Big things happen in this issue kiddies!  (I’m joking, this isn’t a kids comic, but big things do happen.)  If you want to know all about it, click the link to read more but beware there’s a spoiler heavy review coming.

I can’t believe this is only a single issue.  There is so much that happens in this comic.  Remember back in the Silver Age when there was loads of action but also loads of dialogue too?  That’s what number 4 reminds me of.  Eugenie is betrayed, her parents are outed, her true self is revealed, it just goes on and on!

Eugenie and her crew of spirits and the like return from the Otherworld, but with loads of changes to the status quo.  Kiyo is revealed to be a shape shifter, and an adorable little fox.  Wil has betrayed the group because he thinks messing with the good side of the spirit world is a good way to ensure a pleasant life from here on out.  Yeah, that plan doesn’t work out at all.  His daughter is still being held captive and Eugenie couldn’t give a damn about either of them after this adventure.

Even with all of that going on, its still the “B” plot!  It turns out Eugenie is the spawn of the Storm King.  The prophecy (and there’s always a prophecy isn’t there?) states that her offspring will be royalty.  Every spirit being with a penis is now after Eugenie.  See, if they are the one to impregnate her, then they become king.  That’s all the motivation an other being needs to kill destroy and rape his way through our reality.

Dangerous times for our heroine, and I begin to worry that a man will come along to save her.  I don’t mean a man provides a distraction, or takes out minions, but that a man will come in to destroy the main bad guy and everything will be better.  I’ve seen this numerous times in urban fantasy stories written by female writers and starring a female lead.  All the strong woman build up the writer accomplishes is washed away by the dashing hero riding up on his horse.  Eugenie is at her lowest point yet, something distracts the bad spirits, and I begin to roll my eyes in frustration.  But then…

Holy crap, welcome in Eugenie you have arrived!  See, when the reader discovers that Eugenie is the daughter of the Storm King, the reader forgets for a second that the name of the book is “Storm Born”.  The winds, the tempest, the maelstrom of energy that is being released is all coming from within Eugenie.  Despite all of the kings, rulers, shape shifters, elementals and gentry this book has already shown, we have yet to be shown this.   The strongest character in the book was right under our noses the whole time, hidden under the lead.

The issue ends on a cliffhanger and I cant stand having to wait until the next issue comes out.  Eugenie has so much to deal with now, not the least of which is controlling these powers that have now made her one of the most powerful (half) humans in existence.

5 stars for Storm Born #4, and I don’t even do star ratings.