Stormwatch had a lot of expectations riding on it for me: It's the launch of Wildstorm's mature readers line, it's the first book from a new writer and it's in a genre (military fiction) that I enjoy. Unfortunately, the end result is a bit weak, with some not terribly likable protagonists and a truly unclear story. I'm a story guy by nature, and while I can appreciate a great artist, it's rare that I'll pick up a book just for the art. It's unfortunately a lot more common that a good story will be sabotaged by weak art, and that's what happens in the first issue of Stormwatch: Team Achilles.
Whilce Portacio has had a lot of shots in the comics market. After getting attention with X-Factor, he was set to launch his creator-owned title Wetworks. Then he was working on X-Force when "Counter-X" happened. Now he's the artist on Stormwatch. And throughout all of that, his storytelling has actually gotten weaker, rather than stronger, and his reputation for blown deadlines hasn't gotten much better either. In fairness, Portacio has modified his style, and I was very impressed with the detail on the three main protagonists in this book, as well as the generally sharper look that his art had.
Unfortunately, while I was pleased with those aspects of the artwork, the more important matters of storytelling and color are completely blown. I'm not sure if this tendency to let pencillers and inkers handle the coloring is a new trend or just an aberration, but I hope it's the latter, because I'm a fan of the work experienced colorists do, and I was not at all pleased with Portacio's work here. It's distinctive, I'll give him that, but it looks freakish and wrong, with a lot of greens and purples. It works against the realistic tone that Micah Ian Wright is trying to strike, and more importantly, it's just ugly. There are also significant problems with the storytelling in the issue. It starts with the first page, where we rotate the scene 180 degrees past the woman with impossible breasts and what I can only assume are super nipples to see the lead characters standing where they clearly weren't in the previous panel. That sort of lack of consistency continues throughout, and the problem is exacerbated by panels that invite us to guess what happened, rather than clearly illustrating it, including but not limited to the exterior shots of the UN under attack.
So I hated the art. What about the writing? It's hard to fairly judge, because Wright is having to work against Portacio for the most part, explaining what we're seeing because the art couldn't be bothered to do that task. As a result, some of the dialogue is a little clunky, as Santini and Coleman explain for the readers' benefit who they are, what their job is, or just what the disgusting thing is they're doing in the sewer. Santini and Coleman also have some of the negative attributes I've noticed in some of my military friends, including an attitude that goes beyond anti-PC and veers into almost prejudiced territory. While it's realistic, it did put me off the characters a bit. Wright does provide some fun dialogue and story bits, though, including the running gag of Stormwatch not being quite operational or the revelation of Coleman's gift from his gramma.
Ultimately, this is a promising title let down by some exceptionally poor artwork. It is my hope that either Portacio will grow into the job in a way he hasn't on his previous titles, that a colorist will be put on the book or that a new artist will be assigned when deadline problems crop up. Or any combination of the above. Because as it stands right now, Stormwatch: Team Achilles is a soft launch for Wildstorm's new mature readers line, and that's a shame.
