I know, I know, the comic series, Storm, is aptly named because it centers Ororo Munroe, a.k.a. Storm. So, I should really be talking about how great Storm is in this series. But there's an (almost) throwaway panel that stood out to me as a person with a disability, and I've got to talk about it as well.
Synopsis
- Storm (2023) #1 (Variant)
- Published: May 24, 2023
- Writer: Ann Nocenti
- Penciller: Sid Kotian
- Cover Artist: Artgerm
STORM FACES THE BLOWBACK OF HER POWERS! ORORO MUNROE, A.K.A. STORM, has been a thief, a goddess and a leader of the X-MEN - and she's just getting started! With her mutant ability to control the weather bolstered by her top-notch fighting skills, she's a formidable opponent like no other (as CALLISTO of the MORLOCKS can attest)! But when an elemental power emerges near the XAVIER MANSION, it'll take Storm to the limit of her powers and beyond! Get ready for an electrifying all-new series showcasing Storm's days of rocking her mohawk and leading the X-Men, as she faces an ALL-NEW VILLAIN that will threaten to tear her apart from her team…and what she thought she knew about herself!
Storm Takes the Lead & Professor X Works Out
by Laura Browne-Lambert
Image Description: The cover of Storm (Marvel ICON Variant, 1). Storm, a Black woman with a long, flowy, white mohawk floats against a white background. Her black cape drifts behind her. She wears a black catsuit with the red and black X-Men emblem at her waist. Her clothes are trimmed in yellow gold. Her name is written in jagged, red letters resembling lightning bolts across the top.
Credit: Laura Browne-Lambert
I recently had the opportunity to attend Wicked Con in the Boston Seaport - Can you believe it was my first comic convention? I couldn't stop buying up $1 comics. A friend of mine asked me to keep an eye out for Storm comics, and I came across this one. It's the first in the five-part Storm (2023) series. Storm and leads the team in battle against Mystique and the Brotherhood. I'll leave it at that, so I don't give too much away.
We'd Better Talk About Storm
I mean, come on. She's right in the title. Issue one does a good job of positioning these two women (Storm and Mystique) as leaders of their communities and their teams while showing Ororo struggle to balance authority and compassionate mentorship - especially because she's trying to navigate leading two teams at the same time. Leading both the X-Men and the Morlocks causes her team to question her authority and her identity. It's a semi-invisible parallel to situations that many minorities in positions of authority often face. Black folks, women, people with disabilities, members of the queer community and others often face similar questions, like:
- Will you use their authority to help your community, or will you side with someone else?
- Do you still identify as Black, Queer, disabled, etc. when you are singled out as exceptional?
- Will you forget where you come from?
Ororo faces these kinds of questions from her team of X-Men in regard to taking leadership of the Morlocks, but her identity as a Black, mutant, woman helps hold together the parallels between her experiences in-universe, and the experiences that Black women and other minorities regularly face - even when no harm is intended.
Professor X Works Out (and He's Still Disabled)
I'll never know what made the creators of this comic make this panel, but we briefly see Professor X doing curls with a rather large barbell while having a psychic conversation with Storm. He's seated in a manual wheelchair and wearing a muscle shirt. His lap is covered by a purple blanket. This tiny panel makes it canon - Professor X works out! For disability representation, this is great! There are so many assumptions about what people with disabilities can and cannot do. And, while every disabled person is different, and not every disabled person lifts weights or exercises, there are many who do. Paralympians, for example, work out and compete in athletic competitions professionally. Wheelchair users are no exception to the rule. Some don't work out because they don't want to, because too much exercise will cause their symptoms to flare, or because they can't. Others work out for physical therapy, to navigate life more independently, to manage their health, because they are athletes, or simply for the enjoyment of it.
Exercising makes so much sense for Professor X's character. It provides him functional fitness - the ability to do more everyday tasks independently. This can include opening doors, navigating a kitchen, or pushing his chair through uneven terrain. It also prepares him for working in the field. As leader of a combat team, he needs to be on his "A-game" in every way he can - just like the rest of the X-Men. It may even help him focus his thoughts or clear his head - and a powerful psychic like Charles Xavier needs a little peace from time to time. My point is - working out is totally in character for him, and it's a great (though tiny) piece of representation for the disability community.
The part that didn't quite work for me was the blanket around his waist. I don't know anyone who exercises under their blankets, including wheelchair users. Maybe there are some folks out there who do, but for me, this part of the image felt like it was giving disability core without going all the way into disabled athleticism.
I hope I can track down the rest of the issues from this series. I've really enjoyed it so far and hope to read more!
About the Author
Welcome to Underground Bookshelf! My name is Laura. I'm a New England-based, queer, neurodivergent writer who envisions a world where our art helps up build the world in which we want to live. I'm married to my gorgeous, resourceful, and brilliant wife, Jasmine. Our cat, Julie, is the cutest little allergen you could possibly meet, and if you met her, you would probably agree!
And now, we are the proud parents of a beautiful toddler who is getting more independent by the minute! I love watching this kid grow!
You can find my books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Weink, and Itch.
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