Comic Book Review: Wildcats #1

Synopsis: This issue starts a month before the Worldstorm. The issue talks about the rise of the super hero. First they fought crime. Then they fought each other. Then they fought the system. Then they finally became the system. Super heroes were everywhere.

We then cut to some Latin American country. We see Grifter drunk and lying on the ground in the rain. A young boy begs for Grifter’s help. The boy says that he knows that Grifter used to be a super hero. That his village needs protection from Machado and his gang. That they are not even human. Grifter responds that he is no hero. Machado’s thugs then arrive on the scene. They kidnap the boy and beat up Grifter. Grifter reminds himself to stay in character. That he is the best there is at what he does. And what he does is drink.

We shift to Halo Solutions’ space station headquarters. There Halo is busy making Spartan androids for sale so that everyone can own a super hero for their own personal security. We see Hadrian, the original Spartan, meeting with Voodoo. Hadrian wants Voodoo to return to a new version of the Wildcats. Hadrian asks Voodoo how would truly adult super heroes behave. That the Authority tried to change the world by force. Such an approach is flawed.

We then cut to Hadrian and Voodoo engaged in S-E-X. For a little pillow talk, Hadrian brings up his vision for the new Wildcats. Hadrian feels that superhumans have to provide security not spectacle. That there are Gamorran suicide bombers hiding somewhere. There have been Daemonite sightings on Earth. Plus, the issue with the Omnia Codex. Hadrian wants to revisit the concept of a covert superhuman team. Hadrian mentions that Warblade and Grifter have already joined.

We cut to some place in outer space. Warblade reports back to Hadrian that he has discovered a Gamorran terror army hiding out in the Asteroid Belt. Also, that they have found a way to re-animate Kaizen. But, the real bad news is that Kaizen has friends and they are not from around here. We see a big demon like creature with blue flames heading this army.

We see this army attacking the Omnia Cotex. The army starts kicking butt on the Cotex. We see Zealot getting ready to make her last stand. Suddenly, Majestros arrives on the scene and quickly dispatches all of the invaders. Majestros tells Zealot that he has gazed over the rim of the universe and saw what they are and what they will become. Majestros says that Earth is next.

We cut back to Grifter getting his butt kicked by Machado’s thugs. The thugs pull their guns on Grifter. Suddenly Grifter opens up a huge can of whoop ass and tears into the thugs. The thugs transform into their alien forms. (I have no idea which aliens they are.) Grifter stands above all the fallen aliens and fires a couple of bullets into the last few that still appear to be alive. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Wildcats #1 was a pretty solid read. Morrison definitely delivered a much faster paced issue here than he did over in The Authority #1. I’m a big fan of Grifter, so I knew that I’d at least enjoy any scenes with him in them. I thought Morrison’s spoof in the opening scene on Wolverine’s “I’m the best there is at what I do” was pretty funny.

It certainly appears that Wildcats is going to be a title with plenty of action and a large cast of characters with galaxy spanning storylines. You can tell that Wildcats is going to deliver big time action stories like a blockbuster summer movie. I think this title has the potential to be a pretty fun read. A covert super hero team that is more concerned with protecting the Earth rather than controlling the Earth or garnering praise and publicity is a cool twist on the super hero team concept.

Jim Lee’s artwork was nice. I think Lee is a talented artist who consistently delivers very solid artwork. This wasn’t the best art I have seen Lee produce, but it was enjoyable and had a very bright and dynamic look that made this issue enjoyable to read.

The Bad: Wildcats was most definitely not new reader friendly at all. I have a very basic knowledge of the Wildcats from the original series that I read back in 1992 and I felt completely and totally lost when reading Wildcats #1. I recognized the main characters and that is about it. I feel like I was just dumped right into the middle of a very long and complex movie.

Morrison threw a whole lot of characters and information that would overwhelm a new reader. When re-launching a bunch of titles it usually makes sense to try and start from ground level and try and get as many new readers on board as possible. That is the entire logic and reason behind such a massive re-launch campaign by Wildstorm. If the object is to create a newly re-vitalized Wildstorm Universe that is a perfect time for new readers to hop aboard, then Wildcats #1 failed.

I’m not too sure if Morrison did enough to make a new reader comfortable with the Wildcats universe to get them to want to come back for more. Morrison overloaded the reader with too many characters and information in one issue. This was the complete opposite of The Authority #1 where Morrison delivered very little information and did it at a slow pace. Wildcats #1 moved along at a much faster pace and overwhelmed the reader with a ton of characters and plotlines. I don’t think either approach is a successful formula for a debut issue. Both approaches are at the extreme ends of the scale.

I also found the dialogue to be a bit cheesy at certain points. The dialogue in Wildcats #1 was definitely not the same quality that Morrison delivered over in Authority #1. The character development wasn’t as strong in Wildcats #1 as it was over in Authority #1. Most of the characters felt flat and one-dimensional. There was a lack of any real chemistry between the various characters. I didn’t really get a good feel for any of the characters other than Grifter. And Grifter’s character just came across as the stereotypical 1990’s tough guy prone to violence character. There were no particularly interesting or unique characters that really piqued my interest. This issue had the trademark flimsy character development of a traditional Image title. That is not a good thing. Morrison should be able to rectify this problem in future issues.

Overall: Wildcats #1 was slightly better than average read. I have no doubt that this title will have great art with Jim Lee handling the art duties. I also have no doubt that this title will deliver some fast paced stories with plenty of action. My only concern is if Morrison can pull of some much needed character development on this title. Can Morrison flesh out these various characters so they no longer read like the one-dimensional 1990’s Image characters that they originally were? That is the sign of a talented writer to be able to take flat unoriginal characters and breathe life into them and make them interesting to the reader. Even though I don’t think that Wildcats #1 did a good job delivering a debut issue that was new reader friendly, I’m willing to give Morrison another chance to hook me on this title.