Comic Book Resources

I know why exactly you didn't like WildCats 3.0: Because you're CRAZY!

There. I said it.

It's also somewhat disturbing but kind of keen how many people who read or write for this blog (okay, four at last count) read Fire Joe Morgan. Damn I love that thing.

I agree with you. Wildcats 3.0 was very imaginative and daring but BORING. It didn't need more shooting to make it good, it just needed more story, more oomph. Joe Casey's a solid writer but they can't all be winners.

I will go out on a limb here: I think the best-written era of the WildC.A.T.s was the first four original issues, by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee. I loved it when I was twelve and loved it. I read it again as a grown, sane, intelligent, and comics-wise adult and you know what? It works. Sure, there's lots of cheesy dialogue, but the story is solid and it makes you care. I started to think that maybe--just maybe--there was more to the WildC.A.T.s initial success than Jim Lee's status as a superstar artist. Maybe the comic was actually good? Yes, I think it was.

Shorter and to the point, Brad.

A much better piece than the other WildStorm one. Now people can offer actual constructive criticism!

I don't think anyone should be looking to provide constructive criticism on a blog post. You're not here to teach, you're here to talk about comic books.

This isn't art. It's a documentation of opinion.

>>It’s also somewhat disturbing but kind of keen how many people who read or write for this blog (okay, four at last count) read Fire Joe Morgan.<<

Well, at least 3 of us on CBR (though not necessarily CSBG) post on Baseball Think Factory.

So ... um ... there.

Well, there's no accounting for taste, and I think whether or not a reader enjoys a particular comic book should be an unassailable thing. People like what they like and don't like what they don't like, and most any reason they give for their value judgment is valid as far as I'm concerned.

I do think that Joe Casey's WildCATs (and his later Wildstorm work, the blink-and-you'll-miss-it "The Intimates") was something of a creative benchmark in superhero comics, given what the Big Two were doing at the time (which was basically trying to corner the "arrested adolescent" market). Was WildCATs the best vehicle for Joe Casey to launch a story about a corporate entity using a mix of technology, marketing hardball, and espionage to better the world on a global scale? Maybe, maybe not. I felt that the execution fell flat on more than a couple of instances early in the run.

But what isn't so debatable I think is that Casey was, if not exactly breaking new ground in superhero comics, offering innovation that readers weren't getting from the Big Two, and doing it with the polished craft of a professional who's done a lot of published work at Marvel and DC (unlike say, many "independent" creators who don't have the experience or the professional polish to back up their occasionally inventive and original works).

Wildcats (Not capitas for vol. 2 or 3) was fun because it was out there. I liked Joe Casey taking one of the most over the top (former) Image titles, and going in the opposite direction. Taking your main action star and putting him in a wheelchair for months was a really neat idea. Thats why I liked it I guess, the plethora of ideas and the idea of a superhero corporation.

I get your comments better now, but I disagree.

(BTW, see the end of Casey's Uncanny X-men run for a peak at Wildcats. With Angel acting like a CEO and the team like a group of co-workers. That was really neat too. I like twists on the team idea.)

I liked the end of Joe Casey's Uncanny X-Men run. I kept waiting for the comic to be good and waiting and oh man that silent issue and dark Banshee sucked and waiting and finally, wow, I started to enjoy it... and then we got Chuck Austen.

I liked Wildcats 3.0.

I appreciated the different take Casey gave us. And yeah, the art was very good.

I thought that Casey's X-Men was treated really unfairly, to the point that the fans almost (almost!) deserved Austin for all the bitching. I've enjoyed other stuff that he's done (especially Godland), but have never read Wildcats by anyone, having seen a poster in my LCS way back when the first issue came out which put me off pretty much forever (I'm not bragging about it, but yeah).
Also, the software release-style numbering thing is even lamer to me than TV-style "seasons."

Two things.

1. Fire Joe Morgan is awesome. A lot of people I meet can't believe that I read comics because I'm athletic and like sports. They have this mental image of the comic book guy from the Simpsons and can't believe any of us aren't like that. Ok, I got side tracked but FJM rocks.

2. Don't you ever say X-Men fans deserved Chuck Austen. I'm looking at you Jack Norris.

With Intimates and Wildcats 3.0, I think Casey was trying to trick superhero comic fans to read different genres. He basically wrote "Saved by the Bell" and "Wallstreet" with spandex and super powers. That being said, I actually liked both a lot.

"I thought that Casey’s X-Men was treated really unfairly"

I strongly disagree. It was really boring, and worst of all, hardly different from the X-Men comics before he came on board at all. I mean, few people would have looked very good when compared to what Morrison was doing on his book, but Casey really just dropped the ball.

Also, one of the things I disliked about Casey's X-men run was that in interviews after he'd talk about how he was the only one doing something new with the X-men while Morrison was busy writing more stories about sentinels, weapon x, and the shi'ar.

Uh, Casey's first arc was the mutant massacre (in London), then he created another militant mutant hating group (only religious), then he created another "proactive" X-team (no not X-force, X-Corp), then he had a mutant prostitute join the team ( don't we already have a Psylocke? I kid, I kid.)

I know I'm over-simplifying and he did add a lot of cool things, but to deny all the cool new stuff Morrison added to X-men seems like sour-grapes to me.

The Uncanny annual Casey did with Wood was pretty damn good though.

Wildcats 3.0 was life-changing, genre-defining genius. One of the greatest comics runs ever. Like so many great comics, its brilliance lay in its simple high concept: what if a corporation invented batteries that never ran out? It dealt with the effects that would have on a handful of characters and our world, and its corporate espionage was far from boring. Casey's Wildcats comics were true literature. Truly atmospheric: Wildcats 3.0 still gives me goosebumps.

You find the stories 'bemusing'? How? In structure? Dialogue? Concept? Characterisation? Aspirations?

First off Mr. Curran, you are -aware- that the run lasted for more than 5 issues, right? That Casey wrote 21 issues of volume 2 beforehand and had a plan in mind for 35 more issues, 19 of which saw print along with a special one-shot? He had a -Plan- and part of that plan was not to proceed at previous rates of comic pacing. He wrote the issues like chapters of a novel, except allowing Nguyen enough leeway to illustrate each moment with a considered innovative style that was different from both "old Image" and "widescreen." It can be seen as part of the decompression "for the trade" movement except Casey began writing WildCat in this format back in 2000, before it became a really widespread fad. Do not forget that the comic industry was in the worst slump in it's entire history between 1999-2001. It was only with the Spider-Man movie and Quesada/Jemas taking over Marvel that sales got a noticeable kick up the backside. When seen in that light, Casey's themes become even more daring and even more risky. The fact you found them "bemusing" suggest you believe that because it didn't catch on, that it should be ignored and buried (like your other article about WildStorm would seem to suggest). I disagree with this viewpoint in the strongest way possible.

Spartan's "detached" comments on his intentions and goals serve a number of purposes. It illustrates his comittment and single-mindness to change, in contrast to the corruptness that many average readers assume applies to mega-rich corporations and on a lesser level superhero characters. It's symbolic as well of a Image independant character taking on more responsibilities in a larger (DC-owned) environment.

But he certainly isn't Dr. Manhattan. Doc M basically followed orders and was played like a violin throughout the whole of Watchmen, first by Nixon then by Ozymandias. He gives up on humanity in the end, and goes off to create new life. Whereas Spartan/Jack Marlowe (called Jack Marlowe for the rest of this piece) has his OWN plan, his OWN vision, that has broken away from the established pattern of doing things. He is determined to change human life for the better. This is one reason why it is important and relevant Casey chose the WildCats series for 'corporate superheroics.' As ancient warriors, Emp, Zealot and the Spartan series did not break free of aggression and xenophobia (in terms of racism and new ideas) for millenia. As Alan Moore showed, their whole struggle was essentially pointless given the fact that the Khera/Daemon war was over, and plus the Kheran victors were not benevolent in their post-war dominance. Volume 2 shows Emp continuing to fall into the old trap of esoteric aggression. Given the fact that the enemy of v2's start was -created- by Emp, it also shows how violence just spawns more violence.
So this is part of why Jack Marlowe has to stay seperate from standard events. He cannot -afford- to fall into more cliches. He has memories of other worlds across the stars falling because people failed to evolve. If he seems a bit “I am above all this”, it's not only because he has to be, but also because he IS.

I'm sorry if that bugs you, but you have to understand that was an intentional strength and an intentional flaw as well. As WildCats version 3.0 did not finish, we do not know how successful Casey (or DC) would have let Jack Marlowe been. Yes there were moments of ridiculously smart forward planning - such as learning about Sam Garfield and the CIA in 3.0 issue #11. But in the very same issue, something he didn't anticipate - the Halo car - begins to be possible. And in v2. issues #25-26, he makes a big mistake in trusting Noir and would pay the ultimate price for it if it was for blind luck. So Jack isn't infallible or omniscient. He is just operating at a different level of experience, in a different 'battleground', than other superheros. Trying to change the world like the Authority, but without the high body count or falling buildings.

"Way too much hot accounting action"? that was the -point- of the series, but even that wasn't overdone. Although I would liked maybe a bit more biz stuff in the last six issues (with Nguyen art rather than rushed Rouleau art) to me the series struck the perfect balance between Jack's creativity, Cole's violence, Rendozzo's scheming/maternal disappointment, Wax's sordid manipulations and Dolby's uncertainty/awe/guilt. Everyone believed in something different, everyone was -doing- something different! If "the adventures of Joe C.P.A." didn't interest you, that's exactly why there were multiple characters - to offer something for everyone, in an adult fashion.

Character-wise, Wax became less detached and Rendozzo became more defined immediately AFTER the first 6 issues. Wax did start to grow a conscience (if a little twisted and perverted) and Rendozzo started to become less methodical, less certain of her matriarchial authority and more spontaneous (ironically in an arc which had them fighting an army of bitchy immortal female assassins). These imperfections show that they are not just one-dimensional characters, but again hindsight is needed here. Rendozzo as created by Lobdell and Charest, and Wax created by Casey and Phillips are two very different types of characters from what had existed in the series before. Both do not have flashy superpowers. Both have strong 'underworld' connections and modus operandi. And both have a sense of style which just isn't the same as the standard body-condom wearers at DC or Marvel. They look sexy but in a smart way (thanks Charest, Phillips and Nguyen!). They have the potential to affect change for the better, but they are not cookie-cutter characters, willing to kill, lie, mutilate and in Wax's case rape on a whim. More believable than past cast members, they help to keep the reader off balance and raise the stakes for Jack's perations.

If you're referring to Dolby or Garfield as 'damn accountants' then the point of the whole series has completely flown over your head. Not only do these unconventional professions for regular comic protagonists serve as an illustration of the scale of Jack's ambitions, but they also provide insight into the societal impact. Both Dolby and Garfield kill during version 3.0 and these deaths can't be justified, which is a marked difference from the Ellis/Millar Authority runs. But in contrast to that, these 'ordinary humans' suffered for their actions. Their terror was short-lived on the page, but the fact that it was shown acknowledges human limitations and the need for redemption. It also leaves ambiguous what would actually have been 'better' for society, and there again Jack is not perhaps completely without fault. But beyond anything else - it shows again that unpowered, plainclothes human -could- make a difference, that they could walk with the 'gods' and the 'gods' would -listen-. We as readers do not know which path Dolby would have eventually chosen to keep to - Jack's world or Cole's world. I can only assume this plotline and dichotomy would have come to a head in future issues.

"So, I did not enjoy this comic very well. It was totally not for me. I can live with that. But I remember this became a critical, cult darling, and with that status, there was a lot of bleating on about why the stupid, stupid comics market could not embrace it at the time. And I have to say, I think it was the comic here, not the market."

Your perspective here is biast because you as just admit above, this comic was not for you. In this instance though, how does your claim that "it was the comic here, not the market" bear out logically? True other deconstructionist comics were performing better than version 3.0 at that time (Morrison's New X-Men and Milligan's X-Statix spring to mind). But those were comics tied to a 40-year-old brand which had a huge marketing push given towards them and an already hooked horde of completists who would not stop collecting even if Morrison changed the X on the cover to a swastika. They have to have -all- the issues. The complete set. Compare this with the poor treatment DC gave WildStorm post-Millar Authority, and you see the odds were unfairly stacked against the little-known comic. The "bleatings" are justified if a quality comic is held to unfair sales targets and has some of the main reasons for it's quality (Dustin Nguyen, Richard Starkings) pulled off to work, Nguyen to work on cash-cow Batman etc.

Pia Guerra didn't go off to do a Teen Titans run in 2004, and Y: The Last Man became a mega-hit. Sleeper also benefited massively from a consistent art team. Eggs and oranges admittedly, but there was without a doubt a failure to transmit to old superhero fans that WildCats had a new ethos. Should this failing be blamed on the creative team of the comic? No. The blame for that lies with the mismanagement of the line by DC. I remind you that Authority and New X-Men were both received poorly to begin with, but nowadays most of what occurs in the Big Two follows the basic pattern laid out in those daring series, both of which had larger online attention/controversy given to them by the internet and despite that continued. WildCats version 3.0 had no such attention, hype or support given to it because people didn't realise it was there. Many retailers just didn't order it because they believed (and DC did not disprove them) that it was just standard Image fare.

So roll your eyes all you like if you want, but WildCats version 3.0 was a work of genius. Genius. Anyone who deliberately tries to disprove that should be pelted with raw fruit. Comic readers -need- to read this fantastic series for themselves without blindly assuming you have all the facts (you don't. You've only read 5 issues, not even the size of 1 TPB) and then decide for themselves. I recommend this over any over superhero story with the exception of Miracleman Books 3-4.

And I really -really- REALLY wish they had not canceled it. When DC did that, they screwed the pooch just as badly as when they shafted Rick Veitch on Swamp Thing.

It's not that the Wildstorm/Wildcats 3.0 defenders from your last two WS posts don't think you're not entitled to dislike Casey's run on the book (by all means, not every book is for everyone), it's that your tone in both posts paints the picture that "I hate this book, so the people who like it must be dumb!". It's the condescending tone - which you might just throw in there in an attempt to be funny, I don't know - that throws people up in arms.

It's okay if you don't like Casey's Wildcats. It's absolutely not okay to mockingly dismiss those who do.

By the way, Burnt Frog, Ian A. and I both agreed that your rebuttal post was fantastic. It was almost worth seeing Curran's attempt at controversy with your breakdown of Wildcats 3.0 as the reward.

Burnt Frog, that was a great analysis of Casey's work on Wildcats and a great analysis of why the book "failed."

"I know I’m over-simplifying and he did add a lot of cool things, but to deny all the cool new stuff Morrison added to X-men seems like sour-grapes to me."

It wasn't that at all. Do the words "tongue in cheek" mean anything to you? Casey likes to have fun with interviews and he said more than a few times that he loved what Morrison was doing in New X-Men.

And as far as Casey not doing anything original while claiming to be original? Look up the definition of "satire." It might help.

"I thought that Casey’s X-Men was treated really unfairly, to the point that the fans almost (almost!) deserved Austin for all the bitching.

Also, one of the things I disliked about Casey’s X-men run was that in interviews after he’d talk about how he was the only one doing something new with the X-men while Morrison was busy writing more stories about sentinels, weapon x, and the shi’ar.

It wasn’t that at all. Do the words “tongue in cheek” mean anything to you? Casey likes to have fun with interviews and he said more than a few times that he loved what Morrison was doing in New X-Men."

Still, both he and Morrison hyped up their runs as being original, ground breaking, never before seen, blah blah blah fishcakes. At least one of them was right.

Not much to add... besides I LOVE the word "trailblazey".

It should become a real adjective that writers can put on resumes... It can almost be used as a replacement for the word "good" in some cases (not necessarily in Casey's case).

Ah, Uncanny. Fandom's former favorite whipping post.

Didn't Casey already offer up his last word on that run? Five years ago?

Why, yes, yes, he did! In this excellent interview with Tom Spurgeon!

Scroll down to the "Big Gigs" section for the scoop.

Or, better yet, I'll copy/paste the pertinent quotes:

At the time, the climate was, "There's no such thing as bad press, and I've got books to sell." I felt I'd been catapulted to the forefront of writing the two biggest franchises at the two biggest companies. That had never been done before, I don't think. Suddenly from the year before where I was just writing Wildcats and playing with my band and basically fucking off. Here I was, suddenly, Boom! These two big mainstream books. First, I'd written off the X-Men two years previous, after COTA. Second, I thought I'd done my Superman book with Mr. Majestic. Third, neither one of those titles had never been even a pipe dream of mine. I wasn't into them as a kid. I was thinking, "How the hell did I get here?"

My perception was completely changed. I was a guy with a big mouth doing these big high-profile franchises. The amount of attention that was on these X-Men launches was excruciating. I'd never had the spotlight on me so intensely for anything in my entire life, and looking back, I don't even remember what people were expecting, but what they got was what you read in the Poptopia trade, the first six issues. And they did not like it AT ALL. X-Men fans just hated me. Grant was getting some heat, too, from X-Men fans that didn't know him. But his reputation was so huge that people who weren't reading X-Men flocked in. And, he had that JLA track record. At the end of the day, our first few issues sold huge -- unqualified successes from a sales point of view. I got the royalty checks to prove it. The biggest audience I ever had. Also, the least inspired work I've ever done in comics.

And:

I had told my X-Men story already, in COTA. I walked in pretty much at the last minute. Everything was in place except a writer for Uncanny. I guess they couldn't find anyone who was willing to work opposite Grant. Again, I looked at it as a career move. If I took the gig, I figured I'd have the exposure to get some things done I really wanted to do in comics. And that worked to a certain degree from a perception angle alone. When it was announced I was on Uncanny, the Wildcats re-launch was approved instantaneously. That wheel got greased right away at WildStorm. Probably because they thought, "He's going to be writing X-Men, he's already writing Superman, and we want to capitalize on it." Joke's on them. [Spurgeon laughs]

Grant had this whole manifesto, had his whole run basically plotted out. I went into it and was pretty loose about the whole thing, "There's a first issue? Here's a half-baked idea. Let's go." I winged it more than I've winged it on any gig. I've since learned to wing it with some degree of self-confidence. But at that point I was winging it like I didn't know what was going on. The last issue in the Poptopia trade is about the X-Ranch.

It's one thing to say, "Deathlok dates a supermodel" when a book is selling 15,000 copies and it's on the verge of cancellation. You can follow through on that idea. It's another thing to go, "Mutant brothel in the middle of Nevada and one of the prostitutes joins the X-Men." That's a great joke in the bar. Not only am I going to laugh about it, but I'm going to write it into the series, and get that goddamned mutant whore on the team. [Spurgeon laughs]

You were right, there was no underlying theme. There was nothing informing the work. It was just, "Let's take the piss." Poptopia had some scattered commentary on pop culture that was floating in the air at the time, but I didn't do a very good job of communicating it. I put in this dopey sub-plot about London Morlocks and this new villain, Mr. Clean. He was a complete joke. Mr. Clean -- there was a germ of an idea there. I went back to stuff like ethnic cleansing, from there I got genetic cleanser, and then I got kitchen cleanser and that's how I got Mr. Clean. [Spurgeon laughs] That was literally my line of thinking. [laughter]

And:

The thing is, too, I was working with Grant, and we'd been friends for a couple of years at that point, but to work together was -- not from his end, obviously, because he knew what he was doing -- but I was like, "How can I one-up this huge motherfucker?" I'm a fan of his work, but now we have to go head to head with him. And then the sucker punch... he told me Frank Quitely was going to come on and draw his book. It was originally going to be Lenil Francis Yu. Although Lenil's a great artist, Grant used his pull to get Frank on the book. And I'm going, "Oh, no. This is what I have to compete with? I'm fucked." It was very tension-filled on my end.

And:

And we're thinking this is going to be great, me sitting there not knowing what the fuck I was going to do on the X-Men. And of course when Ian left the book after three issues, he knew like I did that we weren't a good creative match, the book never recovered artistically.

I tried to get Sean Phillips on, but that didn't come to fruition, aside from a few random issues. The guy they got couldn't handle the monthly deadlines. Finally, I had to admit to myself that it was not a fun job anymore. It had never really been fun, quite frankly. The issues I sent you, the last three... I dug issue #400, because I used it to work with Eddie Campbell. He's up there for me. Books like After the Snooter and How to be an Artist, those are going to stand up as significant works. So to work with him was fantastic. Of course, I would never have gotten to work with him if it wasn't for the lure of the X-Men. That's the irony. Once I knew I was leaving, the last three issues and the annual, I kind of found my footing. As per usual. I found a cultural point I wanted to make and I finally had some handle on the material, probably because Sean was drawing that last mini-run of issues. But by then, I was happy to be leaving. Even though I'd reclaimed some of my voice, I knew the artistic instability would continue. They were going to ramp up production, two issues a month for six months out of the year. There's an X-Men comic that comes out every week, it seems. I didn't want to commit my life to that kind of nonsense.

So, there you have it. Casey admits his run started off half-assed and finally found its footing just in time for him to call it quits.

Everybody happy?

Didn't think so.

I was mainly talking about the over-the-top fan bitching online when I said Casey's Uncanny was "treated unfairly." That's hardly the same thing as calling it the Greatest Run Ever. It wasn't, but the complaining was just out of all proportion.
(Kind of the opposite of when somebody says "I think Beloved Property A is overrated" and people get offended because they see that as "I think Beloved Property A sucks." Maybe it's just another instance of the whole online fan tendency toward the idea that "there is no middle ground between Best Thing Ever and Worst Thing In The History Of The Universe.")

I only really caught up with it several months in, after Morrison (and Milligan) had brought me back to the X-books after over a decade of rack-skimming and putting-back-on-the-rack-with-a-snort. While it didn't take the mutants-as-celebrity thing to the heights of new X-Force/X-Statix, it seemed to have fun with it, which is generally how I saw the "half-assedness" he apparently confessed to later on. It's also something I really didn't feel was present in the X-runs immediately preceding it, as far as the whole "no different from the stuff before it" thing goes.

Also, the whole Stacy-X thing... Geez, you would have thought he was killing kittens with hammers in the street the way people bitched about that, and I thought the whole fuss was Just Plain Silly. Ex-murderers are fine, but apparently letting an ex-hooker join the X-Men just crosses the line because, you know, *sex* is involved, so let's all send out for a big order of hats with buckles on them...

When I said fans "almost deserved" Austin, I'm just saying that when you think about the cautious optimism and generally positive reaction that came with his arrival and how that would change quite drastically a few months down the line, it's, well, almost (almost, again) funny.

Actually, scratch the "almost" on that last one. It was frickin' hilarious.

@Ian A

Oddly enough that interview makes me want to re-read Casey's Uncanny run. It probably reads better without all the hype that was surrounding the X-books when Morrison took over.