LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! By the time you’re reading this, you know. You know who sits in the central seat of Arakko. You know who speaks for Sol. Storm rules. But when you have to prove to your people who you are, every single day without fail…What becomes of who you were?
What I thought
Cover– This cover is giving me life! Hands down my favorite cover this month. Stefano Caselli provides a sleek and smooth image of Storm facing down insectoid mutants of Arrako/Mars.
Art-Guiu Vilanova is on deck! A huge strength of this issue is its depiction of Storm’s strong African features. Well, to be fair it’s the depiction of all the black characters. The features were on point and popping!
Action- Storm makes short work of her initial challenger which was amusing but it was that tussle with Tarn that was to die for. We also get a flashback to an apparent battle between Storm and a younger version of herself to ascend to her throne. Pity we never got to see more than a flashback.
Villain- Once I knew that Hellion’s villain Tarn was one of the circle leaders back in that title I knew Storm was up for a problem. What Ewing does here though is truly show and explain what Tarn’s Omega level powers are, to great effect! Tarn is the “Sinister” of his mutant circle and he played his drama-filled part very well. I am delighted at the possibilities.
Characterization– I really enjoyed Al Ewing’s take on Storm . As I have been saying since Al was writing Mighty Avengers, which redefined and made Blue Marvel workable in modern marvel so too does he have a handle on Storm . Storm’s personality channels the great Chris Claremont’s battle-hardened rendition of the character. The minute I read the solicit I remembered X-treme X-men Arena. This is a Storm full of conviction, powerful, majestic, and awe-inspiring with and without her powers. Tarn bit off more than he can chew and did not even know it! This was not Storm’s first time having her body altered. She’s been de-aged and Masque has played around with her a few times. Al Ewing, you sir understood the assignment!
Mars– I liked the general outline of the structure of how the Nine seats of the Great Ring works, Storm’s place in the ring as “ruler” of the planet etc.
Overall I give this comic 4/5 stars
