Yes, dear reader, the title of this week’s Storm Sunday is lifted from the new “Fame Monster” album by pop goddess Lady Gaga! If it is within your personal tastes, you might wish to listen to this song while you read this post. Why? Because today we’re going to take a look at one of the most important X-Men relationships in comics: Storm and Forge. (Click on images for larger versions)
(Artwork by Whilce Portacio)
You can read all about Forge and Storm’s relationship here, here, here, here and here, but here’s my take on the story:
Native American inventor (whose mutant power is to create any technological invention he can conceive of) works for the United States government to make a gun that will strip a mutant of their powers. The gun is used against Storm, mutant weather wielder and leader of the X-Men, instead for whom it was designed (Rogue, who had a criminal record). Storm falls out of the sky and Forge rescues her and hides her in his penthouse from the government. When she awakens powerless and despondent, Forge tries to help her count her blessings. Forge gets a phone call and Storm eavesdrops on the conversation and learns Forge is the inventor of the gun that took her powers. She runs away with Forge following after. They exchange heated words as Storm says she cannot believe she trusted him and Forge says he’s sorry and has feelings for her. Storm says that she was falling for him too, but that it doesn’t matter. She punches him and leaves even though Forge says he thinks he can reverse the damage.
(Artwork by Barry Windsor Smith)
Forge also has a talent in sorcery that he doesn’t embrace because one time in Viet Nam he cast a spell that used the souls of his troop to summon demons to kill the Viet Cong. We don’t learn this until much later except that this past is alluded to in holographic projections that Storm runs through as she escapes Forge’s home. Much later, the X-Men are fighting evil aliens known as the Dire Wraiths and Forge and Storm’s paths collide. Forge reveals he’s still crushing on Ororo and Storm is not impressed. ”We will meet again,” she says, “but you may well wish we had not.”
(Artwork by Kerry Gammill)
During the Asgardian Wars, the God of Mischief Loki totally fixates on Storm. I should also mention that way before this, Doctor Doom put the moves on Storm, too. Oh yeah, and before Storm loses her powers she has a relationship with the thief Yukio that some interpret as intimate.
Later, Forge tried to right the wrongs he made in Viet Nam and this fiasco included his old mentor Nazé, who was really dead by this point and possessed by an evil entity known as the Adversary. So, when Storm swallowed her pride to ask Forge to help her get her powers back, she was accompanied by Nazé who tricks her into believing that Forge was evil. When she finally finds Forge her mind is dead set against him and thinking he is creating a rift in space, she stabs in the heart without a second thought (Storm is really good at doing this. See Callisto and Marrow). The Adversary then traps Storm and Forge on an alternate Earth without any other people on it. They both admit they have feelings for each other and even though they could presumably live happily ever after on their pseudo-earth decide to save the real one. So, a year passes on pseudo-earth and Forge creates inventions from his artificial leg and hand to 1. return Storm’s powers to her and 2. create a gateway back home. They fight the Adversary but in order to defeat him nine souls have to be sacrificed because that was the number Forge used in Nam on his buddies. Forge cannot be one of the souls because he has to cast the spell. Storm and the X-Men agree to spell and then “die”. The Goddess Roma brings them back but with all this weird stuff that gets retconned anyway (some stuff about their images unable to be seen by technological equipment, yadda yadda). Storm decides that the X-Men for all intents and purposes should keep up appearances of being dead to strike at their enemies. Forge is not privy to their resurrection and goes home and has to fight Magik, Colossus’ little sister.
(Artwork by Marc Silvestri)
Later, Storm is reduced to a much younger version of herself. Forge has a psychic fight with the Shadow King and barely wins, but learns that Storm is alive. When they reunite, Storm is an adolescent thanks to the villain known as Nanny. Awkward. Much later, there’s some bad business on Genosha and Storm is kidnapped by the baddies to be turned into a slave. However, the procedure turns Storm back to her adult self. There is a fight with the Shadow King and all return to the X-Mansion. Forge works there as the mechanic fixing the Danger Room, Professor X’s wheelchair and the Blackbird. He asks Storm to marry him and when she appears to tell him no, Forge accuses of her of having no life outside of the X-Men and stomps off. Jean Grey tries to tell Forge that Storm does care about him but when he finds out that Mystique is going crazy, he leaves the X-Men to help her. Also, it seems for a minute that Storm and Bishop were flirting. Storm breaks down as she would have said yes.
(Artwork by Whilce Portacio)
Forge runs off to lead X-Factor and make out a lot with Mystique (!) while Storm stays with the X-Men. Forge eventually realizes that Mystique is faking her mental problems and asks Storm out again. She agrees to go out with him and they both feel that they can make it work. Lots of adventures later, Storm tells Forge that she sees no long term relationship working out and during her mini-series (in which she has a slight flirtation with Cable), Storm completely cuts it off with Forge. Forge stays with X-Factor until that team runs into the ground. Sabretooth almost killed everyone on the team and Mystique ran away, leaving Forge to nurse his heart. After this, Forge tries to resume his studies in shamanism but quits. Thanks to Professor X, Forge and Mystique cross paths again and Charles has Forge create inventions for Mystique while she works for the Professor as his Black Ops agent. Forge’s feelings for Mystique are not returned although they go out on a date together. Mystique escapes Professor and leaves Forge disheartened.
(Artwork by Whilce Portacio)
Around this point, Storm visits the Black Panther and helps him out on a mission. They act in the manner that good friends would with one another. Storm accuses T’Challa of going down the same slippery slope of Magneto in regards to his leadership of Wakanda. They share one kiss.
Storm ends up flirting with Davis Cameron (Slipstream) during her tenure as leader of X-Treme X-Men and is hit on by wannabe conquerer Shaitan.
Now here’s where things get screwy for Forge. He encounters Nimrod, a time travelling robot who makes him invent some stuff for him or else he will teleport to Wakanda and kill Storm (who is about to marry the Black Panther). Forge gets help from the New X-Men and la la la. Forge obsesses over time travel and when Bishop comes calling, Forge is shot and dealt serious head trauma by the former X-Man. After Forge recovers, he gets even more consumed by time travel and moves to Wundagore Mountain (home of the High Evolutionary). Forge’s new scheme on how to deal with M-Day (a day when almost all of the mutants lost their powers0 is to inject synthetic DNA into several humans. He discovers there are other creatures from another dimension who are set on invading Earth with their “Ghost Boxes” and he sends his creatures (whom he dubs the “New Mutants”) against them. The X-Men get involved and discover a stark raving mad Forge. Before everything blows up, Storm asks him to leave with the X-Men. Forge refuses, seemingly upset at her having married the Black Panther. He apparently gets blown up while the X-Men escape.
(Artwork by Whilce Portacio)
It’s important to note that Storm has had quite a few dalliances throughout her life. She met the Black Panther when she was a child and they had a “thing” with him depending if you rely on the few pages of their time together in Marvel Teamup #100 or the retcon crazy Storm mini-series leading up to her marriage. She fell in love with the warrior Arkon while on a mission with the X-Men, likening her feelings to what she thought Jean and Scott had, but her duty to the team kept her from being with him (sound familiar?). She’s had flirtations with Wolverine and Nightcrawler as well.
So what have we learned? This romance was doomed from the start.
Deception, guilt and shame are the major players here. As well as pride. A lot of pride. Forge was a lapdog for the government who turned his back on his Native heritage which led to the death of his supposed friends in the military. Storm was a woman with extraordinary powers who instead of having peers all of her life, was worshiped by her tribe and haunted by the death of her parents. Neither one had what could be considered a healthy relationship with their family or themselves. Forge was an escapist living in denial, while Storm had delusions of grandeur (although if one had her powers it might seem logical that you would as well). Still, Storm did grow up on the streets of Cairo as a thief, so she had to know that there were other lives she could be living.
Storm fell in love with Forge under the worst circumstances. She was completely powerless, suicidal and trapped. Perhaps it’s a bit rash to liken this situation to Stockholm Syndrome, but it certainly reminds me of it. Forge’s feelings for Ororo surfaced while she was his captive. The guilt he felt for destroying her life were always mixed up his love for her. Not a great way to start a relationship.
(Artwork by Jan Duursema)
Think about the relationships Storm had before she met Forge. Oh, that’s right. There’s nothing there but an adolescent dalliance with a prince that borders on fantasy roleplaying and a series of flirtations. It makes sense in an odd way that Storm would keep going back to Forge when she knew next to nothing about anything else. (However, it doesn’t mean she should return to her first love from her childhood and marry him either, but that’s a whole other post.) We aren’t privy to what Forge’s life was romantically before Storm, but I find it hard to believe that a women in her right mind and proper sense of self would fall in love with a man who denied his heritage and worked for a questionable government agency. That kind of man is not boyfriend material.
So, even though it makes perverse sense that Forge would fall in love with a woman as beautiful and deeply emotional as Storm, and that Storm without her normal defenses would take a risk at love, in this instance the overall combination is rife with failure. When Forge asked Storm to marry him and didn’t get his answer immediately, he left like a spoiled child. Although Storm says she would’ve married him, her hesitancy betrays her emotions. It seems that she was fooling herself, perhaps thinking she would never get another chance at love.
There’s also the Mystique factor. What kind of low self-esteem does one have to have to go back to the man who broke your heart by going out with your arch-nemesis? Twice! Or flip that around. What kind of low self-esteem does one have to have to continuously go out with a woman who is the complete opposite (and therefore enemy) of the woman you are really in love with? It really is hard to wrap that one around my mind.
When I think of romance, I think of emotional honesty. I think of a partnership of like-minded individuals looking to learn more about themselves and each other and, through that partnership, the world. Romance starts with loving your self so that you can better love your partner. I believe romance is about being mirrors for one another so you can move beyond the ego and unconscious projections. Storm and Forge may have deluded themselves (and many a reader, myself one of them) when they spent time together that day in Dallas. However, in spite of all of their good intentions, theirs was a bad romance.
When Kaebel Hashitani invited me to participate in his new art show at Sequential Art Gallery entitled OMG PWN!ES I immediately accepted! When I was a child I loved to play with my sister’s My Little Ponies. I especially liked the Pegasus named Medley. The combination of pony with wings plus aqua coloring with music notes on her behind just had me at first sight. So Kaebel said we could use ponies that they had already and that the artists could do whatever they wanted to modify them for the art show. I demanded a pegasus pony and Kaebel sent me thiversion of a modern pony called Star Catcher. I hated it. Seriously, what was with the flimsy fabric wings? I also was not into the raised ornamentation–all the curlicues and dots seemed unnecessary to me. Star Catcher was reissued later with molded wings and although I think they are ridiculously small and strangely positioned, it’s definitely a step up from the thin fabric ones.
So I was stuck with a pony I really didn’t like aside from the traditional My Little Pony head sculpt. So what did I do? I ripped out the wings and twisted off the head. I took the pony home and ripped the head and hands off of a Star Trek 12″ doll (Chekov) and used epoxy to attach them to the doll. I also added a “little” something of my own creation. Then I painted the entire pony man white. Then the hooves and around the eyes were painted black. I went through my fabric and inspired by a zebra print to paint black striped on the body and then sewed the zebra fabric to t he joints where the fabric was more likely to flake away. I found some fur that picked up the pastel colors of the pony’s hair and added them. Black fur trim around the boots was the final touch. You can see more pictures of my modified My Little Pony (whom I named AbraKaZebra) at my flickr account.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEQUENTIAL ART GALLERY DECEMBER 2009: OMG PWN!ES
PORTLAND, OREGON – For Sequential Art Gallery’s second annual group show, artists from a range of backgrounds have submitted My Little Ponies (and a few very special “fakies”) that have been painted, carved, sculpted, bejeweled, and–well, you’ll see…
With a predominantly female bill of artists, both local and out-of-state, we are excited to bring you these reinterpretations of the popular childhood toy. Artists have had complete freedom in how they modify their pony because this show has absolutely no affiliation with the Hasbro corporation. And yes, we have been accepting “NSFW” submissions. Welcome, fans of all that is cute and twisted!
The show will open during First Thursday on December 3, 6-10p. “OMG PWN!ES” was conceived via Twitter and is being co-curated by Kaebel JK Hashitani of Sequential Art Gallery and Indigo Kelleigh of Lunarbistro.com.
Sequential Art Gallery + Studio is located in Old Town Chinatown at the Everett Station Lofts, 328 NW Broadway #113. Open for regular gallery hours and gaming every Saturday (11am-5pm) through December 19th or by appointment, with extended holiday hours TBA. The gallery showcases local artists who explore the concept of sequential art, which is loosely defined as using consecutive images to tell a story. Curated by Kaebel JK Hashitani and Merrick Monroe.
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Kaebel JK Hashitani + Merrick Monroe, curators
Sequential Art Gallery + Studio
328 NW Broadway #113 • PDX OR 97209
503-916-9293 • www.sequentialartgallery.com
Thanks to Robot6@ComicBookResources.com for posting the link to Cameron Stewart’s blog in which he shares some sketches he drew for fans during his Eurotour 2009! His rendition of Storm is super-amazing! He totally captures her punk attitude and fashion perfectly!
Compare the above image with the version he drew for me at San Diego in 2008:
They call her the McDonald’s Hunter
‘Cause she grills both men and meals.
Double timing blood and grease with
Deadpan mannequin counter face.
“How may I serve you?”
“Babe, you’re dead sexy.”
“Your order’s up.”
“I haven’t ordered.”
“Don’t call me babe.”
Her teeth glare and moonlight blinds me.
“You don’t get fries with that. “
Her rich dad makes her work here.
He won’t give this demon fox
The allowance she deserves
And she won’t give me the
Rending of flesh my body
Desperately needs every
Time I order McNuggets and a Coke.
Today I was drawing the X-Men and I was looking at back issues for inspiration. I kept returning to the issues drawn by the late great master Dave Cockrum. There’s just something fascinating about his linework! I couldn’t ask for a better artist to emulate. Here’s some images that I found from his tribute website. I encourage you check out more of his work. Here’ some of my favorites below!
The whole gang is here in this classic look at the X-Men. Now that I think about it, I think my favorite X-Men from this era are the top three in this image.
Avengers Assemble! Well, at least three of them took the time to show up. Hawkeye, Goliath and Black Widow look positively dynamic in this piece. I’m not keen on the random shape behind them, but I’m sure Dave had his reasons.
Once upon a time, Mantis and the Swordsman were newlyweds! Now Mantis is green (Does anyone know how that came about?) and a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Swordsman is no longer among the living. There’s that distracting shape in the background again. Grrr.
The Vision and Captain America arrive late to my Avengers Assemble call. Better late than never as they say. I’m loving how haunted the Vision looks and Cap’s expression is priceless. I think the circle works better here than the amputated triangles shown in the two images above.
It’s a Knight! Of horses? Or maybe he’s the Rook! Could he be the Rook Knight? Does he have special chess powers? I don’t know. However, I really love the design of this character from his winged helmet to his science fiction boots. Cockrum knew how to design a costume, sometimes merging seemingly disparate elements into a cohesive whole!
Cockrum’s creation, the amazing Nightcrawler, is having a bit of a hard time in this last image. Dave obviously had a great sense of humor. The inclusion of the vulture is simply too funny!
Thanks for checking out Dave’s art with me! I hope it inspires you like it has me!
I can dive into ancient wetness
I can soak my senses in salty brine
I can turn my back on the highest heavens
releasing breath and light
losing my flesh in shadow.
I descend in spirit form
haunting merfolk and pirate ships.
Surrendering to the invisible roiling
realm of the underworld. Death Gate.
Time to time one craves the
possibilities of creative darkness.
~STORM
Oh, X-Men Forever, how I want to love you! Really, I do! I love the concept and I love the era in which the comic takes place (The conceit of this title is that it picks up right after legendary author Chris Claremont was forced off the title 16 years ago). Having Dave Cockrum covers like the one above is certainly a nice treat! However, I have not been loving this series. It was a refreshing switcheroo to have Wolverine taken off the playing board right off the bat, and I even enjoyed the “evil” Storm that came out of nowhere. It was a bit madcap and perhaps it was done for shock value, but it certainly got my attention. I started off reading the series with the excitement I used to feel when I was a younger reader, but that excitement diminished with each issue. Kitty somehow absorbs/phases one of Wolverine’s claws? There’s a possible child clone of Storm? And to add insult to injury, she’s going to be called Lil ‘Ro? Professor Xavier is keeping secrets? Nick Fury is going to be a mainstay character in the title? A whole issue is dedicated to exploring the background of another Trask descendant? Oh, but wait, the real clone may be the evil Storm? It’s all too much. It feels like Claremont decided to jettison all the elements that made the old X-Men stories beloved. Killing off Wolverine (although we’ve been treated to flashback stories about Logan and Nick Fury after his death) in favor of a toothless Sabretooth falls flat for me. Evil Storm and child Storm are two Storms too many (I can’t believe I just said that!) and the fact that one of them might be a clone is an old chestnut that has lost its flavor. Breaking up Jean and Scott over an affair that never happened feels forced to me. Okay, Jean held a torch for Logan and was keeping his secrets. And how many more stories do we need about Xavier keeping secrets?
*shakes head*
I want to like this title. I really want to love it. But upcoming solicits like the following aren’t going to make me hold my breath for a glimmer of excellence.
X-MEN FOREVER #15 & 16
Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT
Penciled by PETER VALE (#15) & TBA (#16)
Cover by TOM GRUMMETT
GREAT JUMPING ON POINT…the fate of PERFECT STORM! The last time we saw Storm, she was fleeing from the X-Men, having blinded Sabretooth and killed Logan. Now, we turn our focus to Wakanda to see what became of the evil clone of the woman that the X-Men loved and trusted. ALSO: new two-part story starting with Issue 16 as CHRIS CLAREMONT continues his landmark run on X-MEN FOREVER! Don’t miss a single panel! Plus, an extra feature detailing a timeline of what other Marvel Universe stories were occurring during the current X-Men Forever saga!
#15 – 40 PGS./Rated A …$3.99
#16 – 32 PGS./Rated A …$3.99
Tom Grummett is certainly a capable artist and I have read that Claremont enjoys collaborating with him. However, Grummett’s art, while serviceable, doesn’t excite me. I find his figures to be pretty standard, lacking a sense of pizzaz. Costume design is rather generic as the above image represents. This Storm must be pretty evil as she’s wearing hand me downs from Captain Universe. It doesn’t bode well that the artist for #16 is To Be Announced. Hopefully Paul Smith will pick up the pencil for a few more issues, but even his art has been more than a bit loose for my taste. I was willing to drink from the well of super-scribe Claremont, but in regards to this series at least, the well seems a bit shallow.
I miss this Storm (words by Claremont and art by Cockrum). Fierce, determined, and fueled by naivete and outrage. This is a character worth reading about with no need of clones or alignment changes to make her interesting.
The page above comes from the Classic X-Men reprint series and is drawn by Dave Cockrum. It was inserted in between pages 3 and 4 of Uncanny X-Men #104. I always love seeing the human touches on original art pages even if it’s just the series title and page numbers. It’s a glimpse of the magic behind the scenes that makes the art process relatable. I find it inspirational. Part of me wishes that Claremont had run with a Logan and Ororo romance in X-Men Forever. What other place could this relationship be properly explored? And Banshee’s alive in this alternate reality! Hopefully he’ll return to the team, but I highly doubt it. He was briefly seen at Wolverine’s funeral, but he was canoodling with Moira MacTaggert. I’m still going to keep reading X-Men Forever, but I hope the series tightens up its cast and plotlines. This book has the enviable position to explore new territory with some of the most interesting characters in comics. I hope it gets around to it.
Halloween may have been yesterday, but today we take a look at some versions of Storm that definitely celebrate the spirit of the holiday!
This classic Bill Sienkiewicz cover depicts Storm as a thrall to Dracula! This story was a thrilling read when I was younger. I could not fathom a way that Storm could reverse the vampiric curse!
You actually have to read Uncanny X-Men #159 before you read the Annual. Brent Anderson drew this stunning cover. Oh, the horror!
This mini-series featured a Storm from an alternate reality who due to her time in Limbo has lost her natural mutant powers and instead relies on magick.
This is the original artwork of that same cover by the legendary John Buscema! What an amazing look from behind the scenes!
I leave you with an Andy Kubert drawn Storm dressed as a witch from the 1996 Fleer trading card set. Happy Halloween!
Starting in November I will be teaching a doll workshop at Swankety Swank! Now you can learn how to modify Barbie dolls like the ones I sell on etsy! You can choose to take one class or all four! Here’s the syllabus!
Building a Better Doll: Doll Shaman 101
Ready to modify your Barbie? In this class I will teach you how to transform your doll into your own One Of A Kind creation! You will learn how to properly repaint your doll’s face, modify her arms and curl her hair with each of the classes. We are focusing on completing one doll for this workshop but you will need to bring at least three Barbie dolls. Your Barbie dolls need to have long straight hair and plastic arms that are not jointed at the elbows. $20 fee per class $10 material fee.
A New Face: Removing the factory paint and repainting your Barbie’s face! Sunday, November 15 3-5pm
Body Sculpting: Learn how to shape your Barbie doll’s arms and hands! Sunday, November 22 3-5pm
Curls, Curls, Curls: It’s time for a permanent wave! Sunday, November 29 3-5pm
Getting Dressed: Hand sewing an outfit for your doll! Sunday, December 6 3-5pm
I’m super excited about this class! Here are some dolls from my modified doll collection!
Oyanara is looking particularly fierce with her face paint and faux fur sheath dress!
Mother Gatekeeper and her Runechildren pose for a heartwarming family portrait!
Maricopa wears her distressed hair and faux fur outfit proudly as she walks down Divisadero Corridor to go shopping at Swankety Swank! Be sure to check out all of the classes offered!
