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[Frobisher]

Pretty much every superhero fight could be described as a melee.

[Grunty]

Yes, that's the thing. It should've never happened in the first place.

When looking at the original scene (which was only two pages), Storm doesn't look like she won by pure skill, but more via a combination of guile (using her cape to trap Callisto's arm) and Callisto being overconfident (because it's easy to assume someone like Storm would rely entirely on her super powers).

Which does make it somewhat funny, when over the years the scene got re-interpreted or redrawn as some epic knife fight.

However it does seem to be the foundation for the idea that Storm is an excelent melee combatant, which has over the years been expanded further and further.

Didn't Wolverine in an earlier issue taught her how to fire a pistol, in order to help her be able to defend herself without relying on her powers?

Well, personally I don't think Callisto is on the level of Gorgon, Wolverine or Betsy either.

When her original fight with Storm occured she was more or less just a "punk" who had some experience shanking people, it seems that just as much as Storm's fighting skills were increased in class, so were the implied ones of Callisto retroactively.

But overall Callisto is still mainly portrayed as "punk who is good with knives", far behind the dedicated sword fighters and melee experts among the X-men's ranks. Which makes Storm's victory over her not as impressive as some like to show it.

Poor Marrow though. By her backstory (spends 10 years fighting other mutants, who increasingly got more dangerous, on a daily basis) she should be miles ahead of Callisto and more than a match against someone like Storm in melee combat.
But since she was designed to lose against Storm, in a poor attempt at copying the original story, she also got defeated in just 3 pages, to once again cement how good Storm is in melee combat*. And once she turned out not to be dead, she remained as just "weird girl who throws bones around".

*Little detail to consider. Marrow spend the fight with a visible hole in her chest and missing some rips underneath her armor plate, which weirdly means she gave herself a big disadvantage.

[Glio]

I had a similar argument recently in the Cyclops thread, just that I think they are both very good at CQC but it is not their specialty and they are not heavyweights at it. They can kick the butt of a group of mooks without breaking a sweat, which is already something to admire.

Characters like Cyclops, Storm, Magneto, Jean, Iceman ... have such practical powers that they don't require the specialization that other people do. You can't make characters with fantastic powers ALSO as good as characters who only have good martial arts because then the seconds become redundant.

You can be excellent and yet still not be at Daredevil, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi or Captain America level, there is nothing humiliating about it.

TL; DR: Storm is excellent at hand-to-hand combat and is capable of defeating most combatants with ease but it is not her specialty and is far from true masters.

[Grunty]

TL; DR: Storm is excellent at hand-to-hand combat and is capable of defeating most combatants with ease but it is not her specialty and is far from true masters.

Thinking about what the sword does, which the writers introduced entirely so Storm could pick it up for this story and considering who they chose as her enemy, i had to remember the Stormruler sword from the game Demon Souls. It's a worn out old sword, which can be used in the entirety of the game. But it's not particular impressive. I think it's actualy a bit weaker than the default long sword.
However when used in the ring of stones you find it, it allows the player character to unleash massive wind blades. Which is just what the player needs, because they enter the stone ring to fight a giant flying monster far out of reach of any melee weapons and too fast for arrows and spells.

Though this highlights a potential problem people might have with the whole event. That they introduced an "epic" mysterious sword so Storm has a sword, which can do things Storm can allready do on her own (direct lightning).
Though perhaps they have some moment later where Storm's powers switch off and she uses the sword to redirect lighting. But this again can feel very constructed, rather than a logical developing story.

[Purplevit]

Storm and Cyke are both respectful X fighters that can defend themself in H2H combat but it is not their specialty.

X-Men H2H experts are: Wolverine, Gambit, Old Cable, Deadpool, X-23, Kwannon.
Now we can add Gorgon, probably, because he is more then just a villain now.

[Omega Alpha]

Is there a reason why we don't have a preview for Hellions #5, next week?

They probably want to keep a secret.

[Gray Lensman]

Storm and Cyke are both respectful X fighters that can defend themself in H2H combat but it is not their specialty.

X-Men H2H experts are: Wolverine, Gambit, Old Cable, Deadpool, X-23, Kwannon.
Now we can add Gorgon, probably, because he is more then just a villain now.

Those experts also have serious edges over Cyclops and Storm, who are merely close to peak human ability. Unbreakable bones, regeneration (which comes with superhuman endurance), the ability to wield weapons that are a part of their bodies or merely produce them out of thin air, superhuman agility, ect, ect.

[TheCape]

Didn't Wolverine in an earlier issue taught her how to fire a pistol, in order to help her be able to defend herself without relying on her powers?

He did, he taugth her some H2H combat too, she used it to beat some thugs harrasing an old lady.

[Purplevit]

Those experts also have serious edges over Cyclops and Storm, who are merely close to peak human ability. Unbreakable bones, regeneration (which comes with superhuman endurance), the ability to wield weapons that are a part of their bodies or merely produce them out of thin air, superhuman agility, ect, ect.

Those experts were trained h2h since they were kids, fought assassins all their lives and would be completely on the same H2H level without powers, weapons or strong bones. They fought best Marvel h2h and can go toe to toe with most of them just on their h2h.

[danielsan52]

They probably want to keep a secret.

I predict Kyle gets killed and is resurrected as that grey thing.

[Glio]

It's simple: If your powers can somehow substitute for H2H in most fights, you're going to spend more time training with your powers than H2H.

You can train for situations where you can't use your powers but it's always going to be a lower priority than for a hero who needs to use his H2H all the time.

[Grunty]

He did, he taugth her some H2H combat too, she used it to beat some thugs harrasing an old lady.

Thanks. So i remembered correctly. Which also sounds like it was a later decision to further expand her melee skills into having always been an expert, because of her thieving days.

Those experts also have serious edges over Cyclops and Storm, who are merely close to peak human ability. Unbreakable bones, regeneration (which comes with superhuman endurance), the ability to wield weapons that are a part of their bodies or merely produce them out of thin air, superhuman agility, ect, ect.

Unless they are c-listers at which point, they will have a high likelyhood of jobbing out to them. Popularity with writers and readers is a strong powerboost for any character. Or when the goal of the storyline is for a character to get defeated regardless of how possible it should be by skill difference.

Though overall Storm vs. big crocodile monster does sound like the better fight for her compared to the dedicated melee fighters Arrako seems to send.

[mugiwara]

Storm and Cyke are both respectful X fighters that can defend themself in H2H combat but it is not their specialty.

X-Men H2H experts are: Wolverine, Gambit, Old Cable, Deadpool, X-23, Kwannon.
Now we can add Gorgon, probably, because he is more then just a villain now.

Prodigy is up there too. Or at least he sould.

[dragon1440]

Are people forgetting Calisto and Storm kicking ass in the Arena?

[jwatson]

Are people forgetting Calisto and Storm kicking ass in the Arena?

People are also forgetting Storm sees the electrical reactions in the mind so where she may not have super human reflexes she has a prediction like ability when fighting.