Gen13 and Stormwatch PHD Changes as well as What's New in March

March is going to be a busy month with a trade paperback coming out for Secret History of The Authority: Hawksmoor on 3/25 as well as the continuation of World's End with The Authority #8 (3/4), Gen13 #28 (3/11), Stormwatch PHD #20 (3/18) and Wildcats #9 (3/25). Unfortunately, March is the last month we have Gen13 and Stormwatch PHD monthly as both titles are switching to bi monthly in April. I have no idea if this is creators running behind, running out of story, sales dropping or just waiting for The Authority and Wildcats to catch up with events. Let's just hope this won't be permanent.

With only 4 titles covering World's End I think it's a blessing and a curse at the same time. On one hand you only need to pick up 4 books a month (soon to be only 3) to be able to follow what's going on but on the other hand there's no Wetworks or any other stories going on such as Majestic to follow a single character. All we have right now is teams. With a storyline about the end of the world you'd think this would be the ideal time to have a team running around like Wetworks. None of this appears to be changing anytime soon either as the only new title coming out that will fit into all of this is the new Tranquility series but it won't even take place during World's End.

Also, with where events are right now it makes sense for most characters to stick with a team as what's left of the universe is extremely dangerous and tough to navigate but we have Majestic sitting over in Hawaii right now building his utopian society and until Wildcats catches up with him in the coming months we don't really know what's going on.

Going back to solications, in March we are also getting World of Warcraft #18, The X-Files #5 (of 7), Resident Evil #1 (of 6), Fringe #3 (of 6), Gears of War #5, Resistance #4 (of 6), Mirror's Edge #5 (of 6) and Ex Machina Special #4 among other titles. It appears we have a lot of mini series being wrapped up in the next couple months. It will be interesting to see if Wildstorm continues the mini series and starts some new licensed property projects or if they will focus on more Wildstorm proper and creator driven books. I guess we'll know soon enough. With the exception of Killapalooza, Prototype and Starcraft I haven't seen or heard of anything else starting up before the summer.

For the most part one would have to imagine the management over at DC prefers Wildstorm focusing on licensed properties as they probably sell the best on a regular basis. Not that I think this way but I imagine many people would much rather read about World of Warcraft than Gen13. Personally I'm hoping for more of a balance before we get to 2010. Titles have been coming out on time and the company seems more focused than they had been in years so I hope it's building editorial and creator confidence to refocus on Wildstorm proper and help expand on things that we were getting before the DC acquisition.

There's countless characters in limbo out there just waiting to be brought back into the fold. I'm not saying they all need to be featured in their own book but you can't really feature many characters when you've only got 4 titles to work with. With Tranquility starting back up, I propose having a 6th title starting up or coming back, be it The Paladins getting their own story, another Majestic solo series or the return of Wetworks. After Gail Simone wraps up Tranquility another one of my proposed titles could fill the gap keeping 6 titles going.

I really think doing something along those lines would help satisfy the fans who want more without cannibalizing their own sales. Put out 6 quality books a month and most of your fans would be willing to pick up at least 4 or 5 of them. If folks are willing to buy 40 or 50 monthly titles from the Big Two I think Wildstorm can squeeze in a couple more titles on everyones pre order list as long as their books continue to be on time and quality reads. If nothing else, an extra title or two would really help diversify what they're trying to do with World's End.

Apologies for my bit of a rant. I hope nobody thinks I was being negative I just want more diversity to help keep the excitement going. I just see so much potential with where everything is going right now and I love seeing everything coming out on time and the best part is, the bulk of the books are still only $2.99. Personally, if a couple more books came out I would gladly open up my wallet and pick them up.

Creator Spotlight: Neil Googe and Sleeper!

Today I'm launching my Creator Spotlight segment where I attempt to share some information to help promote the works of Wildstorm creators. In the future I will expand my spotlight entries by adding spotlights for specific titles and characters found within the Wildstorm universe.

I'm starting with British artist Neil Googe who's most recent work can be found in Wildcats. My personal opinion is I think the guy is an amazingly talented artist who is often overlooked but can pencil as good as anybody in the business. Previous work for Googe includes Majestic and Welcome to Tranquility. Outside of the Wildstorm imprint, Googe has also worked on 2000 AD and Shotgun Mary.

More specifically, Googe did pencils for Majestic on issues: 1-4, 6-8, 12, 13 and 15 in Majestic's 2005-2006 run before doing pencils for Worldstorm with writer Gail Simone. From 2007-2008 Neil worked again with Gail Simone on Welcome to Tranquility. After the events of Armageddon, Revelations and Number of the Beast Neil has been steady on Wildcats with writer Christos Gage starting in 2008.

Neil is a longtime Image and Wildcats fan and has been a fan of Jim Lee ever since Image launched. Wildcats: World's End is the biggest project in terms of scope that Googe has worked on yet and based off of what we've seen so far, I hope to see him working on more big books in the future.

Unfortunately it would seem like Googe won't be returning to the new Tranquility series once it starts based on information given out at New York Comic Con this year. Let's hope his absence on Tranquility means he is staying busy with future issues of Wildcats.

In other news that I couldn't wait to talk about I wanted to comment on solications for some trades coming up. Wildstorm already dropped a bomb this winter when soliciting a new tradepaperback for Ed Brubaker's Point Blank coming out in May which definitely got my attention. What's really got my blood pumping though is in June we are getting Sleeper: Season One in a new trade. I love Brubaker. I love noir. I love trade paperbacks. Many argue Sleeper is as good as Brubaker's work on Gotham Central if not better but I can't confirm or deny that as I haven't read all of his work on Gotham Central (yet). I'll be sure to voice my opinion once I've finished the series, though.

Just when I was almost ready to complain about a lack of collected editions coming out over the past few months Jim Lee and Co. drop these solications which are more than enough to shut me up. Next solication I want to see is Wildcats #2 written by Grant Morrison with pencils by Jim Lee !

/whistles innocently as I walk away from the keyboard...

Wildstorm in February

Wildstorm started February off at the New York Comic Con promoting World's End and what's in store for 2009 talking about their 4 core titles and what's coming up with licensed properties.

Hot topics at NYCC included the future of Wildcats v.4 (nicknamed All Star Wildcats by some) written by Grant Morrison and pencils by Jim Lee. Jim Lee stressed that both himself and Morrison plan to produce future installments but have been unable to do so in the past since they have been overcommited on other projects.

One thing that really caught me eye about the panel at NYCC was what's going on in Gen13 with how the team was caught in a timeloop during Armageddon causing the team to miss all the big action. The team is currently trying to make their way to the town of Tranquility. Based on information leaked and solicitations for the next few months, Gen13 and Wildcats have me the most excited with what's to come.

Speaking of Tranquility, later this year writer Gail Simone should have solicits coming out for a new Tranquility limited series titled Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave which is to take place between her first limited series and Tranquility: Armageddon.

Overall not a whole lot of new information was passed out at the con but I imagine that most Wildstorm fans are probably happy about that as books have been coming out on time the past year and personally I am enjoying World's End quite a bit (I think most fans probably agree with me). When World's End started I initially only got Wildcats and waited a couple months before I jumped on board with where the universe is going in the future. I've been enjoying it so much I now get Wildcats, The Authority and Gen13 as new issues come out.

In other news, Ex Machina is concluding later this year with issue #50, a new Resident Evil series is starting up and Wildstorm will be expanding World of Warcraft with a new series. Also in the works is a Starcraft series to help launch the new computer game Starcraft 2.

World's End continues in February with The Authority #7 (came out 2/4), Gen13 #27 (came out 2/11), Stormwatch PHD #19 (2/18) and Wildcats #8 (2/25). Each book is 32 pages, color and has a back-up story told by writer Christos Gage (writer of Wildcats and also GI Joe: Cobra from IDW).

Welcome to World's End and Beyond!

This blog is dedicated to the Wildstorm universe. Wildstorm is a comic book publisher located in La Jolla (San Diego) California. Wildstorm was founded by Jim Lee as part of Image Comics after many creators left Marvel to form their own company where they would own their own properties.

I will go into more detail with regard to how Wildstorm was formed and it's early years in time.
Some of Wildstorm's ongoing books (both past and present) include: Wildcats, The Authority, Wetworks, Gen13 and Stormwatch. Wildstorm also produces books for many licensed properties such as Resident Evil, Fringe and World of Warcraft.

I will not be covering the licensed property books very much as this blog will focus primarily on the core Wildstorm titles both past and present going through World's End (Wildstorm's current event following the limited series Number of the Beast).

The main purpose for this blog is to help promote awareness of what's going on in Wildstorm titles and to help provide valuable information from the past to the fans of today. There aren't very many dedicated blogs or podcasts to the Wildstorm universe and most of them seem to be outdated or unable to keep current with their information.

I'll do my best to sift through what was Image in the 1990's and work up to what Wildstorm does today as an imprint of DC Comics. Mostly I'll be covering the books but I'll also briefly cover publisher and creator news as I go.

Until next time, you can find me on The Comic Forums (www.thecomicforums.com). It's a great community and if you aren't already on the boards you should be as you will find a great fandom talking about just about anything comics related 24/7. I post as Nightcraws, don't be shy and send me a private message!