Wildstorm: Revelations Trade Paperback Review

Wildstorm: Revelations
DC Comics - Wildstorm
Softcover Trade Paperback
144 pages
$17.99 (2008)
ISBN 9781401218676

Contributors: Scott Beatty, Christos Gage, Wes Craig, Jonny Rench, Web Abbott, and covers by Ivan Reis

Reprints: Wildstorm: Revelations #1-6 (of 6)

Synopsis: The Wildstorm Universe is headed toward an extinction level event caused by superhumans.  Void is a reality warping member of the team Wildcats who warned several heroes in the past (our present) of the impending doom.  She hoped one of them could stop the Armageddon from happening, but most blew off the warning as just another ordinary threat to the world.  Except one hero named Nemesis who often stands at odds with ordinary heroes and lives in the shadows.  She is a Kherubim born warrior and formerly of the Coda assassins (the same group Zealot was a member).

A brief recap of Wildstorm: Armageddon

Nemesis enlists the aid of Zealot's younger sister, Savant, and the new Backlash, Jodi Slayton (daughter of the original Backlash).  Savant is another immortal Kherubim like Nemesis and possesses advanced scientific knowledge (including teleportation and a mind link).  Jodi has superhuman speed and agility.  Now the three women are risking their lives to find information on the coming Armageddon in order to defuse it.

This puts them at odds with the world's most powerful and secretive organizations.  They must architect raids on Stormwatch (the UN-sanctioned superhuman organization), The Authority (sanctioned by no government, but taking responsibility for righting the wrongs of the world), the covert Department Psi of International Operations (of which Jodi's father Marc Slayton is the director), and Gamorra Island (the lair of the wicked Kaizen Gamorra).

The women must also sneak into a superhero planned community called Tranquility.  Their searching draws the attention of Zealot and Grifter, sometimes of the Wildcats.  Will the trio be successful in finding the cause of Armageddon?  One thing is for sure - they just made enemies of practically the entire Wildstorm Universe!  Of course Nemesis doesn't really mind...

Pros: Lots of action and intrigue, decent writing by Gage, great art by Wes Craig, nice covers by Ivan Reis, one big reveal concerning the relationship between Zealot and Savant, cool seeing Jodi one-up her dad (the original Backlash), the form of Armageddon is revealed (and it kind of makes sense), The Authority get served!

Cons: Only one major reveal that I could see (Zealot/Savant), the Welcome to Tranquility chapter feels a little out of place due to the tone of that series (less serious), Grifter and Zealot just sort of appear out of nowhere (like they're always hanging out fighting stuff together or something)

Nemesis is pretty tough if she can take on The
Authority all by herself

Mike Tells It Straight: Continuing from Wildstorm: Armageddon we follow Nemesis and her allies as they try to discover and stop the cause of Armageddon.  I enjoyed both Gage's writing and Craig's art in this chapter.  It was really nice to have one creative team after the multiple artists/styles on Armageddon.  This book was non-stop action as the trio of women must snatch n' grab information from some of the most dangerous groups in the Wildstorm Universe.  The big reveal about Zealot and Savant didn't seem new to me since I read it first in Majestic Vol. 3: The Final Cut.  Not sure which books were published first, but this mini-series didn't seem heavy enough on the revelations.

I particularly liked the chapter focusing on Jodi manipulating her father (Marc Slayton, the original Backlash) to buy time while Nemesis infiltrated Department Psi.  No Wetworks or Gen13 in this series, but it had enough going on without trying to cram more characters into the story.  The overall story progresses as the form of Armageddon becomes clear.  A superhuman apocalypse is on the horizon and seems pretty darn imminent.  This series continues directly into Number of the Beast and then World's End.  I've been a fan of Wildstorm since the beginning (Jim Lee was my favorite artists of the 1990s) and I enjoyed the DC revamp in the mid-2000s.  Look for upcoming reviews of the next chapters in this saga.

TO BUY and Recommendations:

Green Lantern Vol. 2 Revenge of the Green Lanterns Trade Paperback Review

Green Lantern Vol. 2 - Revenge of the Green Lanterns
DC Comics
Softcover Trade Paperback
176 pages
$14.99 (2008)
$19.99 (2006) Hardcover
ISBN 9781401209605

Contributors: Geoff Johns, Carlos Pacheco, Ivan Reis, Ethan Van Sciver, Marc Campos, Jesus Merino, Prentiss Rollins, W. Moose Baumann, Rob Leigh, and Simone Bianchi

Reprints: Green Lantern #7-13

Synopsis: Hal Jordan has reestablished his life in the slowly rebuilding Coast City.  He rejoined the air force in order to fly test planes again and even convinced his brother (and only surviving relative) to move his family into town.  Too bad he's been too busy as Earth's prime Green Lantern to pay them a visit.  Green Arrow is visiting to catch up with Hal since they were road buddies back in the day.  They get a call about Mongul touching down in the mid-west and rush to check it out.  The current Mongul is the son of the original who was responsible for annihilating Coast City and its two million inhabitants.  The death of his home town sent Hal spiraling out of control and ruined his life.  For Hal this fight is personal.

A little recap on why some Green Lanterns
might be pissed at Hal Jordan

Mongul's son wants revenge on the planet which claimed his father's life and has brought a breed of parasitic plants in order to enslave the Earth's population.  Now only Green Lantern and Green Arrow stand in his way!  When they are confronted with their hearts' desires will either be able to resist the perfect life?  Oh yeah, Infinite Crisis is happening too and this is a side story.  What is Infinite Crisis you ask?  That is one long explanation and it doesn't actually matter to this story one bit.  Also, Mongul has a sister and she's not very pretty, but she does want to stop him from usurping her father's legacy.

There's a new Tattooed Man on the loose in Gotham City.  Green Lantern gets called in to help by Batman, but he's still holding a grudge after Hal went mental under the influence of the Parallax entity.  A team-up with Batman is tough enough when he doesn't overtly hate your guts!  Hal offers Batman a chance to try on the ring and see what it feels like to possess one of the most powerful weapons in the universe.

Fast forward one year after the events of Infinite Crisis and the disappearances of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.  Green Lantern is catching flack from the United Nations for crossing international borders to take down super-powered threats.  Hal doesn't care about planetary borders when he works on a cosmic scale, but a team called the Global Guardians vows to take him down if it happens again!  We get flashbacks  of Hal's past year and an incident where his flight team gets shot down in former Soviet airspace.  Hal never wears his ring while flying to avoid having an unfair advantage over other pilots and keep himself honest.  He could have used it that day as the team gets captured and held hostage by hostiles.

Yeah, Tomar-Tu might be holding a
little grudge there

In the present day, Hal finds a crash-landed Tomar Tu - a former Green Lantern and presumed dead after Hal, as Parallax, stripped him of his ring and left him floating in space.  Hal returns to Oa and demands the Guardians let him launch a mission to Tomar Tu's point of origin to find out if other Green Lanterns are alive. They forbid him, but Guy Gardner (another human Green Lantern) accompanies him to Sector 3601 - outside the appointed jurisdiction of the Green Lantern Corps.

Hal and Guy find a shocking mystery and stumble upon a devious trap!  What does all this have to do with the Cyborg Superman?  Why do the Green Lanterns want revenge?  What is the Sinestro Corps?

Pros: Good overall writing by Johns, great art throughout the stories (Ivan Reis surprised me with the caliber of his art here), Batman getting to try on the ring was a classic moment, I liked the buildup of Hal's civilian life, revenge story was pretty darn epic, nice progression to Manhunters after they were reintroduced in first volume, nice covers by Bianchi

Cons: Manhunters were a bit too easily dispatched, Green Arrow team-up story was boring with nothing new (hated the final resolution between Mongul and his sister), three different art styles

Mike Tells It Straight: Revenge of the Green Lanterns is a great follow up to No Fear and really builds momentum for this Green Lantern reboot title.  We get a mixed bag of three stories which were set within the confines of some major DC Universe-spanning events - Infinite Crisis and One Year Later (OYL).  I think Johns did an excellent job of aligning Hal Jordan's adventures to these constraints.  I didn't feel the Green Arrow team-up versus Mongul was a good story - just a rehash of an old Alan Moore story with a predictable ending (not counting the ridiculous final scene with Mongul's sister).

When did Cyborg Superman get a nose?

The Batman story was awesome and Johns snuck it in there before the whole OYL curtain came down.  Great interaction between two classic heroes who needed some kind of reconciliation after Hal's stint as Parallax.

The main storyline (revenge!) brought Hal back into space for an epic adventure.  This one was an impressive storyline to address another of Hal's major transgressions as Parallax when he defeated a bunch of Lanterns, stole their rings, and then left them for dead in space.  The art by Reis was spectacular as he channeled Bryan Hitch with both widescreen scope and attention to detail.  I like the idea of Cyborg Superman as a GL villain - Superman already has Bizarro, does he really need a cyborg version of himself too?  Very solid cosmic action and strengthening the foundation of Hal Jordan's return.  Highly recommended and I'm looking forward to the next volume.


TO BUY and Recommendations:

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: