X-Men: Here’s Why Storm Is Dying
There are a lot of X-Men books out right now. In a couple of months, there are going to be too many. What’s too many? Around 14 or so. So, if you’re not reading all of the ones out now – I don’t blame you. I also don’t fault you for not knowing why Storm is dying of a viral infection. Because it didn’t happen in the book it was revealed.
5 years ago, had you told me that in 2020 I’d be complaining about there being too many X-Men titles, I would have said… meh. Truth be told – the amount isn’t a big deal. What is, is the fact that after a decade the individual X-books are acknowledging each other again.
Yes, more or less they’ve never stopped doing that completely. However, after the Marvel Now! era, a fan could essentially read one title without ever having to deal with another. I suppose it supported ‘casual reading.’ I saw it as ignoring continuity. That’s how and why Wolverine was able to be in five books at a time without shattering space-time.
While Wolverine is still being used more than not, his time isn’t unaccounted for. The same goes for the rest of the X-Men. The X-office is still sticking to their core characters, but you can track their whereabouts within the universe. There’s even a reading order to be found in the back of some of the books.
In Giant-Sized X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost, we learned that Storm is dying of a techno-viral infection. According to Jean, the Weather Witch has just about a month to live. Besides only having a smattering of dialogue throughout the entire book – this might have left readers confused.
That is unless you’re like me and attempting to keep up with the entire line of books. You’re not doing that? Well, let’s give you a hand. You see, Giant-Size didn’t tell you this, but the techno-virus killing her was transmitted in a completely different title. X-Men #5, to be exact.
In that issue, the X-Men sent X-23, Synch, and Darwin into the time-warpy base of the Children of the Vault called… well, it’s called the Vault. To get them in, the X-Men had to engage their defenses as a distraction. During the battle, we saw Storm hit with an energy blast.
Related: X-Men: Are Wolverine And Cyclops Really Gay?
She was able to shrug off the attack and carry on, but now we know there was more to it. Presumably, that was when she was infected. All of Dawn of X is one big Jonathan Hickman story. Even though he’s not writing each title – it’s all under his umbrella.
With that said, I believe its sound advice that readers pay attention to everything. While Hickman’s in charge, throw-a-way references do not exist. Especially in the books he’s personally authoring. Anything he puts on paper can come back to haunt the X-Men and their readers.
Storm’s recovery will more than likely be playing out as a subplot over several titles. At the moment, you can find Storm in X-Men, Marauders, and seeing as Giant-Size is an anthology series – more than likely there as well. Particularly if Jean and Emma get a second issue.
Are you pleased that the X-Men books are playing nice with each other again? Is it for storytelling purposes or just another way to invade our wallets? Let us know below!
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