I loved the first Wildguard miniseries, but I wondered if the series really had legs beyond its neat reality show meets superheroes concept. Wildguard: Fire Power, a one-shot that follows up on the team formed in that first miniseries, answers that question, and the answer is a resounding yes. By shifting the focus from voting on team membership to the vagaries of superheroing by focus group, Nauck has shown that Wildguard has potential as an ongoing story as well as something unique to offer in the crowded superhero market. Nauck also pulls off a trick in this issue that few have, making me see the value in the short back-up feature, as he checks in with some of the "rejects" to see what they're doing after they didn't make the Wildguard cut. Just like the first Wildguard miniseries, Fire Power is imaginative, entertaining and fun.
One of the really neat concepts that has been lost in modern Legion of Superheroes books is the notion of voting on team leadership by the readership. Nauck used a twist on that idea that played perfectly into the central concept of his book by having the readers vote on the final member of the team. Of course, as it turned out, he wound up with some duplication, as he had intended to use fire-based Ignacia and then the readers voted in Freezerburn, who also possessed fire powers. Rather than cheating by taking Freezerburn or Ignacia off the team, Nauck uses this duplication of powers as a central element of Fire Power, and the result is a feeling that the readers really did contribute something lasting to Wildguard, giving them more of an investment in the story. Even more impressively, this is done without feeling like its pandering to the fans or letting those fans write the book. It's just taking an unusual situation and spinning stories out of it, and it shows off Nauck's imagination which allowed him to come up with the idea of Wildguard in the first place.
The feeling of Wildguard is definitely old school, with soap opera subplots like Snapback's domineering girlfriend, professional jealousy between Ignacia and Freezerburn and of course fighting supervillains. However, Nauck merges this old school feel with some modern conceits, including the omnipresent cameras in the lives of Wildguard, used most effectively in a comedic scene with Lily Hammer, or with the opening villain having a somewhat cordial, professional relationship with heroine Four, despite being on opposite sides. Despite it's old school feel, Wildguard has some neat new ideas as well.
Some of those neat ideas are represented in Nauck's often off-the-wall ideas for new characters. The names and powers of his characters are tongue-in-cheek to some degree, but while the laughs are there, the reader doesn't get the feeling that this is superhero parody. Instead the tone is more good-natured and fun, and that's part of what makes the book so likeable. I'm pleased that more of Nauck's creations will be popping up than just the ones who made the team, as we learn in the main story what Human Shield has been up to, and we see a backup story of what Little Miss Sunshine does now that she's away from the Wildguard tryouts. I'm generally not a fan of these short backups, but Nauck paces his lead story well enough that it doesn't feel like it was given short shrift, and a few pages in each issue to check in on all these neat character ideas is just about right.
Wildguard: Fire Power is a tightly-paced read, and that is another thing that impressed me. Nauck's art seems a little sketchier than the work he did at DC, but it's still good work, and more importantly, his storytelling is top notch. By packing the panels into the pages, Nauck gets a lot of story out in this one issue, and his skills include comedy, action and a silent scene of Ignacia's frustration and worry. The same tight pacing can be found in the backup with work by Galloway and Kane, using a cartoony style that has some inconsistencies but is still very solid and shows all the signs of becoming something impressive down the road. I'd love to see more of these characters and creators, either in more one shots or (even better) a new ongoing series. 9/10
