In this issue, the plot revolves around product placement, cars that don't need gasoline and marketing... and I find these plots every bit as fascinating as the ones that revolve around illicit sex or some head-knocking to steal technology from a super-villain. Casey is exploring the corporation not just as faceless villain, a trick which while still relevant can feel a little creaky, but as an entity in and of itself that can be bent to the idealistic and benevolent will of some of the heroes. With stories that focus on adultery, corporate intrigue and the morality of using power of both the personal and wider corporate nature, Wildcats 3.0 is not your average super-hero book... and thank God for that.
Seeing Marlowe and Dolby, both of whom come across as two of the smartest and most stylish protagonists in comics, start to make some noise about a car that doesn't need oil, is interesting in its own right. It's pretty clear that Casey is having fun in this sequence, as he writes in a stereotypical (but still somehow enjoyable) movie producer/director and shows how Dolby is smart enough to deal with egos and petty politics without even breaking a sweat. It's also a savvy little bit of real-world marketing, which comes up again later in the board meeting sequence. What really intrigues me about this story, though, is the pretty much unspoken notion that the inevitable response of entrenched big oil, big money and their government ties will result in some pretty nasty backlash for Halo and our heroes as a result.
I'm actually more enamored of this slow-building story than the story which features Grifter hooking up with the annoying kid hacker (although his use of ordinance to take down a bigass tank, even confined in a wheelchair, was fun) or the culmination of the story wherein Wax has been hypnotizing his boss's wife for sex for what seemed like petty revenge. The little foul-mouthed hacker kid isn't overly annoying, but it does come off as a bit cliche, although I'm still getting a kick out of Grifter as delegator of ass-whuppings rather than deliverer of them. Wax's story, on the other hand, grows much more interesting this issue, as we finally get a confrontation between him and his boss, and I'm curious to see where his morally reprehensible actions will take the story. One thing's for sure, this plot line, like so many in Casey's Wildcats, is anything but predictable.
Given my nervousness at losing Sean Phillips from Wildcats after his exceptional work on volume two, I'm continually amazed by how perfect Dustin Nguyen and Richard Friend are for this book. Nguyen's attention to detail is stunning, and he has developed a look for the characters that is consistent with the work by Travis Charest and Phillips, his artistic predecessors, but which is undeniably his own. There's also some great action storytelling, best shown in this issue by the brief chase between Grifter's van and the enormous tank, as well as a use of shadows and light that reminds me of a good noir book. That's not to mention the fine color work by Randy Mayor (check out that early sunrise effect in the opening pages) or the best damn covers going in comics right now.
Wildcats is a book that, quite honestly, I'd rather read in trade paperbacks, and my unique situation of being a reviewer who works in a comics store lets me have my cake and eat it too, reading the issues and buying the trades. However, if I weren't in that situation, I have a feeling that I'd be giving in to temptation and picking up this book in single issues. Though it reads best in large chunks, there's too much going on each month, and too much talent on the line, to hold off for long before seeing what they're going to do next.
