“Storm Earth’s Mightiest Mutant” Comic Book Issue 1 “Chapter 1: Tea Cermonies, Masquerades, and Funerals” – Review

Storm Earth’s Mightiest Mutant issue 1 by writer Murewa Ayodele continued Ororo’s solo adventure from Storm issue 12. Season 2 of Ayodele’s saga is preparing Ororo for her biggest battle yet. Hope she survives the experience!

The return to the 12-issue Storm solo series (that concluded in September 2025) opened with Ororo’s complicated relationship with fellow Thunder God Susanno. Having brought disgrace to his pantheon, Susanno had decided to accept the “redemption” from his elder sister, named Amaterasu. Susanno had decided to perform ritual suicide. However, he had also decided to make Ororo his Kaishakunin, meaning that she was to be Susanno’s second and cut his head off after he had impaled his belly.

Susanno making Ororo his second spoke to how much he had grown to respect her, especially after he joined other Storm Gods to try and defeat her during the Thunder War. But it was also a selfish move from Susanno’s end, knowing that she wouldn’t accept killing him like that. It’s Ororo we are talking about. As a character, she’s against taking life, unless absolutely necessary. Susanno wanting to force her hand by threatening every life on Earth felt petty. As if he was, in a weird way, still trying to claim “victory” over her, having lost the surprise attack in Storm issue 7.

Fortunately, Storm’s a strategist. She wasn’t Cyclops’S second-in-command and the leader of the X-Men for nothing. I’m not saying that Ororo can’t be bested. She has been out strategized (and would be again in this issue, which I’ll get to in a bit). But if Ororo’s knowingly entering the battlefield and she’s familiar with her foe, the risk of her losing is quite close to zero, especially because she valued teamwork and sticking to her core moral compass took precedence over ego and grandstanding.

She knew how to handle Susanno, and I liked how she spiked his tea with OP muscle relaxants and summoned the Avengers to send the angry Storm God into her personal pocket dimension. Susanno yelling about Ororo having no honor meant nothing to her because she had found a way to not only keep Earth alive, but also Susanno (for the time being). Also, it was rich to hear Susanno talk about honor when, again, he was the one who decided to surprise attack Ororo instead of facing her head-on.

Ugh! Men! Sigh.

As for the rest of the issue, it had Ororo traveling to Biarritz, France, to rescue a city from a devastating attack from the Ebora Òkúta. Biarritz’s local superhero, Death Siren, had contacted the Storm Sanctuary for assistance. Of course, Death Siren was going to fight while waiting for Ororo, but it was clear things weren’t going to go as planned. The moment her introduction involved telling her two small children to hide, I knew she wasn’t going to make it.

Also, was it just me, or did Death Siren’s superhero costume give Scorpina vibes?

Accompanied by Sugaar, who also mentioned the voices of believers/worshippers who called him to the location, I liked seeing the two Thunder Gods team up against the numerous deadly monsters. Wearing her Brutal Storm outfit, we got to see Ororo showcase her sword-fighting skills. Nightcrawler would have been proud.

As for her elemental powers, Ororo used the ocean to attack the monsters while ensuring the water spared humans and other living beings. Ororo’s control over the elements has always been perfect. But it was still nice to see her fight a horde of enemies using something other than the usual lightning strikes and hurricanes that certain writers limit her to. We also got to see Ororo track an enemy with her energy perception.

The foe in question was a woman named Akujin. She was behind the deadly attack, and she wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Turns out, Akujin was Susanno’s War General, and she wasn’t a fan of Ororo having imprisoned him. According to Akujin’s warning, she was going to target a random city every five days unless Storm released Susanno.

Akujin’s not a character that came across as a threat Ororo couldn’t handle down the line. But currently, the game being played was very different, and it caught Storm by surprise. Magic was involved, and an illusion spell had confused our Weather Goddess. The look of shock and terror on Ororo’s face when she finally realized the actual damage Akujin had done to the city! Points to artist Federica Mancin.

Ororo’s heart sat heavy after what she had done to Susanno. But, in her opinion, it was a necessary move, no matter how “dishonorable” it might have been. And her heart got heavier still after she failed in Biarritz. Susanno had kind of cursed Ororo and had wanted her to experience the pain in his heart. Ororo crying in the shower was such a real moment.

As Susanno had put it during their conversation, being immortal came with many losses and the understanding that humanity can’t stop itself from causing death and destruction. And though he used to harbor hope in humanity the way Ororo currently does, the passage of time and countless disappointments had changed Susanno. Wishing her to be tainted by witnessing loss after loss as an immortal Thunder God was quite the verbal attack to throw at Ororo, aka the Avatar of Life.

I found the concept of immortality being brought up very interesting because we know that Death’s out to seek revenge against Ororo. Storm did mention she didn’t believe she was immortal. However, the word “believe” gave me pause. We know Storm possessed the gift Godhead, which can be boosted by strong belief and worship from others. So, theoretically, Ororo could be brought back to life if enough people prayed for it. I’m just sharing a fan theory about what might happen because the current narrative arc is about Mistress Death vs the Avatar of Life.

Talking about the magical side of things, we had the Scarlet Witch investigating a couple of mysterious murders that involved something coming out of cellphones and popping people’s heads. Wanda knew that the current events were somehow connected to Ororo. And of course, the debut issue concluded with Wanda visiting Ororo while asking what wrath the Weather Goddess had brought upon them all.

I’m very excited about these two talking about the danger creeping toward Storm and what Wanda could teach Ororo to level up her magical skills. Ororo better not fall for illusion magic again.

Did you read Storm Earth’s Mightiest Mutant issue 1? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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