Maystorm

Maystorm (Mei Igarashi) is a mutant superhero that appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. She appears in the Ultimate Universe (Earth-6160) line of books, and is an original character that made her debut outside the mainline continuity. The character first appeared in ''Ultimate X-Men'' #2 (June 2024), and was created by the Japanese writer and artist Peach Momoko.

Devlopment

Maystorm was originally conceived for the New Champions variant cover program, a series of covers celebrating  Spider-Boy by imagining hypothetical non-canon "forgotten" sidekicks for other Marvel characters with her being depicted as the forgotten sidekick of Storm. In Maystorm's case, she debuted in the New Champions variant cover for X-Men (Vol. 6) #27 and was conceptualized by artist Peach Momoko. However, Momoko really wanted to tell her story and decided to include her in the 2024 comic book, ''Ultimate X-Men'' from the Ultimate Universe line, set on Earth-6160.

Fictional character biography

Early life

An ordinary teenager from the super-nation of Hi no Kuni, one of the seven sovereign territories that make up the world, Mei Igarashi (五十嵐芽生, Igarashi Mei) moved to urban Kirisaki City with her dysfunctional family and began idolizing a  freedom fighter from West Africa with mastery over storms on social media.

Mutant awakening and meeting Hisako Ichiki

A month after moving into the neighborhood, Mei came across a frightened cat that had run away from her neighbor's house. Approached by its owner hiding behind the door, she returned the mascot, only to have the cat suddenly become aggressive and scratch her arm. Later that night, Mei was awakened by the sound of her parents arguing downstairs and joined them to try to stop it, only to have her father hit her after making a negative comment about him. As she screamed, Mei's mutant abilities would manifest for the first time in a powerful storm, and her hair and eyes would also turn white. Her father would order her to leave, not wanting punks in his house.

In April 2024, several months later, Mei encountered Hisako Ichiki, another mutant, shortly after the car accident that initially triggered her abilities. Mei's friendly demeanor led Hisako to invite her to investigate a local abandoned school, which was to be a meeting place between her and a malevolent entity that had been persistently pursuing Hisako for the past month and was the reason behind the city's strange suicides. There, after bonding, the pair would encounter a security guard and the Shadow at a shrine. The security guard, transformed into a monster, would attack the girls, making them flee. Despite her efforts to fight back, she was outmatched until Hisako summoned her powers and repealed the Shadow, emerging from the monster.

In May 2024, the girls would be on the bench in gym class. Mei, lurking social media on her phone, discovered a thread about Tsubasa, Hisako's best friend who had committed suicide as a result of bullying, and his connection to the victims of the ongoing suicides. Hisako, curious, would ask about the origin of Mei's abilities, but would back off as it seemed too personal. Just then, Mei was hit on the head by a ball that was meant to be caught by her classmate Nico Minoru, a reserved and goth girl often accompanied by her friends, Natsu and Mori. Giving her the ball back, Nico would take out a magnifying glass and use it to closely examine the pair, realizing they were mutants too, much to their confusion.

In June 2024, on a rainy day, Mei and Hisako talked after their final exam of the month to discuss Nico and if she could truly sense their powers. Due to having dinner duty, Hisako was unable to spend time with her that day and quickly left for home on her motorcycle. However, a crowd would find and gather around Hisako at the school entrance, who was visibly distressed, and take photos and videos of her and her manifesting powers. Mei would run to her and utilize her abilities to disable all phones in the vicinity, ensuring the safety of her friend. A few days later, Mei and Hisako were in class getting their exam results, when Hisako's phone buzzed revealing that someone had managed to upload footage of Hisako that was going viral.

Powers and abilities

Much like her idol, Wind-Rider, Mei Igarashi is a mutant with the power to create and manipulate storms and its aspects, such as: The capacity to control the wind and utilize it offensively against enemies, specifically pushing them away through the generation of hurricane winds, generate electrical energy from her body, which she was able to direct through her hands to power an electrical doll and rainfalls are also a feature that she is able to create.

Gyaru roots

Mei appears to be a member of the Gyaru subculture, also known as Gal, which is a Japanese fashion subculture characterized by a nonconformist and rebellious attitude towards Japanese social and fashion norms. In particular, Mei appears to be a Kogyaru, also known as Kogal, which incorporates the high school uniform into the overall style.

Reception

Maystorm received positive acclaim from critics and readers, considering her one of the best original Ultimate Universe characters.

References

External links

{{Ultimate Universe

Comics characters introduced in 2024
Fictional characters with air or wind abilities
Fictional characters with electric or magnetic abilities
Fictional characters with weather abilities
Fictional mutants
Ultimate Universe