Comic Review: The Wild Storm (2017-) #19

The Wild Storm #19

DC Comics

Writer: Warren Ellis

Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt

If you haven’t been keeping up, The Wild Storm is Warren Ellis’ new re-invention of the iconic WildStorm imprint, responsible for the characters of Wildcats, Stormwatch, and The Authority, among other things. The Wild Storm follows new versions of these characters as they get caught up in a global conspiracy between ultra secretive spy agencies and rival alien species on Earth.

The Wild Storm has been an excellent action-thriller throughout it’s run, leaving the reader with the same questions as the uninitiated characters in this series. This issue is largely dedicated to exposition that clears up some of these questions, but despite this, it’s still very well written and presents the information so that it feels like you’re discovering things with the characters, rather than characters discussing things they all already know.

We’re given more detail on the actions of Skywatch and on the activities of the Khera and Daemons on Earth, which helps provide context to other elements of the series. Given the exposition-y nature of this issue, there aren’t so many character focused moments in this issue to speak of. The characters stay in-line with their characterisations from the previous issues, and we get a couple of pages with the new Midnighter and Apollo, whose loving bickering is going as strong as it has in all their other incarnations.

Jon Davis-Hunt’s art serves the series well. His human characters are well drawn with clear facial expressions, but where his art truly shines through is in the stranger aspects, such as the aliens, spaceships, and backdrops of locations such as Mars. These are all wonderfully detailed and weird, from the squid-like design of the Kheran spaceship to the patchwork of stone rectangles arranged at right-angles to each other to form the “Hospital” that the consciousnesses of former Doctors resides in.

Steve Buccellato’s colors pair well with the art, beautifully contrasting the red planet Mars against the flashback-grey spaceships and people that descend to its surface, and delivering a stunning space backdrop later in the issue composed of varying shades of purple, blue and black. The colors are exactly as they should be, subtle enough in naturalistic scenes to make the book look real, and vibrant in moments involving more action or strangeness.