One of the most surprising aspects of Marvel’s “From the Ashes” reboot of its X-Men line of comic books was the revelation that Storm would not only be receiving her own ongoing series, but that she would also become a member of the Avengers. She made her debut as an Avenger earlier this month, and Marvel has now shared with CBR an exclusive first look at Storm’s first mission with the Avengers, to help find a way to stop the seemingly unstoppable Hyperion!

Next month’s Avengers #18 follows the dramatic turn of events in Avengers #17, where the Avengers, following the team feeling down thinking about all the innocent lives that were lost during the Blood Hunt, began to argue with each other over whether it really was a “failure” to lose a thousand lives when you successfully saved billions of lives. Captain America turned to Storm to get her opinion, and she assuaged his guilt a bit by explaining that if there was nothing else that the Avengers could do, then how can they blame themselves? This, though, makes Captain America determine that the Avengers definitely DID fail to protect the mutant population of Earth from Orchis, and that a failing of the team was that there was not a major mutant presence on the team, so he asked Storm to join the Avengers, and she agreed.

What is Storm’s first mission as an Avenger?

AVENGERS #18

JED MACKAY (W) • VALERIO SCHITI (A) • JOSHUA CASSARA (C) VARIANT COVER BY EDWIN GALMON GODZILLA VARIANT COVER BY ARIO ANINDITO STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY JAN BAZALDUA MARVEL STUDIOS VARIANT COVER BY RYAN MEINERDING STORM AGAINST HYPERION! New Avengers member STORM has joined the team just in time to deal with catastrophe… And she’ll need to call in other mutants to help against this world-ending threat! A who’s who of the Marvel Universe must unite against the supreme power of Hyperion! And someone steps OFF the Avengers… 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

The first preview pages show the Avengers getting introduced to their new teammate, in a gorgeous page by artist Valerio Schiti, who became the new regular artist on The Avengers with last issue. However, you might notice the Avengers looking all rather glum while staring at a clock. That is because the OTHER major twist in last issue was that Hyperion has decided that he will destroy the Earth. He is flying on a collision course for the planet, essentially turning himself into a human super-bullet.

How do the X-Men tie into the issue?

Jed MacKay, writer of The Avengers, also happens to be the writer of X-Men, one of the flagship X-Men titles, and so in the next preview page, we see Storm talking things over with Cyclops. It might be Storm simply talking about her decision to join the Avengers, or it could be the two heroes are discussing the best way to possibly stop Hyperion.

Finally, the last preview page shows Hyperion on his deadly journey to Earth. Hyperion was a creation of Mephisto, and briefly, the whole world was altered so that Hyperion and his Squadron Supreme were the World’s Greatest Superheroes, and now that that is over, his mind hasn’t been able to handle his place in the world, and he has decided that if his life is a lie, then he might as well destroy the Earth.

You’ll have to check out Avengers #18 next month to see how Hyperion is stopped.

Source: Marvel