Wildstorm: After the Fall Review

Wildstorm: After the Fall
DC Comics - Wildstorm
Softcover Trade Paperback
160 pages
$19.99 (2010)
ISBN 9781401226695

Contributors: Christos Gage, Trevor Hairsine, Phil Noto, Shawn Moll, Brandon Badeaux, Russell Uttley, Ben Oliver, John Paul Leon, Ivan Reis, Wes Craig, and Pete Woods

Reprints: Backup stories from Wildcats (vol. 5) #1-11, The Authority (vol. 5) #1-11, Gen13 (vol. 4) #21-28, and Stormwatch PHD #13-20

Synopsis: Following the events of Armageddon and World's End the world has been devastated by a post-human event.  John Lynch is left alone amid the wreckage of society and vows to continue his vendetta against Tao (Tactically Augmented Organism).  Tao has enslaved Void and Providence to do his bidding.  The odds are impossible and Lynch plays his final card -- reuniting Team 7!

We catch up with the former members of the clandestine team as they readjust to the post-apocalyptic world:

• Lynch wanders America in search of Tao
• Dane and Wetworks assail the Night Tribes in Europe to save the last remnants of humanity
• Slayton escapes from a facility filled with insane experiments gone wrong
• Deathblow resurrects after dying in the initial wave of destruction
• Grifter shows up pissed off

In addition we see the return of Christie Blaze, Cybernary, Lord Defile, Lady Decadence, and Team Achilles

Pros: Christos Gage writes most of the stories and gives the volume a necessary cohesion, some really great up-and-coming artists, Team 7 is back!

Cons: Many artists made the story transitions jarring, practically incomprehensible to new readers without long list of required reading

Mike Tells It Straight: This volume fills in the gaps after the World's End storyline rocked the Wildstorm Universe. These stories were originally backups in a slew of Wildstorm titles, but attempting to read them in any sort of consistent order was incredibly difficult during publication. When the collected editions for the main storylines came out they excluded these backups and I was worried they would never see reprint. Now we get all of the backups in one place. Readers need prior knowledge of the characters and Wildstorm events leading up to these stories or they will be lost. Armed with most of this prior knowledge I enjoyed seeing some old faces (like Cybernary) and the return of Team 7.

TO BUY and Recommendations: