Which TV incarnation of Storm is the best? – Clacking in Color

You know, I had a different topic originally planned for this week’s column. I did. However, after spending an entire afternoon watching Netflix, I stumbled upon a gem of an animated series and decided to clack about it — Wolverine and the X-Men. We’re going to do things a bit different this week. Change is good, right? Just ask Obama! Now, it is common knowledge among my friends that I’m a card carrying nerd and proud. To that end, I took pride in watching the baddies get taken down by the world’s coolest spandex clad mutants — especially my favorite one, Storm.

Call me a wannabe storm chaser, but I’ve always had a thing for Ororo Munroe aka Storm. Ever since I was a hyper little tyke, I always thought she was the coolest one. Sure, Cyclops could shoot red hot laser beams from his eyeballs. Of course Wolverine could heal himself and had the cool claws. Why wouldn’t Jean Grey be able to read minds and lift objects with her brain? Typical. No, the way I saw it was that it took a real hero to be able to manipulate the weather, and for a young boy who had aspirations of becoming a news anchor and weatherman — at least when I was a kid — that was just plain awesome.

What I like about Storm’s contribution to the X-Men isn’t that she’s of African decent. It’s not that she gives the team the extra diversity. It isn’t that she’s pretty. It isn’t that she’s a woman. No, what I like is that all of these things don’t really matter … at least not to me. The fact of the matter is that Storm is on the team because she’s a badass. Enough said. In fact, in practically every television incarnation of her character, Storm has always been tough. To that end, I wondered how she fared in each of the three X-Men cartoons from my youth. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

• X-Men — I was in elementary school when this animated series premiered on Fox Kids, but I can vividly remember spending my Saturday mornings glued to the television screen with my sister. In this incarnation, Storm had an uncanny knack for loudly announcing her method of attack — “I summon torrential rains!” — but I thought it was awesome. As an African-American second grader I was fascinated at the fact that a brown-skinned chick could be second in command of a team of heroes … and the fact that she could electrocute the crap out of villains was a nice touch too. Storm was defined and three-dimensional. She had fears such as her struggle with claustrophobia and was unafraid to be a mother figure at the X-Mansion and a renegade in battle.
• X-Men: Evolution — I was in high school when this new series premiered on Kids WB and envisioned the X-Men as teenagers. However, the writers wisely kept Wolverine and Storm as adults. That’s a smart move. I remember thinking that Storm’s new costume was pretty cool, and I liked the fact that we saw her teaching a bit more. That showed how intelligent she was. While we saw her in the classroom a bit more, the writers were smart enough to utilize her in scenes that really counted. Furthermore, it was nice to see her use more than lightning as a defense move. The woman can make it rain too, you know … and I’m not referring to the 2006 single released by Fat Joe and Lil Wayne.
• Wolverine and the X-Men — By the time this cartoon premiered on Nicktoons, I was already a junior in college, and as mentioned before, I recently discovered it. The plot is actually solid, but Storm doesn’t get much focus aside from an early episode that’s built around her. It’s not clear if Storm is a leader in this series. Instead, she’s much more nice and kindhearted, caring and sensitive. All of that is nice and dandy but … yawn. Still, it is said that she is one of the more powerful mutants and she is definitely valued. It’s also nice to know that she is voiced by Susan Dalian who you may recognize as the crazy chick from The Brothers.

Despite being in three entirely different television shows, the common denominator remains — Ororo Munroe is one bad behind chick. It’s just a pity that Halle Berry couldn’t do the role justice in the live action adaptations … but that’s a topic for another column. Still, it’s nice to know that whenever producers and writers decide to bring the X-Men to television, Storm is always chosen. It says a lot about her character, and being that she’s a woman of color could be the cherry on top of a very sweet sundae. When baddies go up against her, they know what they’re in for.

Nevertheless, perhaps that’s a storm worth weathering.

Clacked by Jaylen Christie
on Apr 10, 2012 @ 11:31 EST5EDT