Storm (Marvel Comics)

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 a Black-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. This incident 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 met the powerful mutant Professor X. Professor X later convinced 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 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) and What If…? (2024). Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp both portrayed Storm in 20th Century Fox's live-action X-Men film series (2000–2019), and Maya Boyd will portray her in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with the untitled X-Men film (2028).

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". 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. First introduced in Giant-Size X-Men (1975), the new X-Men featured the newly created Colossus (from the Soviet Union/Russia), Nightcrawler (from West Germany/Germany), and Thunderbird (a Native American of Apache descent), along with Storm, from Kenya. The team also included four previously introduced characters: Cyclops (United States), Banshee (from Ireland), Sunfire (from Japan), and Wolverine (from Canada). Storm was an amalgam of two characters Cockrum created: The Black Cat (not to be confused with the Spider-Man supporting character) and Typhoon. The Black Cat had Storm's costume, minus the cape, and was submitted for the new X-Men's original lineup. However, during a hiatus in the new X-Men project, other female cat characters like Tigra were introduced, making the Black Cat redundant. Since the creative team did not want the X-Men to have an all-male lineup, editor Roy Thomas suggested that Cockrum make his character Typhoon, designed as a male, into the woman of the group. Cockrum liked the idea and outfitted Typhoon with The Black Cat's costume, a cape, and a new haircut with white hair. His collaborators feared that Storm's white hair would make her look like a grandmother, but Cockrum, confident that he could consistently draw the character so that she would appear young, insisted on this aspect of her appearance.

1975–1979: Origin and early stories

Storm first appeared in 1975 in the comic book Giant-Size X-Men #1, written by Len Wein and pencilled by Dave Cockrum. In this comic, Wein portrays a battle against the living island Krakoa that results in the replacement of first-generation X-Men of the 1960s by new X-Men. Chris Claremont followed up Wein as the writer of The X-Men in 1975. The title of the series was changed to The Uncanny X-Men three years later. Storm was initially written having trouble adjusting to Western culture, e.g. calling the obligation to wear clothing in public "absurd." Claremont remained the main writer of X-Men for the next 16 years, and consequently wrote most of the publications containing Storm. Following "The Dark Phoenix Saga", Storm becomes the most prominent character in the X-Men during Claremont's tenure. She is often a viewpoint character whose thought processes guide the narrative. She is the character who is most frequently represented in the Claremont era, appearing in 4,155 panels, and the most frequently pictured on issue covers, appearing on 97 of the 182 total issues in Claremont's run.

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