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The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:27 am
by Crawler
Here's Paul Cornell talking about Stormwatch:

Get More: Geek: Event Coverage, MTV Games

The Projectionist sounds awesome, to me. Control of the media isn't quite controlling people, since it's not 100%. I mean, people don't fully trust and agree with the media. However, were we to find out that, in real life, someone is controlling both Fox News and CNN...no surprise. At least as long as they want to keep us off balance and fighting amongst ourselves on minor issues. And, of course, she CAN do CRAZY things, simply by reporting them. Like the Presidential election. No one actually wins the presidency any more. One of the candidates always concedes victory based upon...media reports. It also means that, so long as she's not leaving traces all over the place, she's the reason Stormwatch can operate in secret. She's THE most powerful censorship tool in the world.

And then there's the other awesome thing: She'd be crap in a fight. And THAT makes for reeeeally interesting character stories. It's a team of people that run around punching things...and their most powerful member could be killed with a push down the stairs. I could see how she could be unsure of her place, since the others are all PUNCHING THE MOON, while she sits back and talks to TVs.




[Edited on 20/9/11 by Bamfette]

The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:54 am
by Bamfette
I like what I hear about the Projectionist, it explains so much about how they stay secret, her presence alone makes the whole concept that much more plausible. I could also see her having big effects in the DCU, in terms of the anti-alien and anti-super sentiment we've been seeing in the new DCU. We already know that Stormwatch is not particularly fond of these costumed upstarts. If, as I suspect they might be with all this talk about the Eminence of Blades making a play for power and Cornell talking about the team 'falling apart', and the fact that 5 of 9 team members were once members of The Authority, there is a team schism leading to The Authority in the future this might make it actually workable. My problem with the Authority in the DCU has always been that they would be too disruptive, and the Justice League would NEVER allow a team like that to remain in operation. But if The Projectionist can sway the media to be pro-Authority, put positive spin on their actions.... They'd still be awfully disruptive, this is a team that, in the WSU, took control of the (extremely corrupt) US government, operated out of a dimension hopping shift ship the size of a city, "overthrew" dictators by smashing said ship into them, and were EXTREMELY violent in their tactics, but... the new DCU does seem like a darker place, so it *might* work. Though I'm still wary of it, but the Projectionist alone makes me see how it could happen.

I also like the way Cornell is reining in Jenny Q's powers. in The Authority, Jenny Quantum and the Doctor (but he's not here) were absurdly powerful. It always had to be explained why they didn't just snap their fingers and fix any problem they came across. This limits her potential power, and allows for her powers to change and evolve over time, as we learn more about quantum physics.

[Edited on 5/9/11 by Bamfette]

The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:38 pm
by Bamfette
Ok, so I've read the new Stormwatch. Some spoilers follow.

It was... okay. 'Let me explain my powers' dialogue has always been a huge pet peeve of mine, so that annoyed me, (Action Comics handled this brilliantly, SHOWING, not telling, and had a Stormwatch reference, possibly 2, which was cool. Batgirl handled things with an internal monologue in captions which I also would have found preferable, in that it at least wouldn't make the dialogue unnatural) but with luck that will calm down in a few issues. The enormous wrists and ankles and other anatomy issues will likewise bug me. But it was okay. I loved Midnighter's appearance, it established him as a badass quickly and easily (see? show, not tell. Cornell can do it, he just chose not to with Jenny and the Projectionist for whatever reason) the timing seemed a bit coincidental, but I'm jut gonna say Midnighter was watching Apollo to make sure he was getting the right guy.

Blond hair on Apollo annoys the hell out of me. it makes him generic and bland looking in comparison to the Apollo of old.

[Edited on 8/9/11 by Bamfette]

The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 10:45 pm
by Crawler
I agree. There were moments of real brilliance in there, like the Midnighter bit. I'm hoping that, as the series gets going and Cornell worries less and less about people knowing who the characters are and what they can do, the writing will get less stilted and the story will really get rolling. There was still hints of the snark and internal turmoil that characterized Ellis's Stormwatch and Authority, but the whole book seemed a bit paranoid that no one would know who these characters were...and so it fell a bit flat.

The Projectionist and Midnighter we very clearly characterized. Not fully rounded just yet, but their personalities and voices shone through very well. There was a little bit of that with The Engineer and Jenny, and Adam One was established as an ass.

Overall, I liked it, but more because of what I think it will be, rather than what it currently is.

The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 2:24 am
by Bamfette
BTW. I forgot to mention this before. I thought the addition of 'Midnighter-vision' was interesting, but not sure if i quite like it. I don't think we've ever seen things 'through his eyes' before. But I never pictured his powers as involving a HUD, more of an organic simulation where he can visualize things, and go 'yeah, that one. That's the optimal solution' and then gets to enacting the strategy. this reminded me of the Terminator, and I dunno if i like that.

The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:07 am
by Darkholme
This and JLI had the same problem - the cast is too large to introduce well in one issue. I know Cornell can do team books - Captain Britain and MI:13 for example - but this one just seemed a bit...off. Still, I'm coming back for the next issue, and I suspect that I'll be giving this one a reread after issue 2.

The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 10:40 pm
by Bamfette
Yeah. it just felt cluttered and chaotic. Looking at it again, i see there is subtlety and layers going on, but it all just gets kinda drowned out in the chaos. For instance, there are hints there that Apollo does have the same survivor's guilt, or something similar, that he had before, which i was hoping Cornell would pick up on. A lot of writers just wrote him as an idiot, like that was why he never took leadership. But he wasn't stupid, he just had an aversion to leadership positions because he was the leader of a team that was utterly decimated on a mission gone wrong, aside from him and Midnighter. He didn't want responsibility for anything that might go wrong, he was content to just let others point him in the right direction and he'd smash things up. but Ellis was REALLY subtle with this characterization. There are some hints that his origins in the DCU could have something to do with a nuclear test that went badly, and he does seem to have an aversion to anything big.

The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:25 am
by Bamfette
Solicit and cover for issue 4 has been posted, and it's craaaaazy:

Image
The earth is being eaten alive! As the unstoppable alien antibody continues consuming everything in its path, Stormwatch awakens a slumbering [information redacted] buried deep within the earth. But has the team found an ally or a threat greater than the antibody? However it plays out, the DC landscape literally will be changed forever! Plus: Don’t miss a major change to the Stormwatch roster!
Apollo's looking damned hot on that cover, imo. I also note he is leaving Martian Manhunter to rot. Served him right for being an ass in issue 1. I personally was expecting the Moon Antibodies to be more like the constructs the Eminence was fighting on the surface of the moon, not a slime monster. I wonder what they've awakened.. I've seen people theorizing Doomsday, but you know what else has a consciousness and has been found buried deep under the earth? a Shift Ship. Could they be digging up The Carrier? a Shift Ship is also large enough to literally change the landscape, the Carrier was 50 miles long. the Shift Ship from Planetary was smaller, but still pretty fucking huge.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v720/ ... t-ship.jpg

That's the Planetary shift ship rising out of the ground, it left a MASSIVE hole in the middle of Death Valley. it's tiny compared to the Carrier.

I still don't know quite how it would work, but things keep pointing towards an eventual Authority spinoff, from the chosen cast of characters to the solicit for issue 4. But if it means someone else draws the ex-Authority characters, bring it on. :p Cornell has introduced one thing that could actually make the Authority work in the DCU without breaking it. The Projectionist. If she can sway the media, and make their actions be seen on the same level as those of the Justice League, and the Authority refrain from taking over the USA this time around... It could actually work without us constantly wondering why the Justice League doesn't (attempt to) stomp them into the ground. It could also work if, instead of Jack or Jenny (who is 11 here, after all) it was Apollo who led the team. Though that may prevent it from feeling like the proper Authority... but they're setting Apollo up for *something* it's getting absurd how prominently he's been featured on the covers.

Not that I'm complaining, since he's my favorite, but it is strange given how he was treated in the last few years in Wildstorm. I expected the star to be Midnighter, he was the only character here to support an ongoing solo series, besides Martian Manhunter... and Midnighter's lasted longer. But look at the covers, which, you would think, would want to showcase all the team members, but no.... Central figure on issue 1, Apollo, with Martian Manhunter and Midnighter in the background. Issue 2 is a group shot with everyone except the Eminence of Blades, but Apollo is the central figure. Issue 3, Apollo yet again is the central figure as he catches a meteor or something, with The Engineer and Martian Manhunter hanging out in the background. Issue 4, Midnigher finally steals the spotlight from Apollo, but Apollo's still there, saving Jenny from the slime, Martian Manhunter and Adam One also appear. And an alternate cover for issue 1 has Apollo as the central figure yet again, with Martian Manhunter, Jenny, Engineer, Midnighter and Adam One in the background.

appearance count: Apollo = 5, Martian Manhunter = 5, Midnighter = 4, Jenny = 3, Engineer = 3, Adam One, 3, Projectionist = 1, Jack Hawksmoor = 1 (a shame really, I like Jack) Eminence of Blades = 0
Central character: Apollo = 4, Midnighter = 1

This also supports my theory that The Eminence of Blades is gonna die. one - he got his brain fucked with in issue 1. two - He's a new character, may as well put a red shirt on him. three - he steps on Midnighter's toes as far as team role goes.

Unless they're messing with us via covers. We do know that the cover for 1 was misleading, Midnighter only appeared for 2 pages, and neither he nor Apollo were recruited by the end of the issue. But Apollo did get a lot of face time in that issue....

Maybe DC is setting up an alternate Superman incase the court battle over the Superman copyright goes poorly? Though if that were the case, you'd think they'd have brought over Majestic...

sorry had to get fangirl theorizing out of my system.

*edit - becuse there has been some debate over the quality of the art, I wish to present the following images to help explain why I and some others are so turned off by the art in Stormwatch.

Here is a panel from Stormwatch, Apollo (who is very strong and nigh invulnerable like Superman, but lacks the 'grounding' secondary power some bricks have, and can be knocked back fairly easily. if you play City of Heroes, it's like an Invul tank without Unyielding) has just been knocked back by Martian Manhunter:

Image

Here, from The Authority, is a panel where Apollo has just been knocked back by a character (who he wants it be known 'has WAY MORE than the strength of ten men') and has smashed into a wall:

Image

Similar positions, similar scenarios, but the Dustin Nguyen one looks so. much. better. to me. the one from Stormwatch, his shoulder is dislocated and his far leg does not even connect to his hip! and it just all round lacks definition and structure, and the colours are gaudy...



[Edited on 18/9/11 by Bamfette]

The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:07 am
by Crawler
While I like the idea of introducing Shift Ships and The Bleed into the new DCU proper, I'm not sure I like the idea of it happening already. It just seems a bit early in the mythos to be introducing that kind of stuff, especially since there's already so much that I want to know more about first. For example, I want to know more about their spaceship / space station that they're currently working out of. Discarding it after just 3 issues seems like kind of a waste. (That might be my inner nerd talking.)

However, if they're using this as a launching point into two books, it would make sense to add the shift ship...though it still seems early to have a "spin off."

The New 52: Stormwatch

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 6:22 am
by Bamfette
Technically, it already has happened, though. They didn't CALL it "The Bleed" but Grant Morrison has used it and even a Shift Ship before, and Blue Beetle and Kyle Rainer have both been in The Bleed. (and Captain Atom has, and even made it to the Wildstorm universe, but he less said about that the better. -_-Though that's where things actually began crossing over) it may not be in continuity anymore, however, but there is precedence.

Image
Image

You can't tell me that's not The Bleed

Though yes, it does seem early for a spinoff... though, there could be several issues after #4 of them bickering about what to do with the Shift Ship, if that's what it is.

But yes, I do want to know where they got their ship. I'm GUESSING it's captured from one of the threats they protected the earth from...

[Edited on 19/9/11 by Bamfette]