Posted September 13, 2011 by Earl Maghirang in Comics

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Stormwatch #1

Earl’s Take

I have been an avid reader of Wildstorm way back when the Authority made a lot of controversial moves. I didn’t stick though for the lackluster ending of the imprint which was quietly folded last year. So I was amazed to actually see DC going about the New 52 with the addition of several notable Wildstorm characters including Stormwatch which featured The Martian Manhunter as part of their cast.

Now I have massive respect for Paul Cornell who also wrote some great stuff with Marvel including the Secret Invasion era book “Captain Britain and MI-13″. So hands down the guy was good with writing team books with a tinge of horror or even a bit of mystery.

Sorry for the fans of artist Miguel Sepulveda but the artist’s work on the first issue of Stormwatch was a bit on the losing side. The reworked costumes for mainstays Midnighter and Apollo were a bit lackluster and I felt that the artist should have pulled out all the stops when it came to doing the whole team.

A lot of plot elements that were laid in the book was pretty awesome in my opinion. From a new Spirit of the 21st Century and Adam One’s mission to recover a massive and evil looking horn in the Antarctic wastelands to even Jack Hawksmoor and his mission to recruit Apollo in Moscow, there will always be something that will appeal to old school fans of the Authority and even Stormwatch in general.

So while the art on the book needed improvement, Cornell really worked hard in providing a book that was full of mystery and a lot of badassery. Just make the necessary improvements and this is one DC title that should be in every sense of the word, a good book.

Oh and if DC or Sepulveda does take my advice, then we might just be looking at a title that would definitely trounce Jonathan Hickman‘s SHIELD book in terms of sheer number of things to touch and past events to revisit.

VERDICT: PASS