“Storm Earth’s Mightiest Mutant” Comic Book Issue 5 “Chapter 5: Reunited” – Review

You can tell writer Murewa Ayodele tried to offer a satisfying conclusion to the numerous storylines that make up Storm Earth’s Mightiest Mutant during the fifth and final issue. However, unfortunately, Ayodele was trying to accomplish the impossible.

TRIGGER WARNING: This review of Storm Earth’s Mightiest Mutant issue 5 mentions abusive relationships. Proceed with caution.

The finale of the current miniseries featured Ororo Munroe getting to interact with Eternity again while trying to return to her universe and save it from Death’s incoming army. I had been waiting for the two to talk to each other, and in my opinion, Ayodele served some very fun dialogue between them. Being aware that Ororo wasn’t a fan of being used as a host, it made sense for Eternity to reappear during Ororo’s lowest moment. In Eternity’s mind, if he surrounded Ororo with guilt and defeat, she would have no choice but to willingly become his host again to address the evergrowing threat to all of existence.

I liked how Ororo called Eternity out on his abusive behavior. Their dynamic can be described as obsessive, especially with Eternity wanting to use Storm to achieve his goals and expecting someone like Ororo to not only go along with his decisions but also be thankful for the access to Eternity’s vast power. As far as Eternity was concerned, Storm Gods were created to serve Eternity and not the other way around.

Coming back to the obsessive nature of their relationship, the way Eternity had been planning to isolate Ororo from her loved ones and friends was right out of an abuser’s playbook. Not only that, but Eternity also wanted Ororo to think that her moral code was responsible for everything going wrong in her life, and that accepting Eternity’s offer was the only cure to all of her troubles.

Even though it was clear that Ororo wasn’t going to accept Eternity, I still appreciated Ayodele taking the time to flesh out their dynamic in the limited pages he had during the final issue. It was a conversation fans had been waiting for. And while I had wanted their face-off to have lasted a bit longer, what we got was acceptable (more or less).

Another thing I enjoyed about the conversation was how it made me keep thinking about the blame game the two played after I had finished reading the issue. Eternity blamed Ororo’s emphatic nature and need to show mercy for the existence of the current threats, while Ororo blamed Eternity for making solo decisions that exacerbated the consequences of her actions.

For example, in Ororo’s opinion, resurrecting Japheth wouldn’t have caused a bunch of mysterious deaths if Eternity hadn’t placed Eegun inside of him in the first place. She also mentioned how Hadad wouldn’t have joined Death’s army if Eternity hadn’t forced Eternal Storm to kill Hadad.

I mean, I get where Storm was coming from, but Mama, let’s be real. There was no way Hadad was going to stop being a threat if Eternal Storm had allowed him to live.

There was a lot of talk about having honor in the current miniseries, and as Eternity put it, certain people didn’t think about honor the way Storm did. Heck! The FBI agents attacked the Storm Sanctuary again because Storm had refused to end their lives, even when they were responsible for killing Japheth and injuring Manifold.

I kind of found myself siding with Eternity during some of the arguments. Depending on the circumstances, certain threats needed to be taken off the board entirely instead of giving them second chances and resulting in even more innocent deaths. It reminded me of the fandom spanning moral-centric discussions involving superheroes that refused to kill.

So, yeah, good stuff, Ayodele.

With Storm refusing to accept Eternity, we saw her relying on her own power and her connection to her mother’s ancestral ruby to return to her Earth. Fans had been waiting to see Ororo interact with her mother, and while said interaction occurred during a flashback, it still managed to hold emotional weight. Especially with how Ororo losing her mother so young was linked to a young Furaha losing Ororo in her reality.

As for the identity of Furaha’s father, Ayodele refused to give readers an answer. And yes, that annoyed me big time, because I wasn’t a Furaha fan in the first place.

Coming to another disappointing moment during the final issue of Storm EMM was how major developments were “concluded” in a single freaking page. Akujin and her teammates fighting the Olympian Gods and making their way through the Underworld? Well, it occurred off-panel, and we only got two panels depicting the outcome.

Undead Hadad and other entities attacking Arrako? Use your imagination about how those fights might have played out.

Storm returning to the Storm Sanctuary and proceeding to fight Death’s Army after dealing with the FBI agents? Well, Astronaut N’Daré said that Storm was going to win all of her confrontations-to-be. So, yeah, use your imagination to play those particular battle scenarios in your head.

Sigh!

I mean, as a comic book fan and critic, I’m aware that Ayodele’s story was cut short by TPTB at Marvel Comics, even though Ayodele’s Storm solo book received two nominations for the Eisner Awards 2026, including Best Continuing Series.

So, I understand Ayodele’s need to deliver as much as possible during a criminally limited run for such an expansive story. However, regardless of the context, if I were to judge the 5-issue Storm EMM for what it delivered. Hmm. Well, frankly, I have to say that this would likely be one of the worst finales I have ever read.

A part of me thinks that Ayodele should have tried to reel in the originally expansive scope of his narrative the moment he was told that Storm EMM would only last for five chapters. Doing so would have helped him deliver a more focused story via a miniseries instead of delivering something that failed to satisfy certain storytelling milestones due to being a miniseries.

But oh well, what is done. Having shared my gripes, I have to say that it can’t be denied that Ayodele has done impressive work in pushing Storm forward as a character in a manner that Storm fans haven’t experienced in decades. Flaws and all, Ayodele has given future Storm writers so much to play with. Hopefully, a writer or two will be able to not only make the most of such an opportunity, but also, similar to Ayodele, have the gall and talent to ultimately cement their name in the pantheon of The Greatest Storm Writers Ever!

The art in Storm Earth’s Mightiest Mutant issue 5 continued to serve, with exquisite pencils by Federica Mancin and colors by Java Tartaglia. It’s one of the best-looking comic books out there. That’s why it’s a shame that the team’s artistic skills couldn’t be properly showcased due to panel limitations. Just imagine the visuals we would have been treated to if this story had been allowed to take its time to unfold.

Before I conclude my review, I have to share how having an adult Storm use dark magic to resurrect Japheth play out in a manner similar to young Storm using her weather-control mutation to help villagers was a very interesting choice by Ayodele. Ororo’s got a lot to learn about accessing the magical world and the accompanying “give-and-take” of magic systems.

Did you read Storm Earth’s Mightiest Mutant issue 5? 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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