To me, Storm is a very important and meaningful character. However, to me she is not A-List. To me she is similar to Cyclops, being successful in team books, but not individually, though understandably she is now rightfully getting a chance at her own series, right now.
To me Storm ranks in the top 5 X-Men, but in the greater Marvel Universe, that means she's going to be quite a ways down on the top tier characters in the universe. I'm not even sure I'd say Storm is the number one female X-Man as she is not an original member of the team, and Jean Grey was the single most major character in the most major storyline in X-Men history. As stated Storm does have her own series now, at #2, but in looking at all of comics, that's fairly trivial for the time being, though I wish her well.
Some people have decided on many of these forums to question, and even state that Storm is Marvel's Wonder Woman, when in fact Marvel has no one even remotely close to Wonder Woman. In the Golden age of comics, Wonder Woman headlined two different series (Wonder Woman, and Sensation Comics) and was present on most covers of 2 other series (Comic Cavalcade & All-Star Comics). Some have stated that Wonder Woman and Storm are equal in terms of benefiting from supporting characters in their series (ala Wolverine and Cyclops for Storm and Superman and Batman for Wonder Woman.) That would be true if all Wonder Woman had was Justice League, something she was an original member of, and at the time was the biggest character of those presented on the cover. Wonder Woman however has a LOT more then just Justice League. Wonder Woman Volume 1 ran for 329 issues, of which Superman and Batman had 15 total appearances in her series. Remember, the longest superheroine titled series Marvel has ever had was The Amazing-Spider Girl, with 102 issues (half of which featured Peter Parker). Wonder Woman has 3 different series, (Wonder Woman Volume 1 (329), Wonder Woman Volume 2 (228), and Sensation Comics (106 though it didn't have WW's name in the title))) that all trump Marvel's greatest single superheroine titled comic book series. Wonder Woman got her self-titled, and second series 6 months after her debut because she was that popular. Storm was created in the 70s, and last month finally achieved enough in Marvel's eyes to get her own series, which was long overdue.
As for appearances, though international books do deserve some credit, much of Marvel's character's appearances are grossly inflated on Comicvine due to international reprints of American comics. The reason that is flawed is, if someone decided to reprint Watchmen 3 billion times, but declared each reprint as different volumes, then Silk Spectre would appear in 3 billion comics, but they'd all be the same story. Looking at Storm, her most major series is Uncanny X-Men Volume 1. According to Comicvine, she appeared in 252 issues of the 405 issues. That is the single most major series she's appeared in. Next, not counting international reprints, is Ultimate X-Men at 81 appearances. She's going to be hard pressed to get to that huge number of 7,079 issues, if those are the two series in which she's appeared in the most. If DC decided (and they haven't), but if they decided to reprint all of Wonder Woman's appearances in just one other language, let alone 3 or 4 she'd easily surpass Storm and most of Marvel (though she does have some international reprints, but no where near as many as X-men.)
International books should count to some degree because they do broaden an audience, but to me not to a degree where you trump a single character headlining over 600 individual issues. Due to Marvel's tendencies in the 60s to have women on teams as more of an after thought then really having much faith in them, many when viewing Justice League (which came before the Marvel teams) assume the same. The truth is, of the characters that appeared on the cover of Brave and the Bold 28, Wonder Woman was easily the biggest. At that time Hal Jordan and Barry Allen were rookies (Allen had only been on 11 covers, Jordan 3), and though Aquaman and Martian Manhunter had been around for awhile (Aquaman even being older then WW), none had ever appeared on a cover up till that point. Wonder Woman on the other hand had appeared on 289 covers up to that date. That comic historically, according to Stan Lee would inspire Marvel to give superheroes another shot. Also though Storm is unquestionably the most major and significant woman of color in comics, she isn't the first (nor is Wonder Woman the first superheroine). Wonder Woman's series actually had a character named Nubia who predated Storm, and was Diana's sister. Storm does deserve respect though for not only lasting, but being a standout character in a majorly successful series.
As for the other appearances? Well Storm has appeared in many a movie, as seen with the X-men appearances and cameos in First Class and Wolverine. Now, it is true Wonder Woman has never appeared on the big screen, though by news alone we know to at least some degree she will be in the next Superman movie (and technically was in the Lego Movie). She however has appeared in multiple direct to DVD animated movies. Those are a lot like cartoons though, and Storm has appeared in cartoons. But Diana has as well. Yes, there is Justice League and there is Justice League Unlimited, but there is also Superfriends, a cartoon which debuted 2 years before Storm was even created. One of those direct to DVD movies however was completely and totally about Wonder Woman, without another single costumed hero appearing in the movie. Video games I would say Storm is winning that medium of exposure (though that medium flourished when X-Men were popular), but movies, video games and comics aren't the only things. For example, Lynda Carter's TV show. It ran for 3 seasons, on network television, and ran for 60 episodes, at roughly 60 minutes an episode. It did this without any of Wonder Woman's major villains (Except Paula Von Gunther and Fausta) and not another single costumed hero. Never in the TV show is there any mention whatsoever of any other hero existing even on that planet, besides Wonder Woman, and it was a success. Though movies are a big deal, television is also a big deal, as Lucille Ball's iconic stature will attest to. Clearly no one was watching that show because of Superman or Batman. Very few comic book heroes have their own live action TV show, which also included a theme song. Due to budgets for TV shows, they often can't do the special effects for the various powers, and though the WW TV show was made, it often minimized her powers and abilities in order to stay within budget. Marvel for example, only really found a ton of success with Hulk. Even Spider-Man hasn't really been a huge hit on TV outside of cartoons. Wonder Woman also for a very short amount of time, had a comic book strip that appeared in newspapers, once again a feat rarely seen by a comic book super hero, and once again it was not Justice League, but was Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman has her own base of operations, there are characters that exist in comic books today, because of Wonder Woman. In the video game Injustice, Gods Among Us, Wonder Woman is present as is Ares, and the battleground Themyscira. Also Giganta and the Invisible jet are in the backgrounds of the Justice league setting. Wonder Woman also famously appeared on the cover of Ms Magazine, and recently the Smithsonian named Wonder Woman #1 one of the objects in their library of millions of artifacts that made America. That comic was the only comic book on the list.
This being a fan page devoted to Storm, I did not in any way wish to discredit or say "Storm is Lame" or "Storm is worthless" or any such thing like that, because it is unquestionably false. To me Storm is a character with great potential, and has already accomplished a lot more then most creators ever dream their characters could do. because of that potential, the sky's the limit. Comparing her to Wonder Woman though is a bit out of her league. As I said, Storm has potential, but so to does Diana. If Wonder Woman were cancelled in all ways shapes and forms tomorrow and we wait 30 years, then we'd have a good estimate of where everything was, but whatever Storm can do, Wonder Woman can do as well, that's the nature of potential, and the reason longevity is important. As long as she's still there, she's still capable of anything. Women have had an uphill battle throughout comic book history, whether it be the male X-men and Justice League T-Shirts that leave the women off of it, no matter how major the character), or the action figures not wanting to make female characters, to any number of other slights, the fact Wonder Woman has carried a title, a title in which she is unquestionably the star of the book, since 1942 is not only unprecedented before her, but afterwards as well. Few male characters have accomplished what she has. For example, let's look at Hal Jordan. The iconic version of the Green Lantern, and one of the more popular characters today, and one that is DC related, and as such the international skew will not be so prominent. Strictly looking at the number of appearances characters have made, Hal Jordan is sitting at 2,911, and Wonder Woman is sitting at 4,594. If Wonder Woman never, ever appeared in another comic book for the next 20 years, and Hal Jordan appeared in every issue of 4 different series, he'd still be distantly in Wonder Woman's rear view mirror. That's not comparing her to another female, that's comparing her to a male headliner. Every male character in comics is rushing down the path Superman laid, and some are quite close to him, but none of the female characters are anywhere near as close to her, as Batman and Spidey are to Superman. What Flash and Green Lantern and Spidey and Hulk are doing is going down a road already paved, Wonder Woman is one of the ones paving the road. A problem female characters have also had (WW and Storm included) is sometimes men genuinely are interested in reading about them, but the comic book store's environment often looks down upon them for trying to buy a comic dominated by a female. That hurts ALL female characters, in every company. I have no idea where that behavior came from (and is stupid), but it has been present over the years, even though no one would think twice about a man watching an episode of Charlie's Angels. This hurts all the more so since comic shops have historically been dominated by male readers. If they are being influenced in any way to not read the book, then the fact it's still here is jaw dropping.
I honestly have no genuine idea who is the greatest female in Marvel Comics, and even if I did, I'm not sure where she would place in the company. It might very well be Storm, or Jean Grey, or Rogue, or Ms Marvel, or She-Hulk, or Spider-Woman, or Spider-Girl, or Invisible Woman, or Wasp, or Black Widow. Marvel's females historically have not held series as the leads the way DC or independent companies have. Witchblade, Vampirella, Buffy, have arguably been more successful on their own then the Marvel ladies. Importance and popularity do not always go hand in hand either. Cyclops and Namor are both very important characters to Marvel comics, but due to their personalities, their popularity has not always been very likable. When Marvel launched the vast majority of their characters, women were in the background. They have tried, to bring them to the forfront at times, but the 60s was the iconic time of marvel, in terms of the characters that were created during that time. We've had decades worth of stories where Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Daredevil, Silver Surfer, Namor, and dozens of others have been present and significant. About the only character I've seen since the 60s to break into that group is Wolverine. Not to say that any character can't, but strictly on whether they have. I genuinely don't know if any Marvel female is more major then The Thing, or Doc Strange, or Ghost Rider, or Namor. I don't know. But if I can't even say that confidently, then I can't even remotely discuss Wonder Woman. What made Wonder Woman different then what happened to women in the 60s at Marvel was, when DC was at it's peak, and creating the legends, Wonder Woman was one of those legends, and was a headliner. Storm was created a decade after Marvel's peak in creative influence and was not the headliner when she first appeared. To me, Storm is an ensemble character, though a meaningful one. That being said, if we were ranking characters all-time, and ignoring if you are the headliner, or if you are an ensemble character then Robin, Lois Lane, Commisioner Gordon, and Alfred would all be better known then most of comic books (Wonder Woman and Storm included.) Robin would quickly become the third greatest comic book hero in history, which Spider-man fans would not probably enjoy. Lois Lane it also should be remembered headlined a comic book that also eclipsed Spider-Girl. One issue specifically with the X-men title is that if you ask most X-Men fans their favorite characters, almost all of them are named. Gambit, Rogue, Deadpool, Wolverine, Kitty, Emma, Storm, Cyke, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Beast, Iceman etc. many of these fans that buy X-Men love that one character, but really aren't overly invested in the others. I know Rogue fans who hate Cyclops, but Cyke gets credit every time they buy a comic with Rogue and Cyclops in it. That's why standing alone, to me, matters. Looking at Wonder Woman, often, people ridicule Wonder Woman for her supporting cast, or her rogue's gallery. What they fail to mention is that Wonder Woman then becomes all the more major, as it's not a villain or another character selling the book. If Storm were taken off X-Men would it crash? What if Wonder Woman were put on the X-Men in her place, would it crash (understandably WW is not a mutant)? Maybe 25% of the people buying X-Men are buying it for Rogue, but nearly 85% that are buying Wonder Woman, are doing it because of her, and not another character. If the discussion was about X-Men vs Wonder Woman, then X-Men takes that, but X-Men is a lot of different characters standing pretty much against one. I'm thankful Storm now has her opportunity to show off. Even if Storm fails, it may not in any way be because of her character, but more the writers or artists who are put on the book, and their love for the character. There may come times when people are assigned the book and don't like the character, or feel the character needs to be changed, or killed, or a costume change, or a horrid artist or are just look at it as a stepping stone to something greater like X-Men or Spidey. Hopefully that doesn't happen for Storm, but even if it does, A-listers can and have overcome it.
I am however reminded of an earlier post I read here. More often then not on message boards across the internet the same basic message is put forth. Who should replace Wonder Woman? Who is going to take that mantle of the greatest female character in comic history away from her (the premise of the post being, now that Wonder Woman is lame, what new hip character will kick her into oblivion)? After all, she's not "cool" anymore, (Yoda's line about 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not, the character was made in 1942), and these other characters are just so cool, and of course they'll continue to be as cool as Wonder Woman has been for the next 6 decades (because that's not really an big accomplishment or anything). Wonder Woman should not be replaced by anyone. If Storm earns a seat at the table (and maybe to some she already has), then we should all be happy and congratulate the accomplishment. The mindset though that only one woman can be there is garbage. Whatever may become of superheroic comics in the future, Wonder Woman has earned her seat at the table. No female character, or male character will ever deny her that, only people who are innocently ignorant to her accomplishments will. Every female character in all mediums that are ass kickers, are walking down her path, and based on the character's personality, she'd be more then happy to welcome some more of her sisters as it's not about replacing, but adding. Wonder Woman's sales may lack at times, and she may limp on, but that's what any true warrior does. Keep fighting and mowing through. When all superheroic comics were cancelled by Marvel, and dang near all were done so at DC, Wonder Woman was one of 3 characters to headline a book from the golden age into the silver, something Captain America, Captain Marvel, Green Lantern, and Flash cannot say. In that regard it is not only the female characters who owe that character something, but all superheroic characters, male or female. A statement was made that the only reason WW stayed in publication for so long was because DC Comics would lose the character to the Marston estate if she was not the title character of a comic book every so many months. Apparently according to some sources, that was true back in the 80s, but appears to not be true anymore. However, the fact was DC viewed her as still being financially viable by whatever means to continue publishing her. When she stayed in publication during comic's darkest hour (Post-War/Seduction of the Innocent/TV invasion), that was before the cartoons, action figures, TV shows, video games etc. No one knew what Wonder Woman's merchandising possibilities were. Why wasn't she a casualty like all the others? What they did know though, was at one time she was one of the standout characters in 4 different books, 3 more books then the Marston situation needed. Why was she in so many? Because back then, back when comics were far more popular and far more widely read then today, she was a big deal. The face of comic books is better because of Wonder Woman, and because of Storm. In my opinion Storm right now is a All-Star on her way to becoming a Hall of Famer. Wonder Woman was first ballot, unanimous, induction class Hall of Famer. For what it's worth, that's my long winded opinion anyways, and for the record I do not dislike Storm. I was doing this not so much to disrespect Storm, but to give a bit of respect to Wonder Woman.
Log in to comment