Amazing X-Men Annual #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue read like it was written in 1997, and Salvador Larroca drawing it adds a certain emphasis to that point.  Storm and her opponent exchange a lot of stilted dialogue, particularly when they're shouting all sorts of "noun preposition noun" exclamations at each other.  Granted, Ororo is certainly given to those sorts of statements, but it's way too over the top here.  "I am the gathering tempest -- I am the howling wind -- the roar of rain -- the...[zzz.]"

In terms of the plot, the only thing keeping me engaged was the possibility that Storm really did accidentally kill Meruda's family when she was 12 years old.  It would've been interesting to watch Storm deal with that guilt.  Several of the X-Men tell her in this issue that, even if she had killed them, she wouldn't have been responsible for her actions given that she didn't understand the full scope of her powers back then.  But, Storm didn't buy that line, and it would've been interesting to see where her grief took her.  Unfortunately, Nero literally uses a deus ex machina to resolve the issue, with Gaia appearing and absolving Storm of guilt by telling her that she had nothing to do with the sandstorm that killed Meruda's family.  It turns a meh issue into a totally forgettable one.

It almost felt like the only point of this issue was informing younger readers that a tribe in Kenya once considered Storm a goddess.  As someone fully aware of that history, I wasn't really left with anything interesting here.

** (two of five stars)