Ororo is hearing voices on the wind that she is compelled to follow. There’s the voice of Kate Pryde from when she was a teen. There’s more. She follows the voices to a cave only to meet Tony Stark there. He’s been hearing voices, too, though he’s followed them in a completely different way to arrive at the exact same cave. So, at least they’re not going crazy. They’re going into a cave in Iron Man Annual #1. Writer Jason Loo, artist David Cutler, and colorist Bryan Valenza go on an adventure with a pair of heroes who haven’t appeared together very often.

Storm and Iron Man enter the cave. It’s not the best place for Ororo. She’s claustrophobic. She’ll manage, though. Stark’s scanners detect no signs of life, but Storm can sense magic coming from the crystals that line the cavern. They seem to be reflecting some kind of negative emotional energy. It’s not like either of them is going to be able to notice THAT, though. They’re too busy attacking each other to realize that there’s something that’s CAUSING them to attack each other...and it’s the cave itself. They should be able to work it out, though. They ARE heroes, after all...

Loo dives a bit into the psyche of both Iron Man and Storm in a pretty simple, little emotional drama that has a strong visual component thanks to the cave and the crystals, and the powers of both heroes. It’s a relatively superficial jaunt through the memories of both heroes as they battle with each other and various bits of their own past on their way to the inevitable showdown with each other that finds everything getting resolved more or less predictably. The dialogue is okay. The pacing is...fine. Two heroes battle and get to know each other a little better in the process.

Cutler does a respectable job of delivering super-powered combat in a cave with a bunch of crystals. Much of the anatomy of the combat feels stiff and awkward, but some of the framing of the action feels kind of impressive in an environment that is granted a bit of extra atmosphere by Valenza’s colors. A more inspired approach might have been able to do a bit more with the cave of crystals growing from every wall of a vertiginous cave as two heroes with strong aerial dynamics fly around at dramatic angles. As it is, the action feels a bit flat.

It’s part of a crossover that started in the Scarlet Witch annual. It feels kind of late for a summer annual crossover, but it’s fine. Really. Heroes battling heroes. It’s not like that’s ever been done before, right? There hasn’t ever been a crossover series like that, has there? It’s fine. It’s not...like...memorable or anything like that. It’s fine, though. The Iron Man Annual is probably going to look a lot better in the context of the rest of the crossover. It’s bound to do so in one way or another.

Grade: C-