Storm does not lie. We all know that. But in the aftermath of the X-Manhunt, she is under investigation by the FBI. Will Ororo have to perjure herself or face jail time for assisting fugitive Charles Xavier? And what is Maggott up to back at the Storm Sanctuary? Storm #8 is written by Murewa Ayodele, drawn by Lucas Werneck and Mario Santoro, colored by Alex Guimaraes and lettered by Travis Lanham.
I consider myself, when I put my mind and effort into it, a relatively well-dressed man. I know what I like, I know how to make what I like work for my body, and I know how people perceive what I like. (Should I care about others’ perceptions? A question for another day.)
As you’re reading this, the 2025 Met Gala, a fashion-filled fundraiser for the Metropolitan (New York City) Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, has wrapped. Fashionistas, real and imagined, are reviewing the tape, picking their most and least favorite designs.
As someone who considers himself a well-dressed man, I, of course, had a range of opinions, favorites (Damson Idris, Jeff Goldblum), misses (not naming them because I don’t want the stans coming for me), and people who underwhelmed me.
The underwhelming celebs confounded me the most.
People like Zendaya and Colman Domingo — people who are known for raising the bar, taking risks and nailing them, people for whom “too much” doesn’t exist — seemed to be uncharacteristically, confoundingly, disappointingly subdued. It’s not that they were bad by any means; just, well, subtle. Safe. Did they nail the theme (Superfine: Tailoring Black Style)? Absolutely! The tailoring of their outfits was superb. Yet I didn’t want to see just tailoring; I wanted to see extravagance. Decadence. I wanted it all at one time, and I felt robbed not getting it.
Luckily, Storm #8 was right within reach.
This issue was the exact opposite of subtle — extravagance was abundant here. Werneck and Santoro (the latter taking over toward the middle of the issue) did, as usual, an amazing job of drawing faces, actions and clothing.
Still, there was so much going on here that, even with amazing art, it’s almost overwhelming to sort through. In these 24 pages:
- Black Panther and Iron Man, after trying fruitlessly to clean a toxic cloud that Storm dissipated with ease, tease each other about their ex-wives (while Reed Richards smiles as the ultimate wife guy)
- Thor, helping Storm clean up, warns her of a coming conflict between the Storm Gods who assaulted her and another ancient power.
- A future version of Silver Surfer (Soot) makes a cameo.
- Storm, back in her sanctuary (which, again, feels so … empty), does yoga as she prepares to answer a summons from the U.S. government.
- Manifold, for some reason still wearing his SWORD outfit, transports Storm to D.C., then transports back to the sanctuary — only to transport again with his mentor Gateway to find Maggott assembling a round-robin fighting tournament for … reasons.
- Storm is then interrogated, only to find that the interrogation is a trap, because of course it’s a trap.
This is … a lot of ground to cover.
Many pieces on the proverbial chess (checkers?) board move; yet all these pieces just seem to make one move forward. So while yes, a lot happens, it also feels like nothing happened. A lot of setup, but no real delivery. No checkmate, no pieces moved off the board.
No character development; no real action, and so much that feels, to be fair, just haphazardly put together.
Why is Storm using energy manipulation to repel psychic attacks considering she had to use a special method (remember the Red Triangle Protocol?) to fend off Xavier? How was Maggott able to convince a bunch of powerhouses to enter a fighting tournament? Why is Eden around? Why is she asking him to watch over the person she trusted as a number 2? Why go to the FBI headquarters without a lawyer (maybe She-Hulk’s talents would be better used with her than Maggott?) Why even allow yourself to be a party to the subpoena — does your Krakoan nationality, something we’ve never officially seen revoked — not grant you a get-out-of-jail-free card?
All this extravagance makes the issue a bit hard to digest. And while I like extravagance in my clothes — and in my comics — here, it doesn’t feel well-tailored. It just feels like unnecessary excess: an exercise in maximalism that, in the end, doesn’t push fashion or our femme fatale forward.
Days removed from the exploits, I’m still energized by the Gala. I’m excited to visit the exhibit next time I make it to New York; I’m excited to find ways to integrate what I saw into my next formal outing, however many months away that may be. Still, I wish I could be just as energized by this issue. Instead, I found myself exhausted — appreciative, as always, of a look and heart, but ultimately disappointed by the execution.
Maybe, in just this case, a little less would yield a lot more.
Buy Storm #8 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
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.
