WSU vs. The Wild Storm 7

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 is going with this new series, and honestly, I couldn’t be more on board for what he and his 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 earlier this week.

 

New vs. Old

John Colt
We finally meet the John that was referred to a few issues ago, and it is indeed John Colt. In the old WildStorm Universe, John Colt AKA Yohn Khol was an adventurer back in the ’30s. He eventually died in the ’60s at the hands of Mr. Majestic. Actually… sigh… he didn’t, he just turned bastard and then had to be killed for real. He was also an alien from Khera. The WildC.A.T. member Spartan/Hadrian was an android based on John Colt memories, personality and look. The new John Colt is not a robot and really seems to enjoy the finer things in life in addition to being the systems guy on Jacob Marlowe’s wild covert action team. He is alien like Jacob and Kanesha, which is why Angela doesn’t trust him.

Jackie King / Jackson King
Alright, we finally know the name of Craven’s assistant! I thought it was Alicia Masters at first, and then joked it could be a gender-flipped version of a character from the old WSU. Well, I didn’t hit on who it was because I was only thinking I.O. employees. So yup, Jackie King is the new version of Jackson King, who was the leader of the StormWatch field team. They don’t have too much in common past the name for now, I mean other than heading up large groups of people. Jackson had mental powers and was pretty buff, Jackie doesn’t seem to exhibit any superpowers and looks to be built like an average human. Maybe there will be more similarities down the line, who knows, I’m up for it!

Mitchell Saunders / Cannon
Alright, I can’t believe I missed this one! Carl K. Li of CKRR Lives pointed it out! I knew the first name Mitch was shared with Cannon, but I didn’t think his last name was Saunders. So yeah in the old WildStorm Cannon was, like Jackson, a member of StormWatch. He was kind of a hothead and one of the few other Americans in the book. He worked just below Jackson and was the leader of the backup StormWatch team. Here, the new version of Mitchell seems to be quite happy working for Jackie and they have a more friendly relationship. But I should’ve known that it was the new version of Cannon just based on the stupid haircut alone.

Hightower
Hightower was the name of a black site for I.O. that John was embedded in as part of his mission. In the old WSU it was the name of a WildC.A.T.s villain. Just a name drop, that may or may not have been intentional.

New and What We Don’t Know

Crashed Ship/Housing Structure
Not sure what this is, if it some kind of alien housing structure or if it is the crashed ship much like the one that brought Jacob and pals to Earth in the first place. Judging by the dual suns this isn’t Earth, but maybe the ship that stranded the Kera crew someplace else before they moved on to Earth.

Ring World
We get a view of some kind of, I guess, ring-shaped world. It may be falling apart. This is a memory of Jacob’s. This may or may not be his home planet, but it is an interesting detail.

Aliens
We’ve established that there are two sets of aliens on Earth, Kera and Daemons. What we see when Jacob is getting ready to explain his backstory to Angela looks like neither of them. Once again, another interesting detail.

Voodoo’s Stalker
I don’t think that I noticed that Pris had a stalker these last few issues, though I could be wrong. Apparently, she did, and it looks like that stalker was shot according to Adri’s newspaper.

Answers

Cole and Jacob’s Antagonism
In the early issues of “WildC.A.T.s” in the old WildStorm Universe, Cole and Marlowe had a pretty antagonistic, yet playful relationship. What with Cole always calling Marlowe “little buddy” and such. It seems like that relationship is intact with Cole flipping Jacob the bird while razzing him with a smile.

DCU Connections

Streaky (the Super Cat)
Not a big one, but Jackie has an orange cat named Streaky, much like the superpowered cat from the DCU. Wait, what’s a cat doing in this book? Did Grant Morrison guest write this issue?

The Daily Planet
Yeah, Adri’s reading a copy of the Daily Planet. Which I guess is based out of NYC and not Metropolis because there as far as we know isn’t a Metropolis in “the Wild Storm” (but there is an NYC in the DCU… but no one really talks about it. Sad little DCU NYC.)

One Last Thing
The most relatable comics panel in all of 2017, mark my words.

Streaky is indeed history’s greatest monster!

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

 

WSU vs. The Wild Storm 6

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 is going with this new series, and honestly, I couldn’t be more on board for what he and his 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 earlier this week.

Here we are at the end of the first big story arc! If I wasn’t already loving what was being laid out here early, I’d be fully on board after this issue! It’s a doozy of a story and does manage to pack in a few references and a lot of explanations. I’m not going to deep dive into those explanations, as really, you should be reading the book!

New vs. Old 

Warblade & Wetworks
We have two references for the price of a single panel. Let’s start with Warblade. For “the Wild Storm” this refers to a two person team, where as a CAT (covert action team) usually consists of three or four members. This just seems to be a reference to the old WSU character Warblade who was a member of the WildC.A.T.s. I have a feeling that means we’re not going to be seeing Reno Bryce anytime soon as his code name is now a term for something completely different.

Also, I’m not sure if the bearded guy was supposed to remind me of Reno, but he did. We’ve seen Reno grow a beard before, and we know that brown is his natural hair color.

Now on to the second part. So, Wetworks is a team in the old WSU but is also is a term for a military action that is going to involve some spilled blood. While there’s is no direct reference to the WSU team there is no way that Ellis just dropped this word into the script without being a sly winking son of a bitch. At most, it’s a half reference, and it made me laugh more than anything.

Answers

Adrianna
We can never get away from new answers on Adrianna, can we? We now see that she, much like the previous WSU version of the character is in fact, silver. The former Adrianna would also take off her face, leaving just her silver body as a hollow shell of her form, and you’d see into her “face hole.” This new Adrianna can take off her face, as well as her hair and outfit because it is all just covering her liquid silver body. We also see that she has some kind of short form weather based powers along with her teleportation. I vaguely recall at one time seeing the WSU Adrianna become more of a liquid-like version of herself, but I’m having trouble finding the visual reference.

IO & Skywatch
Jacob pretty much just spelled out how IO and Skywatch each run the Earth and outer space and it is pretty interesting. I love his explanation as to why they are at odds.

Jacob & Kenesha
We’ve got confirmation that neither of these two is human. We can guess as to whether these two are going to be the race from the WSU, Kheribum or Kheran, or something completely new. I personally like how they are described as “human-shaped” and not actually human, with everything inside looking wrong. This is a point that rarely comes up in comics. Superman is an alien, but he looks human. It’s always struck me as odd that he still looks human on the inside as well, that seems like a bigger coincidence than him just looking human.

One Last Thing
Fire from heaven? Ellis, you hilarious bastard! Did not expect to see a reference to the name of that WSU crossover event at all. I know it was an important and serious moment in the comic, but it did make me smile.

 

Also, new blog alert! DeFaultlines is detailing the real world conspiracy’s that Warren Ellis is pulling from in building the world of “the Wild Storm.” Check it out, bunch of stuff that I’d never heard of, or hadn’t quite put together yet! Fascinating!

WSU vs. The Wild Storm 5

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 is going with this new series, and honestly, I couldn’t be more on board for what he and his 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 earlier this week.

 

New vs. Old

Daemon / Daemonite
Well, looky here! We have a full on alien looking thing! So, this is a total redesign of what we are used to.  It’s Daemon and not Daemonite now. To be honest, he seems pretty docile, and maybe more of a trickster character than outright evil. More of a Hightower type than a Helspont type. The way this Daemon just seems to appear and then slink back into the shadows is also at odds with how we saw these aliens presented in the WSU. Do they have any kind of powers? This Daemon is seeming to do fine without a host body right now, too.

Cray’s Father
This version of Cray Sr. doesn’t seem to be ex-military. Nor does he seem to think that Cray should be joining the Navy at all. Small change, but an important one.

Gaby
I think this is Gaby. Is this Gaby? In the original WSU Cray had an ex-wife. Her name was Gabrielle, she went by Gaby. This person is obviously someone who was once in a relationship with this version of Cray. Could it be “the Wild Storm’s” version of Gaby?

The Bleed
It is still the name for the area outside of space-time. It is unknown if it still represents the area between universes as it did in the former WSU. Looks different. Every time we’ve seen it it is pinkish in hue and features large planetoids/white blood cells. It used to look pretty different each time we saw it before, but now there’s a unified look. I dig it. Formally it was a dark red with a digital effect over it. Later on, it became quite fantastical looking under other artists, but the classic and original was the deep red version.

Cray Quitting I.O.
Still due to his hatred of Craven. Still due to going on missions, ones he’s starting to doubt helped anything in the long run. Not so different overall, but it plays a bit different.

New and What We Don’t Know

Executive Protection Services
Christine Trelane states that she works for this service and that it will help Cray disappear from I.O. and help him with his health. Also, in repayment, they’ll be having him do jobs. Jobs much like Craven had him do, kill the supposed bad guys. Is this the official name of what I’ve been calling the Division? Or is it just another business ran by the Skywatch ground crew?

Answers

Lucy’s Age
From her discussion with the Daemon, we know that Lucy is long lived. Not only that but they’ve been at odds with each other for a while.

Adrianna’s Powers and Background
We’ve met her before, but now we know more about her, so here it goes. Still Russian, but now had been working for SkyWatch and not a cosmonaut. She was again on a mission with a doomed partner who had a glorious mustache. Here she didn’t encounter an orb, but had fallen into the Bleed and was “saved” by a creature that lived in the Bleed from death. This is how she gained her transport powers, it’s also how she accesses them. She uses the Bleed. Neat. It must be noted, this version of Adrianna is much more talkative and outgoing that the one in the original WSU. Also, this time, Jacob found Adrianna, not the other way around.

One Last Thing

Pris’s Music Video Stills
Pris knows something or is it that she knows everything!? Here we see her in a suit like Adrianna’s in a setting that is reminiscent of The Bleed. Then we see her in Cray’s outfit in front of a wall with I.O.s logo painted on it. After that we see her dressed as our new Jenny in front of a bank of televisions with repeated footage of herself running from screen to screen. We also see in the second panel that Pris has an alien arm. This reminds me of her were-form from the old WSU, but here we don’t know if she has the same powers, or if this is just makeup on her arm for her music video. Could be either. This Pris knows a lot. That, or she is a magnet for coincidence!

WSU vs. The Wild Storm 4

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 is going with this new series, and honestly, I couldn’t be more on board for what he and his 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 earlier this week.

New vs. Old

Lauren Pennington
Here we see Lauren as the Mr. Smithers to Henry Bendix’s Mr. Burns. Lauren still seems rather sassy here, too, much like when Ellis wrote for her in the old WSU. As of right now Lauren just seems to be a high ranking member of SkyWatch without any of the flame powers she had as Fahrenheit in the old WSU. Other than her red hair, her look seems mostly new. She either had extremely straight long hair in a ponytail or a short tight curly cut, or even the length that we see here, but a bit frizzy.

SkyWatch Satellite 
So we finally get a good look at the SkyWatch’s home. It’s a lot less sci-fi cool than the old WSU version. Hell, this thing actually looks kind of plausible for a modern place to live in space. And I’ll admit, it harkens a bit more to the old WSU design than I anticipated.

New & What We Don’t Know

Cassady
She might just be a one-off character for Ivana to yell at, or she might be someone, but it’s not ringing any bells. Or it might just say Cassady on her jumpsuit as a wink towards Ellis’s “Planetary” partner, John Cassady. EDIT: Carl K. Li suggests it might be a reference to Cassandra AKA Providence. Also, I just read an issue of DV8 which featured an I/O clone who went by the name Cassady,  But I bet that’s just a coincidence.

Ben Santini
Craven makes a reference to needing the Razor 1 team, and then name checks Ben Santini. I guess that Ben is head of the Razor’s here, much like he was head of the Black Razor’s in the old WSU.

the Summit in Zagreb
There was some kind of meeting in Zagreb, Croatia (or about Zagreb, somewhere else) that Craven attended with his husband and Henry Bendix was also in attendance at. Much was made about how Bendix was acting and even more so how he left, but the reader has not been made privy to that information yet. Judging by the next page, it might have been a reference to him “beaming” out.

Transport Technology
In the old WSU StormWatch had transport/beaming technology. It was basically Star Trek with a few platforms on SkyWatch that did the trick. This transport tech seems a bit different that what we’ve previously seen though. Like everything else w/ SkyWatch in “the Wild Storm” it looks a bit more low tech than the WSU, but a bit more “real” if that makes any sense at all to you.

Cray’s Powers
The old Michael Cray in the WSU’s only power was to not die. He just couldn’t die. Ok, he could die for a bit, but he’d never really stay dead for too long. This Michael Cray also seems to have some kind of power that can cause an explosion between him and Marlow’s spur, and melt part of (what seems to be) a metal cup.

Where’s Angie Headed?
Looks like she’s in Massachusetts on her way West towards Rhode Island (I, uh… looked at a bunch of maps…) Not sure exactly where she’s going, but she looks slightly determined to get there.

One Last Thing

That’s pretty much it. I didn’t see any real answers to any of our lingering questions, nor were there any DCU connections that I noticed. After the last issue, we sure were on an overload in that department! In the end, what I loved from this issue was the relationship between Bendix and Lauren. He’s a bigger bastard than he’s ever been, but with Lauren, he actually relaxes and can make jokes. The rest of the time he’s all fury, with her, behind closed doors, he’s just a hilarious cranky old uncle.

WSU vs. the Wild Storm 3

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 is going with this new series, and honestly, I couldn’t be more on board for what he and his 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.

To be fair, this week just might as well be called “DCU references in “the Wild Storm”” but we’ll get to that eventually. But let’s start out this entry in our usual way.

New vs. Old

Jenny?
Alright, I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that this a Jenny. You know, a woman who will live 100 years and be the spirit of that century. The most well known was Jenny Sparks. After her, we got Jenny Quantum AKA Jenny Quarx. We also had met, via some special Jenny Heaven craziness Jenny Fire, Jenny Steam and just a whole lot of other Jennys. The Jenny we have here, well, she reminds me a lot like Jenny Sparks, only from Mongolia in the 21st Century and not England in the 20th Century. She seems to be traveling via electronic screens, be they televisions, advertisement billboards, tablets or cell phones. Jenny Sparks used to travel by way of electricity wires, so that again leads me to think of her more as a Jenny Sparks type rather than a Jenny Quantum type. More to come for this young lady for sure! (I was thinking her name was most likely Jenny Media, but then I saw that Carl K. Li scooped me with that name. I’m sticking with it, but I have to give credit where credit is due, he said in a public way before I got around to it!)

Razors
Not sure why I didn’t mention this last issue, but the main team that I/O will send out to do field work are the Razors. In the old WSU they were called the Black Razors and were lead by both John Lynch and Ben Santini. In “the Wild Storm” they’re known as Razor C.A.T. as being a Covert Action Team is a much bigger deal in this new universe.

Whak! Supersoda
In the original WSU we had Whak Cola. It seems like there’s a newer version of this, and it’s a “Supersoda” vs. a regular cola. Although, the Drummer and Max Faraday seemed to like the original formula a lot more than Jenny seems to enjoy the new one.

New and What We Don’t Know

Jenny’s Conspiracy Board
Basically almost everything on our new Jenny’s board! So much new info. For real, just go check out Carl’s breakdown of the board, he’s done a better job than I ever could!

Who Ivana is Talking to
Who is Ivana on the phone with? Is this just a good way to get some exposition out, or will who she’s talking to come into play?

Craven’s Assistant
No confirmation on who it is, but based on how smart she is, and how she’s treating the proceedings, I still think it’s Alicia Turner. Also, Cole put on his mask as soon as the Razor’s popped in. Not sure if it was just to prevent effects of a gas attack, or because he thought that someone watching might recognize him. In the old WSU Cole and Alicia had a past, so if it is her, and they also share a past in the new continuity it would be one of many good reasons for him to put on the mask.

Answers

Ivana
I guess I was wrong about this version of Ivana not being as much of a schemer as the last one! She really seems to be after Craven’s job!

Mars Expedition 1955
Jenny has a lighter commemorating the Mars Expedition of 1955. Not sure if the former Jenny was there, and she got this lighter in memory of her, or if it was something she found while doing here conspiracy hunting.

John Colt
We can assume after seeing Jenny’s board that the John that Jacob and Cole were talking about last issue is most likely John Colt.

DCU Connections

Commander Steel
The DCU really does have a character named Commander Steel. In fact, there are three of them, it’s a family thing. But nowhere does it look like they’ve ever been drawn by Chris Ware as seen here.

Galaxy Network
In the DCU we have the Galaxy Broadcasting System or just GBS for short. Slight name change to Galaxy Network for “the Wild Storm.”

Crime Doctor
In the DCU the Crime Doctor is an old Batman villain, here it seems to be the basis of some kind of CSI type show.

Doom Patrol
Much like “Crime Doctor” being a television show in “the Wild Storm,” “Doom Patrol” are also real characters in the DCU whose name is being borrowed for some sort of formulaic show here. (In all honesty, Doom Patrol are some of my other favorite comics. Glad to see them get a tip of the hat here.)

KORD
Possibly related to Ted Kord, the second Blue Beatle. It’s possible in this reality he never had to save the world, inherit the Blue Beatle legacy and instead used his wealth along with his tech and business smarts to create a YouTube-like video company.

Martian Manhunter
This might be my favorite joke of the whole run. Instead of the self-serious strong green guy from Mars we all know as the Martian Manhunter, we have a green woman with a praying mantis type head, shouting catchphrases at a club, while holding a champs in one hand and a cell phone in the other, presumably on a Tinder-like application. It’s just too funny.

Dr. Mid-Nite
The name of a superhero who could see in the dark in the DCU, “the Wild Storm” reappropriates the name as a brand of cigarettes.

One Last Thing
Because there was so much action going on in this issue, we don’t get too much info on what is going down behind the scenes. This is fine. I mean, it leaves me wanting more, but it satisfies the lack of action in the last issue. I’m perfectly fine with that kind of give and take on that front. Also, I’ll love this issue forever, just because of this panel alone:

WSU vs. the Wild Storm 2

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 actually had a request to keep up this feature last week! Admittedly, I have no idea where Ellis is going with this new series, and honestly, I couldn’t be more on board for what he and his 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

Ivana
In the old WSU Ivana was the stone cold bitch that worked for I/O, slept her way to the top, restarted Project: Genesis and kidnapped a whole lot of gen-active kids. She was the anti-John Lynch and had her own group of hellraisers known as DV8 at her beck and call up until she took over I/O following Craven’s death. This new version seems much more adept at her job at I/O without having to trick or mess with anyone. She’s a little condescending, but it doesn’t seem to come from an over-inflated sense of ego, she’s just good at her job and she knows it. Also, as far as well know, this version of Ivana is all human and isn’t mostly computery parts like the last one.

Cole Cash
There’s so much to say about the new version of Cole. But I’m grasping for words. It’s pretty much the same guy. Still a smart ass, still has a kind of antagonistic relationship with Marlowe, but not as goofy, I don’t see this Cole calling Marlowe “little buddy” anytime soon. Seems to be a lot more understood respect between the two here. Also, this version of Cole has reddish auburn hair, as opposed to the blond and dirty blond/brown hair that he’d sport, depending on the artist, in the old WSU

Kanesha
In the WSU Kanesha was better known as Savant. Savant was an alien like half of the WilC.A.T.s cast. The old Kanesha had a very different look than the new one, but the spunky attitude and the goggles are still there. Also, saying that she can redraw plans she saw 18yrs ago seems to be giving her some savant-like qualities… oh, I see what you did there Mr. Ellis.

Henry Bendix
Still bald and still in charge of SkyWatch/Skywatch, looks like not much has changed. A reference is made that he’s more machine than man at this point, and while that may be true, he doesn’t show the outward signs of cyborgification like he did in the old continuity.

Christine Trelane
Christine Trelane is a character that changed her look drastically over time in the original WSU. She was depicted as a typical ’90s comic book girl, it wasn’t until later, under Ellis’s writing, did she really become a much more normal woman, in look, and in character. Normal being a relative word for comics of course. “The Wild Storm” version of her looks a lot more like her later incarnation, despite not having her trademark glasses and vest. Here’s she’s still second in command under Henry Bendix as she was in the WSU. She’s not going by Synergy this time and shows no kind of powers, but she does run the investigative division of the ground crew of Skywatch.

Mary Cross
I’m not really sure if I (and other WildStorm fans) are drawing a true connection here or not. We’re presented with Dr. Mary Cross, a therapist that Cray often goes to. Her name, as well as being involved with Cray, leads many to think she is the new version of Sister Mary who worked for the Order of the Cross. It’s possible that this is all a big coinkidink. But I say no-inkidink! I think it’s just a sly reference for all of us fanboys/girls out there, but no real resemblance in actions, appearance or place in Cray’s life to Sister Mary.

Skywatch
SkyWatch was the satellite station, high above the Earth, that StormWatch operated out of in the WSU. It was mostly a base for the personal of StormWatch, active superhero types or not. Now it seems as if Skywatch is the name of the agency that polices, or is at least in charge of outer space/the area of space around Earth. So instead of “SkyWatch, the home of StormWatch” it’s more like a “Skywatch, the home of Skywatch” kind of thing. Also, we have no idea what it looks like yet in “the Wild Storm.”

New & What We Don’t Know

Majestic Level Event
We have mention of a Majestic Level Event, but nothing more on what that might mean. As WildStorm fans, we’re all expecting it to be a reference to Lord Majestros AKA Mr. Majestic. It probably is, but we have no idea what the event was, or why it is important.

John
Marlowe makes a reference to a John for Cole to take to capture/rescue Angela. Could it be John Colt, the inspiration for Spartan in the old continuity? John Lynch, of Team 7 and Gen13 fame? That could work, as he and Cole knew each other quite well in the old WSU. John Stone? Eh, probably not. Besides just the core group, I doubt we’re going to see any “Planetary” characters at all in “the Wild Storm.” My money is on John Colt.

Miles Craven’s Assistant
How is it that we still don’t know this woman’s name? Is it going to be some big twist on an old character? Is she going to end up being Joan Lynch, Francine Colby or Bebe Santini? I kinda hope so. Odds are, that it’s probably just the new version of Alicia Turner.

Lady Backlash Records
Ah ha ha ha. Ok, so this the record label Voodoo is on. I think it might be as close to any reference to Backlash as we’re going to get. You might be saying “Hey, wasn’t Backlash a dude?” well, yeah, he was, but then his daughter took over the name (after going by both Crimson and Jet) for a short time. Though, she was simply just Backlash, not Lady Backlash. Such a small throw away line leads me to think that this is it for any kind of Backlash revival, but if Jody Slayton is running the record label, that could be pretty neat.

Answers

Cray’s Cancer
As predicted, this version of Cray also has cancer. The previous Cray had cancer of the god-damn-everything, this one just has brain cancer.

Voodoo’s Job
It’s pretty clear that Pris is some kind of musical artist, considering she’s on a record label. She seems somewhere between Lady Gaga big spectacle oddness, and Beyonce cool. Her album is called “Blue Book” which is a direct reference to the alien theme for her project that she spoke of in issue 1.

the Division
Turns out that the Division is the ground forces for Skywatch. Glad that’s cleared up. In the old WSU there was an aquatic based version of StormWatch called SeaWatch, but that was more of a scientific exploration kind of thing by the U.N. than a super-hero kind of thing.

One Last Thing

Angela’s Armor
I thought of this earlier this week before issue 2 of “the Wild Storm” came out, and that’s that Angela’s armor isn’t as sleek as what she had in the former WSU. Also, that it now hurts her to change into that form. Suddenly, I remembered that there was an old WSU character very similar to this, and that was Brass.
His robo-form was a lot bigger and mech-like, but it was also bulky and it hurt him to change as well. I don’t think that this is an intentional reference, to be honest, and there’s nothing to show that Brass was ever even thought of when creating the new version of the Engineer. I just thought it was a cool connection to mention.

WSU vs. the Wild Storm

I know, the main point of this blog is to talk about the continuity of WildStorm Universe as it was from ’92 – ’11… but come on, you didn’t think I was going to touch this? At least in some way? Admittedly, I have no idea where Ellis is going with this new series, and honestly, I couldn’t be more on board for what he and his 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

Lucy Blaze/Zealot

The first we see of Lucy Blaze, code name: Zealot, is with blood on her face. The pattern of the smeared blood is reminiscent of the Coda Warrior face paint Zealot constantly wore in the old WSU.

She’s also going by the name Lucy Blaze, which was her code name in Team One.

Her real name was Zannah, but I don’t know if that will be a plot point at all in this book, or if it even part of this new universe. In the old WSU she was an alien with a very long life span, once again, not sure if this is going to come up at all in “the Wild Storm” but there’s a slight joke in that direction in the first issue.

Priscilla Kitaen/Voodoo

When we meet Pris in this book she comes off as some kind of performance artist on her day off, talking to her employees about where she wants to set up her next show. In the old continuity, she was a stripper. Making her a singer/dancer/artist, with the stage name Voodoo, this time around just, well, feels more likely for her personality. Also, she’s coming across as older, she was only supposed to be 18 in the original series, she’s at least seeming early to mid-20s here.

Not totally sure what her full story is in “the Wild Storm” but I can’t wait to find out more. She seems pretty knowledgeable about aliens being in New York City, as well as other oddities in the city.

Miles Craven

Miles is still the head of International Operations. While on the surface he looks quite a bit younger than the man we knew in the old chronology, this new young Craven looks a heck of a lot better than the former version of young Craven from the ’60s.

The only other big change, other than he’s young and alive, is that he’s gay. The other Craven was straight, (or at least bi) because he seemingly enjoying getting it on with Ivana Baiul, but this change isn’t that big of a deal at all. He’s coming across as a much nicer guy than the absolute bastard we used to know from the WSU. A likable Craven could be a whole mess of fun!

Angela Spica

In both cases, Angela infused herself with the tech that gave her her powers. In “the Wold Storm” she did this as an employee of I/O, doing research on herself for one of their projects. In the old WSU she got the specs for the nanobots she replaced her blood with off the internet from the original Engineer.

Jacob Marlowe

Still a tech billionaire. Still an alien. Still a little person. Still likes to drink. The biggest change is his beard. I don’t mind the beard, I think it works for him, much better than what he was looking like before he passed away in the WSU.

Also, he now has, what he calls, a spur that fires energy blasts, unlike previously just shooting energy blasts from his hands or forhead.

Also, it seems as if Cole still works for him, we’ll see if he calls him “little buddy” because, as of yet, no one is calling him Emp, and they just may never.

Michael Cray

Well, he still works for I/O and Craven, but nobody’s calling him Deathblow yet. He’s also got hair and is African-American now.

I like that the new Cray has arm tattoos that are reminiscent of the original’s face paint look.

Another difference is that his powers are different. Seems like he has some kind of active or reactive power where as the WSU Deathblow was just, well, hard as hell to kill.

We also see Cray get a nose bleed and pass out. The old school version of Cray was famous for having cancer, could this version have it too? Is this pass out and bloody nose a symptom of that?

Adrianna

She’s still a former cosmonaut, though she’s still wearing her old cosmonaut gear, as opposed to a silver onesie. But she does have the same blank white eyes are the former version did.

She hasn’t been called out as Void yet, and we also don’t know her what her powers are either. While not often brought up, Adrianna is the first of two characters named Void. After the original died she gifted her ability and her silver to Spartan as he became Jack Marlowe. Eventually, after his death, the warping ability and silver skin got mixed up with Nikola Hanssen in “Caption Atom : Armageddon.”

HALO

The HALO company still seems to be making batteries and other electronic devices, much the same way they were in “Wildcats 3.0” in the old WSU.

International Operations

Still working for the government. Still a shadow organization. Still called I/O. Still being run by Miles Craven. Not much has really changed. Especially if you don’t remember that after Ivana Baiul took over and ran International Operations into the ground they switched their name to Internal Operations and were ran by Marc Slayton AKA Backlash.

New & What We Don’t Know

The Division

Zealot calls in the Division to clean up after the gene experimenter that she eliminated. Who does the Division work for? HALO? I/O? Are they even really called the Division? Am I making too much of this?

Pris’s Assistants

Are any of these assistants around Pris anyone we know? New characters? Is that red-head Caitlyn Fairchild? Nah, probably not.

Phil

Phil the coffee guy is great. I want more Phil. Make him the Kev of this new universe.

Julian

Julian is new, just because Craven didn’t have a husband or wife that we knew of in the old WSU. Sure, he was hooking up with Ivana and had a daughter, but we don’t know if he was ever married before. Craven’s Husband is a nice addition to the book. Like I said earlier, a likable Craven is a fun idea. An even more interesting idea is if we see Craven as an absolute jackass at the office and a total sweetheart to his man at home.

DCU Connections

Pris mentions that an alleyway where a man became a bat back in 1939, a direct reference to Batman who first appeared in 1939.

All the media outlets, the Daily Planet, GBS all exist in the DCU. Ellis has said that this is an alternate universe in the DC Multiverse, so things like this should be expected, rather than using OG WildStorm media outlets like the National Eye and or something… I should do more research on the media outlets of the WSU.

One Last Thing

Warren Ellis has said that he won’t be bringing his characters from “Planetary” into these books. As much as I love that book, and would like to see Elisha, Jakita and the Drummer again, we don’t need them. This new version of the WildStorm Universe is “Planetary” writ large! Secret underground teams. Researchers of the odd. Crazy technicians bringing superpowers to the people. This is all what “Planetary” was about, now it’s what this entire comic world is about. As much as I’d love to see those 3 tearing it up again, along with Ambrose, I think we’re getting a similar kind of excellent story, with the same feel, but with a late 2010 take. More paranoid, bigger stakes, and a lot more books.

I also try not to read solicitations anymore than I have to. Preview pages and spoilers don’t do too much for me, and in fact, detract from my enjoyment, of, pretty much everything. I don’t even like movie trailers all that much. All I know right now is a few things to look forward to from “the WildStorm” and that’s meeting Cole, the Grifter, next month. Meeting someone, whom I assume to be Jenny Quantum, in two months. And seeing what is in store for us readers when the other 3 Wild Storm imprint books start coming out.

That’s about it. I loved this comic. I love the return to an all new take and a mostly different (don’t assume you know anything) version of the WSU! If this comic was junk, I’d call it out for the junk it is. But it’s not. It’s a place to start. It’s a place to grow from. It may not look like a lot is happening now, but by issue 4 of “the Wild Storm” I’m sure we’ll see how crazy issue 1 actually is. It’s a great set up and I can’t wait to see what the creative team has in store for us. Did I say I loved this comic?