Storm #2 Review

It was with a thirst for escape that I dragged into my local comic book store and picked up Storm #2. It has been a rough couple of weeks all around. The violence so many Black folks have always known was part of the judicial system has exploded on to the national stage. Famous and totally unknown people have died. Every inch of land between the Mediterranean and the Euphrates River seems to be on fire. It was enough to make me turn off my Twitter feed and watch Muppet videos on YouTube. (Try Share it Maybe by Cookie Monster. It makes everything better.) Storm #2 was just what I needed. The issue is tight — delivering chuckles, inside jokes, and a happy ending, while setting up more interesting characters for Ororo to have to manage in coming issues. Upfront, I’m not crazy about the art style of these comics. I find the colors to be too saturated, occasionally leaving Storm’s face a washed-out brown blob in a sea of lighter or darker brown blobs. That criticism aside, I do like the color choices for the environments, and the line work overall is amazing. When Ibanez and Redmond (Artist and Colorist, respectively) get it right, they get it really right. I mean, not everyone can draw a side-eye just like mom used to make:

The plot is straight-forward, delivering Storm’s old enemy Callisto with a twist I won’t spoil. As in #1, Storm walks a fine line around her desire for freedom and self-identity that won’t have disastrous consequences for those around her. She is amazingly p…