[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt
Colors: Steve Buccellato
Letters: Simon Bowland
Summary
The Wild Storm, by issue 18, is such an expansive series that to offer a brief summary is becoming a challenge. John Lynch is continuing on his mission with the old Thunderbook experiments. Angie Spica decides to join with another group. Miles Craven gets closer to having a mental breakdown. And Director Bendix also appears closer than ever to destroying IO. This is a more dense issue than usual, with plenty of content to keep readers happy.
Positives
As a series with good and bad issues, issue 18 is definitely one of the better ones. The dialogue doesn’t feel like filler here with everything that’s said this issue propelling the plot forward. Add to that the pacing of the issue really helps with the diverse roster. At times The Wild Storm will focus on one or two characters, which is great at the time, but leads to confusion since it can be months between seeing certain characters doing anything or even being mentioned. The faction aspect of the series works well here as readers are bounced between each at a reasonable speed.
Michael Cray has been the only character so far to receive their own series but if this issue says anything, it’s that John Lynch could have a successful series too. His segments in each issue are quickly becoming the best and most engaging, with this month’s issue being no exception. Everything he does is just so much more interesting than a vast majority of the other characters who are either in hiding or just secluded for months at a time.
Art wise there isn’t as many Jon Davis-Hunt splashes as usual. He still gets his opportunity to play around with things but this issue is much more focused on plot than anything else. Besides the spectacular Lynch sequence, Davis-Hunt still manages to make long dialogue segments interesting to read visually.
Negatives
This is one of the better issues of The Wild Storm so there isn’t much to criticise. Things are still a bit confusing plot wise but that’s more down to the series’s release schedule than anything else. Ellis already announced that after this issue the series would take a two month break to allow the creators some breathing room for the final arc. On top of that this issue was subsequently delayed two weeks. With the scope of a series like this it’s entirely understandable that the creators might need more time here and there but with a medium like comic books it can really hurt the series.
Hopefully the final arc can run smoothly but unfortunately the already unreliable schedule of The Wild Storm has hurt the story. It reads like a book meant for collected graphic novel collections. When the series is completed in such a format, perhaps it would be favourable to review the plot then.
Verdict
A reasonably good issue in a mixed series. Ellis and Davis-Hunt are getting incredibly close to the finish line, and that can be felt within the story. Worth checking out if you’re already deep into this series.
