![[WWC] CHRIS YOST Q&A ON 'STORM: WORLDS APART'](http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/wizarduniverse_2057_442815783) WIZARD: What exactly is this mini-series going to be about?
YOST: This mini's going to be about reminding people why Storm is the pre-eminent mutant female in all the world, in all of comics. She's the queen, and this is going to remind people why she kicks so much ass.
She didn't have a huge role in Messiah Complex and she hasn't really been a huge force in any of the X-Titles recently, so how is this going to bring her back into the fold?
YOST: The hard thing about Storm's position now, and she's feeling it, is that she's really torn between the two worlds, that's the title. I mean she's the queen of Wakanda, she's the former leader of the X-Men, a member of the X-Men; mutants are in the worst shape they've probably ever been in; so, she really feels the pull between her country and her husband, her team and her family and mutant-kind. This series is really about her defining who she is now. Is she the Black Panther's wife? Is she a member of the X-Men under Cyclops? Who and what is Storm?
So, is it really more of an identity piece rather than an adventure?
YOST: Well, yes and no. Because it's me, I lean towards some good action. It is an identity piece, but within the context of the most insane adventure she's hopefully ever been on.
Are we going to be seeing any familiar faces in terms of heroes and villains or are you going to be bringing some new characters in the fold?
YOST: It's going to be a familiar cast of Black Panther and X-Men. Cyclops plays a huge part, Black Panther plays a huge part; Nezhno, one of the students from Wakanda is in there. He's going to be front and center for a lot of it, the dora milaje, all the favorites from both series. Of course, we've got the villain, who I'm not speaking to as of yet.
That's cool, it's good to leave a little surprise.
YOST: But it's a biggie.
How have your experiences writing Storm in "X-Men: Evolution" helped you with her character?
YOST: Well, I wrote her in "Evolution" and I wrote her in the upcoming "Wolverine and the X-Men" series. I think she was maybe in a panel when I worked on the Nezhno story, but I think my worldview of Storm really comes from Claremont's run, as does most everything I write in the X-Men. He had that classic period where she was leader of the X-Men and she was incredible. She's the woman who took down Cyclops for leadership of the X-Men with no power! In the story with the Morlocks taking over for Callisto, [Storm] beat her in hand-to-hand combat. The greatest thing about Storm was of all the X-Men, her change when she came from Africa—from when Xavier picked her up in Africa like a goddess, and she really thought she was a Goddess, to where she is today, it was just amazing; to see her change and grow and become this incredible warrior. It was something.
At the same time, you saw her relationship with Kitty and Forge, and you really got to see the humanity in her, too. She was, in my opinion, one of the more fully realized characters in X-Men. We talk about this a lot in animation, and the biggest problem with Storm sometimes, and I think you see it in the movies too, is that sometimes people don't know what to do with her. Because she is kind of like that untouchable goddess, she's incredibly powerful but at the same time, she has a very specific power set. Claremont obviously had a great love for her, I've heard rumors that Warren Ellis has a great love for her and she's going to be showing up in Astonishing.
Is this mini-series going to tie into how she ended up coming onto Cyclops' Astonishing team, or why she ended up coming back to a more main role in the X-Men?
YOST: Yes and no. There's not going to be a specific connection there, but the question becomes what world does she belong to, and this series kind of answers that question. She does get a couple chances to really have a sit down with Cyclops, because obviously Cyclops has gone through a lot of changes, too. Storm has made the hard choices in her life as an X-Man, but at the same time, I've always seen her as the moral center of the team. She's got a—I don't want to use the word 'righteousness' to her—but there's right and wrong in Storm's eyes, and that's a line the X-Men are straddling right now.
Anything else you want us to know about the upcoming release?
YOST: The only thing I'll say is that if you've been really wanting Storm in the thick of it; really in the action—if you've missed that in the movies, in the comics—check out this mini-series because she's going to be in the middle of it.
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