Storm is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, the character first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). Descended from a long line of African witch-priestesses, Storm is a member of a fictional subspecies of humans born with superhuman abilities known as mutants. She is able to control the weather and atmosphere and is considered to be one of the most powerful mutants on the planet. Storm is a member of the X-Men, a group of mutant heroes fighting for peace and equal rights between mutants and humans. She was one of the most prominently featured X-Men characters in the 1980s, at which time it was the best-selling comic book in America. During this decade, she also acted as the acknowledged leader of the team.
Born Ororo Munroe to a tribal princess of Kenya and an African-American photojournalist father, Storm was raised in Harlem, New York City and Cairo, Egypt. She was made an orphan after her parents were killed when a plane crashed into their house. An incident at this time also traumatized Ororo, leaving her with claustrophobia that she would struggle with for decades. Under the tutelage of a master thief, an adolescent Ororo became a skilled pickpocket. By coincidence, she meets the powerful mutant Professor X. Professor X later convinces Ororo to join the X-Men and use her abilities for a greater cause and purpose. Possessing natural leadership skills and formidable powers of her own, Storm has been a member of teams such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, as well as the X-Men. Storm is also a part of a highly promoted romantic relationship with Black Panther. While she was married to him, she was also made queen consort of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. While she lost the title when the marriage was annulled, she has maintained her relationship with Black Panther in many subsequent stories.
Storm is the first Black leader of a Marvel superhero team, as well as the first female leader of a Marvel superhero team. She is the second Black female superhero for Marvel, after Misty Knight, who was created two months earlier. Storm is one of Marvel's most notable, powerful, and popular female heroes.
One of the most prominent characters in the X-Men franchise, Storm has appeared in various X-Men-related media, including animation, video games, and films. Alison Sealy-Smith voiced Storm in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997) and reprises the role in its revival X-Men '97 (2024–present). Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp portrayed the adult and young versions of Storm, respectively, in 20th Century Fox's live-action X-Men film series (2000-2019).
Publication history
Creation
Storm was created to appear as part of an ensemble: The "all-new, all-different X-Men", a re-invention of the traditional X-Men team of the 1960s that had fallen out of popularity. This new team replaced the previous members with the exception of Cyclops, who remained. This team differed greatly from the original. Unlike in the early issues of the original series, the new team was not made up of teenagers and they also had a more diverse background. Marvel's corporate owners, Cadence Industries, had suggested the new team should be international, feeling it needed characters with "foreign appeal".[1] So each character was from a different country with varying cultural and philosophical beliefs, and all were already well-versed in using their mutant powers.
In addition to Storm, from Kenya, the new X-Men included Cyclops (United States) alongside the newly created Colossus (from the Soviet Union/Russia), Nightcrawler (from West Germany/Germany), and Thunderbird (a Native American of Apache descent), and three previously introduced characters: Banshee (from Ireland), Sunfire (from Japan), and Wolverine (from Canada).[2]
Characterization
Richard Reynolds, in his book Superheroes (1992), describes Storm's character as withdrawn and cerebral, despite her elemental power, and sexually remote, despite her fetishistic costume.[99] He argues that she has a quasi-maternal role with many of X-Men and often acts to resolve their various contradictions and disputes. Carol Cooper points out that Storm is often noted by other prominent characters for her magnetic attractiveness and sex appeal, but that this is always made secondary to her other qualities and capacities.[100] Margaret Galvan sees Jean Grey as Phoenix as a character foil to Storm, because Grey loses control of her enormous powers and lapses into narcissism, while Storm avoids this pitfall. Galvan argues that this is an allegory for the transformation of liberal feminism from the 1970s to the 1980s.[101] Ramzi Fawaz argues that Storm is defined by a capacity to "balance collective intimacies with her need for personal autonomy" and that this mirrors her superpowers' connection to the unpredictability of the natural world.[102] Fawaz argues that Storm's claustrophobia also links her awareness of the natural environment with human politics and history.[103]
Powers and abilities
Weather control
Storm is one of the most powerful mutants on Earth and has demonstrated a plethora of abilities, most of which are facets of her power to manipulate the weather.[155] Storm possesses the psionic ability to control all forms of weather over vast areas. She has been able to control both terrestrial and extraterrestrial ecosystems. She can modify the temperature of the environment, control all forms of precipitation, humidity, and moisture (at a molecular level), generate lightning and other electromagnetic atmospheric phenomena, and has demonstrated control over atmospheric pressure. She can incite all forms of meteorological tempests, such as tornadoes, thunderstorms, blizzards, and hurricanes, as well as mist.[156] She can dissipate such weather to form clear skies as well.
Her precise control over the atmosphere allows her to create special weather effects. She can create precipitation at higher or lower altitudes than normal, make whirlwinds travel pointing lengthwise in any direction, channel ambient electromagnetism through her body to generate electric blasts,
Themes and motifs
Storm is among the most famous Black female superheroes, and as a result has been widely viewed as an icon of third wave feminism and intersectionality, conceptual innovations that address the intertwining of race and gender.[174] Gladys L. Knight, author of Female Action Heroes: A Guide to Women in Comics, Video games, Film, and Television (2010) wrote that "two defining aspects of her persona are her racial identity and her social status as a mutant." The X-Men have symbolically represented marginalized minorities and the debut of the X-Men series coincided with the Civil Rights Movement, in which their plight as mutants mirrored that of African Americans. Storm's creation in particular "was during the heyday of blaxploitation films."
J. Andrew Deman argues that her early appearances are somewhat stereotypical and demonstrate sexual exoticism, catering to the male gaze.[175] Carol Cooper also views the early appearances of the character as emblematic of "the mythic earth-mother/matriarch figure critiqued by many black feminists as both unrealistic and racist in its glib projection of inhuman perfection."[176] While Storm has always been presented as a Black woman, she is also often drawn with more European features and canonically has blue eyes; some have criticized these choices as concessions to aesthetic standards of white Americans.
Supporting characters
Allies
Storm has notable bonds with all of the main X-Men. In the first period that she led the team, its line-up comprised Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Rogue, and Kitty Pryde.[184] In particular, she has a maternal connection to Pryde. Particularly in stories of the 1970s, she has a close friendship with Jean Grey.[185] Ramzi Fawaz views this friendship as an allegory for bonds between the liberation projects of Black women and white women.[186] In stories of the 2010s, she works together with The Crew, an all-Black superhero team that also includes her former husband Black Panther, Luke Cage and Misty Knight. Her friendship with Cage and Knight had been previously established in the 1970s.
Cultural impact and legacy
Storm was one of the first Black superheroes in mainstream comic books, and the second Black female superhero in Marvel Comics, after Misty Knight, who debuted in March 1975.[191] She was the third Black female superhero in mainstream comics; DC had previously introduced Nubia, a supporting character for Wonder Woman, in 1973.[192]
In Marvel Comics, other preceding Black characters with superpowers were Black Panther (1966), Hobie Brown (the Prowler) and The Falcon (1969), Luke Cage (1972), Blade (1973), and Abe Brown (1974). In DC Comics, she was also preceded by Teen Titans member Mal Duncan who debuted in 1970, Green Lantern wielder John Stewart (1971), and Mister Miracle protégé Shilo Norman (1973).
In other media
Storm has made numerous appearances in other media. She appeared in seven live-action X-Men films produced by 20th Century Fox from 2000 to 2019. She is portrayed by actress Halle Berry in X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). A younger version of the character is portrayed by Alexandra Shipp in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Deadpool 2 (2018), and X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019). In animation, she is voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith in X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men '97, and What If ...? season 3. Other actresses voice the character in X-Men: Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men.
She has also been in a large number of video games: a guest appearance in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and a playable character in every game in the X-Men Legends/Marvel: Ultimate Alliance/Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 series.[203]
External links
References
- Brian J. Robb. A Brief History of Superheroes: From Superman to the Avengers, the Evolution of Comic Book Legends Little, Brown Book, May 15, 2014^
- Giant-Size X-Men #1^
- Clifford Meth. How a Typhoon Blew in Success Wizard: X-Men Turn Thirty, August 1993^