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Underground > Comic Books >

Morrison and Jim Lee on WildCATs

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17:32 / 20.10.06

I actually prefered Mike Careys Wetworks first issue better. Left me a lot more interested and curious about the next issue. I have no idea what a wetwork is though as i've never read any of the comics before but that is maybe why it caught my interest. Wildcats have been through so many different incarnations that i find it extremly hard to care unless it's something spectacular and different and well written. Which it isn't at all yet but we'll see.

17:34 / 20.10.06

I think the problem is that it all felt a bit preview-y. Like the comic I read was Wildcats #0 that came free with the latest Wizard. It was basically an introduction, but it really didn't introduce anything very well. Hopefully Wildcats #2 will be the real Wildcats #1 and we'll hit the ground running.

17:57 / 20.10.06

I think 'wetworks' in general (i.e. outside of the comic) is a nickname for a Black Ops/Special Ops covert military team that gets sent out to do Governments' Dirty Work. And the comic is about...Super-Hero Wetworks!!! Yeeeaaahh!!

18:03 / 20.10.06

The Wetworks guys fight vampires, don't they?

21:34 / 20.10.06

Yea, there was a vampire in it and also some big bloke who could see souls or something. Some intriguing characters that made me want to see what develops. Like i said, i found it far more enjoyable than Wildcats but i'm curious how the whole World Storm stuff pans out together. I haven't read Authority yet though. Maybe a combined WorldStorm thread?

23:33 / 20.10.06

Or maybe not.

I don't really want a Worldstorm thread.

(please give me some more SeaGuy)

23:39 / 20.10.06

To each their own. I think people like GM for different reasons. The ninjabat scene some seem to have enjoyed in batman did nothing for me at all. In general i like his batman but so far i like it the least out of anything he's written.

I personally really like GM's philosophies and theories and i never get tired of seeing them in his work. In Wildcats i loved the superdramatic sense of impending conflict. I also loved the prose and the set up of the antagonists in Wildcats it really brought me back to what i loved about his JLA. When majestic says: "I..I gazed over the rim of the universe and saw what we are.... and what we will become.." it gave me goosebumps. Reminded me of how i felt reading WW3. It's true that i love the wildstorm universe but i would never buy a comic based on the characters/settings but
only the writer. The familiar and likable parts only sweeten the deal, by themselves they are meaningless.

23:53 / 20.10.06

Well, i do have a lot of faith in Morrison and what he can do.

His Grifter joke line of 'I'm the best there is at what i do'. Leading into Spartans talk of 'all the widescreen battles and public displays of stupity' and ending that issue in a widescreen Grifter stupidity fight, does make me think that there is a bit of setting up and a lot more going on.

00:14 / 21.10.06

I also loved the prose and the set up of the antagonists in Wildcats it really brought me back to what i loved about his JLA. When majestic says: "I..I gazed over the rim of the universe and saw what we are.... and what we will become.." it gave me goosebumps.

I got that when i read that Anne Frank comic.

Cowboy Scientist

06:54 / 21.10.06

I see such a great potential in this for Grant to use his... I dunno what to call it... probably "pop aesthetical sensibility". Because, like most of you I love all the symbolism and depth grant puts in his work, but you got to admit, he also has a great eye for the cool and pop ideas.
Its really a dodgy thing to describe; but think of Marvel Boy, the Gideon Stargrave bits in Invisibles, a lot in Seven Soldiers (specially in Manhattan Guardian and Frankenstein), "Here Comes Tomorrow" in NEWXMEN; his current runs in Batman and All-Star Superman...
I still just SEE the potential, let's see how its developed.
I would add even more Steranko, though.
Also, caption boxes in german = good.

08:33 / 21.10.06

*Scratches head*

Don't Grant Morrison characters always look "over the rim of the universe"? I know what you mean, K - like you I loved Grunts JLA - but we've seen that kind of stuff so many times in his comics that it really instills me with nothing more than a worry that he's running on autopilot. In terms of setting an agenda for future issues Spartan's dialogue was much more interesting, although, to reiterate, I'm concerned that we're in for another Morrison philosophical diatribe (I appreciate that some of us look forward to that kind of thing). And, well, what Spartan had to say didn't differ too greatly from the agenda described in Joe Casey's run. Sure, I reckon Grant can do far more with it than Casey, but this looks like ground we've covered before. As for the rest of it, isn't it just yer standard set-up stuff: functional and fun but not particularly bold or thrilling.

Granted, his first issue of Batman was also mainly set-up, but I feel a much more novel, dare I say bold, agenda and tone was *clearly* established there. After reading it I felt that we were heading in a new direction, that we were going to see stuff we hadn't seen in Bats and other comics before, that it felt different. I'm not getting that from Wildcats, but it's early, early days and there's a whole lot of time to change my mind.

09:37 / 21.10.06

I'm pretty sure a bunch of you are mistaking your enthusiasm for the book, the art and the characters (and the fact that the creative team gets that stuff on the nose) for good and/or interesting writing.

Oh, and this wasn't an an attempt to suggest that I have teh uber reading skilz and that others don't. I think we all get a little excited when our favourite writers are matched with our favourite artists and put on books we have a historical and emotional connection to. I know I do.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:40 / 21.10.06

Do I need to know much about WildCATS and The Authority to get anything out of these?

13:49 / 21.10.06

I've never read a single issue of Wildcats and I felt a little lost (and not in the fun "JLA Classified #1" way). You may want to head over to Wikipedia before reading it. It's what I'm going to do before #2 comes out.

17:24 / 21.10.06

I'd say it's worth soaking up some of Ellis's run on the Authority before diving into that book. As for Wildcats, Search out the Moore stuff before going anywhere near this. It's not his best writing, and the flow of the narrative is a little disrupted (something to do with crossovers at the time of release, I believe), but it's good chunky Alan Moore dinner, nonetheless.

23:08 / 21.10.06

never having read WILDCATS before, I enjoyed the first pages and some bits, like the majestic one; some scenes here and there. way much better than AUTHORITY, though.

it's cool to see Jim Lee kind of making fun of the whole early-Image aesthetic - of which himself was a totem for, back in the day. I enjoyed the pretty colors an ths cosmic concepts.

thought I'd see much more Steranko-influenced visual stuff as it was suggested in the interviews and con panels. guess JHWIII may offer more in that sense; can't stop thinking of what these two might do together, as I was so impressed by the guy's work in S7#0 and DESOLATION JONES.

Guh-rant seems to be distilling his mojo a lot for the most recent company-owned stuff, and it's cool that he's trying other approaches, but the over-decompression is not good for anybody, let alone for a bi-monthly book.

had the feeling I was reading a "bad" comic by top-notch creators, too conscious of the property's previous suckiness. or maybe invoking the spirit of Image '92 might cause that after all...

or I'm expecting too much, I dunno.

00:54 / 22.10.06

'semiotic resonance'

I dunno, I can't stop going back and looking at the brilliant, utterly unnecessary German (VERWIRRUNG!! TOD!!) and Grifter punching the guy in one of his mouths so hard it explodes and the retrieving the cigar from the other, because he's that fuckin ice cold, and chuffing on it, delivering the spiel about precisely how ice-cold he is, as he blows another away. That's what Image comics were all about, I imagine, in 1993.

I can't stop clocking Majestic's pwning new helmet of hardcore, Zealot's face as she goes 'Earth'. That Hellspont guy looks great, best colours on his page; the comic's a controlled explosion, yr obviously jaded Boboss - the Omnia codex! Gamorrans in space! Daemonites teamed-up! Spartan lays the stakes down, and I'm kinda thinking it's going to be amazing, actually - I've been left flat by several of Grant's openers on franchises recently (Superman, Batman, Guardian... all turned round later) and was initially somewhat nonplussed by this. But now, I just can't stop going back and looking at it. I can't even enjoy any of my other comics as much right now, because it's time I could be reading WildCats; the last 7-8 pages juxtapose excellently and the narration's pretty smooth throughout.

01:45 / 22.10.06

Thats the thing about Wildcats 1. It really is so poor that you expect it to be a huge set up for something great.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

14:39 / 22.10.06

What I liked about it was that was a direct encapsulation of those first two issues of WildC.A.T.S wayyyyy back when Image first began. And they blew your wee little brain into pieces with that rock solid Jim Lee swagger. All the bright colors and a dude with fire shooting out of his head (always LOVED Hellspont's design on a very Wee Kidling level).

I loved it. It spoke to my childhood in a very nice way.

17:13 / 22.10.06

Actually, Duncs, come to think of it the Superman opener did nothing for me either, so with that in mind I'm feeling a little more generous towards this title. For the record, I want it to rock.

Grant writes coda assasins? Yes please thankyou, sir.

Anyone know if Ladytron's going to be in this book?

18:23 / 22.10.06

She's supposed to be in #2

18:31 / 22.10.06

Very good

22:33 / 24.10.06

Not so good, however, and something I'd imagine that'll have you (in particular) going through the roof like a rocket, Boboss, is the news that #2 is now due in March.

March. I actually like Lee's art, all that flash-and-bang, but really he needs to step the fuck up; All-Star Batman has had four issues, after getting a head-start on its' Superman counterpart (now up to #5.) A*S is drawn by Frank Quitely, former industry champ of slowness, but also measurably better as a penciller.

22:37 / 24.10.06

As much as i love Jim Lee i wish Silvestri was on this....
He works so good with GM cosmic superhero pulp.

23:03 / 24.10.06

Ah well. It's not like it ends on a major cliffhanger.

Worldstorm is looking more like a World-drizzle, tho.

00:04 / 25.10.06

ooohhhh ... so, THIS is what the imageverse was supposed to feel like!

jim lee, i love you. but you are never allowed to design a costume again. trying to draw warblade as a kid caused irreparable damage and i'm sending you a bill.

all love aside, this definitely had an issue #0 vibe. and if if have to wait 'til MARCH to get the real #1 i'm going to be plenty pissed.

10:30 / 25.10.06

figlio de una puttana!

Glenn Close But No Cigar

17:17 / 31.10.06

Seems to me that Morrison / Lee's WildCATS is part of a wider nostalgia for the very late '80s / '90s, or to be more specific a cultural desire to improve upon this period. See also 'The New Rave', current catwalk appropriation of early '90s club-wear (Global Hypercolour tees anyone?), the re-invention of Damien Hirst as an avatar of extreme wealth, the second dot.com boom etc. This isn't quite retro in a 'I Love 1976' sense, but rather an 'upgrading' of recent cultural history. What we're getting now with WildCATS (and perhaps The Authority, with its riffing on The Abyss' riffs on Tarkovsky) is a kind of luxury '90s. Mark my words, next time Grant Morrison appears at a convention, he'll look like George Michael in the 'Fast Love' video.

20:36 / 31.10.06

>> jim lee, i love you. but you are never allowed to design a costume again.

So true.

The Natural Way

07:17 / 01.11.06

Nice post, Zahir. Nice Borges reference too.

07:34 / 01.11.06

whats a Borges?

The Natural Way

09:03 / 01.11.06

What's a wikipedia?

yawn - thing's buddy

10:42 / 01.11.06

Bring back johny monolith! remember him?

oi zahir - are you his relative? he used to say (write) things like you just did.

yawn - thing's buddy

11:03 / 01.11.06

forget the homage to the nineties theory though.

my instinct tells me that gm has had a softspot for image-power comics for quite a fucking while and just wants to 'do one'.

Glenn Close But No Cigar

11:04 / 01.11.06

No relative of mine as far as I know.

It's just struck me that WildC.A.T.S. echoes the name of early '90s band Color Me B.A.D.D. Then again, the New Jack Swing maestros did look like their stage constumes were designed by Jim Lee...

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