SLSC

Can I Rant for a Second?

Well, as much time as I have put into SLSC, I realize that unlike many others, I do not have a rant page. Much of the site, up until now, has negated many of my own personal opinions towards X-Men. One thing I guarantee is that my rants will stay on the subject of X-Men. As always, there is no profanity in my words. If you find me to be complaining too much, read it with a grain of salt and snippet of humor. ^_~

Why Synch!? Rant I’m perplexed. Marvel finally produces a character with a lot of potential to personality-wise and power-wise to do some real damage, puts him on a teen with teenagers who are mutants, have them accomplish some amazing things as a team, and then cancel the book – finding it necessary to kill off one of the favorite characters in the process. Yes, they killed Everett Thomas – for no real reason in a scenario that puts shame to his name. Marvel has been on this, “If they’re dead then they must stay dead,” kick for a little while because characters were constantly being killed and resurrected and it took away from the shock of death. I can understand this move – but Colossus was just brought back to life [check Astonishing X-Men for reference]. Obviously you can still bring some characters back. Let’s not hear any garbage concerning Jean coming back to life again – bring back Synch. It’s about time we get some non-sex-addict, non-gun-addict, and non-stupid-acting males in comic books.

X-Men: Evolution's Rogue Rant I may be asking for backlash by writing this rant. Obviously, not many people share my perception when it comes to X-Men: Evolution's Rogue. Websites dedicated to her have come and gone, some growing into quite large, exquisite sites. When the character was first introduced I can honestly say I did not like her. I loathed her voice, her appearance, the ominous vibe she gave off -- it was entirely different from the Rogue I had grown up with from the 90's Animated Series. However, my buddy Emma [the webmistress of Cryptic Darkness] put up her website and gave her opinion of Rogue and I actually began to like the character.

However, as time passed and Rogue's character developed I became annoyed with her omnipresence. Her constant whining and crying about how she had been abused became an overused backdrop to nearly every episode she was present in. "I hate you, I hate myself, I hate the world," became Rogue's character. No matter how full her head was of other people's memories and personalities, she always managed to squeeze in one more -- and then complain about how much she hates the world, again. Sometimes I just wanted to say, "Give it a rest!"

Not only was her personality very monochromatic, her mutant abilities were exaggerated throughout the series. All those who are familiar with Rogue, when she began absorbing other mutants she was not able to control their abilities. Most of the time she would go crazy just trying to contain the personality. Yet, she absorbed Scott's powers and used them as if she had been doing so for years. She absorbed Jean's powers and never suffered from telepathic trauma. But Jean, who had been training herself to keep voices out of her head, still had problems controlling her telepathy. Rogue even absorbed Magneto without going crazy! Yet, she absorbed Storm and screamed it was, "Too much power!" If Storm was too much power, I'm sure Magneto's abilities wouldn't have been easy to adapt to; both mutants have elemental abilities. Even more disturbing is Rogue was able to absorb the Juggernaut. His abilities are unable to be absorbed.

The entire character of Rogue disgusted me on the final episode. Somehow, she managed to be the hero -- along with the dull, crusty-voiced Wolverine. As Nightcrawler pointed out, it's ironic that the girl who hates the world became its savior. In order to make Rogue into the hero, though, they had to change Leech's mutant abilities. So, not only did they misrepresent Leech, they made Rogue into an anti-hero character that she never really was. I can deal with a confused teenage girl with problems (i.e., Kitty and Jean), but Rogue had no other facet to her personality. I got sick of feeling sorry for her to the point where her presence on the screen was a disappointment.

Storm’s Short Haircut Rant As you should know by now, Storm was given a short haircut in the later issues of X-Treme X-Men when Igor Kordey became the head artist for the comic. On the cover of each book Storm had long, majestic hair because the artistic master had previously drawn them: Salvador. However, when you opened the book you would see the horrible haircut Kordey had given her. What made it so hard for him to allow Storm to keep her long hair? Not only did she receive a haircut, but also her facial features diminished from African American beauty queen to dark-skinned, non-ethnic tomboy. Her shoulders were broadened and her face aged. Of course every artist is entitled to his or her own vision for each character… but making Storm that ugly is a federal crime!

X-Men: Evolution Rant How much pain can a Storm fan take when mentioning X-Men: Evolution. There have been times in the past where Storm fans have been bashed beyond comprehension, but X-Men: Evolution takes the cherry from atop the cake. The show was made to centralize on the teenage lives of the X-Men. Storm, though, is portrayed as an adult who looks very much like she is in her 30s, although in the comics she is believed only to be in her mid to late 20s, which is the same age as Cyclops. Cyclops, though, is portrayed as a senior in high school as well as Jean Grey. Why was Storm chosen to be the adult? To purposely throw away the Windrider and have a seemingly logical excuse doing so?

Yes, it goes on. X-Men: Evolution creators obviously weren't planning on giving the fans any Storm episodes until the African American community and Storm fans of all different races went into an uproar demanding that there be more focus on Storm after the first season ignored her almost entirely. So, we did get an episode that focused on Storm. An episode that had its debut early in the 2nd season entitled African Storm.

African Storm Rant Okay, I understand that I should be grateful that Storm finally did have an episode that graced her, somewhat. I was very happy that she had her own episode, and had little to complain about... except for the episode itself. The plot was poorly done, rushing her entire history into a 25-minute show and even then it was portrayed vaguely. Then, much of the episode was overshadowed by Evan's flat character and many minutes of the new students making fools of themselves. As we take a look at the plot we see merely that Storm is having nightmares about her past, is being chased by a witchdoctor from her past who wants to steal her mutant abilities, and in the end the audience is left to figure out if they were real or imaginary. How dumb is that? And I'm sure many of us noticed, comparing Storm's accent with the accent of the African tribesmen, she has a full American accent. All in all, I'm grateful they managed to focus on Storm in an episode, now let's do it the right way. They did 2 excellent episodes on Wolverine's past, there's no excuse why Storm can't be as successful.

Lightning Rant I have a question for all the hardcore X-Men fans who have been around since the 60's when the X-Men first made their debut. Throughout the first team, Storm was not a member, but when the original X-Men were captured by the island Krakoa, Xavier was forced to go out and form a new team to save his old one. Since when was Storm limited to lightning? When we first met Storm [not speaking of her childhood, but when we first met her in South Africa] she was not harnessing only lightning to her aid. She was creating a storm to provide rain for the dying agriculture in the region. Throughout the years, we have seen a variety of Storm's abilities used, including but not limited to: wind, rain, ice, hail, tornados, hurricanes, whirlwinds, massive flooding, excessive heat, fog, cloudiness, frost, and more. But the most overused of all is lightning. Sure, lightning makes special effects but Storm's abilities make her alot more useful than just lightning. Why do they have to limit Storm just to make other characters look good? This leads me to my next rant.

Wolverine Rant Logan, better known as Wolverine to younger fans and those who like pure action, adventure, and rage to fit many of their own characteristics, is a popular character. Is it because of his shattered and vague past? No. Is it because of his mutant abilities or his skills as a fighter? No. It is simply because of his large, massive, claws that many people are drawn to him. Marvel and trademarks of the like have exaggerated his adamantium claws to a point of, “No one can beat him ‘cause his claws are so kewl.” Countless storylines and hours have been wasted into making him the major character of the X-Men. Now he is the trademark of the X-Men. Wherever you see the X-Men being advertised, you are bound to see Wolverine scowling, growling, and gnashing with saliva and teeth lining his mouth. Is there no other character that has fans enough to represent the X-Men? Wolverine overshadows Storm in X-Men: Evolution, and overshadows nearly everyone in the X-Men Movie. X-Men was successful before the invention of Wolverine, should he be like whiteout over every other character established? I would hope not and wish those with the pens, color, and the money recognize this problem, which it is.

Site Name Rant Yes, to those who have been reading down this entire page, I am finally ranting on my own mistakes. Sound's Like a Storm's Comin' was the original name for this website, but as you can see there are plenty of grammatical errors in the site name itself: Sound's should be spelled as Sounds, Storm's would better be represented by Storm is and Comin' irregularly takes off the g which would make it Coming. What was I thinking?! At the time of SLSC's birth I did not have a vision for it to become a professional website as it is now or a website in such a high standing amongst other X-Sites. SLSC's debut on the web was nothing more than a Storm fan experiencing the possibilities of creating a website dedicated to that fandom. Now, as SLSC gains popularity, so does its incorrectly structured name and continual originality. Next time think of a grammatically correct name, me!

Uneducated Marvel Annoyances Rant Have you ever spoken to someone who knew nearly nothing about Storm and attempted to bash her? I have had quite the experience with uneducated Marvel fans recently. They always seem to know so little about Storm that they find it very easy to bash her. My advice for Storm fans who want to protect the Windrider in a debate is to find out everything you can about her, and try to find some sources of back-up in comic book history for all of your claims. If you don't do so, you will constantly be nagged and Storm will constantly be bashed. However, if you have enough endurance you'll begin to make sense in the debates and the other arguments against Storm will fall apart. But you must endure against the Storm-bashers. :)

X-Movies Rants Brian Singer has had two chances to prove himself as a valuable director for the X-Films, but even now after X2 he has failed to give Storm fans any satisfaction. Why blame the director when the producers and the studio had a lot of input in the film too? Because he directed the actions Storm was to make, after all that’s what directors do. How many times will Storm have to tilt her head to the side and undergo what looks like cataracts before FOX and its associates realize they are not portraying Storm the way we are use to seeing her? Storm is a powerful character – not just in context of her mutant abilities. Her presence demands attention and respect, yet in the movies her presence only brings meekness and a blonde wig. Is it Halle Berry’s fault that she was not supposed to try for an African accent? No. Is it Halle Berry’s fault that the most Storm could do was stand around and look like a freak when she used her abilities – cataracts and all? No. Sure, there’s many black actresses that look more like Storm and who have talent – but as long as FOX and Brian Singer don’t put more effort into Storm’s character, such as was done in the 90’s Animated Series, then we’re left with a below-par performance and angry Storm fans. Sure, we’re grateful that we have Storm in the movies – but displaying her character as a weak, background wallpaper is not acceptable.