WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 #18 REVIEW

[Chris Wilson]

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0104/wcv318cvr.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0104/wcv318cvrt.jpg" align=left alt="Wildcats 3.0 #18"></a>Reviewer: Chris Wilson, sneakydub@hotmail.com
Quick Rating: Below Average
Story Title: Great Minds

Chandler gets fed up, as Marlowe waxes political.

Writer: Joe Casey
Artists: Francisco Ruiz Velasco
Cover Art: Dustin Nguyen, Rian Hughes
Letterer: Phil Balsman
Colorist: Randy Mayor of Wildstorm F/X
Assistant Editor: Kristy Quinn
Editor: Ben Abernathy

I'm going to start off by stating that this issue was a disappointment. There, I said it, you may all breathe again. In any advertisement you see for the Wildcats Version 3.0 series, the title is usually preceded by the words "critically acclaimed." Truly, it's a recognition the series has earned and one I hope it continues to garner. Casey's writing has been exciting and intriguing while Nguyen's art sets the perfect tone for the book. It's one of those things where you believe the creators can do no wrong. It is unfortunate then, that with issue #18, my innocence has been lost. Rather, I should say my innocence is being sodomized by cynics and liberals amidst their self-righteous struggle against the White House's incestuous relationship with big-oil interests.

Inhale.

Let me start off by saying, I'm liberally moderate. Or is that moderately liberal? Whatever, let's just say I'm left of center in my political leanings. I don't have any great love for our current White House administration and I'm following the current Democratic primaries very closely. Given that, one would think that I'd feel at least a little vindicated by Casey's tongue-in-cheek admonishment of the Bush administration's economic, energy, and foreign policies in this issue. Ah, but I don't. More so, I'm a bit upset that Casey felt he had to hijack this issue as his soapbox for political reform. And I do mean "hijack." If there was any actual plot development to speak of between the anti-government antics in this issue, then I'd be totally fine with him posturing and politicking. Yet, all we get is an issue explaining that the government has a keen interest in the proceedings of the Halo Corp., with the intentions of stymieing their encroachment of the energy market. C'mon... we knew about this, how many issues ago?

Halo is making batteries that last forever, under Jack Marlowe's altruistic intentions to change the world for the better. Automatically rechargeable batteries that never wear out would be a boon to anyone who wants to reduce energy costs (of course we're totally neglecting several principal laws of thermodynamics, but these are comics). If the market is fluid enough--considering everyone will want one, it probably will be--then gas, oil, and other energy markets will indubitably take a nosedive. The American government in the Wildstorm universe gets a lot of money from big energy companies, and consequently is interested in the viability of such markets, not unlike our government in real life. The obvious reaction is to preserve Washington's interests against the invaders--in this case, the Halo Corp. This then puts our protagonists in a wholly predictable conflict with the government that was mentioned issues ago and foreseen by the readers even before that.

How Casey managed to fill an entire issue with rehashed themes is beyond me. The basic message of Wildcats Version 3.0 #18 is that the government is interested in the Halo Corp., and it will stop at nothing to get what it wants. He paints the government and it's employees as some evil empire, exploiting its power to protect its interest. Okay, so that's not too far from the truth, but that doesn't keep Casey from beating us over the head with such a notion. We also get a few scenes with Chandler and Agent Orange where--you guessed it--nothing happens. She's a badass and he's a wiretap for Grifter/Ladytron (should that be Maxine Cash, the Griftatron?). We knew all of this at the end of the previous issue. I never thought that an issue of Wildcats Version 3.0 could be this uninteresting.

I take that back. There was one potentially interesting development in this issue: Marlowe confronts the President about the government's energy and foreign policy. Mind you, he teleports into the President's bedroom while the man is sleeping. Okay, so Marlowe is an alien android who probably doesn't know any better, but it just seems so tacky. The government's reaction to this intrusion will make for good story fodder, but its execution really didn't work for me. We have Spartan/Marlowe delivering a rather silly monologue ("... bathing them in Kerubim bio-blast fire..." come on, really? :rolleyes: ) about how he's evolved into a peaceful synthezoid, despite his initial programming to destroy all enemies. Yet, he ports into the White House, in the middle of the night, transferring all of the President's security staff a few thousand miles away. That seems more like a very significant security threat than any "efficient and effective" recourse I'm used to. Maybe it was Casey's intention to have Marlowe's actions completely neglect his rhetoric, and, if that's the case, we should see consequences for his ambivalence later. But at the end of the day (rather, at the end of this issue), it simply doesn't work. Ultimately we have a character who is disparate in intentions and actions with no explanation as to why.

I won't go too deep into the art other than to say I miss Nguyen. Velasco has good panels that are randomly placed throughout the book. Random and infrequent. Strange then that the single most laudable aspect of this issue, is the coloring. Also, has anyone noticed that pencilers don't do much shading anymore? They just draw outlines that the colorists get to play with for the most part. It works, but seems like a bit of a cop out, and interrupts whatever nostalgia that may remain for comic book artistry.

Sigh. :sigh: It becomes difficult for me to recommend a great comic when this is the example they provide me with. So please, pick up an issue of Wildcats Version 3.0. That is, pick up any issue other than this one.

(Also, with all his posturing about energy manipulation in this issue, I wonder what kind of car Casey drives)

ART:
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STORY:
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OVERALL:
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Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=156&cat=WILDCATS+VERSION+3%2E0)

[Dylan McKay]

Am I the only one who caught on to the validity of the counter arguement against Marlowe's altruistic agenda? Casey, IMO, hinted that the damage done to the arab world by the elimination of the oil trade could lead to a 9-11 level terrorist attack. The idea that Marlowe's altruistic intents could lead to massive loss of civilian life presents a boat load of interesting storylines. I felt that the debate and dialogue in the issue was very interesting and in no way felt the issue was poor. that said, I agree that the issue was too focussed on what will happen rather than what is happening. Storywise it felt like a very well executed plot stasis.

the art, I didn't think the art was poor at all, just wrong. Way too cartoony for a book about corporate and political intrigue.

[Nick Costanzo]

:O

The issue came out this week??? CRAP! My stupid comic book store... they better not stiff me on Coup next week...

[Stapler]

Except for the art review, I can't agree at all with this review. And even then, I'd be more inclined to agree with Nalyd Psycho, it wasn't poor, just ill-suited.

Marlowe's benign invasion of the White House told them all one thing: "I am the most dangerous thing you've encountered, but only you are creating fear."

This is a socio-politcally charged series. Its punctuated by sudden cathartic bursts of action but in the end, this is Joe Casey's exploration of world events filtered through some good ol' fashioned WildCATS characters. These are complicated issues, and the real world interpretations are labyrinth, without adding in the extensive backstory of the series and Wildstorm universe.

The book needs issues like this, cleaning up and setting up. Most books do, but especially this one. The consequences of the White House incident; the inevitable showdown between the Coda, Zealot and Agent Orange (and probably Grifter/Maxine, too); Wax's indiscretions. I'm sure all will ramp up in the next issue.

And I'll disagree that nothing happens with Chandler and AG. We see a very very frustrated woman trying to justify her existence. To herself. AG and Grifter are just an audience. I think this goes further into showing that the personal insecurities of people can effect us all.

The fear that your powerful oil buddies will crucify you if you don't crucify someone else. The feelings of inadequacy that might cause you to hotdog a stake-out, leading to the death of many people, including your partner.

So many of our actions are driven by how we think other people will react. Marlowe doesn't work that way. He sees a path, and right or wrong in our eyes, he follows it. I think the main thrust of this issue, and the series in general, is that people need to stop reacting and start acting positively.

A lot of things happen in this issue. Maybe you just have to look for them.

[BarbelithXavier]

Couldn't agree more with stapler, but I guess one needs to look like mr. sensitive to feel all the subtle nuances in this issue- (just joking of course...) This was my favorite issue in quite some time- I felt like themes that have been brewing in the background for quite some time have come to the surface and I trust Casey to deliver some mean pay-off. Sure this was a kind of mid-arc somehwat static issue, but a great one anyway.

Speculitive fiction is always best when you take a high-concept and really explore the different angles of it. Come on, doesn't it feel great to have your politics vindicated by a purely objective alien android?

Ahh it feels nostalgic, defending Casey on these boards...

[Drax]

Casey doesn't need defending on Wildcats. An attack without real merit doesnt cause damage, at least concerning comics. This issue was on par with the rest of the series, aside from the art which was inconsistant(too many heads changed size and shape from panel to panel). Wildcats has been and is still one of the best comics put on the shelf, this issue included.

I don't agree with some of the views Casey expresses through Jack and Dolbey, but that doesn't mean I dont respect the writer to have his own opinion. I'm a Republican and I wasnt as offended as this review seemed to be. I wasnt offended at all. But somebody sure didnt seem to like what Casey had to say.

And so on and so forth as the above couple of posts have said.

Lastly, when a book gets 2 1/2 stars out of 5 on all catigories yet gets a Below Average it just doesnt seem consistent. From the numbers, Average would have worked better. But thats just me.

[BarbelithXavier]

just want to say, Drax, I think its very cool that you can enjoy this book as a republican. If roles were reversed, and a writer had an alien android (ostensibly the voice of bipartisan objectivity) come out in favor of the current administration in the white house and their energy and foreign policy decisions, I would call it propaganda. I admire your open mindedness, though I wonder how you must feel about the Wildstorm universe's heroes (authority stormwatch and wildcats) being so far to the left.

[aylw]

I don't know, while I still loved this issue, I still have many of the same feelings as the reviewer.

The art, I would agree, is bit too cartoony. But I'm getting used to it. Which, I guess is meaningless, since they are gonn change artists very soon.

And while there WHERE a few things that happened in this issue, My main problem is that a LOT of the stuff was basically recap. The Wax-Marlowe talk, Marlowe even says "Man, what you said is nothing new". Um... Yes, my thoughts exactly. The meeting of nameless characters in the beginning dragged on too long, while telling us nothing, with no character development, or new ideas.

That's half the comic book right there.

The other half was pretty cool, on the other hand, with Marlowe teleporting in to the president's home, and some characterisation of the blonde girl (dont remember her name :P). Who you almost know Grifter is gonna develop some kind of feelings for, (not necissarily attraction, but pity, or something).

But the problem is, I didn't pay full price for a half a meal. Yah, it might be one of the best meals in town, but I still want a whole month's dose.

While recaps are occasionally needed, wouldn't it make sense to put the recap AFTER Coup, when they expect new readers to jump on board? Or are they gonna have ANOTHER recap issue?


So, in summary, half was really good, half was a recap, =got half (content-wise) of a really good comic. Not as good as before, but can't wait for the action to kick in to high gear come coda-war. Return of Zealot, Coda, and Agent Orange and Griftytron back in action! YEOUCH!

-Aylw

[Dylan McKay]

I fear that the issue probably was filler so Coda War One wouldn't be broken up by Coup. I hope the blonde woman takes an expanded role after CWO, and gets to kick ass during.