Is Storm able to carry her own solo ongoing for multiple years? Why not before?

[The Regent]

"Said this, X-Men Red was a Storm solo and was good material. If they made Arrakko her field, they could build a solid solo with cameos. From Mars she could get much of her person explored, the ruler but also the Omega mutant, as she could easily get battles and threats from space." This! Red, Storm & The Brotherhood and even Ressurection of Magneto I'd classify as stealth Storm solos that are fire. Idc if the title is "X-Men" or STORM if she's the main focus and the leader it's her book. Imagine a "War of Kings" type cosmic event with Storm and The Brotherhood traveling across the galaxy on behalf of Sol and making something out of the "Regent" title. I imagine Xandra went on to tell her empire and it's allies of how Storm single handedly saved her and the Imperial Guard from the Lethal Legion... make it about Storm building favor and credibility amongst the older, more established galactic empires. THINK BIGGER!

[Sdawg]

I think it's more of a problem that the only reason to push a Storm solo is that so she can have a solo. It's not like she won't hold a major role on any X-Team she's on, as she practically guaranteed a team leader spot. To have a successful solo that last years she'd need to leave the X-Men while joining another book with a story that has Marvel-wide implications. Otherwise you would just get X-Men fans buying her book, who may or not buy it if they just see it as something they can ignore, in which case you'll just have Storm fans buying it. Maybe reboot the Defenders and have her as a member for a while.

This isn't necessarily true, i.e. Wolverine. Also, Storm isn't always guaranteed a leader spot or a major role. It wasn't too long ago she was playing second fiddle to Kitty Pryde because she "stepped down", or when she was just wallpaper that didn't do much in major XMen events. Also, Storm has already been a member of the three most recognizable teams in the Marvel franchise (X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and The Avengers) not to mention her extended role in Black Panther as well as other cameos. What else does she need to do? LOL. A solo for Storm shouldn't be difficult at all considering her general popularity. She is often featured on covers when she isn't even in the book and is frequently included in other merchandise and games because of her appeal. She is arguably the most recognizable female character and minority character that Marvel has. So why would making a solo for her be any more difficult than any of the other faces of Marvel.

I agree that Arrako would be a great platform for Storm as a solo. With her being on Arrako there is enough space (both physically and story wise) for Storm to have her own story while continuing to maintain her ties with mutant kind in general which will always lend itself back to ties with the XMen.

[Zoks]

This isn't necessarily true, i.e. Wolverine. Also, Storm isn't always guaranteed a leader spot or a major role. It wasn't too long ago she was playing second fiddle to Kitty Pryde because she "stepped down", or when she was just wallpaper that didn't do much in major XMen events. Also, Storm has already been a member of the three most recognizable teams in the Marvel franchise (X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and The Avengers) not to mention her extended role in Black Panther as well as other cameos. What else does she need to do? LOL. A solo for Storm shouldn't be difficult at all considering her general popularity. She is often featured on covers when she isn't even in the book and is frequently included in other merchandise and games because of her appeal. She is arguably the most recognizable female character and minority character that Marvel has. So why would making a solo for her be any more difficult than any of the other faces of Marvel.

I agree that Arrako would be a great platform for Storm as a solo. With her being on Arrako there is enough space (both physically and story wise) for Storm to have her own story while continuing to maintain her ties with mutant kind in general which will always lend itself back to ties with the XMen.

Just to be clear I'm talking about what it would take to establish her as a "solo adventurer", to explain why she no longer has ties to the X-Men. She wouldn't need years on a separate team to remind everyone of her existence, rather the point would be for the writer to establish in print that she is no longer directly tied to the Mutant plot. People picking up this hypothetical Storm solo won't need to know what's going on with the rest of the X-Men to follow her story. If the hypothetical solo is just a continuation of her Arrako story then obviously you wouldn't need this kind of development, since we already have an established lore and physical separation away from the rest of the X-Men. But the "problem" with that is X-Men's Red's theme that Mutants working together with their powers outperforms individualism would not be a good springboard for Storm to suddenly become a solo adventurer. I put "problem" in quotes because I don't think that is a problem and I think a "solo" where it's really her being the team leader and most of the book following what she does as leader would be better than one that she's a soloist. She can still shine with her individual feats while proving to be one of the better tactical leaders in the Marvel Universe.

[Factor]

Just to be clear I'm talking about what it would take to establish her as a "solo adventurer", to explain why she no longer has ties to the X-Men. She wouldn't need years on a separate team to remind everyone of her existence, rather the point would be for the writer to establish in print that she is no longer directly tied to the Mutant plot. People picking up this hypothetical Storm solo won't need to know what's going on with the rest of the X-Men to follow her story. If the hypothetical solo is just a continuation of her Arrako story then obviously you wouldn't need this kind of development, since we already have an established lore and physical separation away from the rest of the X-Men. But the "problem" with that is X-Men's Red's theme that Mutants working together with their powers outperforms individualism would not be a good springboard for Storm to suddenly become a solo adventurer. I put "problem" in quotes because I don't think that is a problem and I think a "solo" where it's really her being the team leader and most of the book following what she does as leader would be better than one that she's a soloist. She can still shine with her individual feats while proving to be one of the better tactical leaders in the Marvel Universe.

I don’t think she needs to cut ties with the X-men at all. Wolverine, Cable and Gambit have all sustained solos while being team members. The same goes for Avengers members.
I don’t like how Storm having a solo somehow means she needs to give up team roles when that hasn’t been true for most male characters. It kind of looks like that’s what Brevoort is doing to both Storm and Jean. They’ll get ongoings but they won’t be regular members of any if the three main team books, at least at first.

[Zoks]

I don’t think she needs to cut ties with the X-men at all. Wolverine, Cable and Gambit have all sustained solos while being team members. The same goes for Avengers members.
I don’t like how Storm having a solo somehow means she needs to give up team roles when that hasn’t been true for most male characters. It kind of looks like that’s what Brevoort is doing to both Storm and Jean. They’ll get ongoings but they won’t be regular members of any if the three main team books, at least at first.

This isn't a gender thing. Storm isn't like Gambit, Wolverine, and Cable. Those three can run off to do their own adventures and nobody would care. She is more akin to Cyclops and Magneto. If one of them move then the rest of the team follows. If you want to compare someone similar to the former three it's Ms. Marvel. She doesn't have a deep connection to the rest of the X-Men so her having her own life and adventures is fine. Storm on the other hand is supposed to drop all her responsibilities protecting Mutants (on Earth and Arrako) from threats to their existence to stop Rhino from robbing a bank? It doesn't make sense.

Jean is a different problem because of her power set. It's hard to tell a long on going solo about a telepath unless she's fighting other telepaths since visually she would solve most problems in the most boring way.

[The Lame Ugly Looking Joke]

The point isn't Storm cannot run into high level opponents, it's just there is no justifiable reason for her to fight them solo on a regular basis. She's a team leader and has a LOT of friends. If there are city/country/planet level threats that Storm has to deal with regularly, why would she not call her friends? Hell most of them would probably come flying over to help the moment they noticed Storm was fighting a threat like that. And let's face it, she's smart enough to use her allies' assistance to take on these threats. If you want her to do solo stuff, she has to be cut off from the team. That won't sit well with a huge portion of the fans because they like seeing her with her friends, just as much as they enjoy watching her feats (if not more). On the other hand you can just give her a small team of low draw characters, and it would functionally be a Storm solo, just not in name. Kind of how X-Men Red was for the last few issues after Magneto died.

This isn't a gender thing. Storm isn't like Gambit, Wolverine, and Cable. Those three can run off to do their own adventures and nobody would care. She is more akin to Cyclops and Magneto. If one of them move then the rest of the team follows. If you want to compare someone similar to the former three it's Ms. Marvel. She doesn't have a deep connection to the rest of the X-Men so her having her own life and adventures is fine. Storm on the other hand is supposed to drop all her responsibilities protecting Mutants (on Earth and Arrako) from threats to their existence to stop Rhino from robbing a bank? It doesn't make sense.

Jean is a different problem because of her power set. It's hard to tell a long on going solo about a telepath unless she's fighting other telepaths since visually she would solve most problems in the most boring way.

Doesn't Thor have the same responsibilities on Asgard as Storm does to mutants, especially when Odin is not around? Yet, he still has adventures on Earth and with the Avengers.

Even moreso goes for T'Challa and Wakanda.

And Thor doesn't have to frequently call on Sif, Balder or the Warriors Three to help him on his solo adventures.

Nor does T'Challa with the Dora Milaje.

And even given his position and standing with the Avengers, Captain America doesn't have to frequently call on other Avengers to help him either in his solo books (many of which take place when he's an active leader) either.

Well, they only really tried giving her an ongoing once. And as much as I usually enjoy Pak’s work, that book was very mid.
I believe she’s popular enough that with the right creative team and direction she could sell pretty well.
I mean, she’s way more well-known than some characters that are always getting ongoings like Moon Knight or Carnage. The problem is that they don’t try pushing her as much as some other properties.

Which creative team, and which direction in particular, do you have in mind?

[Sutekh]

Well, they only really tried giving her an ongoing once. And as much as I usually enjoy Pak’s work, that book was very mid.
I believe she’s popular enough that with the right creative team and direction she could sell pretty well.
I mean, she’s way more well-known than some characters that are always getting ongoings like Moon Knight or Carnage. The problem is that they don’t try pushing her as much as some other properties.

I think part of that is expectations. Moon Knight and Carnage have been 'small enough' that writers felt like they could get away with more. Storm's more of a big deal, paradoxically, and has a pretty strong-opinioned fanbase, so it's more of a black eye to color outside the lines and do something new and controversial with Marvel's most prominent black woman hero, than it is to piss off Carnage's fandom, such as it is.

I don't think a whole lotta writers even want to ride that lightning.

[Zoks]

Doesn't Thor have the same responsibilities on Asgard as Storm does to mutants, especially when Odin is not around? Yet, he still has adventures on Earth and with the Avengers.

Even moreso goes for T'Challa and Wakanda.

And Thor doesn't have to frequently call on Sif, Balder or the Warriors Three to help him on his solo adventures.

Nor does T'Challa with the Dora Milaje.

And even given his position and standing with the Avengers, Captain America doesn't have to frequently call on other Avengers to help him either in his solo books (many of which take place when he's an active leader) either.



Which creative team, and which direction in particular, do you have in mind?

You cannot compare the Avengers with the X-Men. For most of them the Avenger part is a side job. For most X-Men the team is intertwined with their every day lives. This is the problem with a Storm completely solo book: why is she ignore her team, and why would her team let her go solo? Storm whole schtick right now in X-Men Red is teaching Arrakoans teamwork is good. Having her run around solo because she feels like it defeats the purpose.

I'm not saying Storm can never run around as a solo superhero. But you need to come up with a legitimate story for it to happen. It's illogical for her to wake up one morning and decide she is going to be a solo act when she's always been about teamwork to overcome impossible odds.

[The Lame Ugly Looking Joke]

You cannot compare the Avengers with the X-Men. For most of them the Avenger part is a side job. For most X-Men the team is intertwined with their every day lives. This is the problem with a Storm completely solo book: why is she ignore her team, and why would her team let her go solo? Storm whole schtick right now in X-Men Red is teaching Arrakoans teamwork is good. Having her run around solo because she feels like it defeats the purpose.

I'm not saying Storm can never run around as a solo superhero. But you need to come up with a legitimate story for it to happen. It's illogical for her to wake up one morning and decide she is going to be a solo act when she's always been about teamwork to overcome impossible odds.

My point was that Thor's allegiances to Asgard and Black Panther's allegiances/responsibilities to Wakanda (the latter of which, one could argue is even much stronger than Storm's allegiances/responsibilities to the X-Men/mutants) in no way hamper their frequent stories not involving Asgard or Wakanda. Neither has to cut ties with Asgard/Wakanda to have plenty of consistent stories not involving Asgard/Wakanda.

My point with Captain America is that, given he's not only the leader of the Avengers, but also their most well-respected member, no other Avengers member would fail to come to his aid if they were aware he was in trouble. But more often than not, Cap ends up resolving his issues by himself.

[Zoks]

My point was that Thor's allegiances to Asgard and Black Panther's allegiances/responsibilities to Wakanda (the latter of which, one could argue is even much stronger than Storm's allegiances/responsibilities to the X-Men/mutants) in no way hamper their frequent stories not involving Asgard or Wakanda. Neither has to cut ties with Asgard/Wakanda to have plenty of consistent stories not involving Asgard/Wakanda.

My point with Captain America is that, given he's not only the leader of the Avengers, but also their most well-respected member, no other Avengers member would fail to come to his aid if they were aware he was in trouble. But more often than not, Cap ends up resolving his issues by himself.

I understand what your point is but you keep missing what mine is. Storm is not an Avenger or a King, she's one of lynchpins of the X-Men. I am not saying she cannot go on the occasional solo adventure. But you have to remember when she goes home she returns to whichever group of Mutants she is protecting or leading (usually both). If she is on Earth is Emma or Jean supposed to not notice if she is danger if she's gone for longer than she should be? The X-Men will immediately deploy if that happens. This is why I think she needs to leave the X-Men for her to have a solo career. All of the X-Men with successful solo titles that last multiple years either have a history of leaving the team to do their own thing (Logan) or literally do not live with the rest of the team (Gambit and Cable). Storm going AWOL because of a solo adventure would be a huge deal for the X-Men.

[Marvell2100]

You cannot compare the Avengers with the X-Men. For most of them the Avenger part is a side job. For most X-Men the team is intertwined with their every day lives. This is the problem with a Storm completely solo book: why is she ignore her team, and why would her team let her go solo? Storm whole schtick right now in X-Men Red is teaching Arrakoans teamwork is good. Having her run around solo because she feels like it defeats the purpose.

I'm not saying Storm can never run around as a solo superhero. But you need to come up with a legitimate story for it to happen. It's illogical for her to wake up one morning and decide she is going to be a solo act when she's always been about teamwork to overcome impossible odds.

Can't we ask the same questions about Cable, Bishop, Wolverine, Gambit and Maverick who all had solos? Storm having a solo isn't about her ignoring her mutant ties, responsibilities, etc. In fact, it would be about strengthening mutant ties to other corners of the Marvel Universe. People have already given very plausible scenarios for a Storm solo from the fact that she has a good history plus a lot of unexplored history as well.

I advocate for Storm to join a team outside of X-Men which she already has. She's a powerhouse that can fill in a spot for Captain Marvel or Thor(not in terms of physical strength but in terms of raw power) on an Avengers team.

She can Step in and fill a spot for the Torch on the FF because she brings that kind of power and more.

She can join the Guardians a bring them a power source that they've rarely had.

We can't look at Storm and say that she only fits a certain role in the context of her being a mutant. She has a lot of attributes than just being a mutant. Just look at her checklist:

Leadership.
Power.
Political savvy.
Connections to other heroes.
Can do cosmic.
Can be dangerous even when powerless.
Strong sense of right and wrong.
Not afraid of making the tough choices.
Mystical connections.

Not a bad list.

[Zoks]

Can't we ask the same questions about Cable, Bishop, Wolverine, Gambit and Maverick who all had solos? Storm having a solo isn't about her ignoring her mutant ties, responsibilities, etc. In fact, it would be about strengthening mutant ties to other corners of the Marvel Universe. People have already given very plausible scenarios for a Storm solo from the fact that she has a good history plus a lot of unexplored history as well.

I advocate for Storm to join a team outside of X-Men which she already has. She's a powerhouse that can fill in a spot for Captain Marvel or Thor(not in terms of physical strength but in terms of raw power) on an Avengers team.

She can Step in and fill a spot for the Torch on the FF because she brings that kind of power and more.

She can join the Guardians a bring them a power source that they've rarely had.

We can't look at Storm and say that she only fits a certain role in the context of her being a mutant. She has a lot of attributes than just being a mutant. Just look at her checklist:

Leadership.
Power.
Political savvy.
Connections to other heroes.
Can do cosmic.
Can be dangerous even when powerless.
Strong sense of right and wrong.
Not afraid of making the tough choices.
Mystical connections.

Not a bad list.

She can join other teams but that isn't what we are debating about. Unless you mean a "solo" where we just follow her around as she tours various teams, which I think is more in line with my argument that a Storm solo should not be just her going off on solo adventures. Her ability to support her teammates as a powerhouse, a leader, and as a friend should be the focus of any book she's in.

Just to be clear my posts on her leaving the team is only how I can justify a completely soloist career. I'm not arguing for that kind of book and would much rather a solo with her working with a rotation of teammates.

[Sunny]

Again, this just proves the person right who said the problem isn't Storm, it's the fans who have the problem. X-Men fans want so badly to box all the characters in, that it doesn't allow for growth for said characters. There's no reason why she has to cut ties with the X-Men to have a solo. I'm not the biggest fan of that X-Men gold run but I remember when she wanted to go back to her homeland to investigate what was happening she asked to do it alone and they respected her wishes. These are grown ass people who should have a life outside the X-Men.

I agree with everyone who said, given the right creative team and storyline (not some nostalgia b.s. like they recently did) she very well can carry a solo ongoing. But I honestly could see a lot of X-Men fans not supporting it, not because they don't like the story, but just simply because its a solo.

[Marvell2100]

She can join other teams but that isn't what we are debating about. Unless you mean a "solo" where we just follow her around as she tours various teams, which I think is more in line with my argument that a Storm solo should not be just her going off on solo adventures. Her ability to support her teammates as a powerhouse, a leader, and as a friend should be the focus of any book she's in.

Just to be clear my posts on her leaving the team is only how I can justify a completely soloist career. I'm not arguing for that kind of book and would much rather a solo with her working with a rotation of teammates.

Yeah, I know what the topic is about. I'm just pointing out that just as Logan has a solo that deals with threats, human, mutant, alien and otherwise, I don't see how those same topics can't be done in a Storm solo.

My point in Storm being on other teams is saying that it would be an opportunity for Storm to have more exposure in other areas of the MU. That exposure expands her fanbase which in turn provides a greater opportunity for a Storm Solo.

[Wolverine12]

I think X-Men Red already proved she could carry a solo for a long period. Like others have mentioned you need a great writer and artist team to start because as cool as Storm is she’s not on the same level as a Logan or Deadpool yet so the creative team has to bring it. She needs to have a foe that isn’t Shadow King, let her cut loose and show why she’s an Omega level character, don’t subvert expectations give the people what they came to see and make it big! Finally I think if you have a few cameos for say like 3 issues a year like Logan or Magneto or another A lister that can carry a solo already that people will buy the heck out of her book. X-Men 97 will do nothing but rise her stock, she’s been a main player in 3/4 episodes and hard arguably the coolest moment in episode 1. If Marvel’s going to do it it should be now or really soon.