MRL - Storm vol 2 (2008)

[sonotadream]

Storm vol. 2 (2006) - written by Eric Jerome Dickey, art by David Yardin

We pick up with Ororo sometime after the previous series. Only now she’s in an adult book, so the other urchins aren’t as friendly and she’s aware of the hardship inherent to this life.

She’s in a new country with a new teacher, who keeps telling her she could be doing more and to not be afraid of being different. Ororo’s powers are manifesting, mostly through lightning. This draws the attention of a group of American poachers, after she steals a camera from one of them.

The camera makes her think of her parents. David was an American photojournalist and N’Dare was an African princess. She wanted to go back home because the situation in the US was getting dangerous - apparently due to anti-mutant sentiment, but also because of the race factor. He eventually agrees to take a job in Cairo and we know how that went.

The Americans track down Ororo. She escapes, aided by her powers and the intervention of an young warrior in his walkabout - his journey to manhood - who introduces himself as T'Challa, son of T'Chaka, the Black Panther.

He and the Teacher end up having a circular discussion, where the Teacher wavers between admiration for the Black Panther and Wakanda - for being rich in Vibranium and oil, for staying out of the colonial powers' grasp - and dismay for not using that wealth to help other Africans.

T'Challa decides to stick around, mostly because he's enamoured with Ororo. She isn't sure how to deal with him - puberty is hard enough, but now there's a boy she actually likes!

Their courtship wavers between cute and filled with annoying bickering. Ororo’s preoccupation with becoming a woman is front and centre - it's not a bad take, but it makes me wish the author wasn't so explicit about her being twelve…

T'Challa also encourages her to explore and control her powers, resulting in a lot of lightning that attracts undesired attention from the American poachers. They find the Teacher's village and a massacre ensues, with Teacher and his daughter being taken hostage.

One of the poacher's brother, a big guy named Bull, has a chip on his shoulder about being denied access to Wakanda's vibranium by T'Challa's father. He thinks he's entitled to some just because he wants it. Teacher challenges him. He admits he's originally from Wakanda, before Bull throws him out of the plane.

Bull and his brother argue, because they both want to take revenge from T'Challa. Bull is bigger, so he wins the argument - for now.

They also want Ororo - she’s the first Windwalker they found in decades. The last one disappeared around the time Ororo’s mother left Africa, btw. They plan to trap her in a vibranium coffin, which should cancel her powers.

They are successful at first, but the brothers fail to kill T’Challa when they start fighting each other instead. Ororo is unable to free herself from the coffin, even though she manages to retain her powers. She’s freed by Teacher’s daughter, although she’s not trying to help Ororo. She blames her for the death of her friends and her father and she wants revenge.

There’s a complicated action sequence, but, with T’Challa motivating her, Ororo saves the day. Her rival thinks she’s a demon, villagers think she’s a goddess and, in the end, Ororo and T’Challa go off on their own, presumably to more adventures and bickering.

I’m feeling a bit ambivalent on this one. The commentary on colonialism is appreciated, but it never quite gels with the rest of the story. The relationship between Ororo and T’Challa has its moments, but it apparently retcons their former first meeting, where Ororo does all the saving, and that knocks this story down a bit.