Power Pack Into the Storm 1-5

[Leoparis]

#1 Fantastic Four, Franklin, Kofi, Power family, Queen B'rute, Princess Mayhem
Alex says, "I'm thirteen now." The FF have their negative costumes. "Maraud's exiled clan." "Maraud is dead." (supposedly died in PP HSPEC.)

#2 Princess Mayhem of the Maraud Clan, Kofi Whitemane, Princess Djinna of the Zn'rx Empire, Mass Master, Lightspeed, Gee, Franklin Richards, Energizer, James Power, Margaret Power, Queen B'rute, Smartship Friday, Storm

#3 Lightspeed, Gee, Energizer, Princess Djinna of the Zn'rx Empire, Kofi Whitemane, Queen B'rute, Princess Mayhem of the Maraud Clan, Franklin Richards, Smartship Friday, Storm

#4 Gee, Lightspeed, Mass Master, Energizer, Smartship Friday, Storm, Brood Queen B'rute,
Princess Mayhem of the Maraud Clan, Kofi Whitemane, Princess Djinna of the Zn'rx Empire,
Franklin Richards
Mentions X-Men #165. Mentions Power Pack Holiday Special.

#5 Gee, Lightspeed, Mass Master, Energizer, Kofi Whitemane, Princess Djinna of the Zn'rx Empire, Franklin Richards, Princess Mayhem of the Maraud Clan, Storm, Lord Yrik Whitemane, Queen Mother Djenteel, Smartship Friday, James Power
Mentions Power Pack #25.

The Powers are unaware their children have powers. The FF wearing their negative costumes fought Dr Doom jumping back and forth in time (cf. FF 350-54, Mar-Jul '91) but the Thing has his normal appearance (regained in FF 354, Jul '91).

An editorial note places it after Power Pack: Grow Up! I analysed that one-shot and placed it between PP 17 & 18. But I see Power Pack: Grow-Up! was meant to take place after PP HSPEC (Feb '92), itself occurring shortly after PP 62, Feb '91.

It is common for these continuity mini-series to take place right after a writer left the series. Louise Simonson wrote the 1992 Holiday Special, which is referenced in #4. By this time Kitty and the X-Men have had an on-screen reunion in Excalibur 41, Sep '91 (and a physical reunion later in Excalibur 57, Nov '92).

It seems Simonson and Brigman were told to return to the classic era and they understood each differently. Simonson returned their powers to what they were originally while Brigman drew Kitty, Logan and Ororo as they were in the mid-80s.

FF/Power Pack/X-Men chrono:
Power Pack 27 Mutant Massacre Kitty injured
Power Pack 28 Feb 87 Richards meets Powers
FF 301 Apr 87 find out about Franklin's dream power
FF 304 Jul 87 fb about helping Powers kids w/ Kofi vs Snarks
UX 226 Feb 88 Storm regains powers
Power Pack 39 Aug 88 last Simonson
Power Pack 50 Nov 1989 learn about Kofi's father having tampered with the Powers' brains
UX 270 Nov 1990 X-Men revealed alive
Power Pack 62 Feb 1991
Power Pack Holiday Special 1, Feb 1992 Maraud believed dead, Simonson, Brigman
FF 352 May 1991 Reed and Doom time-travel fight.
FF 354 Jul 1991 Thing returns to normal
Excalibur 41 Sept 1991 Kitty/X-Men Reunion on-screen
Excalibur 57 Nov 92 actual Kitty/X-Men Reunion

I'll go back to PP:GU! and place Kitty between Excalibur 41 & XCAL:P and Wolverine between UX 277 & M/TU3 19.

Note: The Power kids rarely use code names but there is no reason to keep indexing them under older codenames after their powers had changed and especially to have two Destroyers at the same time.

Suggested additions and corrections:
B'RUTE
PP:ITS 1
PP:ITS 2
PP:ITS 3
PP:ITS 4

COUNTERWEIGHT II/KATIE POWER
PP HSPEC
*See Energizer move here
PP HSPEC /2
PP HSPEC /3
NW@ 1/9
NW 48
NW 51
NW 55
NW2 1
*See Energizer move from here

ENERGIZER/KATIE POWER
*From Counterweight II move here
PP HSPEC /2
PP HSPEC /3
*PP:GU!
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 2
*PP:ITS 3
*PP:ITS 4
*PP:ITS 5
NW@ 1/9
NW 48
NW 51
NW 55
NW2 1
*From Counterweight II move from here
PP2 1

DESTROYER VIII/ALEX POWER
PP HSPEC
*See Gee add here
PP HSPEC /2
PP HSPEC /3
*See Powerpax move from here

GEE/ALEX POWER
*From Destroyer VIII add here
PP HSPEC /3
*PP:GU!
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 2
*PP:ITS 3
*PP:ITS 4
*PP:ITS 5
*See Powerpax move here

DESTROYER IX/JACK POWER
PP HSPEC
*See Mass Master move here
PP HSPEC /2
PP HSPEC /3
NW 48
NW 51
NW 55
NW 57
NW 65-BTS
*See Mass Master move from here

MASS MASTER/JACK POWER
*From Destroyer IX move here
PP HSPEC /2
PP HSPEC /3
*PP:GU!
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 2
*PP:ITS 3
*PP:ITS 4
*PP:ITS 5
*From Destroyer IX move from here
PP2 1

DJENTEEL
PP:ITS 5

DJINNA
PP:ITS 1
PP:ITS 2
PP:ITS 3
PP:ITS 4
PP:ITS 5

FRIDAY
PP HSPEC
*PP:GU!
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 2
*PP:ITS 3
*PP:ITS 4
*PP:ITS 5
NW 65

HUMAN TORCH II/JONATHAN LOWELL SPENCER STORM
FF 354
*PP:ITS 1
WOSM 75-BTS

INVISIBLE WOMAN/SUSAN STORM RICHARDS
FF 354
*PP:ITS 1
WOSM 76-BTS

LIGHTSPEED/JULIE POWER
PP HSPEC /3
*PP:GU!
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 2
*PP:ITS 3
*PP:ITS 4
*PP:ITS 5
NW 48

MAYHEM
PP:ITS 1
PP:ITS 2
PP:ITS 3
PP:ITS 4
PP:ITS 5

MR. FANTASTIC/REED RICHARDS
FF 354
*PP:ITS 1
WOSM 75-BTS

POWER, DR. JIM
PP HSPEC /3
*PP:GU!
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 2
*PP:ITS 5
NW 55

POWER, MARGARET
PP HSPEC /3
*PP:GU!
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 2
NW 65

RICHARDS, FRANKLIN BENJAMIN
FF 350
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 2
*PP:ITS 3
*PP:ITS 4
*PP:ITS 5
AWC 75
FF 357

STORM/ORORO MUNROE
DLOK2 5
PP:ITS 2
PP:ITS 3
PP:ITS 4
PP:ITS 5
X2 1

THING II/MAJ. BENJAMIN J. GRIMM
FF 354
*PP:ITS 1
WOSM 75-BTS

WHITEMANE, KOFI
PP HSPEC
*PP:GU!
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 2
*PP:ITS 3
*PP:ITS 4
*PP:ITS 5
PP2 1

WHITEMANE, YRIK
PP HSPEC
*PP:ITS 1
*PP:ITS 5
PP2 1

[Michael]

Here's the problem- the dialogue in issue 1 implies that Reed and Sue don't know that Franklin can astral project (as opposed to have precognitive dreams):
Sue: As you know, once in a while, his power does leak through, but you needn't worry. It's just the occasional precognitive dream.
Franklin: Mommy an' daddy are scared of me. They wish I didn't have any powers. An' they don't actually know what my dream self can do.
The problem is that Reed and Sue have seen Franklin astral-project many times if this takes place after FF 354. They saw him use his powers in FF 301 and FF vs. X-Men 4, just to cite two examples. Maybe we should just ignore those lines?
One problem with placing Power Pack: Grow Up after FF 354 is that Wolverine is said to be "with the Morlocks" in that issue and nobody seems worried. Which makes sense if it takes place before the Mutant Massacre but is odd if it takes place after FF 354 since Masque is the leader of the Morlocks. It';s possible Wolverine is there to try to negotiate a truce. But the other problem is that Kitty refers to herself as "the youngest too. The baby X-Man." Which is odd if it takes place after FF 354 because (a) Kitty is with Excalibur at this point and (b) Jubilee is considered the baby of the X-Men at this point.

[Leoparis]

Power Pack Grow Up! is Alex's 13th birthday. Back in PP 60 Michael Higgins had Alex say to his father he was thirteen. (But both were protoplasm doubles.) So originally I thought Grow Up! needed to be before PP 60 and so before 25 (powers shift), etc.

In PP 63 when Katie retells PP 42, she does it as if the kids had kept their original powers. There is a trend to ignore some of the later changes.

Anyway I managed to fit Grow Up! earlier so I really don't mind if people want to keep it there. It certainly fits better and we can either ignore the editorial note or consider that Into the Storm is after Grow Up! but long after.

I have not reviewed every line in the Power Pack omnibuses so I don't know when Alex first says he's thirteen. The reference to getting their powers "last summer" implies less than one year has passed from 1984 (actually 1983 because of DP5 7) to 1991, which strains credulity. For instance, the Inferno issues (PP 42 etc) are supposed to be a summer and in issue #45, Julie graduates from elementary school.

In the original PP issues we often had one month between every issue (e.g. PP 19 Thanksgiving parade, PP 20 Christmas, PP 21 snow, PP 22 Valentine's day). On this basis, placing Grow Up! among these issues as I did works well.

Into the Storm mentions PP HSPEC and PP 25, Maraud's death and the exile of her clan. It may prove difficult to place the series elsewhere. I don't see the problem with Sue's line, as the series mentions Franklin's parents putting a block on his powers, they could simply have put this block after the instances you mention, couldn't they? Or am I missing something?

Anyway due to your judicious remarks I will leave my previous analysis of Grow Up! untouched and if somebody wants to make a case for placing Into the Storm earlier, I welcome their analysis. Ignore the lines above about PP:GU!

Note: I'd rather place Storm between XF 62 and UX 273 due to her costume. I don't know of any reason FF 350-354 could not occur before UX 273-77.
STORM/ORORO MUNROE
XF 62
PP:ITS 2
PP:ITS 3
PP:ITS 4
PP:ITS 5
UX 273

[Michael]

Into the Storm mentions PP HSPEC and PP 25, Maraud's death and the exile of her clan. It may prove difficult to place the series elsewhere. I don't see the problem with Sue's line, as the series mentions Franklin's parents putting a block on his powers, they could simply have put this block after the instances you mention, couldn't they? Or am I missing something?

This is confusing. In Fantastic Four 245, Franklin is turned into an adult. Before he's turned back to normal, he puts dampers on his power to prevent it from running amok. (Reed seems to support this decision.) These were the blocks that existed during the original Power Pack series.
As late as the Days of Future Present crossover in 1990, Reed seems to be aware that Franklin's powers are still working. Reed, in fact, realizes that Franklin's dead future self is using the dream-walking power of his present day self to manifest in our reality. And at the end of the story, after Dead Future Franklin is gone, Franklin awakens and asks Reed and Sue if his dream self was out while he was asleep.
Shortly thereafter, in FF 347 and FF 350, Reed and Sue decide to try to re-awaken Franklin's powers.
In Into the Storm 1, Reed says that "we put a mind lock on his power". I assumed that the reference was to FF 245 and Reed was including Franklin when he said "we". But your argument is that shortly before Into The Storm, Reed and Sue put a mind lock on Franklin's powers, thought it blocked his dream power and then realized it didn't work shortly after Into The Storm. I guess it could work.

Note: I'd rather place Storm between XF 62 and UX 273 due to her costume. I don't know of any reason FF 350-354 could not occur before UX 273-77.
STORM/ORORO MUNROE
XF 62
PP:ITS 2
PP:ITS 3
PP:ITS 4
PP:ITS 5
UX 273

Into the Storm has to take place after X-Factor 70. From X-Men 262-279, the X-Men are operating in the subbasement of the X-Mansion because the Mansion is destroyed. (X-Men 279 is part of a crossover with X-Factor that ends in X-Factor 70.) We see the X-Mansion in issues 2 and 3 of Into the Storm. So Into the Storm has to take place after X-Factor 70.

[Midnighter]

There is also the issue that Wolverine is together with Kitty, so after Excalibur found out that the X-Men were back, so at least after Excalibur 41

[Leoparis]

Storm just says, "They are on a mission." That's a stretch but they might not be together.

I've made an ultimate attempt to place the series when Storm sported that mid-80s look:

Power Pack first appear in Aug 1984 while Storm loses her powers in Sep 1984. They don't meet X-Men or Morlocks before issue 12, July 1985. The kids get different powers in Aug 86 and Storm gets her powers back in 1988. There is simply no time when the kids could meet a powered Storm during PP 1-25 unless...

a) they revert to their original powers after 1988;

b) Storm temporarily gets her powers back before Aug 86.

I don't know of any instances of a) above but there is one of b).

In X-Men Annual 10, 1986, Storm temporarily regains her powers due to Spiral and Mojo. By page 6 the X-Men are affected by Mojo, where first they get younger and then back to altered adults. If you consider that this regression in time would return her powers to Storm, can we find a break for the Power Pack limited series?

There is such a break between pages 7 & 8. The caption reads, "The world turns. A new day dawns." The X-Men find nothing odd about their getting younger and--we can assume--would be similarly oblivious to Storm having gotten her powers back.

Power Pack 23-25 would have to occur shortly before PP 26-27. While Storm's mention of Kitty and Logan being on a mission would be less jarring circa X@ 10, Margaret Power is supposed to be in the hospital. So even if one envisioned a recovery and relapse (like was done for Phoenix to fit MTU@ 1 in X 101) to fit PP:ITS issues 1-5 in the middle of X@ 10, the references to PP HSPEC, PP 25 and FF 354 argue too heavily against it.