This is not a comic book, and I mean that in a couple of different ways. First of all, in a comic book such as this appears to be, one expects to find some kind of story. That's not the case with this promotional item. This is a profile book for a property we haven't even seen before; seems a bit like putting the cart before the horse. But even if there were a story and the sort of comic art I had hoped to find, it still wouldn't be a comic book. This is a cartoon -- or to be more precise, this is a pitch for a cartoon. This is J. Scott Campbell's Battle of the Planets or Power Rangers. Typical teens end up with colorful powers and animal nicknames. Wildsiderz isn't for comics readers. It's for TV execs. I wonder if they'll be able to see this for the generic, derivative yawn that it really is behind the flashy colors and designs.
An injured skateboarder recovers at a special clinic where he develops his technological skills and meets an innovative scientist and doctor. The teen and the doc pool their skills and resources and develop holographic technology that can grant users special abilities, and the skateboarder shares it with others from his high school. It's a good thing too, because a mad scientist has stolen the technology and twisted it for his own evil purposes. A team of heroes will be needed to oppose him and his creations, and that team is the Wildsizerz!
See? Instead of pluralizing with an 's' like they're supposed to, the creators have used a 'z' to achieve the same effect... only cooler! That's how the hip kids are talking today, ain't they? Shizzle and stuff. Whatever. The title is all the cue one needs to realize that this isn't about art or creativity -- it's about marketing.
Of course there's a team member who's tubby but loveable, and of course he gets the gorilla powers. Of course there's a geeky one. Of course their female leader and mentor is a shapely, hot babe -- and she can't walk, just like Professor X!! Sigh. One of them has velociraptor powers, because 'raptors are cool after all. Sure, it's been more than a decade since Jurassic Park, but something that was cool in the early '90s would still be cool now, right?
Right?
The same design elements pop up in these new characters as we've seen in Campbell's previous work. There's a sexy girl with freckles. There's the lantern-jawed leading man. There's the think geek and the big, dumb gourmand. What stands out the most about the art, though, is how important the colors are. This is all about flash over substance, and the dayglo manifestatios of the characters' powers is clearly meant to dazzle the audience. I was unimpressed, but I have no doubt it's going to appeal to many younger, teenage readers.
I think it's great that a lower price was put on this introductory comic book, but the two-cover gimmick wipes out any potential savings for the completist. Is this promotional profile book really cause for two covers? Hardly. 2/10
