this we agree. Vecchio does an amazing job illustrating everything in this book, from the pseudo-fastball special with Maggott/Japheth (who coulda been switched out for anyone) to …
20: What’s a fastball special?
42: Remember the X-Men cartoon? Remember when Colossus would throw Wolverine?
20: No
42: Sigh, anyway, everything here looks great. I feel like the colors are a bit muted, and for an event centered on storm gods and light, things felt a little … flat. This brings me to my first critique — did you have any idea who Storm was fighting? Would you have known they were gods if it wasn’t explicitly stated?
20: I woulda thought it was just three buff dudes and a lightning man on a gecko.
42: Mamaragan, Aboriginal lightning god; Sango (Shango), Yoruban thunder god; Susanoo, Japanese storm god; and Chaac, Mayan god of rain, thunder and lightning. And that’s my point: Those guys just kinda got jerry rigged into the narrative — no context, no personalities, just names you’d have to Google to understand exactly who and what they are. And that’s been my problem with this comic run: Too much requires context that’s not given on page.
20: Wait. Google? I use Yahoo!
42: … Yeah, so did you enjoy the fight?
20: Against a giant super-soldier enhanced snake and those, I guess, gods? Absolutely! It looked cool as (explicative).
42: Do you know why they were fighting?
20: It’s a comic. You fight in comics. Why does it matter?
42: The why always matters.
20: Freshman year, remember our roommate Rob?
42: Of course.
20: And remember how Rob would come in at night, uh, enhanced, put on Belly in the DVD player and eat pretzels until he fell asleep?
42: Absolutely
20: Was Belly a good movie?
42: Ha! No.
20: Did it make any sense?
42: No, but it looked cool. I see where we’re going.
20: Do you still love Belly?
42: I still have it memorized.
20: Well then. The why doesn’t matter. Sometimes it’s OK for things just to be what they are. Sometimes it’s OK for something just to look cool. And conjuring a magic octopus to take out three gods? That’s (explicative) cool. Come on now.
42: OK, fair. But the plot …
20: It’s fine. She’s fighting a snake because Iron Man thinks recreating Captain America with shady scientists was smart. Because of course he does. The hubris of rich people will never not lead to bad things.
42: You have no idea. Be thankful you have no idea.
20: Well that’s ominous. Do I need to baby Hitler someone?
42: You need to help me finish with this comic. So you love how it looks. And you enjoyed the action. What did you think about Storm herself?
20: I didn’t think anything; there’s nothing to think about. She didn’t say (explicative).
42: THANK YOU.
20: What?
42: That’s been my biggest pet peeve throughout the entire series — she doesn’t really have autonomy, or agency, or really a personality. She just does cool-looking things and … that’s it.
20: Does she need to do more? I think you’re overthinking this.
42: Overthinking is what we do.
20: Well … OK yes, but still, this is a comic. This is not The Iliad. This is not Invisible Man. This is not that serious. She looks cool and blows (explicative) up. That’s sometimes enough.
42: Is it?
20: Yes. It was enough when I watched Independence Day a few years ago.
42: A few years … never mind.
20: Was Will Smith going to get an Oscar for punching an alien? No! But that wasn’t the point. Nothing the aliens did made sense when you think about it, but you’re not supposed to think. You’re supposed to eat nachos and laugh and jump at the jump scare and smile. That’s the point.
42: Will Smith and Oscars … but Will’s beside the point. I’ve read some comics that have changed my — our — life for the better. Deep reading. Beautiful, wonderful, fulfilling …
20: And I’ve seen Malcolm X too, but every movie can’t be Malcolm X. Not even every Spike Lee movie. There has to be variety. There has to be room for more than just one kind of thing.
42: So you’re saying …
20: You’re judging a perfectly good comic against unfair standards. It wants to be an excellently illustrated action comic. Is it good at that?
42: Actually, yes, yes it is.
20: Well then, let it be good at what it is. And you be good at what you are.
42: OK but … still, the preamble in the beginning with Silver Surfer Soot …
20: Was silly, and it’s supposed to be silly.
42: It’s supposed to be ominous, a harbinger of the dangers of Oblivion and the challenges that yet await Ororo. And yet it felt … ingenuine. Like power scaling for power-scaling’s sake.
20: You seem to have gotten the gist: He’s super powerful, at the behest of a super-powerful being, who is scared of an even *more* powerful being, whom our heroine will have to face. It’s clear. And it was silly. Let things be silly. My God, is everything that serious with you now?
42: … yes.
20: I’m not gonna remember anything, but I want you to remember this: Let that (explicative) go, man. Let it go. Speaking of which … I think I have to go. I can hear our roommate yawning.
42: Well … thank you for helping me write this.
20: You wasted a wish — which, of course comes with a catch; Lord knows what that catch is gonna be — on a comic review?
42: No, I haven’t, because I haven’t asked you for the thing you’ll remember yet.
20: Well?
42: When you go by Mom for dinner — make sure you go by Mom for dinner — hug her. Tightly. And hold on for an extra second. And give her a kiss on the cheek. Do you understand?
20: … I do. I’m so, so sorry.
42: Don’t be sorry. Just be present, for and from both of us.
20: Yes. Of course. Thank you.
42: No … thank you. Thank you.
A proud New Orleanian living in the District of Columbia, Jude Jones is a professional thinker, amateur photographer, burgeoning runner and lover of Black culture, love and life. Magneto and Cyclops (and Killmonger) were right. Learn more about Jude at SaintJudeJones.com.
