Strannik
10-11-2006, 09:52 PM
Contains:
Stormwatch: P.H.D preview
Bare-bones write-ups of teams and characters
Editorial by Jim Lee
Tranquility preview
Stormwatch:P.H.D
What Happened
Jackson King, Director of Stormwatch, reminises about the history of Stormwatch and talks about the people he recruited for Stormwatch's Post Human Division.
Thoughts
Honestly, not bad, not bad at all. I enjoyed the writing and the characters. The characters are centainly a curious bunch with their share of interesting personality traits and quarks. I especially liked Black Betty, who seems to have a Dark Angel Hipster thing going, fashion-wise. I also like how the wiritng tied all the recruits with Jackson's recollection of history of Stormwatch and it's gradual fall from grace. On a rather bizzare note, Fahreinheit is revealed to be in coma. Although the xenoform attack that ended original Stormwatch is alluded to, her being, well, alive, is left unexplained. I have faith in Cage, so I'll wait to see how it will play out.
Trivia
Sometime after Authority's reign over America ended, Jackson was approached by US government to restart Stormwatch to ensure that, if this sort of thing is to happen again, American government will be protected.
Jeremiah Cain, Black Betty's partner/mentor, is one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world. He was asked to join Stormwatch during the late 90s (he declined)
Overall, Monarchy continuity is disregarded. Everything else (save for the odd apperance of Farhrenheit) remains the same as before Captain Atom: Armaggeddon
Write-Ups
What happened
Barebone, incredibly general descriptions of teams and somewhat more detailed descriptions of solo characters. Accomponied by the art that shows the team/character.
Thoughts
Basically, this is a way to bring newbies up to speed on the basic premise of all upcoming Worldstorm relaunch titles. Tranquility gets the most detailed description of them all, oddly enough. Wildcats description seems almost a decade out of date, which is not encouraging. Still, I like the costume designs Dustin Nguven (spelled "Ngaiven" here for some reason) did for the accomponing illustration - a curious combination of old and the new, with most of the costumes harkening back to Wildcat 2.0 incarnation. Whether of not these costumes will actually be used in the series is still left in the open. Wetworks summary also harkens back to the original run, but the team depicted in accomponing artwork is the newest incarnation. Gen13 write-up doesn't reveal anything we didn't learn in the first issue of the most recent series. Oddly enough, the original nicknames seemed to be retained here. Authority description is generic and works with the most recent history. There is no mention of Coup D'Etat. The artwork reflects the most recent line-up, except, IMNSHO, the Doctor doesn't really look Palestenian. Jenny Quantum, on the other hand, has never looked more Asian. Speaking of Jenny, she is inexplicably called "Jenny Quarx" here. I have no idea what to make of it. Deathblow write-up is written in the form of a memo between government officials, giving us the rundown of Deathblow's history. According to the writer of memo, Deathblow is still believed to be dead, though the said writer wants to take special precautions in case Deathblow turns out to be alive. For some reason, all references to real names of all parties involved are blacked out. Overall, Deathblow's history seems virtually identical to pre-reboot. Midnighter gets a fairly rudomentary profile. Finally, Stormwatch P.H.D describes the premise of the series, with quick write-ups of the members. Curiously, Farehnheit is listed as alive, but powerless. She is also listed as a former Stormwatch Prime member (Okay... :rolleyes: )
Overall, mostly basic information, enough to get new readers up to speed. I recommend that part to anyone who wants to check out Wildstorm and is unsure which title to pick up. To us old-time Wildstorm fans, the write-ups offer much room for speculation and trepadation.
Trivia
Tranquility was originally founded by World-War-II-era superheroes as a place to escape pressures of publicity and fame. It evolved into a retirement home somewhere along the way.
Jim Lee's Editorial
What Happened
Jim Lee talks about Deathblow, his love for the character and how reader demand ultimately persuaded him to bring Deathblow back. He then talks about the creative team, praising both the writer and the artist.
Thoughts
Personally, I call bull on "reader demand." It's no secret that Jim Lee loved the character and wanted to bring him back somehow. As for reader demand, if Wildstorm boards, as well as this forum and Clark's Bar forum are anything to go by, there were as many people who wanted him to return as there were people who wanted him to stay dead, because this was what made WSU special (I count myself in the second group, btw). Whatever the reason, it's too late to complain now. We'll just have to wait and see the finished product.
Tranquility
What Happened
A group of aged superheroes met at an eatery owned by former superhero known as Pink Bunny. The group reminises about the adventures they had when they were young while Pink Bunny listens warily. In the end, she leaves while others continue to reminiss,
Thoughts
Cute and entertaining. I liked the flashback to the relationship between Judge Fury and Pink Bunny. The retro-esque story had it's charm. Speaking of relationships, it was great how the retro plot was contrasted with the two above-mentioned characters having sex and dealing with a possibility of a potential love triangle. Ultimately, though, the preview is nearly enough to judge whether the title will actully be good. Ultimately, it just seems so... ordinary. Enterntaining, but ordinary.
Trivia
Flashback scenes are drawn in colors and art style that evokes Golden/Silver age comics. The flashback pages were made took torn and partually water-damaged. The more personal, "non-PG" moments in the flashback were drawn in the same style as the rest of the book.
Overall thoughts: An interesting little sampler with a bunch of information. But, in the end of the day, I thought Coup D'Etat: Afterword, which had a simular format, pulled it off just a bit better.
Stormwatch: P.H.D preview
Bare-bones write-ups of teams and characters
Editorial by Jim Lee
Tranquility preview
Stormwatch:P.H.D
What Happened
Jackson King, Director of Stormwatch, reminises about the history of Stormwatch and talks about the people he recruited for Stormwatch's Post Human Division.
Thoughts
Honestly, not bad, not bad at all. I enjoyed the writing and the characters. The characters are centainly a curious bunch with their share of interesting personality traits and quarks. I especially liked Black Betty, who seems to have a Dark Angel Hipster thing going, fashion-wise. I also like how the wiritng tied all the recruits with Jackson's recollection of history of Stormwatch and it's gradual fall from grace. On a rather bizzare note, Fahreinheit is revealed to be in coma. Although the xenoform attack that ended original Stormwatch is alluded to, her being, well, alive, is left unexplained. I have faith in Cage, so I'll wait to see how it will play out.
Trivia
Sometime after Authority's reign over America ended, Jackson was approached by US government to restart Stormwatch to ensure that, if this sort of thing is to happen again, American government will be protected.
Jeremiah Cain, Black Betty's partner/mentor, is one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world. He was asked to join Stormwatch during the late 90s (he declined)
Overall, Monarchy continuity is disregarded. Everything else (save for the odd apperance of Farhrenheit) remains the same as before Captain Atom: Armaggeddon
Write-Ups
What happened
Barebone, incredibly general descriptions of teams and somewhat more detailed descriptions of solo characters. Accomponied by the art that shows the team/character.
Thoughts
Basically, this is a way to bring newbies up to speed on the basic premise of all upcoming Worldstorm relaunch titles. Tranquility gets the most detailed description of them all, oddly enough. Wildcats description seems almost a decade out of date, which is not encouraging. Still, I like the costume designs Dustin Nguven (spelled "Ngaiven" here for some reason) did for the accomponing illustration - a curious combination of old and the new, with most of the costumes harkening back to Wildcat 2.0 incarnation. Whether of not these costumes will actually be used in the series is still left in the open. Wetworks summary also harkens back to the original run, but the team depicted in accomponing artwork is the newest incarnation. Gen13 write-up doesn't reveal anything we didn't learn in the first issue of the most recent series. Oddly enough, the original nicknames seemed to be retained here. Authority description is generic and works with the most recent history. There is no mention of Coup D'Etat. The artwork reflects the most recent line-up, except, IMNSHO, the Doctor doesn't really look Palestenian. Jenny Quantum, on the other hand, has never looked more Asian. Speaking of Jenny, she is inexplicably called "Jenny Quarx" here. I have no idea what to make of it. Deathblow write-up is written in the form of a memo between government officials, giving us the rundown of Deathblow's history. According to the writer of memo, Deathblow is still believed to be dead, though the said writer wants to take special precautions in case Deathblow turns out to be alive. For some reason, all references to real names of all parties involved are blacked out. Overall, Deathblow's history seems virtually identical to pre-reboot. Midnighter gets a fairly rudomentary profile. Finally, Stormwatch P.H.D describes the premise of the series, with quick write-ups of the members. Curiously, Farehnheit is listed as alive, but powerless. She is also listed as a former Stormwatch Prime member (Okay... :rolleyes: )
Overall, mostly basic information, enough to get new readers up to speed. I recommend that part to anyone who wants to check out Wildstorm and is unsure which title to pick up. To us old-time Wildstorm fans, the write-ups offer much room for speculation and trepadation.
Trivia
Tranquility was originally founded by World-War-II-era superheroes as a place to escape pressures of publicity and fame. It evolved into a retirement home somewhere along the way.
Jim Lee's Editorial
What Happened
Jim Lee talks about Deathblow, his love for the character and how reader demand ultimately persuaded him to bring Deathblow back. He then talks about the creative team, praising both the writer and the artist.
Thoughts
Personally, I call bull on "reader demand." It's no secret that Jim Lee loved the character and wanted to bring him back somehow. As for reader demand, if Wildstorm boards, as well as this forum and Clark's Bar forum are anything to go by, there were as many people who wanted him to return as there were people who wanted him to stay dead, because this was what made WSU special (I count myself in the second group, btw). Whatever the reason, it's too late to complain now. We'll just have to wait and see the finished product.
Tranquility
What Happened
A group of aged superheroes met at an eatery owned by former superhero known as Pink Bunny. The group reminises about the adventures they had when they were young while Pink Bunny listens warily. In the end, she leaves while others continue to reminiss,
Thoughts
Cute and entertaining. I liked the flashback to the relationship between Judge Fury and Pink Bunny. The retro-esque story had it's charm. Speaking of relationships, it was great how the retro plot was contrasted with the two above-mentioned characters having sex and dealing with a possibility of a potential love triangle. Ultimately, though, the preview is nearly enough to judge whether the title will actully be good. Ultimately, it just seems so... ordinary. Enterntaining, but ordinary.
Trivia
Flashback scenes are drawn in colors and art style that evokes Golden/Silver age comics. The flashback pages were made took torn and partually water-damaged. The more personal, "non-PG" moments in the flashback were drawn in the same style as the rest of the book.
Overall thoughts: An interesting little sampler with a bunch of information. But, in the end of the day, I thought Coup D'Etat: Afterword, which had a simular format, pulled it off just a bit better.