The difficult part of reviewing a comic book like The Wild Storm is that different readers will have extremely different experiences with this comic book. The way I see it, there are two different groups that need to be served here: there are the people who knew and loved Wildstorm Productions and those who have no idea that Wildstorm was even a thing. As the reviewer of this comic, I know what Wildstorm was, but I don’t have an extensive history with the comics themselves. This leaves me outside of either camp, but I will try to do my best nevertheless.
Given the context, there are a lot of reasons to be excited about The Wild Storm. Jim Lee, the current co-publisher of DC Entertainment, created Wildstorm Productions in the 90s and clearly has a vested interest in keeping these characters alive and perpetuating his legacy. Hiring the legendary Warren Ellis to write the revival is a huge sign that Lee really wants this latest reboot to be something great. Ellis rarely dips his toes into the superhero world, but he always kills it when he does. This, to me, feels like a comic book that has the 100% backing of the company that is publishing it.
So, the question remains, how is it when you actually read it?
I liked it, but I always felt like I was a step behind the curve. I know that all of these characters have a rich history, but I realized, as I was reading it, that I know nothing about characters like Voodoo and Zealot. It feels like your are in a car with your older brother and his friends and they are telling stories about people you don’t know. The stories are fun, but you can’t help but feel that you are missing essential details.
Outside of the context, as a new reader, I think the story itself is pretty decent. Ellis is an incredible writer and he art is really beautiful. I’m definitely going to read future issues and I am excited to see where it all goes from her.
