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WILDCATS VERSION 3.0 #19
"The Shot Heard..."
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions imprint
Writer: Joe Casey
Pencils: Pascal Ferry
Inks: Sandra Hope
Colors: Randy Mayor & Wendy Broome
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Price: $2.95 US/$4.50 CAN |
Though Wildcats Version 3.0 isn't skimpy with the action, action isn't the first word I think of when I think of the book. However, this issue, the official beginning of the "Coda War" story, is nothing but action. It's something of a change of pace for the book, and while I don't entirely welcome the change, this issue certainly does provide some high-octane thrills that you'd usually expect to get from a big budget action movie. In addition to a shift to a more action-oriented storyline, this issue marks a shift in artwork, with Pascal Ferry and Sandra Hope starting the parade of guest artists. If this is the caliber of artwork we can expect while Nguyen is off doing Batman, however, I think we'll all be quite pleased, because aside from a couple of unclear storytelling moments, Ferry and Hope serve up an amazing, brutal rendition of a running, chopping, driving and shooting battle through the streets of Athens.
One of the cool things Casey has done with Wildcats since he took over is to expand the cast. It's no longer just about a superhero team, or even just the former members of a superhero team. Instead, his purview expands into a variety of characters who might cross paths with his lead characters at some point, resulting in an expansive and diverse cast of characters. This issue focuses on a pair of FBI agents and their partner, the taciturn killing machine known as Agent Orange. It's a lot of fun watching them get in over their heads, or being able to cheer for (instead of against) Agent Orange for a change.
Old-school Wildcats fans will welcome this issue as the return of Zealot. She's appeared in these pages before, but largely as a foil for Grifter, and this time she's more of an adjunct to the FBI characters, with a touch of her own story appearing when she confronts Sarin, the Coda badass from the cover. Zealot was never one of my favorites, but the way Casey writes her, as an almost emotionless and deadly killing machine that makes Elektra look like Shirley Temple, is a lot of fun. I also loved the brief interaction she has with Agent Orange, although that's more of a non-verbal kind of thing that can be just as easily ascribed to the artist.
Artists Pascal Ferry and Sandra Hope deserve a lot of credit for the success of this issue. There's an incredible sense of motion in their panel design, and I love the way that characters like Agent Orange, Sarin or Zealot just sort of appear in frame, already in the midst of creating some chaos. There's also a lovely way with their explosions, both of the fiery kind and of the "technology goes flying everywhere" kind, which reminds me of manga in its detail, and I love the decision to portray the rockets and bullets whizzing through the air as solid balls of light, giving the whole thing a Matrix style slow motion effect. On top of the great storytelling, there are just some great frozen moments, like the appearance of Sarin, or the climactic effect of her bomb or the first appearance of Zealot in these pages.
Quite honestly, I miss the corporate intrigue and multi-layered plotting and characterization that generally defines this book, which is pretty much gone from this issue. However, the occasional shift in tone is never a bad thing, especially when the result is one of the more exciting issues of action comics I've seen in a while.
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