As chronicled in the history of Image Comics, the involvement of Jim Lee and the creation of WildStorm was a huge part of Image getting off the ground. Almost 10 years ago, Jim Lee took his studio and sold it to DC Comics. Since then it’s been a source for creativity and energy in superhero comics.
But the recent years have been… unkind to the imprint. So I’m here to say what everyone is thinking but no one will say: Just stick a fork in it, it’s done. It’s time to call it a day and shut down WildStorm, while there’s still some dignity left.
WildStorm found its success through a combination of giving readers what they wanted — action packed comics that mixed super heroes with a deep backstory, mixed with sci-fi and military conspiracy – and the talent to produce those stories at a high creative level. No other studio from Image was as successful as WildStorm in breeding artistic talent. Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio were joined by the likes of J. Scott Campbell, Brett Booth, and Travis Charest. WildStorm diversified from its hits like WildC.A.T.S. and Gen 13 by spinning off a creator owned imprint within their imprint that produced quality work from Kurt Busiek (Astro City) and even some guy named Alan Moore, who established an entire line, America’s Best Comics, which has produced the bulk of Moore’s output for the past decade.
When WildStorm sold to DC Comics, I’ll admit, I didn’t know what to expect. I was young and rash, which is probably why I was one of the first people to yell “Sell out!” Everyone wondered what would come of the creator owned books, and of course Alan Moore’s displeasure with DC Comics was well known. Somehow they were able to weather the storm (I’m so sorry for that pun) and even I have to admit, that the level of quality of the products created at WildStorm not only sustained, it flourished. If you wanted to see genre challenging books, they were at WildStorm. Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch on The Authority (later replaced by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely), Ellis and John Cassaday on Planetary, and Alan Moore’s stand out hits like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (with Kevin O’Neill) and Top 10 (with Gene Ha) were the books that pushed WildStorm into the must-see category in the early 2000s.
While the ability to keep up that level of quality is near impossible, WildStorm was able to continue to put out even more genre challenging work, including Joe Casey’s multiple runs on Wildcats and Ed Brubaker’s now legendary work on Sleeper, until the creative output began to slow down a bit. It seemed that every few years, WildStorm would be re-energized by the return of Jim Lee to penciling duties. But that magic act stopped working around the time of Divine Right and it seemed like maybe Lee, while one of the best artists of the 1990s, was losing some of his allure with comics fandom. That is until DC started tapping him for their Pantheon of Heroes. In 2003, Jim Lee drew the “Hush” storyline in Batman which was followed by a year long run on Superman, which in turn was followed by some covers for events like Infinite Crisis, which has lead to his current artistic duties on All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder. By 2005, it seemed that Jim Lee had abandoned his imprint, at least for now.
Meanwhile, back over at WildStorm, the predictions of trouble from having Alan Moore being linked to DC Comics again finally came true. The horrific movie version of The League if Extraordinary Gentlemen, the film development and treatment of the republished versions of his previous works V for Vendetta and Watchmen lead to Moore severing ties with DC Comics and WildStorm, very publicly. The recent release of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier, which has had comic fans rabid for the past month since its release, will be the last Alan Moore book published by WIldStorm/DC as he moves his future work to Top Shelf. This move, while predictable in 1999 and eventually unavoidable, was a huge blow for WildStorm as an imprint and was the first of several missteps that have led to my proposal involving a fork that I mentioned earlier.
When things get bad, one of two things can happen – they’ll either get better or they’ll get way worse. When the Captain Atom: Armageddon mini-series was announced, I fell hook, line and sinker for it. I thought it was a creative way to connect the DC Universe to the WildStorm Universe which was then going to lead to an exciting and interesting relaunching of WildStorm. But it fumbled. The initial WildStorm rebooting mini series faltered and took too long, and the reboot of the WildStorm universe itself was (and continues to be) a complete failure, led by the lead title, WildC.A.T.S., written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Jim Lee (making yet another heralded “return” to WildStorm). The first issue was released in 2006, and the second issue? Yeah, we’re still waiting for that to come out.
This past year, bad continued into worse. Scott Dunbier, one of the few sources of consistency and quality at WildStorm was ousted from his leadership role. This further fueled the rumors of discordance between DC’s headquarters in New York City and WildStorm’s offices in La Jolla, CA. Add in the sudden increase at WildStorm of licensed properties such as World of Warcraft, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm St., it makes one wonder where the focus on quality comics is these days. Another factor working against WildStorm is the recent folding in of the WildStorm universe into the DC Multiverse after the events of 52. This leads to the natural question, what separates the WildStorm universe from the DC Universe? These days, not very much. It seems that WildStorm is destined to end up like Charlton Comics, a library of assets (or characters) folded into the DC Universe.
So I pose the question, why delay it? We all know it’s coming. So please, DC, kill WildStorm while it has some shred of dignity left. Not surprisingly, there is a whole generation of comic fans who were raised on WildStorm comics and the current state of the line has just got to depress them to no end. WildStorm runs the risk of becoming the Rolling Stones of comics, the band you wish would just break up already and call it a day. Ending the imprint doesn’t mean that the classic comics that WildStorm produced would go away. Of course not, they will continue to sell in the reprint/trade paperback market. Sure there may be some lost revenue, but after looking at the recent sales numbers, one must wonder if WildStorm is anywhere near profitable.
But what of the quality books currently being published by WildStorm? What would happen to them and what if we want more quality like them? Well, it’s time to face facts, the best work from WildStorm could exist as comics on their own, and perhaps are even brought down by being WildStorm books. Let’s take a look at some examples:
Ex Machina
The sci-fi political thriller by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris has been clearly the best book published by WildStorm in years. But come on, Ex Machina is SUCH a Vertigo book, it’s not even funny. It’s even advertised in the back of Vertigo trades! The use of concepts such as intra-city politics, drugs, gay rights and other adult themes are written in a way that’s aimed for mature readers, which is clearly Vertigo’s stock in trade. Why or how this book ended up on the WildStorm imprint is beyond me. Maybe because the main character was a failed super hero? But come on, I’m sure Vertigo would bend their “no super heroes” rules for this book given the chance
Stormwatch PHD
Christos Gage’s “cops for super heroes” was originally plotted by Gage as a standalone comic that was then shoehorned into the WildStorm universe. Sure, it was great, but it was canceled after 12 issues. One would wonder if this book could have had success in its own universe or within th greater DC Universe, rather than brought down by the stigma of the WIldStorm reboot. Christos Gage is a rising star within the current crop of writers, a TV writer by trade who has shown the ability to hit deadlines and use the craft of writing that he’s been evolving on shows like Law & Order for years. The fact that this series failed is proof that the WildStorm line is faltering. This should have been a hit.
Welcome To Tranquility
Written by Gail Simone and drawn by Neil Googe, Welcome to Tranquility is the best super hero book you’re not reading. Similar to Brubaker’s Sleeper, it exists within and plays with the WildStorm universe’s characters, but one could see how this book and the concept within (retired super heroes and villains) could exist in its own universe, or even within the greater DC Universe (if needed or wanted). But it’s this post-modern take on the aging super hero genre that can spell success for some creators and publishers, but the fact that I know you’ve never heard of it? Well that shows you right there, WildStorm doesn’t even know what to do with quality when it has it anymore.
The writing is on the wall; I know it’s coming and it’s time you knew it as well. For all we know, the decision has already been made and WildStorm is a lame duck imprint. But in case it’s not, I’m sure you will agree with me that what was once an important imprint within comics has become a shadow of its former self. It’s time we admitted that Jim Lee simply can’t do a monthly comic book anymore, is too busy with bigger and better work for DC Comics and move on. I think we’ll all be better off as comic fans. It gets tiring constantly getting excited and then being disappointed again and again. And perhaps unique and innovative comics could find a home to thrive as opposed to being launched and then summarily canceled.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
First time poster, long time listener to the podcast, and I’ve got to agree with you completely here Ron. As a once complete WS nut myself, I hear you about the disappointment in the cohersiveness and work that they are carrying out.
Never read any of Christos Gage’s stuff, but he’s following people like James Robinson, Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, Ed Brubaker in the people that defined the WS universe. Tall order for a complete unknown.
Like you said, problems with Jim not being there for his imprint and bringing it back together. He’s got the bloody talent around him, he should be able to get that energy back into his studio. He’s got people like Lopez and D’anda, he’s got himself and people like Gene Ha, he’s got enough clout in the industry to attract the right kind of people. All he needs is to have a clear battle plan and a method of ensuring that they deliver, because sadly he’s been let down by people (including himself) not delivering what they promised. And so we get sub par shite that I could really do with out.
When the WS is good, it’s better and more cohersive that most other universes out there. For me I have no real affinity to characters like spider-man and superman (or in your case Nova and Cyclops). My favourite characters are Voodoo, Holden, Grifter (Travis charest era only) and the original Gen13 kids (remember when that comic was a top 10 comic?).
They can do it, they just need the right people with the right commitment. Forget mass producing the stuff. Change the publishing model maybe a solution?
Ron – I completely agree with you on this. It was always bizarre to me that Ex Machina wasn’t on Vertigo. I look every week to the Wildstorm release schedule and just sit there disappointed. Your Rolling Stones analogy was spot on. Well done my man.
What makes you think Wildstorm’s days aren’t already numbered? It has been folded into the DC universe by being made apart of the multiverse. Who knows what Final Crisis will mean for all those different earths. Grifter may very well earn a position in the Justice League at some point in the future.
I’ve only ever read Stormwatch and The Authority as monthly books. I picked up the Sleeper trades, because they are so highly praised by iFanboy. And I picked up a trade of Alan Moore’s Supreme run and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Wildstorm has always felt like an undeveloped comic book universe.
I’ve always kept the Wildstorm universe at arms length, because I’ve been unwilling to embrace a third line of superhero books. Proabably, a dubious reason. My knee jerk reaction is to let them be their own line that Wildstorm doesn’t need the DC universe to be an interesting place to tell stories. Maybe there can be only two “univereses” of superhero comics.
I don’t know about this. You’ve given me something to think about Richards…
I disagree about sticking the fork in and killing it. There is still plenty potential in the Wildstorm universe. Just because something is in a low point right now doesn’t mean that it should be completely deleted. That’s kind of a defeatist way of looking at things. I hope DC doesn’t give up on the Wildstorm imprint. It has two awesome things going for it that DC can and should take advantage of.
1) It is a universe that people are familar with that can be dangerouse. You know Batman and Superman will never die in comics but part of the beauty of the Wildstorm universe is that anything goes there.
2) It is a great place for cultivating new talent. Ed Brubaker, Christos Gage, Joe Casey(he wasn’t new talent then but that’s when I started reading him) I discovered all these writers when they started on the Wildstorm universe.
I don’t think DC should kill the Wildstorm universe just give it some love and attention and bring it back to that era when we had some awesome titles like Sleeper, Joe Caseys run on WildCATS and The Authority going nuts and taking over America. It was some awesome crazy shit.
As far anything goes… you’re right. They killed off Stormwatch, which brought about The Authority, which was a great comic. Points for Wildstorm for that. However that Stormwatch team has been resurrected and is operating in the “current” Wildstorm universe. Is that really all that different from when DC killed off Superman and broke Batman’s back?
The only Wildstorm I ever read since it’s reboot was Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics line. I loved every series except for Promethea, which I found difficult to get into. Aside from that, nothing really seemed very appealing.
And how strict is the no superheroes policy at Vertigo? It seems more like a “no tights” policy. Sandman wasn’t far off from the Spectre or Dr. Strange and the protaganists in Preacher and Hellblazer fit the anti-hero mold of Punisher, Wolverine or Ghost Rider pretty well. I also thought that Ex Machina was a vertigo book until I looked at the logo on the book.
I read just about all the latest books in the relaunch, and ended up dropping them all – not because they were poorly done, but because I didn’t care about the characters (and the Authority/Wild CATS debacle didn’t help, either), and as seems to be endemic these days, the first arcs took too long to get me invested in them. They weren’t the characters I knew from back in the Image days (or the later Authority/Planetary heyday).
I think this latest relaunch and all the problems that came with it hurt the Wildstorm brand, and it would only benefit by becoming part of the greater DC universe. Just keep them as separate as possible – although Grifter in the JLA would be cool.
Wildstorm strikes me as having had multiple identity crises since it was brought into DC. Whereas Vertigo has gone through a couple phases, they seem to have settled into their publishing arm. Wildstorm, not so much. Are they just the home of Grifter, Midnighter, et al? Are they the home of premiere, offbeat super-hero tales (ala Brubaker’s Sleeper or Vaughan’s Ex Machina?). AT this point, they have no clear identity, and DC’s move to including the WS universe characters as part of the multiverse just further muddies the need for the imprint.
I could see Wildstorm existing if they got a firm editorial grasp on a relaunched WS universe. I could also see them being the imprint for off-beat, creator owned super-hero books that don’t fit in the DCU. But they need to decide and then put all their effort into it. If they can’t do that, then I don’t see much point in its existence.
It is a pity. Gen13 was a great book for periods. The WildCATS and Majestic had strong runs. Stormwatch had some good stuff. Authority was very popular with people.
I think it is time for DC to take these characters are bring them into the DC Universe. Grow them, modify them and put top talent on them.
Wildstorm has done an incredibly poor job of managing their marquee brands and A-List talent.
Their high profile books either come in extremely late or not at all, causing their overall brand to be represented by untested titles or critically well received, but low-selling niche titles.
Their recent relaunch was one of the worts events in comic history. Their two headliners, Wildcats and The Authority, were a flash in the pan. From what was left, I wanted to pick up Stormwatch: PHD since I’m a fan of the original title and the character Jackson King. However, the concept of Stormwatch being reduced from a premier international strike team to a local city police department level was too poor a concept for me. I couldn’t accept the premise and instead thought of Stormwatch: PHD as the Rocky V of comics. Also, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the only person who can sell a Gen 13 comic is J. Scott Campbell. That should tell you something about the property.
That said, for whatever reason, the fans have not given enough support to many of the amazing titles that Wildstorm has published over the last 5 years.
Wildcats 3.0
The Authority: Revolution
The American Way
Ocean
Those are just a handful of the critically acclaimed, yet popularly passed over titles put out by Wildstorm. There’s a much larger list of titles with a strong core audience that sell far less than they should. Ex Machina should easily be a top 50 book.
So while Wildstorm’s current predicament is partially their own doing, the purchasing community is also much to blame for helping starve a once prime source of groundbreaking and exciting content.
And hopefully DC doesn’t think they can do a better job handling the Wildstorm universe. DC can’t even handle Wonder Woman and Flash, among other great but floundering properties (Geoff Johns can’t save every title).
I disagree since Wildstorm has Ex Machina, Alan Moore’s ABC books & Wildstorm horror miniseries Nightmare on Elm Street, Fri. the 13th + Freddy vs Jason vs Ash. Wildstorm is STILL a quality imprint under DC Comics.
The American Way was excellent. The Stormwatch PHD program, within the book, was something like the initative, but with less of a budget. The international version of Stormwatch still existed in the universe, but they were reserved for end of the world threats. PHD was meant to be active in multiple cities and field the threats that arose in their sector with tactics that cost less than it would to mobilize the regular team. It wasn’t that Stormwatch went from a global force to city-size force, exactly. However the book was written about the PHD program and not the international force, so if the concept didn’t grab you the book probably wouldn’t have did much for you.
Anyway.
I don’t see what standing WildC.A.T.S next to the Outsiders and the Teen Titans does to make the Wildstorm characters more interesting. Lets face it, the Wildstorm characters aren’t going to stand shoulder to shoulder to DC’s established A-list. When a crisis comes around it is going to be Superman holding Supergirl’s dying body, while George Perez draws Mr. Majestic in the background watching the action. By folding the Wildstorm characters into the DC, I think it diminishes their ability to standout from the established superhero norms. The Authoirty may be a dry well now, but seven years ago it was a refreshing take on superhero comics. Not only the story telling (which could be accomplished in any comic book), but the content. Something as simple as Apollo and Midnighter’s homosexuality was character development that other superhero books weren’t exploring. Seven years later DC has a lesbian Batwoman, but what has been developed about her in the year and a half she has existed?
I don’t think there is anything wrong with where Wildstorm is right now, except for the way it has been managed. If Jim Lee can’t draw WildC.A.T.S. then no big deal. Get someone who can and get the gosh darn book into the stores. Same thing with The Authority. Even if neither of those two books has a major impact on the industry at least they can be the springboard for books and creators that will make an impact later. Stormwatch set the stage for the Authority as did WildC.A.T.S. for Sleeper.
So does being apart of regular DC make interesting stories more or less possible? Probably neither, because all that is needed for a good story is a creator who can manipulate the pieces on the board in the right way. So now I don’t know what to think.
@Matthew Guy They don’t have Alan Moore any longer. They contractually put out LoEG Black Dossier, but that was it. From now on, Moore’s going through TOp Shelf.
I thought Ex Machina was a Vertigo book(never bought a trade…yet)
I enjoyed the American Way.
I think some hardcore editors need to step in and start getting some of those books in store. If they can’t get writers or artist call me. I would love to write a book that took place in the Wildstorm universe.
Like many of the other posts, I completely agree with you Ron. Until I read your post I never really thought about Wildstorm ending but they probably should. This used to be the premiere superhero universe in all of comics. The characters were interesting & edgy & the story-lines were truly engaging. It seems that the desire to make Wildstorm part of DC has undone what was once a great imprint. Captain Atom: Armageddon? Are you kidding me, you actually thought that would be good? It smelled like shit right from the start. The whole reason for relaunching Wildstorm was flawed & for a long time fan, totally frustrating & unnecessary. People often point to Christos Gage’s writing as a source of strength but he really isn’t doing anything original. In the Authority Prime series he is completely rehashing old Stormwatch & Authority stories, nothing new at all. Of course Wild Cats is a joke. Most importantly Jim Lee is a joke. Yes he’s outrageously successful & all that but he’s single-handedly destroyed his own creation. He can’t keep deadlines & he’s not a good storyteller. His books only got really good when other creators like Ellis, Casey, Miller & Brubaker took them over. Before that it was just re-heated Marvel.
They also let the authority die and recently David Aja said something like: There are no more script being produced so I
Man I remember when the Authority was the biggest thing in comics. For a time, it was like it was more popular than the JLA or the Avengers. Then they couldn’t get a good creative team to stay on it.
I think 9/11 took the wind out of The Authority’s sails. It was a great book, but it was very anti-establishment. And things were very establishment friendly (for lack of better phrasing) at the end of Millar’s run. It might do better today…you know… if someone would write and draw the damn thing. It doesn’t HAVE to be Morrison, but whatever.
So I guess I missed the second issue of Authority.
Now is as good a time as ever to do a Wildstorm spotlight episode on the video podcast.
There are so many great Wildstorm trades available for discussion.
Also, I don’t think Wildstorm should close up shop, nor should DC be allowed to “assimilate” them.
They just need to refocus and regroup. It’s about quality, not quantity, which is something that the suits at DC could care less about.
To be honest, I thought Ex Machina and Welcome to Tranquility (which I have heard of, thank you 🙂 were Vertigo books. Especially Ex Machina.
I’m actually kinda surprised.
Anyway, I haven’t read any WildStorm stuff, but it sounds like you’ve got this nailed. Maybe it’s time to do a video show to educate some of us further?
I have mixed feelings about this idea, killing off the entire line.
When I got back into comics after a fifteen year layoff it was because of The Authority. Ellis’s run through Millar’s first arc were brilliant. This led to me getting into Planetary, then tracking down the Ellis Stormwatch run, and before long I had a near-complete library of Wildstorm product and Wildcats, Authority and Gen13 were on my pull list (my first reserve list since the Reagan administration, btw). Basically, I wouldn’t be reading comics today without WS.
However, much of the WS universe stuff has been, let’s face it, pure crap. Particularly early on. Stormwatch was unreadable until Ellis. Seriously, go pull one out and try, say, issue 7, when Flashpoint (TM) and Nautika (TM) were reintroduced. Garbage. Or the first 12 issues of WildCATS (including – no, ESPECIALLY – the Claremont arc, where he managed to get his catchphrase “…Body and Soul!” into each issue). Shit, pure and simple. The whole basis of the WildCATS side of the WS universe was so bad that Alan Moore essentially flushed it for his run, ending the ludicrous Daemonite/Kherubim war and concentrating on the characters instead. Of course, once he left Ellis ran with the whole “United Nations superhuman group with a big-ass satellite” for as long as he could, but trashed it as soon as the opportunity arose, in the form of the Aliens/WildCATS crossover. And I will not speak of the abortion that Wetworks has been.
Now, all that said, there have been some good-to-great WSU books. Moore’s run on WildCATS has been justly praised and Casey did wonders with both v.2 and v.3. Gen13 had some good creator runs – Adam Warren’s in particular. If you’ve never read them, the trades “Superhuman Like You” and “Meanwhile” are well worth picking up. Arcudi/Frank’s run was good too. And all of the Ellis stuff, whether WSU per se like Planetary, Stormwatch, Authority, and even DV8 are good, and most of his creator-owned books are ver, very good (Global Frequency, Red, etc.). Millar’s Authority. Brubaker’s work. The new Midnighter series. Gail Simone’s recent Gen13 relaunch. And all the other creator-owned books/lines such as Ex Machina, Astro City, America’s Best. And, what-the-hell, Cliffhanger had some fun stuff too, when it came out (Joe Maduierra should be blacklisted from the industry until he finishes Battle Chasers.) The stuff Gage is writing now is good, but figuring out where it fits into the delay-marred continuity is frustrating. He’s doing good work and deserves better.
I’d hate to see characters I still like, despite past inconsistencies/failures, swallowed into the gaping maw that is DC. Can Apollo and Midnighter exist in a world with Superman and Batman, even if it’s an alternate one? Probably not. Will anyone ever resolve the whole John Lynch/IO/TAO/Marc Slayton/Cole Cash storyline when there’s Lexcorp and STAR Labs to play with? Again, no.
I guess what I’d like is for Jim Lee to shit or get off the pot. If he wants his own company with his own universe, then by-god he should get in there and work with it. Writing a paragraph long column each month and drawing one issue of Wildcats a year won’t cut it. If he can’t do it, give it over to someone who can. And if he can’t do either, then maybe it is time to wrap it up.
Just don’t give it to Brandon Choi.
Also, dittos on Marshall’s idea. A Wildstorm primer on the Rev3 show would be good.
In the spirit of American Way, The Highwaymen was a cool Wildstorm series that came out, but did not exist in the universe.
wasn’t The Highwaymen that series by that hollywood dude who bitched and moaned because no one was buying it after 3 issues were released?
Was it? I bought it. All five issues. I very much enjoyed it. It wasn’t as good as American Way, but it was a fun buddy/espionage/action/hot rod book. There aren’t a lot of those out there.
The Highwaymen is definetly a book I feel like I missed out on. The premise and art looked really good.
For whatever reason, it seems like stories with lots of car action don’t do well in comics. However, I bet if it had Warren Ellis’ name on the cover, the same book would have sold really well
I’m picking this title up when it comes out in trade.
I don’t think Warren Ellis’ name really sells all that many comics these days, especially if its not a superhero book.
Shame on you for making this the first mention of Welcome to tranquility on your website. I have been reading this title since issue 1 and it is easily one of the only books I buy each month that is near perfect. Gail’s writing, the interesting characters, and the tongue in cheek look at golden age heroes all make this book stand out among the masses.
One of my favorite things about the book, is that after the main story arc segments in each issue, there is a minin story that delves further into the lives of the individual characters.
Highly recommended.
I also bought all of the Highwaymen issues as they came out and it was a great little story. Plus, it is always fun to see Bill Clinton in comics, even if it’s a dead Clinton on tape.
I do have to admit, despite my displeasure of Gail Simone’s books usually, I did read the first trade of Welcome to Tranquility and it was really freaking good. Really good.
I’m in complete shock as to how good everyone is saying Welcome to Tranquility is, and I love Gail Simone’s writing (Agent X was awesome). For whatever reason, I completely dismissed that title when it came out.
I guess there’s another Wildstorm trade for me to check out.
Did you perhaps dismiss it because it was out on the Wildstorm imprint? Hmmmmm?
Just for the record, I don’t hate WildStorm, anything but – and I’d rather not see it get killed – but if anything, make better comics and market the comics you are putting out better! If DC HQ doesn’t want to support WildStorm, then no way will you hear about good books like Welcome to Tranquility. So why continue publishing then?
@ron
LOL! I didn’t dismiss it because it was Wildstorm, because I’ve loved that imprint for a while now. I think I skipped it because I associated it with the Wildstorm reboot/relaunch that I wasn’t really digging too much.
I think during a video podcast it was you that said we (fanboys) can be some of the most dismissive consumers around, and that is so true.
I dismiss large numbers of books on a weekly basis for reasons I can’t even remember.
But there’s almost never a better surprise than being wrong about a book and discovering that it’s actually really good. I’ve purchased many Wildstorm properties in trade because of that.
Agreed that Wildstorm has done a poor job with their titles. With tanks like WildCATS, and The Authority, they still decide a book like Stormwatch, which gets an overwhelming amount of good reviews/press, should just be cancelled. They probably just could have considered a new marketing approach, anything to get the book more attention, and they’d still have a relaunch title to be proud of.
Regardless of all the messes they’ve got going on, I have really been enjoying Gail Simone on GEN13. The title has been dealing directly with the Multiverse, tying the team in as anomalies in the verse. It’s got a Wells/Young New Warriors kind of feel to it, mixed with Simone’s dialogue. I could definitely see a Charltonesque fold in years from now, and I don’t think I’d mind seeing guys like Grifter, or Midnighter getting their own little sect of the DCU.