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1. APoetSomeday says:

   July 5, 2012 at 6:15 am

   I’m about to drop this one, a fact which makes me tremendously sad.

   SW was a book that I knew nothing about going in, the characters and setting were completely new to me. Paul Cornell’s Sci-Fi take on superheroes was a lot of fun and Miguel Sepulveda’s art gave everything a Hollywood sheen that was perfect for the epic tone of the stories. The cheeky humor was very welcome as well, and issues 1 – 6 felt like the start of something new and energetic in the DCU. I was excited to see what came next. Its all gone downhill without Paul and Miguel, I’m afraid…

   Ignacio Calero’s art just doesn’t do it for me, it is messy, disorganized and hard to follow. Character’s faces inexplicably change from one panel to the next and everything feels very inconsistent. It doesn’t even appear to be a style choice either, it just comes off as rushed. The fact that there are multiple inkers could be considered in this, except that the ‘Green Lantern’ book usually has multiple inkers and Doug Mahnke’s art never looks anything less than excellent. This issue has another penciller also, which only adds to the inconsistency.

   Finally, the stories just aren’t that good. The ‘Hidden People’ is a nice idea, except for all the problems I have with it. Such as the fact that no Neanderthal would ever refer to him/herself as a Neanderthal. The name comes from the Neander Valley in Germany, where the first bones were discovered. Also, there isn’t much evidence to suggest that Homo Sapiens ever actually fought with Homo Neanderthalensis. It may seem picky of me to point that out, but I wrote a screenplay about a family of Neanderthals some years ago and I find the lack of research annoying. Lastly, a Neanderthal would look shorter and more muscular than a Human, with a sunken brow and a much broader face. The body would be stocky and round and yet there is just no real physical difference between the Neanderthals and the Humans in this story. Its lazy writing, I”m sorry to say. I love that Midnighter has a computer-aided brain and carbon fiber muscles, or that Engineer is a living computer, so I can suspend disbelief, of course, but I felt that Peter Milligan should have done at least some basic research into the subject before writing about it. Neanderthals that looked and acted like real-life Neanderthals would have been far more creepy and compelling as misunderstood antagonists than just one more group of forgettable supervillains…

   Paul Cornell’s stories developed characters at a rapid speed and every issue gave us something new to chew on, whereas the last few issues haven’t really done that. Are Apollo and Midnighter in a relationship? I know that they’re supposed to be, but Its never been properly started. What is Jack Hawksmoor doing these days? He just sort of parachuted in from nowhere in this issue and why is Jenny Quantum suddenly so bratty, a kid can be a smart-ass without being a little sh*t about it.

   I don’t know, I’d prefer to see some solid character development instead of a whole page of Engineer vomiting.

   Apologies for the essay. No disrespect intended to the creators, just my humble opinions.

   I hung on for a long time hoping things would pick up, but when there’s quality super hero books like ‘Earth 2’ out there, SW, in its current incarnation at least, doesn’t stand a chance.

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   • cubsmodano says:

     July 6, 2012 at 8:25 am

     I have the same overall feeling but for different reasons. To me, the characters just feel like watered down versions of the original Wildstorm versions. Jack Hawksmoor has been MIA for most of this series. Apollo and Midnighter feel more like caricatures of themselves; the only scene that stands out in the whole series with either one of them is when Midnighter tried to leave Jenny for dead. I’ve stayed with it since I’m a Wildstorm loyalist, but this has been one of the worst books I buy for the last few months.
2. APoetSomeday says:

   July 11, 2012 at 10:46 am

   @Cubs – I had no experience of Wildstorm when I got Issue 1, so I had no idea what to expect. However, having since tracked down some of the originals, I totally see what you mean.

   The secret society angle could really work, only it doesn’t. In addition, Martian Manhunter doesn’t seem to be doing much and I totally agree with regards to Jack Hawksmoor (a character that I really like).

   One thing I learned from my forays into the ‘Authority’ series is that Midnighter doesn’t kill kids under any circumstances. He’ll do anything to anyone else, but not kids. Without that single rule, he’s just a monster. I felt that the scene between him and Jenny (assuming that one day he and Apollo will adopt her) was out of character and no fun to read at all. I had high hopes for Mr. Milligan’s run, but it just hasn’t lived up to them.

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