WSU vs. The Wild Storm 16

I know, the main point of this blog is to talk about the continuity of WildStorm Universe as it was from ’92 – ’11… but I really like doing this compare and contrast thing! Admittedly, I have no idea where Ellis and Davis-Hunt are going with this new series, and honestly, I couldn’t be more on board with what they and their team are bringing. I just thought I’d have some fun, point out some of the references/differences from the old WSU to the new book “the Wild Storm” that came out last week.

 

New vs. Old

Gloria Spaulding
Yes, there was an actual Gloria Spaulding in the WSU. No, she didn’t have any powers. Yes, she was the mother of a Gen13 character (but there was some screwy story where she told her daughter she was her step-mother… yeah… comics.) Other than that, this character is pretty much all new in the pages of “The Wild Storm.” She seems pretty light-hearted and at the risk of a horrible pun, kinda flighty. She can control gravity, of herself and other objects, she apparently used this power to steal things for I.O. back when she worked there. Now she’s living in the middle of nowhere, having fun in her four-story high tower.

Gloria’s Child / Roxanne Spaulding?
Looks like Gloria had a kid too. She even admitted that she was compelled to, this is something John and Kwok eluded to in the last issue. She sent this kid off to live with her mother. In the old WSU Gloria had a daughter, who was Roxanne “Roxy” Spaulding AKA Freefall from Gen13. Sure, the WSU version of the character technically got her powers from her dad’s side, but hey, them’s the breaks in reboots. That’s 3 confirmed Gen13 team kids (and 4 kids over all) out there somewhere in the world of “The Wild Storm.” Ok, sure, we don’t know much about this kid, if it is a girl or even named Roxanne, but I think it’s a safe bet.

Gloria’s Singing Khera Implant / Kheribum Singing
Gloria mentioned that her Khera implant sang to her. This is an interesting revelation because it only seemed to talk (to some louder than others) with the other Thunderbook subjects. In the old WSU we find that there is an entire art and very serious side of Kherubim singing. In fact, they use singing as a kind of a password to gain access to Khera. Not sure if Ellis was particularly referencing the Kherubim singing ritual here, but I couldn’t help but think of it.

Thunderbook 12th Genetic Stage / Gen12
Gloria also drops this on us, calling her Thunderbook group the “12th Genetic Stage.” She basically just called herself and most of the Thunderbook test subjects Gen12! In the old WSU Gen12 were I/O’s 12 test/try to create their own superpowered agents. All the members of Team 7 were Gen12. Other Gen12 members were in The Brethren and some… well, there had to be more out there because there were a bunch of their kids running around in the old WSU. (The kids were Gen13 and stared in the books “Gen13” and “DV8.”)

New and What We Don’t Know

Gloria Knows About Slayton
How does Gloria know about Slayton and how his implant is talking to him? Specifically how it remembers where it came from? Interesting twist!

Will Cole Leave Halo?
We find Angie and Cole talking, and he mentions that his cover has been blown. Since I.O. has found out that he’s not dead, he’s not exactly safe and needs to get back to being deep underground. Will we see Cole quit Halo’s WildCAT? Will he refrain from going on missions with the team and hide in Jacob’s bunker? I guess we have 8 more issues to find out!

Does Cole have a Khera Implant?
We know that Cole worked under John Lynch at I.O. and was part of Project Thunderbook. So far we have not seen Cole exhibit any powers like other Thunderbook participants do. At Halo we currently have Jacob, Kenesha, and John, three Khera, Adriana, a former Skywatch member who has become something else and Angie, a former I.O. member who has also become something else. Then there’s Cole. Could he just be a normal human? Could he be the only one from I.O.’s Project Thunderbook that didn’t get an implant? Is that possible? If he is, it doesn’t seem to be affecting him like it has the others that we’ve seen. I’m putting this out as a strong “maybe.”

Answers

Jenny Mei Sparks is One with Electronic Communication
At one point I wanted to call Jenny Mei Sparks, Jenny Social Media, using the “Jenny” nomenclature from the old WSU. Seemed like I wasn’t too far off the mark her. Jenny is so at one with the global communication systems that she can feel when something odd like Angie logs onto the internet.

Another Step Closer to the Authority
Looks like Angie and Jenny hit it off! Also, looks like Angie trusts her. Before Jenny left she let Angie know she’d help her get out of Jacob’s crash pad without anyone knowing. That’s one step closer to Angie getting together with Jenny, Shen, and Hawksmoor.

Look at Angie Becoming Even More Like the WSU Engineer!
When Angie manifested that gun with her hand I got a great big smile on my face. This, this is the Engineer that we used to know! It’s been a slow ramp-up, and I honestly didn’t think she’d ever look too much like the old school version, but damn, it’s so close now!

One Last Thing

We have two interesting page layouts here. The first one being the image of “the Internet.” It is the second two-page slash we’ve had in the series, and it is the first page that we get that has no borders! It seriously fills the pages all the way the edge. In a comic that has been defined by its page layouts, this is something to note.

image uncropped or edited in any way

The second is when John is talking to Gloria, and we get a two-page spread with oddly shaped panels. This just looks cool and is referencing Gloria’s hexagonal tower in her house. It is not the kind of page layouts that we’ve seen in the previous 15 issues. Not sure if it means something extra, or if Jon Davis-Hunt was just showing off his chops and clever layout skills. (Go buy the book, I’m not putting every page of it up here on this blog!)

More issue comparisons of the old WildStorm Universe to “The Wild Storm.”