Lame

Forgettable

What I expected: A team up between two complex adult buddies delving into a mysterious temple adventure where they bond over their shady pasts

What I got: A saturday-morning-cartoon cave action scene, linear predictable story with a not so clever ending, and bland if not immature out of character 'sentimental' dialogue. Messy vaguely humanoid art. The whole thing was very uncomfortable and childish.

note: i liked almost every previous issue more

Well, they say all things created have a purpose.
Art: Better than I could draw but not great compared to previous issues (he does try his best to channel Ibanez though and Storm looks pretty consistent).
Story: If you liked the previous issues not much will be a surprise. If you have not, not much will be a surprise, but the dialogue is a little worse. And what was with the "and know you know" PSA moment on the plane with the nurse. Storm:"Wow...that's a lot of heroes".
The fact that this title may stay though issue 12 is a miracle in and of itself.
I do realize this review is slightly harsh but on the same note, many reviews have been over-inflated. Even now there is a review giving it a 10, stating the story is weak and the art is no where near as good as previous issues, but it is "the first lady of the X-men" and she deserves to stay in the sky...10 #savestorm. Due to either the love of the character or the #savestorm campaign there does need to be a balanced approach, inflating scores does not help the cause nor give the creators incentive to increase the quality of the book. more

Take issue #1, add a make-out session with Logan and you have issue #2, with Callisto added. Even the clean-up near the end is similar.
Story: This issue gives no clear direction to the series than Ororo lamenting her past, getting involved in something not in her sphere of influence, apologizing, and helping to clean the mess. The revisit with Callisto was fun to see, as was her ability to not get immediately trounced by Storm. There were parts of their interaction that seem to indicate they had not seen one another since roughly the Mutant Massacre Redux during the Joe Mad years which would be erroneous. There were a few moments of "Hell yeah" and "bad girl" comments that even for a character running through a regression and progression as Storm is seemed out of place verbalizing.
The art was well done. Ibanez has some panel to panel issues and consistency issues with rendering but his Storm still has a real-type of body and Callisto looked just as natural as Ororo. There is a grunge factor to his lines which is both within the house style and a little skewed from the norm which is appreciated. The inking is a little inconsistent with heavy and thick lines making some panels seem muddy and the coloring is a little muted and flat. Colors appear as if each tone is mixed with sepia.
All in all this is not a horrible issue, but for so many beats to be repeated in issue 2 and for there to be no real lack of future forward motivation this series seems to be in trouble already.
If you are not a fanatic of Storm you can easily pass on this series, or you can wait for the first or second trade and get the entire series once it wraps up.
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What a bland and forgettable start to a series. While this comic may be only made for people who are already fans of Storm (and there are many) it does nothing really amazing with her from what I can guess, and for new readers who aren’t familiar with Storm, this comic isn’t going to suck them in.
The plot is simple and self-contained; Storm saves an African village from a tsunami, the government doesn’t like her because MUTANT. She goes back to a Mutant Academy (more than one now) and is called a sell-out by a whiny mutant (Creep), so then she overthrows that same African village’s militant government, who may or may not be a specific African country militant. That’s it. Also the beginning starts with a mini-origin of Storm, and it ends with Creep getting what she wants.
A self contained story was a good idea on it’s own, no need to know any info beforehand and nothing trying to forcibly chain readers for the next issue, but if you’re going to make a self contained story, do not pull any punches and go all out awesome! This was weak-sauce stuff people.
But what about the art you may be asking? It’s good. There is nothing really bad about it, it works. The colors may be a bit too muted.
Back to story and characters! Storm seems arrogant and easy to anger, she goes back to the village only because a mutant with the ability to make small plants called her a sell-out. She gets angry and attacks Creep, but takes her words to heart and beats down the militant of the village she saved.
It’s one of those generically evil African militant, so there are no moral questions asked when she basically intervened a country’s government. If any 1st world country decides to intervene something there are always big questions if it’s right or wrong. Imagine the questions that would be asked if a personified deadly weapon intervened in Syria. Controversies all over the place people! Mutants already have a bad rep (for good reason).
So just skip this. more

This is a standard issue in almost all aspects. While there is no denying Storm is a fan-favorite character this issue will do nothing to bring in new readers to want to explore her world. Internal dialogue is well written but she still comes off as unlikable and arrogant when speaking to others around her, especially Creep with whom she addresses with flared nostrils and actually attacks with lightning.
The fact that she gets involved with the political struggle in another country is a unique aspect of the book but needs to be explored further and not just her dropping in, causing more damage and destruction and then leaving again. The ramifications of her actions needed to be explored further if this was meant to have a long-term impact.
The art was a mixed bag. Ibanez draws a realistic looking Storm. She has weight and a realistic body and her face is not drawn as super-model gorgeous which is appreciated but it is very posed and flat. He does a stellar job on the scenery and the smaller details of backgrounds and the like. The color is muted and flat which sets the tone for the story so it works although a little too dark and muddled in print.
Overall this was a one-shot book. It does not set up an overall tone, give any kind of cliffhanger and is written as a simple story.
Fans will love the book and obviously create deeper meaning in the package. Non-fans will not find much within to want to continue onto. more

As we come to the end I'm finally able to come up with a written review. I've held off on doing one for this series for two reasons. The first is the seething disappointment I have with Jimenez over how poorly handled this series was. The second because I wanted to get a clear sense of perspective over what all went wrong.

Let's start with the writing.

Every page is filled with text. Characters dump long exposition into every panel. You would think a life long penciller like Jimenez would no how bad that is. And worse, this isn't Jimenez first writing gig. He's done ongoing series for years and this is par for the course. He hasn't improved and he continues to ramble as the series goes on.

And talking about dialogue, what is up with all the buzz words. Ordinarily, I care to be lectured by a comic as much as cleaning out a outhouse bathroom. And just like an outhouse every issue is filled with this crap. Still, crap isn't necessarily a bad thing when done well...but this is bad crap. An example, "Do you realize how big this would be, showing women can be heroes!" Really? You mean like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Katanna? Or maybe just in Metropolis. After all, its not like a woman is a superhero there....Right Kara?

Pacing isn't any better. The first story arc just got resolved after seven full issues! That's pretty ballsy for a bait and switch book. And speaking of bait and switch, does anyone like how we've gone from Super-lois to this? They haven't even revealed what's going on really. How does Reborn affect this? So much of it seems like a brain fart. Appropriate considering this series being full of crap

Art

The artwork is gorgeous. Lupecchino does yet another fill in. Its maddening to have gorgeous art on something this completely worthless.

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