WildCATs, Wildstorm Rising, Wild Storm, Wonderlost

WildCATs 1

A title restart by Grant Morrison and Jim Lee.  It hits all the right beats, with the original team scattered across the universe and slowly getting back together.  But there’s no clear mandate for the group, only a disparate set of stories. It doesn’t help that it’s part of a Wildstorm-wide crossover, something called Worldstorm that I never read more of.  (At least, I’m assuming it’s a crossover. Maybe it’s just the name of the first arc. I never read more of this series, either. Oh, hah. I just looked it up, a second issue never came out...)

Keeping it for the Jim Lee art, even though there’s nothing really stand out about it.

Any reason for the psychedelic colors aside from the sex?

Callback to the Emp trash scene in WildCATs 1?

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Fine

Wildstorm Rising 1-2, WildCATs 20, Union 4, Gen13 2, Grifter 1, Deathblow 16, Wetworks 8, Backlash 8, Stormwatch 22

Ah, the massive company-wide crossover.  A ten-issue extravaganza spanning eight regular titles.  It sounds epic enough, but at the end of the day, it’s nothing more than a “gather all the pieces that power the MacGuffin” story.  Of course it has to do with an item that Team 7 encountered in the past, which conveniently allows the plot to weave its way through Gen13, Grifter, Deathblow, Wetworks, and Backlash.  

It’s clear that Gen 13 was only marginally involved with the planning of the story, as it’s a) the only issue not written by James Robinson, Ron Marz, or Steven Seagle (who each wrote three issues of the crossover) and b) only tangentially related to the main story.  It isn’t necessary for the crossover and it doesn’t interrupt the flow of Gen 13.  It’s also the most fun, a breezy romp that doesn’t take on the grim, serious mein of the rest of the event.  It’s also, importantly, the issue where Sarah Rainmaker comes out as a lesbian. Pretty enlightened for the mid-90s, though Roxy’s reaction is anything but.

I can’t tell if the decision to make Sarah gay was a thoughtful attempt at inclusion or a blatant attempt to attract horny male teenagers.  (It is a comic driven almost entirely by J Scott Campbell’s ability to draw hot women, after all.)  

Some other thoughts about the crossover:

Grifter 1 - It sucks to have your first issue come smack in the middle of the crossover.  There’s no way for it to effectively communicate what it’s all about. I suppose it succeeded in getting my money, but there was zero chance that I was going to come back for the next one.  

Deathblow 16 - This has got a line that makes the list of awesomeness.  After his comrades have fallen into a camouflaged spike hole, a surviving henchmen marvels, “How can that be?  No one arbitrarily surrounds his home with spear-filled pits.” Let us all join him in his thoughtful bewilderment.  

Stormwatch 22 - Renato Arlem is not the caliber of penciller that Stormwatch deserves.  

So many problems with posing and anatomy.

Of course, as good as he was at Marvel, Barry Windsor-Smith’s style doesn’t fit with the Wildstorm style either.  His thick line weights and blurry colors feel sloppy when viewed amidst the other artists’ issues.

Smith has some unpleasant anatomy going on too.

I’m not saying Brett Booth’s a better artist than Smith, just that he better suits the art expectations I have for this crossover:   

This crossover reminded me of the eight piece cover image Whilce Portacio did in 1994.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine (Nice for Gen 13 and WildCATs because of the art)

Wild Storm 1-3

Warren Ellis completely reboots the Wildstorm universe.  He cuts down on the brightly-colored superheroics and amps up the government machinations.  It’s right in his wheelhouse (which isn’t to say that Ellis hasn’t nailed superheroes in the past).  It’s also very clinical and dispassionate, which is probably why I stopped buying it after three issues.  

But it reads a lot better in one go, instead of monthly installments.  I’m interested in reading the rest at some point, and can see myself being convinced to buy it.  (I want to be convinced, because I want to like Ellis.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Wonderlost 1-2

CB Cebulski writes vignettes about his high school and college years.  They’re all centered around girls, sex, alcohol, and drugs. That sounds far more shallow than it really is.  While a number of the stories do indeed reflect the stupidity and unthinkingly insensitive behavior that is the male teenage mind, just as many accurately reflect the magic of teenage love and the pure wonder of a perfect shared moment with someone you care about.  

The art is surprisingly consistent in its high quality.  I particularly liked Alina Urusov’s art. What else has she done?  Not very much, from what I can tell. That’s a total shame,

This never happened to me in college.

I'd love to see more of this art.

This reminds me of Copybook Tales with more sex and booze.  Both are welcome additions to my bookshelf.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Deathblow, Desolation Jones

Deathblow 13-15, 19

Trevor Scott takes over as the penciller.  I thought I liked him, but now I think it’s his inking that I like.  His whites streak across his blacks in an inverse inking sort of way, if that makes sense.  I’ll get into the importance of his inking more when I review Team 7.  For now, his pencils look a lot like Whilce Portacio, both in detail and tendency to horribly distort human anatomy.  

Okay, I’ve spent way too long looking for Portacio reference images.  Not in the mood. But let’s not ignore the fact that Scott’s nose shadows look like Hitler mustaches.  

Anyway, these issues are not that good.  Deathblow finds himself directionless in life after fighting the Black Angel, so naturally he becomes a bodyguard.  Sure. Okay. And then the werewolves and vampires of Wetworks get involved.  (Another Portacio connection.)  Hooboy. Then some even more boring things happen.  Cut them all!

Regret buying: Yes

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Stupid (Cutting)

Deathblow 20-26

These issues aren’t that much better, but I’m keeping them for a couple reasons.  There’s something nostalgically old school (redundancy?) about this arc - Miles Craven hires Le Gauche to extract the gen-factor from all the former members of Team 7.  So each issue deals with one of the members (Lynch, Dane, Backlash, and Grifter) as the band slowly gets back together. Because I followed each of these characters in their own titles, there’s something very “Marvel shared universe” about seeing them team up.  Their shared history also adds another layer of richness.

Hmm.  That’s really the only reason.  The story itself doesn’t make much sense, Scott’s art is meh, and the fill-in pencils by Scott Kolins and Geof Isherwood in issue 24 is legitimately horrendous.  I might be talking myself into cutting these as I write this...No. Still keeping it. But just barely.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck

Desolation Jones 1-6

Not one of Warren Ellis’ better titles.  There’s not even a real hook here - A former MI6 agent who underwent horrible government science experiments (with no real discernible results aside from an inability to sleep or have feelings) solves crimes in LA.  In this opening arc, he’s tasked with finding a stolen pornographic film starring Hitler (classic Ellis right there). The convoluted mystery that he uncovers isn’t that interesting. Not even JH Williams’ art is enough.  There’s so much better Ellis out there in my collection, I don’t see why I should keep this one around.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck (Cutting)

Deathblow

Deathblow 1-12

Aged well: The plot.  It seems odd for the creators to throw a down-to-earth Navy SEAL into an adventure involving the Holy Grail, Sword of Heaven, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse for his introductory story, but it somehow works.  

Aged poorly: The writing.  Brandon Choi subscribes to the “tell, don’t show” school of dialogue.  Even worse, he also had a degree in “tell, even if the art is showing.”  There’s also a formal quality to the way his characters talk, creating a stilted atmosphere that feels like the comic book equivalent of bad acting.  

Nothing natural about this conversation.

Aged well: The Jim Lee art.  Perhaps it started out as a homage to Frank Miller, but Lee’s art immediately became something all its own.  The level of detail he brought to every panel was truly stunning, and different from anything he did before or since.  I’m sad, but hardly surprised that he was unable to sustain it for more than three (very very short) issues. At least he kept doing the covers, each of which is a true work of art.

Aged poorly: Tim Sale’s art.  Deathblow was my first exposure to Sale.  It’s impossible to overstate just how much of a letdown he was coming on the heels of Jim Lee.  To my high school eye, he sucked.  I’ve obviously since come to appreciate him for the all-star artist that he is, but I still maintain that he wasn’t the best choice for this title.  

Maybe it's the exaggerated expressions.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Bitch Planet, Danger Club, Darker Image

Bitch Planet 6-10

Found the second trade.  Read, didn’t buy. I liked it more than the first five issues.  Now that Meiko’s dead, Kelly Sue DeConnick gives us her origin story, which sets off the rest of the plot - Meiko’s father takes control of Bitch Planet, setting off a riot that allows Kamau to find both her sister and presumed dead President Eleanor Doane.  The trade ends with the assassination of the High Father. (New name for the president? Dunno.)

Things are happening, which is fun.  Women fight back against a shitty system, which is good.  I have no desire to own it, which is good for my wallet.

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Danger Club 1-8

I remember loving the first five issues when this first came out.  They told the story of all the sidekicks in the world coming together to save the world from the evil global leader after the disappearance of every one of their mentors.  It ended with their failure.

Then the series went on a two-year hiatus before returning for the final three issues.  In addition to not really remembering what happened before, I thought the title went completely off the rails - The plot had gone from a gritty struggle-against-all-odds superhero story to a weirdass fight against a cosmic ancient with the help of Greek gods.  It was complete letdown of my expectations, and disappointing ending to an amazing beginning.

The re-read is a lot kinder to the story.  The connection between the science of time travel and the magic of the supernatural Chronos makes more sense.  Most importantly, the plans, sacrifice, and ultimate victory of these teenage heroes feel earned and satisfying.  Their fight against overwhelming odds zips along at a breakneck pace, and I loved every second of it. Yeah, things get a little Akira-y with the blobby threat, bright flashes, and abrupt finish, but it works way better the second time around.  

The ending is as Asian parent as it gets.  And because we don’t know Red Vengeance the way we know Batman (his analogue), his terse statement of approval doesn’t have the tacit affection that it would have had coming from Bruce Wayne.  So it just comes across as cruelly brutal. Really really harsh.

What a dick.

The art is beautiful.  I love the clean art by Eric Jones and the fine lines in his inking.  Michael Drake on colors is just as important.

Also, Jones’ Rob Liefeld parody had me laughing for a full 30 seconds at its perfection.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Darker Image 1

This felt such a big deal when it came out.  It showcased the first appearances (I believe) of Maxx, Deathblow, and Bloodwulf!  It was polybagged with a trading card! Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld on art!

As with many Image titles, this four-issue mini-series didn’t make it past the first one.  Not that much of a loss, but I would have liked to see how the Deathblow story finished up.    

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine