Stephanie Kay
Oct 13, 2007, 11:43 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/1106/STWPHD_Cv1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/1106/STWPHD_Cv1t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Stormwatch: PHD #1"></a>Reviewer: Stephanie Kay, children_of_paradise@hotmail.co.uk
Story Title: Part 1.
It’s immaterial. No different than having a murderer for a father. Your life is what you make of it, not what you’re born to.
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Colorist: David Baron
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Cover 1: Doug Mahnke & David Baron
Cover 2: Trevor Hairsine & Randy Mayor
Assistant Editor: Kristy Quinn
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Published by Wildstorm / DC Comics (www.dc-comics.com)
Rebooted hero franchises that decide to spend their opening issues introducing a brand new ‘line-up’ (and brand new antagonism) are not often, it seems, received that well. I don’t wish to make a major generalisation there, but as is often the case, repeated formulas indicate a safe haven of success whereas those that go out on the tangent and design an alternative setup are more liable for extreme reactions. But when it works, it really does, and occasionally an opening issue distils this response and tactic - happily I would conclude so far that Stormwatch: PHD #1 is probably amongst them.
With all the fanfare and discussion perhaps being centred on the stylistic differences between the opening issues of Wildcats and Authority, the ending of Planetary and solo ventures of Midnighter, Stormwatch: PHD is arguably the dark horse of this Wildstorm reconfiguration. But by avoiding the immediate hype, Stormwatch: PHD has more freedom to hone its bearing and get the groundwork cemented before people bite into it with sweeping critiques. The opening issue is composed predominately on the hindsight-viewpoints and flashbacks of these individuals, each of whom were caught up in a major massacre that left hundreds dead in New York. Jackson’s crisis intervention force gets some severe budget cuts following the disaster, but rather than rely on trying to solve post-human threats by ‘throwing money at it’, Jackson instead decides to take a ‘bold, new, innovative approach.’ This does truly mark a brand new era for Jackson King + crew, and he spends much of this opening issue intellectually musing and revealing the suitability of various ‘candidates’ who will form his new Post Human Division team.
Christos Gage (Deadshot, The Breed) is certainly adept at juxtaposing the icons of the Stormwatch collective and spotlighting a whole array of ‘new’ weird and wonderful characters. Unusually the antagonists themselves (with such neutral names as ‘Slaughterhouse Smith’, ‘Lord Defile’ and ‘Lady Decadence’) receive equal weighing in panel-time when focalising past events, and are written with the same sense of individualism that creators make pains with on their ‘heroes’. Gage chooses to the present the action in ‘snippets’ which works well, although there are moments where dialogue strays slightly too much into disguised ‘explanatory’ character-exposition. Obviously the intention may be to provide information to new readers on background history of certain characters, but it can seem a little forced in the retelling. Overall though that itself is a very minor quibble.
The opening issue also addresses themes of indestructibility and build-up when it comes to ‘confrontation’ – Gage clever uses this issue at centralising a battle that seemingly erupts on a massive scale with relatively little provocation. For instance, the consequences are shown to be personally quite dire: Lauren a.k.a. Fahrenheit (who oddly conjures up images of Medusa from Inhumans, especially after the hair-cut) is left hospitalised (which in itself is an interesting variation of the ‘castration’) when she finds out ‘just like that’ that she is powerless. There was no especial climax with her being at this battle, but it’s an interesting shift over where powerless-heroes can ‘go’ after they are left debilitated. She along with Mordecai Shaw and the hilariously brazen Emma-Frost-parody ‘Gorgeous’ make the most impact in the opening issue, although Officer Doran’s participation in events is given a nice question-mark on the final page, which may or may not be a big fat red herring. Jackson King, as always, is the charismatic motivating organizer, who unlike many of his ‘contemporaries’ is unpretentious and clarified in his approach. There seems an ironic binary in that Jackson and Lord Defile do share some uncanny similarities in their astuteness and approaches. Gage uses Jackson somewhat as a vehicle in the compilation of this of relatively ‘questionable’ team. Each of them is emphasised in being unique backgrounds and skills (‘combat & tactics’, ‘forensics’, ‘profiling’, ‘supernatural theorist’ and ‘technologist’) which gives validation to their inclusion (and makes an interesting contrast to superhero teams which seem spread out on simplistic ‘power arrangements’).
The artwork by Doug Mahnke was also a pleasant surprise; admittedly it initially reminded me of one Leonardo Manco (Constantine), or even Carlos Esquerra’s pencilling over on A Man Named Kev but on further reading, the artwork on PHD is slightly less ‘grainy’ and darkly jesting. That said, the art work here is also quite ‘grim’, but that is rather via more inking (e.g. around the mouth and eyes), which helps it exhibit a more sleazier tone, especially in the facial close-ups of ‘Gorgeous’ and Shaw. It’s a nice combination of accessible ‘chiselled’ super heroics and its more vulgar, occasionally deranged looking counterparts. The coloring too is also noteworthy, especially in the instances where Boran makes subtle skin differences which hint at health and disposition. Although it’s not as dark as something you may find in Vertigo, the coloring also accentuates the tone and violence, but instead focuses on the erratic destruction itself, rather than simple macabre ‘gore’.
In examining a somewhat mixed set of releases for the recent Wildstorm re-launch, Stormwatch: PHD was, for me, one of the most enjoyable and interesting opening issues of it, in what it bought to the table. It has thus far been brief with any foremost telling characterisation and major strings of interaction, but it has introduced some intriguing thematic points especially with characters coming to dramatic realisations. Those who make up the new PHD are an odd collection of ex-villains, mistresses and eccentrics, and I myself will certainly be eager to see the continuing fallout and stacked odds against them as Jackson King tries to bring heroics onto a grounded plane.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsnone.jpg
Buy this issue from X-WORLD and save. ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2509&cat=STORMWATCH%3A+PHD)
Story Title: Part 1.
It’s immaterial. No different than having a murderer for a father. Your life is what you make of it, not what you’re born to.
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Doug Mahnke
Colorist: David Baron
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Cover 1: Doug Mahnke & David Baron
Cover 2: Trevor Hairsine & Randy Mayor
Assistant Editor: Kristy Quinn
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Published by Wildstorm / DC Comics (www.dc-comics.com)
Rebooted hero franchises that decide to spend their opening issues introducing a brand new ‘line-up’ (and brand new antagonism) are not often, it seems, received that well. I don’t wish to make a major generalisation there, but as is often the case, repeated formulas indicate a safe haven of success whereas those that go out on the tangent and design an alternative setup are more liable for extreme reactions. But when it works, it really does, and occasionally an opening issue distils this response and tactic - happily I would conclude so far that Stormwatch: PHD #1 is probably amongst them.
With all the fanfare and discussion perhaps being centred on the stylistic differences between the opening issues of Wildcats and Authority, the ending of Planetary and solo ventures of Midnighter, Stormwatch: PHD is arguably the dark horse of this Wildstorm reconfiguration. But by avoiding the immediate hype, Stormwatch: PHD has more freedom to hone its bearing and get the groundwork cemented before people bite into it with sweeping critiques. The opening issue is composed predominately on the hindsight-viewpoints and flashbacks of these individuals, each of whom were caught up in a major massacre that left hundreds dead in New York. Jackson’s crisis intervention force gets some severe budget cuts following the disaster, but rather than rely on trying to solve post-human threats by ‘throwing money at it’, Jackson instead decides to take a ‘bold, new, innovative approach.’ This does truly mark a brand new era for Jackson King + crew, and he spends much of this opening issue intellectually musing and revealing the suitability of various ‘candidates’ who will form his new Post Human Division team.
Christos Gage (Deadshot, The Breed) is certainly adept at juxtaposing the icons of the Stormwatch collective and spotlighting a whole array of ‘new’ weird and wonderful characters. Unusually the antagonists themselves (with such neutral names as ‘Slaughterhouse Smith’, ‘Lord Defile’ and ‘Lady Decadence’) receive equal weighing in panel-time when focalising past events, and are written with the same sense of individualism that creators make pains with on their ‘heroes’. Gage chooses to the present the action in ‘snippets’ which works well, although there are moments where dialogue strays slightly too much into disguised ‘explanatory’ character-exposition. Obviously the intention may be to provide information to new readers on background history of certain characters, but it can seem a little forced in the retelling. Overall though that itself is a very minor quibble.
The opening issue also addresses themes of indestructibility and build-up when it comes to ‘confrontation’ – Gage clever uses this issue at centralising a battle that seemingly erupts on a massive scale with relatively little provocation. For instance, the consequences are shown to be personally quite dire: Lauren a.k.a. Fahrenheit (who oddly conjures up images of Medusa from Inhumans, especially after the hair-cut) is left hospitalised (which in itself is an interesting variation of the ‘castration’) when she finds out ‘just like that’ that she is powerless. There was no especial climax with her being at this battle, but it’s an interesting shift over where powerless-heroes can ‘go’ after they are left debilitated. She along with Mordecai Shaw and the hilariously brazen Emma-Frost-parody ‘Gorgeous’ make the most impact in the opening issue, although Officer Doran’s participation in events is given a nice question-mark on the final page, which may or may not be a big fat red herring. Jackson King, as always, is the charismatic motivating organizer, who unlike many of his ‘contemporaries’ is unpretentious and clarified in his approach. There seems an ironic binary in that Jackson and Lord Defile do share some uncanny similarities in their astuteness and approaches. Gage uses Jackson somewhat as a vehicle in the compilation of this of relatively ‘questionable’ team. Each of them is emphasised in being unique backgrounds and skills (‘combat & tactics’, ‘forensics’, ‘profiling’, ‘supernatural theorist’ and ‘technologist’) which gives validation to their inclusion (and makes an interesting contrast to superhero teams which seem spread out on simplistic ‘power arrangements’).
The artwork by Doug Mahnke was also a pleasant surprise; admittedly it initially reminded me of one Leonardo Manco (Constantine), or even Carlos Esquerra’s pencilling over on A Man Named Kev but on further reading, the artwork on PHD is slightly less ‘grainy’ and darkly jesting. That said, the art work here is also quite ‘grim’, but that is rather via more inking (e.g. around the mouth and eyes), which helps it exhibit a more sleazier tone, especially in the facial close-ups of ‘Gorgeous’ and Shaw. It’s a nice combination of accessible ‘chiselled’ super heroics and its more vulgar, occasionally deranged looking counterparts. The coloring too is also noteworthy, especially in the instances where Boran makes subtle skin differences which hint at health and disposition. Although it’s not as dark as something you may find in Vertigo, the coloring also accentuates the tone and violence, but instead focuses on the erratic destruction itself, rather than simple macabre ‘gore’.
In examining a somewhat mixed set of releases for the recent Wildstorm re-launch, Stormwatch: PHD was, for me, one of the most enjoyable and interesting opening issues of it, in what it bought to the table. It has thus far been brief with any foremost telling characterisation and major strings of interaction, but it has introduced some intriguing thematic points especially with characters coming to dramatic realisations. Those who make up the new PHD are an odd collection of ex-villains, mistresses and eccentrics, and I myself will certainly be eager to see the continuing fallout and stacked odds against them as Jackson King tries to bring heroics onto a grounded plane.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/wsnone.jpg
Buy this issue from X-WORLD and save. ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2509&cat=STORMWATCH%3A+PHD)