Storm #9 – Comic Book Review

What makes me so excited about this issue is the fact that it guest stars everyone’s favorite Ragin’ Cajun, Remy LeBeau. What makes it even better is that it pairs Ororo and Remy together, two individuals with a shared history on their own adventure. Written by Greg Pak, and Drawn by Al Barrionuevo, Storm #9 offers an uplifting and refreshing change of pace from previous issues.

SPOILERS

Gambit shows up at the mutant school, that Ororo is now in charge of, with a proposition for her. Gambit tells Ororo that he needs her for a mission that could possibly mean life or death and without hesitation Ororo accepts.

Gambit reveals that he plans to steal the treasure from the Temple of Hermes and needs Ororo’s abilities to do so and he isn’t talking about her mutant powers. Remy claims that the treasure can grant someone the ability to become the greats thief in the world. In this issue, Gambit and Storm rely strictly on their stealth skills. (In case you were not aware Ororo also grew up as a thief.)  The temple is full of obstacles and booby traps that the duo have to maneuver around like a scene out of Indiana Jones. There are even a few references to the series, one where a giant boulder is hailing towards them and another moment when Remy references Raiders Of The Lost Ark to a rival thief that crosses their path. That rival thief goes by the name of “Nil”. At one point Nil believes he has the upper hand until he falls for one last trap.

Remy and Ororo discover that the treasure is simply a mirror, which confuses Gambit. Storm grins and realizes that the lesson the gods were trying to teach to whoever had reached the end, is that there are no shortcuts to being a leader. The reflection in the mirror is there to indicate that whoever could pass the temple already possessed the skills to be the greatest thief in the world.

Meanwhile, back in the X-Mansion. Beast is playing Ororo secretary, returning any missed calls to her. One of which is from a mutant named Marisol. In Storm #1, Marisol had previously left the School for Mutants after demanding to return home where she was content helping ordinary people.  Also,  it didn’t help that she didn’t get to pick her own code name. (They named her “Flourish”, by the way.) Beast expresses his interest in having her back at the school, but it wouldn’t be easy and the door will always be open to her if she changed her mind.

This issue is primarily focused on character development. There isn’t much plot development in this issue, just two thieves partnering up on a mission to relive old times.  Both characters are currently in their own perspective ruts: Ororo as she attempts to lead the X-Men, and Gambit as he attempts to accept the fact that he is the Master of The Thieves Guild. This is a story of two adults trying to hide from their responsibilities.  I didn’t care for the artwork too much. In a handful of panels where the duo is running are fighting, their faces look rather distorted.  In smaller panels, any of the characters figures drawn lack any details whatsoever. Another minor issue was I noticed was that the famous Cajun dialect was missing every time Remy spoke.  Aside from this I enjoyed this issue, primarily because it involved two characters with a long history.

This issue acts almost as a fun one-shot. The reader does not necessarily need to be up-to-date on Ororo’s backstory. If you are a fan of either Storm or Gambit, I suggest giving this a read.