I was a big fan of Wildcats 2.0, as orchestrated by Joe Casey and Sean Phillips, so this is probably the "Eye of the Storm" launch I've been looking forward to the most. Casey maintains the less costumed, more characterization feel of Wildcats, but he has added a more focused direction, a corporate approach to super-powers, that is unusual. This isn't corporate super-heroes like Heroes for Hire or Power Company, but more a look at how a real corporate approach might work, with the level of compromised morality and questionable actions that might entail. With Nguyen and Friend providing artwork not quite as impressive as that of Sean Phillips but certainly solid, and Casey taking these characters into situations I've not seen before, there's plenty of potential in this book.
Of course, part of me wonders if, like all of the "Eye of the Storm" books, the non-costumed, more mature readers aspect is really going to appeal to a large enough audience. This book is mature readers not because there's excessive nudity, violence or language (although there's plenty of all three), but because it expects the reader to have a certain maturity level. At one point, the android formerly known as Spartan is discussing corporate marketing and accounting, and I have to think that a sizable segment of super-hero fandom is going to have little interest in that type of story.
Mind you, if readers have the mindset to accept a story that deals as much in corporate politics and procedure as gunfire and super-powers, I expect they will find quite a bit to like in Wildcats 3.0. Casey's exploration of Jack Marlowe as someone willing to use cutthroat business tactics and questionable mind-influencing techniques the same way corporations do, but to nobler ends, resonates pretty well with the same ideas The Authority had about using ultraviolence to end violence. I also love that Casey is not shying away from the more sophisticated exploration of corporate culture and tactics, while still maintaining a certain level of simplicity with Marlowe's "buy everything" tactics.
This first issue centers around three characters that Casey has developed, all of whom he has a very strong grasp on. Marlowe, as mentioned, is central to the story. Also important is Agent Wax of the National Park Service, the Wildstorm equivalent of a U.S. government superhuman regulatory agency, whose conflicting loyalties and sort of embittered personality makes him a perfect plant for Marlowe inside the Park Service. And then there's Grifter, one of the most beloved members of the team in all of its incarnations, whose new role as corporate troubleshooter (emphasis on shooter) is a logical extension of his past and gives the book a necessary action-oriented storyline.
Filling in on art duties for this version are Dustin Nguyen and Richard Friend, the former from Tom Peyer's Authority run and the latter from much of Wildcats 2.0. Nguyen's Grifter looks freakish, with facial hair found nowhere in nature and a squat body type that (particularly when he's naked) looks more cartoony than the rest of the book. That aside, the work here is pretty impressive, reminiscent not only of the dark tone that Sean Phillips established for the last series but of the work of Travis Charest, Eduardo Risso and other European and South American artists.
