The Wild Storm (USA) di Warren Ellis

[idrag]

Se li scrive tutti e 24 Ellis io godo 

[Azrael]

Review: THE WILD STORM #2

9.5/10

http://www.comicosity.com/review-the-wild-storm-2/

[Azrael]

The Wild Storm #2
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Jon Davis-Hunt and Steve Buccellato
Lettering by Simon Bowland
Published by DC Comics
Review by Pierce Lydon
'Rama Rating: 7 out of 10

Warren Ellis' reinvention of the Wildstorm Universe has been a hit so far, but one issue does not a series make. In Issue #2, Ellis has to keep up the level of intrigue while maintaining the sense of urgency present in the first issue and open up the world even more. We're only just getting to know these characters, but Ellis has to keep pushing the narrative forward and he's already starting to get tripped up. While he was able to keep the cast small and focused in #1, quick expansion of the cast affects Ellis' work with certain characters. Jon Davis-Hunt's line art is still strong as ever, but Ivan Plascensia's muted colors are sorely, sorely missed in this issue, replaced by Steve Buccellato's more traditional approach.

Ellis has a lot on his plate, so it makes sense that there's a little drop off from the debut issue. The Engineer is still at the heart of the plot – she's what everyone is looking for since her rather explosive debut, and Ellis starts moving the chess pieces. Skywatch employs Zealot. Jacob Marlowe enlists Grifter and Savant. And IO claims they'll put together a CAT or Covert Action Team. (Familiar fans will immediately notice that as a reference to WildCATs.) Ellis is letting the characters clue us into the mystery of The Engineer, and our knowledge of what's going on with her stems only from what they know or think they know about her. It's a fun way to have the mystery play out, because it makes even the IO meeting room scenes have a bit more weight to them.

But some of the work surrounding these scenes leaves something to be desired. Voodoo gets a page of non-speaking panels that exists for some Big Text Ideas from Ellis that are almost a complete non-sequitur. Michael Cray, aka Deathblow, shows up for a short scene with a Doctor Mary Cross, which feels like a reference to Sister Mary and the Order of the Cross considering Cray's big non-reveal. It's a clear set-up for the Deathblow series that's coming soon, but the inclusion here doesn't feel quite natural. Even Bendix's introduction feels kind of forced in.

Jon Davis-Hunt was definitely the right artist to tap for this reboot. With each new character that's brought into the plot, his clean lines and strong character concepts build a really strong foundation for Ellis' new Wildstorm world. Davis-Hunt adheres fairly strictly to a nine-panel grid for most pages, with the only exception being the Miles Craven/IO scenes that are told with six evenly sized panels. He plays with some amount of modulation within those boundaries, opting for larger panels when he needs them, often punctuating scenes with wide panels that amount to all three panels in the bottom row of a layout. The use of such a modular layout helps convey a sense of intimacy to the proceedings. I mentioned previously that it feels more like a TV show that anything else and that remains true. Sadly, the style that came across in the debut is fumbled here. Ivan Plascensia's coloring was just as much a part of building this world as the lineart, and Steve Buccellato just isn't on the same level. His work is fine, but the flatter colors of Plasencia worked better than Buccellato's lasso brush approach.

The Wild Storm #2 still has a lot going for it, but it lacks the impact of the debut. The book is so heavily decompressed that the entirety of the book feels like it might have taken place simultaneously over the course of 15 minutes. While it's impressive that Ellis is able to make a comic like that readable, it is somewhat frustrating as a reader. It feels like the kind of book that will read great as a trade but will be a little inconsistent in floppies. Jon Davis-Hunt buoys the book, but hopefully Ivan Plascencia is back soon and for good. The Wild Storm is just getting started, but once Ellis gets all of his chess pieces in place, hopefully he'll be able to hone in on fewer characters at a time and give us more intense examinations of them.

[Azrael]

Back when Warren Ellis was writing The Authority and Planetary for Wildstorm, he was the king of widescreen action comics. But The Wild Storm reboot is starting out small. Very small. There's no action to speak of in this issue; it's simply the aftermath of rival intelligence groups and something far more threatening as they realize that their world has changed. Angela Spica, the Engineer, has shown the public and her former superiors that she has essentially transformed herself into something new and not quite human. Now, the three sides are in a race to find Angela, but not all of them want her alive. The pacing for this issue is better than the first, and Jon Davis-Hunt seems to have found his stride on the art. Considering that almost every scene in the issue revolves around conversations, Ellis' script doesn't give Davis-Hunt much to work with on the visual front. But there are also pages with Angela in her hiding spot that have some of that old Wildstorm power and emotional punch. The downside of this series is that Ellis still expects the readers to recognize all of the former Wildstorm players without fully reintroducing them. But the story is a lot more intriguing now than it was a month ago. -Blair

Final Score:

7.0/10

[Azrael]

The Wild Storm #2 (Published by DC Comics; Review by Justin Partridge; 'Rama Rating: 6 out of 10):

The Wild Storm has lost a bit of its sheen in its sophomore issue. Three shady-as-hell parties, IO, Skywatch, and Jacob Marlowe, are all after The Engineer, Angela Spica, and though Warren Ellis gets to display his finely honed sense of wit, much of this issue is just him moving the characters to where they need to be for the next installment without much fanfare. He does however give artist Jon Davis-Hunt as few sizable bits of silent storytelling in order to show off his clean, detailed style. But just when the issue starts to fly, the muddy colors of Steve Buccellato lessens its ascent. While Ivan Plascencia's efforts heightened Davis-Hunt's pencils, Buccellato's clash with the panels, giving them a coppery, almost brass look. A far cry from the bleeding edge look of the debut issue. Its early days for The Wild Storm so growing pains are to be expected, but here's hoping the title finds itself looking and reading smoother next month.

[Azrael]

THE WILD STORM #5
Written by WARREN ELLIS • Art and cover by JON DAVIS-HUNT • Variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS • Variant cover by DECLAN SHALVEY
Michael Cray is dying. This doesn't stop IO from giving him one final job, to fix the world he's spent years killing for. Michael Cray, the best assassin in the world, is sent out to kill Angela Spica, the engineer who saved Jacob Marlowe's life and exposed the secret state she worked for. Lucy Blaze, investigating the chaos caused at Camp Hero by IO and a wild CAT, meets an old enemy—and realizes an ancient war may be entering a new phase, at the worst possible time.
On sale JUNE 21 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T+

[DarMas]

Letto il #2
Scritto benissimo e disegnato altrettanto bene, un tratto pulito che ci sta benissimo in una storia di questo tipo (in questi due primi numeri sembra più una scacchiera di un campo di battaglia). Molto fiducioso per quello che verrà. Anche i colori spaccano. Insomma, una serie che per adesso mi sento assolutamente di promuovere.

[Azrael]

First Look: THE WILD STORM #3



http://www.comicosity.com/first-look-the-wild-storm-3/

[Hermit]

Letti i #1-2
Parte bene, molto di costruzione e con poche scene di azione. Direi che per un rilancio di questo tipo ci sta, per ora la promuovo con riserva, ovvero voglio vedere su che livelli si assesta

[Azrael]

THE WILD STORM #6
Written by WARREN ELLIS—Art and cover by JON DAVIS-HUNT—Variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS—Variant cover by JASON MASTERS
Michael Cray, the world's best professional killer, is going to get himself killed for refusing to assassinate an innocent. Angela Spica, whose only mistake was saving someone's life, is discovering that her life is over forever, and that the people in this strange new world she's forced to survive in...may not be people at all. Treaties have been breached. Secrets are being told. There's a war coming.
THE WILD STORM will skip shipping in August and return in September!
On sale JULY 19 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T+

[Professor Zoom]

Io pensavo uscisse nella seconda metà dell'anno.

Ho grandi aspettative per questa serie.

Inviato dal futuro

[Azrael]

Review: THE WILD STORM #3

9/10

http://www.comicosity.com/review-the-wild-storm-3/

[Azrael]

The Wild Storm #3
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Jon Davis-Hunt and Steve Buccellato
Lettering by Simon Bowland
Published by DC Comics
Review by Justin Partridge
'Rama Rating: 8 out of 10

An Authority icon returns in the first honest-to-God fun issue of The Wild Storm. As IO's soldiers close in on the Engineer, a mysterious woman raids their information stores simply by walking through their phones, digital comics, and computer displays. Jenny Sparks, the Spirit of the 20th Century, makes her The Wild Storm debut, and with her debut comes a new energy and, if you'll pardon the pun, spark for the title. With the groundwork built, Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt now are kicking things into a higher gear, both with Jenny's introduction and the issue's main action revolving around the first engagement between IO and the wild covert action team (C.A.T.).

Dividing the issue into two "acts" in order to maximize his character real estate, Warren Ellis finally seems activated in this third installment of this new DC experiment. That isn't to say that isssues #1 and #2 were bad per se, but they read cold and distant, like a prologue. The Wild Storm #3 finally feels like we are experiencing an active genre offering, complete with the kind of dry humor and characters that Ellis excels at.

First up, we have the return of Jenny Sparks. Though she's only in the opening few pages, her character radiates off the page thanks to Ellis' reserved but biting dialogue for her and Davis-Hunt and Steve Buccellato's visual depiction of her new esoteric and subtle power-set. As Craven and IO gear up to hunt down Angela Spica to appease Henry Bendix and their Skywatch overlords, Jenny simply walks into frame, nestled in the middle of CCTV footage.

At first you aren't sure if you are reading the panel correctly, but as the creative team move the "camera" through the IO HQ, Jenny is right behind you, hopping through Easter egg-laden screens, apps, and shows. Better still, The Wild Storm seems to be taking cues from her former successor Jenny Quantum, making this new Jenny a woman of color. Though it isn't as explicit as I would of liked due to Buccellato's haphazard colors, it is a cheeky showing from the team and one that is 100% on brand for our dear returned Jenny Sparks.

This brings us to the meat of the issue, the battle between IO and the wild C.A.T. for the fate of the Engineer. Here Ellis again shows his reverence and respect for his art team and just lets them do as they may, script permitting, usually to the issue's benefit. The Wild Storm's first major dust-up is no exception. After a hilariously dumbstruck Angela is introduced to Grifter, Void, and Kenesha, an IO hit squad quickly busts up their meeting, and as they say in Bad Boys, the s#$% gets real.

Using standard wide boxed panels and tight grid layouts, Davis-Hunt and Buccellato render the fight almost in slow motion, showing terse snapshots of things in motion (launched grenades, Cole reaching for his mask, and the like) giving readers an escalating scale of time passed and level of violence that ends in an attacker literally exploding. It is a simple way to show action, but a damn effective one, as Davis-Hunt and Buccellato lean fully into the coldly wry cinematic tone of this series and provide the action to match it, culminating in the title's first truly standout sequence.

Though the first two installments of this series could easily be called bland or slow-going, The Wild Storm #3 finally starts to deliver on the promise and energy we expected from an Ellis-led WildStorm reboot. The hard part is over, now it's just up to Ellis to keep delivering the kind of action and weirdness we love from his licensed work. Issue #3 also shows readers that Jon Davis-Hunt can do so much more than tense office conversations and quick bursts of sci-fi action. The Wild Storm had my curiosity before, but after #3, it finally has my full attention.

[Azrael]

The Wild Storm is a clever, engrossing update to the old Wildstorm universe, but the series has been a bit lacking when it comes to the sardonic wit Warren Ellis usually brings to his work. Luckily, that begins to change in this issue as Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt introduce Jenny Sparks into the fold. Jenny displays some very interesting abilities here, including a fun sequence where she travels between the real world and various TV shows, commercials and comic books. Admittedly, Davis-Hunt's style is a bit too subdued to truly capture the weirdness of that sequence. But otherwise, his work is a great match for this new take on the Wildstorm U. - one that feels slightly futuristic and exciting but still bound by very real and obvious technical limitations. Jenny Spark's debut seems to charge up the book in general (pun intended) as this issue takes a more action-oriented approach and makes greater strides in terms of establishing the main players and power struggles of this universe. This already promising new series is quickly heating up. -Jesse

Final Score:

8.3/10

[Hermit]

Letto il #3
Numero ricco d'azione, con un ottimo story telling da parte del disegnatore!