In the original “Lifedeath” story, Storm did indeed lose her superpowers via a powers-robbing laser gun wielded by a villain. She falls into a river and nearly drowns, but is rescued by Forge. He lives in a remote home equipped with holographic projectors which Storm moves into. Storm is destitute after losing her powers and attempts to starve herself to death. Spending time with Forge, however, reveals a kindred spirit. He, too, has battle-based trauma, and they talk a lot about how the trauma can change their personalities, sometimes for the better. They swim together, have meals, and begin falling in love. Their nascent relationship hits a snag, however, when Storm learns that Forge invented the powers-robbing laser gun used by anti-mutant zealots.
The version of Forge previously seen on “X-Men: The Animated Series” was from an alternate future, so it’s unclear if the makers of “X-Men ’97” intend to keep that version or offer a soft reboot of the character for their new show. Recall that “Animated” and ‘”97″ are of the same continuity.
The “Lifedeath” story, as concluded in “Uncanny X-Men” #187, sees Storm moving to Central Africa where she falls in with a group of local agricultural workers whose crops are dying. As a mutant, Storm would have been able to provide rain. As a powerless human, she finds that she still has the power to help through hard work, leadership, and more hard work. She finds that heroism doesn’t require powers and decides to rejoin the X-Men.
Storm wouldn’t regain her powers until issue #225 which wasn’t published until 1987. Even without powers, Storm dueled Cyclops for leadership of the X-Men and won.
