- Written by: Ann Nocenti
- Art by: Geraldo Borges
- Colors by: Andrew Dalhouse
- Letters by: VC’s Ariana Maher
- Cover art by: Alan Davis, Alejandro Sánchez
- Cover price: $3.99
- Release date: September 27, 2023
Storm #5 concludes the moment-in-time mini-series when Storm and Rogue confront Blowback to get at the truth.
Is Storm #5 Good?
Ann Nocenti’s nostalgic take on Storm comes to an end in Storm #5, and well, it’s over. Now equipped with the bigger picture about Blowback’s true nature, Rogue and Storm hold a Court in the woods for an issue that ends as oddly as the mini-series started.
When last we left Storm, Rogue, and the rest of the X-Men, Rogue tapped into Blowback’s mind long enough to figure out that Blowback and Travis are one and the same – an alien with two distinct personas. Travis may or may not have truly fallen in love with Storm, but Travis’s time on Earth was all just a Grift hatched with Mystique’s help to do something. Mystique uses Blowback to separate Storm from the X-Men, while Travis uses Mystique’s shapeshifting help to sell his phony tech for cash.
Now, Rogue and Storm gang up on Travis/Blowback to beat the truth out of him before sending him through a portal to parts unknown.
If you caught the “something,” the series ends without an explanation of Travis’s intentions. Why was he on Earth? Why was he selling bogus tech to make tons of cash? What was he going to do with the money? Nocenti doesn’t complete the picture, which sours the satisfaction level of the finale.
What’s great about Storm #5? If you like Storm’s mutant powers in action, you get plenty of it here as Storm unleashes a ton of lightning on Blowback to keep him subdued. As unsatisfying as it is, the ending achieves something of a “Happily Ever After” with Storm back as leader of the X-Men. And the dialog/narration doesn’t feel as stiff as it does in the previous issues.
What’s not so great about Storm #5? Nearly everything surrounding Travis/Blowback is a convoluted mess. We learn a little bit of his origin as the alien equivalent of a mutant, but there’s no explanation about why he’s here, what he wants, or his motivations. Blowback was created as a clunky excuse to throw Storm off her game, but Nocenti didn’t develop him enough to be anything more than a convenient plot device.
How’s the art? Borges is a considerable step up from Kotian, who drew the first couple of issues. The action is energetic, Borges’s perspectives and angles look great, and Dalhouse’s colors are fantastic. The one positive you could say about this series is the art improved with each issue.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces
Storm #5 brings the period piece to a close as Rogue and Storm put Blowback through a trial to get the truth and send him packing. Despite the relatively clean ending, most of the development surrounding Blowback never gets the attention needed to fully explain the character, so the main villain at the heart of the main mystery winds up being a convenient contrivance, leading to an unsatisfying ending.
Weird Science Marvel Comics 