Why do we love superheroes so much? They battle evil, almost always win, and embody a strong sense of justice. Plus, they have cool superpowers.
But, sometimes those superpowers become less interesting. With so many heroes who are super strong, flawlessly skilled at hand-to-hand combat, and have blindingly fast reflexes, the powers lose their excitement. There are some heroes, however, whose powers overlap one another, yet still find ways to be unique and quite clever. Let’s say they aren’t just full of hot air.
Marvel mutant Sofia Mantega, known as Wind Dancer, is a student at the Xavier Institute and a member of the New Mutants squad. Created by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, and Keron Grant, she made her first appearance in New Mutants Vol. 2 #1. Sofia was born and spent most of her life in Caracas, Venezuela. While staying with her uncle, her mother was killed in a riot and she was sent to live with her father in the U.S. After not making any friends, having difficulty with the language, and being relatively ignored by her father, she let loose a hurricane inside one of the supermarkets he was the head of. She was found by Danielle Moonstar who convinced Sofia’s father to send her to the Xavier Institute.
As Wind Dancer, her powers lie in the ability to control the movement of air. She can generate intense levels of forceful wind that allows her to lift vastly heavy objects and fly. She can amplify small sound vibrations in the air, creating the opportunity to hear conversations from faraway. Sofia can create a cutting effect by refining the wind’s force, knocking foes back, and she can compress the air in a person’s middle ear, causing them to lose their sense of balance.
One of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe is X-Men’s Storm. Born Ororo Munroe, she made her debut in Giant-Size X-Men #1 in May 1975, created by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. She came in the X-Men fold when Wein was planning to replace the first generation of X-Men with a new wave of mutant superheroes. Her mother, N’Dare, is the princess of a Kenyan tribe who fell in love with photojournalist David Munroe. Six years after having Ororo, they went to Egypt, but were killed in an aircraft attack. Growing up on her own, she became a skilled thief in Cairo before being recruited by Professor X for the X-Men.
The powerful Storm has many impressive abilities. She can control all forms of weather, changing the temperature to blistering heat or shocking cold and she can produce meteorological conditions from calm and sunny to tornadoes, hurricanes, and blizzards. She is resistant to the dangerous effects of the temperature, precipitation, and storms and with her power over the wind, she can propel herself, and others, in the air to fly. Along with that, she can control natural forces like cosmic storms, solar wind, ocean currents, and electromagnetic fields.
Colin Ashworth Hume, known as Windshear, is another Marvel hero. Created by Fabian Nicieza and Michael Bair, he made his debut in Alpha Flight Vol. 1 #87. Colin is Canadian born and grew up in England and worked as a special operative for Roxxon Oil Corp’s in the U.K. After discovering some of Roxxon’s unsavory dealings, he went back to Canada and joined Alpha Flight.
Like Wind Dancer and Storm, Windshear is a mutant. He has the ability to project what he calls “hard air” molecules that can be used in various ways, like knocking back foes or creating a force field much like the Invisible Woman’s. Using armor developed by Roxxon, he can harness his power and better control it, which also gives him the ability to fly.
