Wildstorm universe?

[E]

I've heard and read the term "Wildstorm Universe" but is it a universe in the same vein of Marvel or DC? Could any given Wildstorm character/team/title meet with any other given character/team/title? Are things cross-referenced (i.e. Mitchell Hundred as mayor of NYC)? Or does it work differently?

 

[marvelman]

yeah, planetary and authority are both wildstorm, and they cross reference each other (or at least planetary mentions authority on different occasions)

 

[E]

yeah, planetary and authority are both wildstorm, and they cross reference each other (or at least planetary mentions authority on different occasions)

Right, but for example I've never seen Mitchell Hundred mentioned in Planetary (though I just might not have caught it). As far as I know, Authority is the only other book mentioned in Planetary, and only because Jenny Sparks is a century baby like Elijah Snow.

 

[ProjectX2]

I think most of the WildStorm titles crossover with each other (Planetary, The Authority, WildCats etc.) but some titles (Desolation Jones, Ex Machina), don't. However, if you look very closely at comics in Ex Machina, they're all Planetary and The Authority covers.

 

[E]

I think most of the WildStorm titles crossover with each other (Planetary, The Authority, WildCats etc.) but some titles (Desolation Jones, Ex Machina), don't.

That's what I'm trying to find out - is it because, like, Desolation Jones is a completely different kind of book from Planetary so it doesn't, even though it could?

In Marvel terms - Punisher wouldn't ever cross over with, say, Silver Surfer because they are different types of characters and books. They could, but it wouldn't make any sense.

 

[thee great one]

Authority, Planetary, Mr.Majetic, and the Wildcats are all the same universe.

That's what I'm trying to find out - is it because, like, Desolation Jones is a completely different kind of book from Planetary so it doesn't, even though it could?

In Marvel terms - Punisher wouldn't ever cross over with, say, Silver Surfer because they are different types of characters and books. They could, but it wouldn't make any sense.

It couldn't.

 

[marvelman]

That's what I'm trying to find out - is it because, like, Desolation Jones is a completely different kind of book from Planetary so it doesn't, even though it could?

In Marvel terms - Punisher wouldn't ever cross over with, say, Silver Surfer because they are different types of characters and books. They could, but it wouldn't make any sense.

that's exactly as i understand it.

it could, but it doesnt.

 

[Dr.Strangefate]

No... I think that it's different than that.

Take DC's now-cancelled "Hard Time", which is a DC Title, or "Watchmen" which is also under the DC Label.

Wildstorm has a great deal of creator-owned comics, and simultaneously, has a well-constructed universe that is intrinsically tied into the fabric of the WS Universe.

Ex Machina takes place in a world without superheroes, which is why The Great Machine was such an anomoly to the world... So it definitely does NOT take place among the other titles.

Wildstorm Universe titles:
-Gen13
-WildCATS
-Stormwatch
-Stormwatch: Team Achilles
-The Authority
-The Midnighter (coming soon!)
-Coup D'Etat
-The Monarchy (short-lived spin-off)
-Planetary

Creator owned stuff isn't included into the fray...

 

[Hyperstorm]

The way I understand it is any title that's published just under the Wildstorm imprint takes place in the same universe. But if there published under Wildstorm Signature (Ex Machina), America's Best Comics (Promethea, LoEG), Homage Comic's (Astro City) or Cliffhanger (Danger Girl) they take place in there own universes.

 

[Friday]

Wildstorm Universe titles:
-Gen13 - Never read
-WildCATS - Excellent under Joe Casey or Alan Moore
-Stormwatch - Last quarter was good under Ellis
-Stormwatch: Team Achilles - Excellent, shame about all the lies.
-The Authority - Great to good. Brubaker a must read
-The Midnighter (coming soon!) - Should be crazy
-Coup D'Etat - Was actualy a line wide crossover, not a series. The basic jist is that the Autority takes over the Uniter States, and the various books reactions.
-The Monarchy (short-lived spin-off) - Sucked.
-Planetary - Too cool for words
And don't forget...

Wetworks - Never read. Returning with the line wide re-launch
Deathblow - A mercenary, and longtime friend of The Grifter. Currently dead, but unkown if he'll ever come back. He's normaly the "we keep our characters dead" refrence they use. Had an ongoing.
Team Zero/7 minis - Preludes to the current universe, these series set up alot of the current and past series. They introduce Gen Factor mutagens, Grifter, Deathblow, and all kinds of shady dealings with the goverments handeling of Super Soldiers. Really an intresting read. And both are/were written by Chuck Dixon.
Majestic - The boring *** adventures of Mr. Majestic. Seriously, this guy is awesome in W.I.L.D.Cats and the Superman crossover that set up his series but so far what I've reade of his ongoing has been pretty mild. Its currently rounding out its run in favor of the Grant Morrison Jim Lee Wildcats run coming up.

Basicly the creator owned stuff, excluding Planetary, is all in its own little universes. Wildstorm is like mixing The Ultimate line with Vertigo in terms of output. Alot of excellent superhero stuff and a bunch of cool *** creator owned series. If you're looking for something diffrent I greatly reccomend Joe Casey's Wildcats 2.0 and 3.0 wich combine the ideas of soldiers without a war to fight and corperate back room dealing for an amazingly intriguing read. And cyborg chicks blow **** up. :wink:

 

[Dr.Strangefate]

Thanks, Baxter... I don't know all that much about the older Wildstorm stuff...

I've just picked up all that i've read in the WSU over the past year or so.

 

[Friday]

Thanks, Baxter... I don't know all that much about the older Wildstorm stuff...

I've just picked up all that i've read in the WSU over the past year or so.

I've got some of the old Image stuff. I want to find some more of the Chuck Dixon Team 7 series but so far no luck.

 

[Friday]

Holy Carp how did I forget about sleeper!

Ed Brubaker took elements from the distrustful goverment of Wildstorms past, characters from Moore's W.I.L.D.Cats run, and turned it all into an amazing gritty spy thriller with a defecting agent named Holden Carver doing anyhting he can to protect his cover as a right hand man to Tao, who is easily the most intellegent being currently known in the Wildstorm Universe. Sean Phillips does the art just right too, being apropriatly moody and washed out looking. A deffiniate reccomendation.

 

[Bass]

It's very simple.

Wildstorm is an imprint which has a universe like DC, or 616 Marvel or Ultimate Marvel.

Part of the imprint is called "Wildstorm Signiature Series". This a comic produced under the Wildstorm imprint but is NOT part of the Wildstorm universe.

Ocean, Desolation Jones, Global Frequency, Ex Machina, Matador... these are Wildstorm comics but not part of the Wildstorm universe as they are part of the WILDSTORM SIGNIATURE SERIES sub-imprint.

If it says "Signiature Series" it's not part of the WS universe that houses Gen13, The Authority, and Planetary.

 

[HÊÚL.]

It is like Vertigo label... Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, Witching, Books Of Magic, Human Target and Losers, for example, are part of the DCU... But 100 Bullets and Y: The Last Man are not... Wildstorm has some authoral comics like Vertigo... Wildstorm Universe is like the Malibu Universe and New Universe in Marvel Comics... It is a paralel universe of DCU...

 

[thee great one]

Wildstorm rocks.

The Authority and Planetary are both kick *** titles, two sides of the same coin.

I really dug Captain Atom Armageddon (which is what got me interested).

I need to start WildC.A.T.S.

Should I start with the beginning or later?

And so don't bother with Stormwatch?

 

[MoS]

Stormwatch - some of this is good, some of this is "meh" - the ending, where they go up against the not-even-disguised creatures from Aliens, is of the "meh" variety. Besides, Jackson King will drive you nuts - you'll keep calling him "Nick Fury" because he looks, acts and sounds just like Ultimate Nick Fury. I'd suggest just skipping directly to The Authority, and the Ellis/Hitch run (first 12 issues, I think). The Millar run will remind you much of Ultimates (heck, so will the Ellis run), but it's really, really uneven because of editorial interference from DC - it got heavily cut and cebsored and there were some fill-in stories while some editorial concerns got hashed out, and the run suffers for it.

WildCATS varies widely in quality and theme. Skip the very early Jim Lee stuff - it's sort of everything that was wrong with the 90s in comics. My favorite issues are the Volume 2 and 3 issues written by Joe Casey, and they take a distinct turn away from the earlier Alan Moore run - Moore's is more of a space opera thing (very reminiscent of the Shi'Ar) and Casey's is far more down-to-earth and sort of super-hero-y spy thriller with some social politics thrown in. Alan Moore did, I believe, invent the character of Ladytron, which is both amusing and annoying beyond belief.

Start with these trades in Volume 2: (thanks to www.tplist.com for synopses)

1. Street Smart (1-6; w Scott Lobdell, Joe Casey; a Travis Charest & Richard Friend, Brian Hitch & Paul Neary; et al.). [From DC Comics: Once upon a time they were a Covert Action Team, now they are simply Wildcats who have gone their separate ways. The mercenary Grifter has returned to his former life as a freelance solider-for-hire, eking out a living, and having a ball doing what he does best. Until, that is, one dangerous mission unexpectedly reunites him with the last two people he wants to see—former teammates Spartan and Emp. Their story unfolds, along with that of Voodoo, Maul, Warblade, and the rest of the team formerly known as WildC.A.T.s, in a gripping tale of action and intrigue, loyalty and betrayal, and, ultimately, of what it really means to be a hero.]

2. Vicious Circles (8-13; w Joe Casey; a Sean Phillips). [From DC Comics: They are soldiers without a war, facing threats from the towering spires of Manhattan to the seedy underbelly of Vegas… from the boardrooms of downtown L.A. to the hidden realities within our own subconscious minds. Now, the past returns to haunt them in the guise of an immortal psychotic named Kenyan. And in the end, the WildCats will forfeit one of their own in a final confrontation.]

3. Serial Boxes (14-19; w Joe Casey; a Sean Phillips). [From DC Comics: A super-serial killer is on the loose and he's hell-bent on killing Jacob Marlowe over a decades-old blood feud. The bodies pile up as Samuel Smith, the man with the laser eyes, crisscrosses the country in a bloody search for his intended victim, leaving scores of unrelated Marlowes lying in the dust. But after discovering Jacob has died, Smith turns his deadly attentions to Spartan, Marlowe's replacement as head of the Halo Corporation and the Wildcats, and anyone unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire had better run for cover! The second volume of Joe Casey's and Sean Phillips's acclaimed run on Wildcats takes Grifter, Spartan, Voodoo, and the rest of the team on a vicious joyride to places they've never been before—now if only they can fight their way back]

4. Battery Park (20-28; w Joe Casey; a Sean Phillips, Steve Dillon). [From DC Comics: Following the devastating attacks by the psychotic Samuel Smith—attacks that left Priscilla Kitaen crippled, Jeremy Stone nearly blind, and Smith dead - the remains of the Wildcats must rely on one another as never before. But while Jeremy and Grifter deal with the threat of shadowy government agents (as well as a ghost or two from the past), the entire team must face an enemy within—one that could undo everything that they have worked for. In this final volume of their Wildcats 2.0 collaboration, writer Joe Casey and artist Sean Phillips are joined by guest artist Steve Dillon for a story of unexpected hope, merciless betrayal, and surprising redemption.]

Then pick up Volume 3 -

1. Brand Building (1-6; w Joe Casey; a Dustin Nguyen & Richard Friend). [From DC Comics: All great companies begin with a single idea. Make a better refrigerator. Design a better running shoe. Bring wireless communication to the masses. Change the world. The HALO Corporation is out to change the world in a whole new way. The vision of CEO Jack Marlowe (the android warrior formerly known as Spartan) is one of global harmony through consumerism, and he's got agents from every area of influence to help him achieve it. From NPS Agent Wax to underworld power broker C.C. Rendozzo to gunslinger-for-hire Grifter, Marlowe's campaign to make HALO a household name begins in this collection of issues #1-6 of Wildcats Version 3.0. While Marlowe taps into an otherworldly source of unlimited power to package and sell to the masses, the search for a missing FBI Agent becomes a nationwide hunt that leads to the dark heart of suburban America.]

2. Full Disclosure (7-12; w Joe Casey; a Dustin Nguyen & Richard Friend). [From DC Comics: The sprawling saga of the Wildcats continues with WILDCATS VERSION 3.0: FULL DISCLOSURE, collecting issues #7-12 of the critically acclaimed series. Writer Joe Casey and artists Dustin Nguyen and Richard Friend continue the corporate intrigue and human drama involving Jack Marlowe's machinations to place the ever-growing Halo Corporation at the forefront of global culture. Meanwhile, Cole Cash drafts accountant Edwin Dolby as his gun-toting successor!]

The last 12 (?) issues of this run aren't collected in TPB, but someone you know might just have them in a digital format (they can be hard to find).

 

[thee great one]

I've read all of Authority and loved it all.

I just finished the Authority-Planetary crossover.

That ruled very much.

I want more of them together.

 

[MoS]

HOW I loved the Jenny Sparks character. And the Midnighter. I think they're why I give Ellis the benefit of the doubt whenever he writes something new.

 

[thee great one]

Ellis has wrote some absolute genius stuff. And some that I found decent.

Authority/Planetary and Desolation Jones are greatness in comic form.

His Iron Man was damn near up there.

His ultimate runs have been decent. Nextwave is enjoyable.