Wildstorm Winter Special #1
Originally presented at Comixtreme.com.
Quick Rating: Fair
Title: The Survivor
Four tales from around the Wildstorm Universe.
Writers: Bruce Jones, Tom Peyer, Will Pfeifer, Allen Warner
Art: Josh Middleton, Cary Nord, Scott Iwahashi, Carlos D’Anda
Colors: Josh Middleton, Dave Stewart, Scott Iwahashi, Tim Brasted, Carrie Strachan
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher, Nick J. Napolitano, Rob Leigh
Editor: Alex Sinclair
Cover Art: Michael Turner & Peter Steigerwald
Publisher: DC Comics/Wildstorm Universe
Review: The Wildstorm Winter Special. The one-stop shop for four stories from all over the Wildstorm Universe. All of which feel fairly superfluous and only one of which is really that interesting.
The strongest story in the book is also the first one, “The Survivor” by Bruce Jones and Josh Middleton. Not really knowing much about the Wildstorm characters, I’m not sure how much of this story is a revelation and how much is just “filling in the blank,” but when Zealot and Savant face off, Zealot tells a startling story of her homeworld. This story, to me at least, is most interesting in its examination of their homeworld and its odd customs. Middleton’s artwork is soft and lovely, although one should be warned, this is a story that immediately reminds us the book is mature readers only.”
Next up is Apollo and Midnighter in “Two Dangerous Ideas” by Tom Peyer and Cary Nord. Our duo comes face-to-face with a disturbing pair of visitors who need their help to combat… an idea. Someone has devised a thought, a phrase, a sentence of incredible danger. The idea is a clever one, I must admit, but the whole thing rolls towards an ending of not one, but two fairly lame jokes to close the whole thing off.
In “A Small World, After All,” Will Pfeifer and Scott Iwahashi take us into an adventure of Hawksmoor, locked in heated battle with “crazy inventor” Art Friendly, a battle that winds up taking them across different planes of reality and onto a very strange battlefield. In the end, though, it’s a fairly forgettable gag that doesn’t really say much. The upside here, though, is that Iwahashi does some really great art in this story. He’s got a style similar to Charles Vess, a beautiful line style that would look incredible in a great fantasy comic.
Finally is “Deathblow Gets Dusted” by Allen Warner and Carlos D’Anda, in which Deathblow… um… is in the desert and fights a… guy made of dust… and some zombies… Okay, I’ve never cared for Deathblow. This story didn’t change my mind. The art was nice and creepy, but the story just couldn’t hold my attention.
For that’s one out of four stories in this issue that is really worth the read. Unless you’re a diehard Wildstorm Universe fan, this is an issue you can skip with no guilt whatsoever.
Rating: 3/5