Stormwatch #2 – Review

By: Paul Cornell (writer), Miguel Sepulveda & Al Barrionuevo (artists), Alex Sinclair (colorist)

The Story: I’m guessing none of these people played “Follow the Leader” very well as kids.

The Review: Paul Cornell has certainly set aside for himself a quirky territory in the world of comics.  Almost everything he writes has a sincerely strange flavor, but one that can also be strangely sincere.  Whether you’re dealing with Skrulls disguised as the Beatles, a bar where heroes and villains of varying quality rub shoulders and share a hot toddy, or a genius with a fetching robot companion, you can always count on Cornell to deliver the very odd goods.

It doesn’t get much odder than opening on the beginning of all beginnings, the Big Bang, and finding a member of Stormwatch already there.  Adam One appears as befuddled to discover himself in existence as we are, as well as a bit disgruntled at his craving for a “pint,” though “pints” haven’t been invented yet.  An off-panel voice observes, “Ah, so this is the moment you age backwards from the start of the universe!  One day you’re going to try to kill me.”

Cut to a little over a dozen billion years later, and we find Harry looking quite dapper in his middle ages (relatively), but also harried from the multiple demands of his team.  Any group that gathers for a higher calling rather than kinship will have its conflicts, and Stormwatch has plenty, with Engineer brazenly vying for leadership, and Harry Tanner referring to his team in quotes.

Harry becomes increasingly compelling over the course of the issue.  In comparison to the more expansive abilities of his teammates (Jenny Quantum: “Hey, I can do force fields!”  Engineer: “Yes, your dark matter DNA means you can do anything at the moment.”), he doesn’t come off as the most valuable Stormwatcher.  But as Engineer perceptively remarks, “…he’s the greatest at misdirection.  That’s his main power—he’s the prince of lies.”  And so it seems, as he pulls the wool over even the big giant eye of the lunar monster who’s got its tentacles inside his brain.

Back on-planet, Midnighter makes an offer to Apollo, while Martian Manhunter and Adam make a counter-offer to both.  It’s a short sequence, but incredibly revealing, putting Cornell’s flair for dialogue to excellent use.  Adam shows beneath his flamboyance lies a finely-tuned integrity, and Manhunter demonstrates nerve and grit we haven’t seen in a good long while.  Midnighter and Apollo may be lone wolves, but even they have to concede Stormwatch’s competence.

After all, it’s no ordinary group that can mislead every other great heroic team in the world into tracking the Fox, of all people, as the culprit behind the lunar disturbances (“The moon?!” he cries with a bloodied nose, “What about the moon?!”).  But this talent for media manipulation won’t help Stormwatch confront the enemies at hand, as the moon sends multiple asteroids on direct trajectories for Earth, each with presumably a special, formidable surprise inside.

This issue proves DC’s wisdom in getting Sepulveda into an exclusive contract.  He and Barrionuevo offer some gorgeously organic, dynamic, detailed work; that final splash page by itself would make the perfect poster for a sci-fi disaster film.  Sinclair’s colors manages to be at once bold and vivacious for the superheroic elements of the issue, but also dark and cold when the script reaches for espionage-thriller territory.

Conclusion: The title has really gained momentum now, as it offers surprisingly developed characters, fun interplay, creative sci-fi concepts, a strong plot, and tremendous art.

Grade: B+

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – I don’t care how well anyone explains it to me; I will never understand Jack Hawksmoor’s powers.

– I’m just tickled that the Justice League can be swayed by the media machine into pinning what looks to be one of the least dangerous villains ever for controlling the moon.