Marvel Celebrates Storm’s 50th Anniversary With a Black History Month Special

Earth’s Mightiest Mutant is finally getting the spotlight she’s always deserved. It’s a good time to be a fan of Storm, who has transcended merely being a member of the X-Men to joining the ranks of the Avengers and starring in her first ongoing solo series. This year also marks Storm’s milestone 50th anniversary, and with Black History Month right around the corner, now is the perfect time to dedicate the yearly Marvel’s Voices anthology one-shot to Ororo Munroe. Storm: Lifedream #1 brings together an all-star cast of Black creative teams to honor Storm’s past, present, and future.

ComicBook has the exclusive preview of Storm: Lifedream #1 by Angelique Roche, John Jennings, Curtis Baxter, Brittney Morris, Karen S. Darboe, Edwin Galmon, Alitha E. Martinez, and Charles Stewart III. The full one-shot has a prologue, epilogue, and three chapters, with our exclusive preview featuring the prologue by John Jennings, Edwin Galmon, and Andrew Dalhouse, and two pages from Chapter 1 by Angelique Roche, Alitha E. Martinez, and Andrew Dalhouse.

[RELATED: Murewa Ayodele Casts Storm Into the X-Men: From the Ashes Era (Interview)]

The prologue takes us to deep space in the far future, where interdimensional archivists are debating whether to include Storm in their Archive Eternal. Keeper Akasha gives her research on why Storm is worthy of being included in the archive. She runs down Storm’s resume as an omega-level mutant and her backstory of growing up in Harlem and being orphaned in Africa, where she’s found by Professor Charles Xavier. From there we know she joins the X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1.

Akasha tries to buy time for her partner, Keeper Ptolemy, to arrive, and when Ptolemy does, she reveals the second part of their presentation. We see images of Storm from throughout the years in different costumes, including her mohawk era to being a Goddess of Thunder and her battle with the Morlock leader Callisto. Their case is approved, and the archiving of Storm’s history begins.

[RELATED: Marvel Kills Storm of the X-Men (and Resurrects Her as Something Even More Powerful)]

Ptolemy and Akasha are sent back to the past, where we find Storm sleeping in a bed. While Storm sleeps, Ptolemy and Akasha use their network to copy Storm’s consciousness to a secure point in the archive, all without Storm noticing a thing. It is supposed to be a simple procedure, but an alarm goes off as the preview ends. Akasha asks Ptolemy how a large concentration of cosmic energy would impact the network during an upload, and we’re left to wonder what has gone wrong.

“FIFTY YEARS OF STARDOM! For the first time ever, all Black creative teams join forces in a single anthology to honor the many extraordinary lives of Ororo Munroe!” the description of Storm: Lifedream #1 reads. “When intergalactic historians attempt to update their records on one of the most famous X-Men in multiversal history, they’ll find a woman too powerful to contain – and risk unleashing a side of her no one’s seen before. With appearances of fan-favorite Storms across the eras of Marvel Comics, superstar journalist and Marvel’s Voices creator Angélique Roché spearheads a celebration of one of the most beloved characters in pop culture history!”

Storm: Lifedream #1 goes on sale Wednesday, January 29th.