This week is looking grim as far as weekly comics go…but it does feature a re-issue of the 90′s most underrated comics of all time. Warren Ellis’ Stormwatch is being collected in hardcover for the first time! I cannot stress enough on HOW F***ING AWESOME this is.
This hardcover features not just Warren Ellis’ excellent writing but the amazing art of Tom Raney, Michael Ryan, Pete Woods, and Jim Lee. The art is decent because we get to see all these guys, except Jim Lee, still developing their craft. They’re defining styles and a little more risky in their experiments. It turns out to be a mixed bag with some wonderful art work, and some stuff that doesn’t quite work. We all know that while the art can be nice, the main draw is Warren Ellis.
Ellis’s stories about a U.N. team of meta-humans. Ellis in the very first issue introduces an unusual threat and then swaps out quite a few people on the team. The team is split into three groups and each issue is a one shot focusing on a different division. The decisions of invading different countries are analyzed as far as the different members ethical culpability. We see the first appearance of Jenny Sparks and Jack Hawksmoore. The seeds of the Authority are planted in this very hardcover. This is very much like the first part of a trilogy that will lead to another Stormwatch volume and then the 12 issues of Hitch/Ellis’ Authory. This hardcover collects the first two Stormwatch trade paperbacks for $30. Go get it. If you’ve not read this then you are missing out on quintessential comics. Everyone should read this.
