JAMES ROBINSONS COMPLETE WILDCATS TP

Review by: grifter78

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It’s been a long time since I touched these Wildcats issues.  So long in fact that I had forgotten a lot of what went on during James Robinson’s run.  I think when they originally came out I was still feeling the loss of Jim Lee on the title (he has just left with issue 13).  So I’m not sure if I gave Robinson’s run a fair shot back then.  This is a nice-sized trade for $20.  You get 10 comics in here and one of them is a 34-page annual.  In fact, apparently it was the decision to include more material which delayed this collection which was originally slated to come out earlier this year in January.  But much like the Alan Moore’s Complete Wildcats Collection that Wildstorm released back in 2007, they decided to add everything Robinson did Wildcats-related even if certain issues were part of bigger story arcs not collected here.  It’s not as severe as the Moore collection (which had 2 Wildstorm crossovers included in it as compared to 1 crossover here) but it still might throw readers off a little.  So I’ll discuss the issues collected here in the order they should be read.

 

WildC.A.T.s #15-19

 

This first arc was very entertaining and action-packed.  An interesting aspect is that Robinson’s premiere story doesn’t even have the Wildcats in it through the majority of the issue.  Instead we’re introduced to Wildstorm mainstay Ben Santini (who later leads Stormwatch: Team Achilles) and his Black Razor team.  Santini was a cool idea because although I’ve never heard whose idea it was, the creation of Santini was very clever.  In WildC.A.T.s #2, Lord Emp shot out the knee of a Black Razor during a fight.  Other than being a brutal moment, there was no other relevance at the time until it is revealed here to have been Santini.  This creates a great dynamic as Santini is forced to help Emp, even though he hates Emp for what happened.  We also get a cool little mystery and some great art by Travis Charest.  Like Robinson, I don’t think I gave Charest a fair shot because of Lee withdrawals.  However, Lee did do layouts for issue 19 so that was something. It’s also worth mentioning that Robinson teases us about Voodoo’s Daemonite origins (explored further in Moore’s run).  And all the while, Robinson is setting up things for Wildstorm’s first big crossover: Wildstorm Rising.

 

Wildstorm Rising #1 (part 1) & WildC.A.T.s #20 (part 2)

 

Here’s where the choice to collect only Robinson’s stuff might throw readers off a little.  You get the first two parts of the crossover but then you’re left hanging because the other 8 parts happen elsewhere and were not written by Robinson.  But there is a Wildstorm Rising trade out there for those interested.

 

Team One: WildC.A.T.s #1-2

 

By this time, Team 7 had already been introduced as a major part of Wildstorm’s history.  So they decided to take it one step further and talk about one of the first superhero teams to come together in the WSU: Team One.  There was a Team One: WildC.A.T.s & also a Team One: Stormwatch.  Each two-issue series explored the origin of the respective team.  Robinson only did the Wildcats issue.  Team One is an interesting story that shows us a major event in Wildstorm’s past that branches out into the main WSU titles.  Although I always liked Team One, two things always bothered me: 1) It was too short 2) I hated the ending.  The ending was explained later, but it still aggravated me. 

 

WildC.A.T.s Annual #1

 

Finally, we have the only annual for the first Wildcats series.  This is probably the weakest of all the stories here.  It involves Majestic going crazy and shows how Stormwatch holds him at bay while the Wildcats find a cure for the virus that drove him mad.  Sounds like an interesting premise but it seems that Robinson squeezed this story into one issue and it is resolved way too quickly.  It does however utilize a character briefly mentioned in Robinson’s Wildcats arc.  Known only as the Hybrid, this creature is the ancestor of Voodoo and was an experiment to combine Daemonite/Kherubim DNA.  He makes a cameo and the character had such potential.  It’s a shame his idea was dropped when Robinson left.

 

Overall, Robinson delivered some solid story-telling with his Wildcats offerings.  It’s a shame that Alan Moore followed him because Moore’s run seemed to overshadow Robinson’s Wildcats.  But I’m glad he’s finally getting some recognition here.   

 

 

Story: 4 - Very Good
Art: 4 - Very Good

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