The Wild Storm #23 – Warren Ellis, Writer; Jon Davis-Hunt, Artist; Steve Buccellato, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 8/10
It’s the penultimate issue of The Wild Storm, but as we know now, this isn’t the end of the series. Ellis will be relaunching it in August as WildCATS, uniting the classic Wildstorm superhero team in full.
But before that, the ragtag group of enhanced agents and all-powerful Gods has to survivor their final battle against the forces of Skywatch and IO. When we pick up, a massive military fleet has been dispatched by Skywatch to capture Midnighter and Apollo, and their fight back is gorgeous. Jenny Sparks gets in some good shots, but it’s Jack Hawksmoor who delivers the killing blow by summoning what little of the city power he has left in a fantastic splash page.
Ellis’ decompressed storytelling can be a mixed bag sometimes, but Jon Davis-Hunt has delivered amazing visuals on every issue. Once this battle is over, an even bigger threat emerges – in the form of their own team.
Midnighter and Apollo, being former agents, have control triggers implanted in their minds. Henry Bendix is able to trigger them, sending the happy couple on a rampage. They’re flying for New York and it becomes a game of trying to teleport in their path. This provides one of the issue’s funniest scenes.
As soon as they remember their actual real names, the influence is broken, and they’re able to regroup with the rest of the squad at their apartment. With the scale of things, I was surprised there was so much comedy in this issue, but it worked. Midnighter and Apollo cracking dirty jokes as they’re debriefed just feels right.
The stakes rise yet again when an army of Kheran experiments are unleashed on New York and the battle begins anew. Knowing that this is essentially the end of act one makes this issue read very differently and it’s a compelling story overall.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
