Tag: Spartan

A Look Back at WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams #4 (1993)

A Look Back at WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams #4 (1993)

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Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from reading the comic book and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Welcome back superhero enthusiasts, 1990s culture enthusiasts and comic book collectors! Today we revisit the early days of Image Comics through Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams comic book franchise which was one of the launch titles of the said company.

Last time around, I reviewed the third issue of the WildC.A.T.S mini-series and its quality was good enough for me. Other than the visual candies delivered by Jim Lee, WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams featured a crossover with Rob Liefeld’s very own Youngblood which was really surprising and intriguing back in those times.

With those details laid down, here is a look back at the final issue of the mini-series…WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams , published by Image Comics through Malibu Comics in 1993 with a story written by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee. Lee did the art.

Jim Lee drew this cover very similarly to his cover art work on X-Men (1992).

Early story

The story begins with Helspont already declaring victory as well as the beginning of his operation called Reunification which involves the use of the orb to activate a stargate which would allow his brethren of Daemonites to come to Earth to not only overwhelm the Kherubim but also to conquer the whole world. In his presence are two of his deadly companies standing with him and certain members of WildC.A.T.S – including their leader Jacob Marlowe – who are down on the rough surface having been hit hard moments earlier.

Suddenly a group composed of the six Youngblood members, Vice President Dan Quayle and WildC.A.T.S’ members Voodoo and Maul approach Helspont and his companions in an attempt to make them surrender.

As Voodoo realizes her power does not affect Helspont, the vicious Daemonite strikes the group with an energy blast aided by the orb and the high technology of the place. As this happens, Grift, Void and Jacob slowly make their moves. Jacob uses his communicator to send a signal to the heavily damaged Spartan…

Quality

WildC.A.T.S face strong opposition from the Gnome and his dangerous companions.

As the final tale of the mini-series, I can say that the script made for this comic book is a pretty satisfying read from start to finish. Like in issue , the pace here moves fast and there is a lot of spectacle that got executed while never overwhelming its narrative. More on the narrative, the conflict between the Kherubim and Daemonites is strongly symbolized by the WildC.A.T.S and Helspont’s forces going head to head. There are some pretty notable character moments that added to the fun factor such as Jacob sarcastically telling Helspont he could not access the back-up systems for his dreaded operation to bring the Daemonites to Earth.

Of course, this is not simply a WildC.A.T.S versus Helspont story in the good-versus-evil type of way. Apart from the inclusion of Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood, there is also the other dangerous party led by the Gnome who also have a strong interest in the orb. While their participation in the story happens pretty late, they do provide serious opposition against Jacob Marlowe and his team.

As mentioned earlier, there is a lot of action that expresses the intensity of the conflicts. While there is almost no room left for any real character development, the creators managed to craft a story that never felt brainless or unintelligent. As such, there is a lot of entertaining stuff to enjoy here and I personally find the establishment of WildC.A.T.S’ core concept to be solid and worth following.

Conclusion

As Helspont emphasizes his evil plan, Jacob Marlowe makes his move.

WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1993) is a not just a fun comic book to read. It is also a worthy conclusion to its mini-series and also it succeeded in establishing the WildC.A.T.S as both Jim Lee’s passion project and as one of the most worthy early titles of Image Comics. By the time I reached the end of this comic book, it became clear to me back in 1993 that Jim Lee was moving forward to a new territory on superhero comic book creations leaving behind his legacy with Marvel and their X-Men franchise. While this comic book ended the 4-issue mini-series, the funny thing was that Jim Lee and his team went on to start a regular comic book series of WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams by actually publishing issue #5 (in late 1993) instead of starting with a brand new issue .

If you are seriously planning to buy an existing hard copy of WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1993), be aware that as of this writing, MileHighComics.com shows that the near-mint copy of the regular edition costs $20 while the near-mint copies of newsstand edition (without card) and the numbered-and-signed edition cost $48 and $160 respectively.

Overall, WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1993) is recommended.

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/

A Look Back at WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams #3 (1993)

A Look Back at WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams #3 (1993)

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Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from reading the comic book and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Welcome back superhero enthusiasts, 1990s culture enthusiasts and comic book collectors! Today we revisit the early days of Image Comics through Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams comic book franchise which was one of the launch titles of the said company.

Last time around, I reviewed the 2nd issue of WildC.A.T.S. which literally had more meat in its storytelling as the required introductions of the core characters were over. Issue had some really nice revelations as it helped expand the WildStorm universe a bit more and it was intriguing to see International Operations (I/O) emphasized more as the mini-series established the Kherubim-Daemonite conflict.

With those details laid down, here is a look back at WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams , published by Image Comics through Malibu Comics in 1993 with a story written by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee. Lee did the art.

The cover.

Early story

The story begins inside the top-secret research facility of SDI with Maul holding a Daemonite disguised as US Vice President Dan Quayle off the ground with Spartan and Voodoo near him. The problem they have, however, is that the Youngblood team is facing them ready to fight. Shaft of Youngblood demands the release of the Vice President.

With his massive build, Maul lets go of the Vice President and hits Diehard sparking a battle between his team and Youngblood. Shaft tells his teammates that as they fight the three WildC.A.T.S, he wants them alive. The impostor Vice President Quayle tells Youngblood to kill them all.

After Diehard and Badrock knock off Maul, Chapel fires several blasts at Spartan to separate him from the impostor. Shaft then fires an arrow that generates disruptive sound which prevents Voodoo from executing her power.

Elsewhere within the facility, Grifter, Jacob Marlowe, Warblade, Void and Zealot quietly make their way to the control center where the Daemonite leader Helspont is overseeing secret operations…

Quality

You love Jim Lee-style action, you will find a lot to enjoy in this comic book.

Starting with the storytelling, this one is expectedly a natural progression from issue but the key difference is that the pace moved much faster as there was more emphasis on action and visual splendor. Along the way another sub-plot was dramatized complete with the showing of additional characters Attica, Slag, HARM and their superior who are after a key object that happens to be a crucial part of Helspont’s operation. The way the script was written, the narrative was told in a disciplined manner even though the pace was faster and the creators had to integrate Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood which resulted one of the earliest Image Comics crossovers that unfortunately did not justify the fancy cover art. Given the addition of Youngblood, the mentioned sub-plot and the way the script was made, there was clearly no room left for character development. In my experience, re-reading this comic book’s story was fun and engaging enough.

As this story was action-packed, fans of Jim Lee will surely enjoy what he presented here. Even by today’s standards, the art and presentation of the spectacle is great to see! Personally, I like Jim Lee’s visual take on Youngblood (except that I still find Rob Liefeld’s drawing of Chapel more detailed) and the short-but-sweet battle between the two superhero teams is quite a spectacle. In terms of visual details, Lee drew the characters and environment with a lot of detail all throughout. There were no signs of rushed art here.

Conclusion

The battle between three WildC.A.T.S members and Youngblood begins!

As mentioned earlier, WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1993) is pretty entertaining and engaging. Compared to issue , this one has a lot more action and the narrative moved at a faster pace without becoming brainless. At the same time, there is a clear feeling that the stakes were raised as the WildC.A.T.S made their moves in what is clearly their final objective as a team. Also a factor here is the continued emphasis on the Kherubim-Daemonite war which was executed well. More on Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood being involved in the story, this results the illusion that Image Comics back then had a shared universe (note: read the legal stuff on the bottom of the credits). The crossover done here was more of an experiment done to emphasize the cooperation between Jim Lee and Liefeld as they were co-founders of Image.

If you are seriously planning to buy an existing hard copy of WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1993), be aware that as of this writing, MileHighComics.com shows that the near-mint copy of the gimmick cover edition costs $20 while the near-mint copies of newsstand edition and the signed editions cost $60 each.

Overall, WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1993) is recommended.

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/

A Look Back at WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams #2 (1992)

A Look Back at WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams #2 (1992)

carlocarrasco

Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from reading the comic book and doing personal research. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Welcome back superhero enthusiasts, 1990s culture enthusiasts and comic book collectors! Today we revisit the early days of Image Comics through Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams comic book franchise which was one of the launch titles of the said company.

For the newcomers reading this, Jim Lee is one of the co-founders of Image Comics and during his previous stint with Marvel Comics, he was instrumental in modernizing the X-Men both visually and creatively (note: look at all the paramilitary elements implemented during his X-Men days). WildC.A.T.S was his independent superhero team project which went on to not only grow as a comic book franchise in the 1990s, but also became an animated TV series. WildC.A.T.S dealt with conspiracy as well as aliens from outer space.

With those details laid down, here is a look back at WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams , published by Image Comics in 1992 with a story written by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee. Lee did the art.

The cover.

Early story

The story begins in the headquarters of International Operations (I/O) whose officials have been monitoring a situation far away. Suddenly a portal appeared inside I/O which surprised director Lynch and his fellow officials. Seen through the portal – which appeared for only seconds in front I/O’s people – were Jacob Marlowe, Spartan, Grifter, Maul, Zealot, Voodoo, Void and Warblade who just escaped from certain death which is connected to the explosion monitored by I/O.

The WildC.A.T.S instantly arrived inside their highly advanced aircraft safe and sound. After some talk, they begin to move to a safehouse of Grifter’s near Quantico…

Quality

An efficient exposition about the science fiction concept of WildC.A.T.S.

As far as storytelling goes, this comic book has more depth to its plot. While the first issue was filled with introductions of characters and story concepts as well starting its narrative in cryptic fashion, there was more freedom in this issue for the writers to properly structure their story, gradually build-up tension, execute payoffs satisfactorily while still managing to insert spectacle to complete the work. The story moved with a moderate pace and things moved fast when it was needed. I find re-reading this WildC.A.T.S tale a more satisfying experience than before and it is also an improvement over the first issue.

More on the core concept about Daemonites infiltrating human societies on Earth with the involvement of the Cabal to enhance their efforts, there literally more meat to chew here as Jim Lee and Brandon Choi came up with clever and efficient ways on executing exposition. The I/O meanwhile literally jumped from being background decoration into the main story as a connection was made between one of the top officials of the organization and WildC.A.T.S leader Marlowe.

More on the WildC.A.T.S themselves, you will get to know more about each member and how their respective personalities differ from each other as they all struggle to keep up with the changes around them. Voodoo here is still the witness of a conflict she never anticipated would involve her and many times she is clueless and really struggling to figure out what has been happening. While Marlowe has the strong tycoon mentality all throughout, Spartan is the dedicated and focused operator while Grifter is the cocky gunslinger and Zealot is the battle-hardened warrior whose perception about life and survival could make readers wonder if she is truly brave or truly reckless. With the introductions of each character already done, in issue it was no surprise that there was a bit more space for the creators to define each team member with limited space (pages) they had during comic book production.

Conclusion

In the heat of the action, something visceral happened with Voodoo who is not even a fighter.

The best way to describe WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1992) is that its core concept as well as its mini-series plot really started to take shape as Brandon Choi and Jim Lee got over all the creative hurdles in issue . The result was not only more focus on plotting but executing payoff for story build-up, characterization and putting enough action in a rather disciplined way. There was no sign of creative rush by Choi and Lee here. I should also state that it is in this same comic book where you will see more interesting traits of the WildC.A.T.S members which, in my experience, made me anticipate the next issue.

As one of the very early comic books of Image Comics, this one had one of the first, if not the first, gimmick covers of the said publisher and I can say that its content was good enough to justify the flashy cover and its rather high cover price of $2.50 (note: back in 1992 many of Marvel’s and DC’s comic books had cover prices of $1.25 while WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams had a $1.95 cover price). I could not forget the day in 1992 when I visited a local comic book specialty store in Makati that had WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1992) displayed with its cover really shining under a strong light source. I also remember there were others in the store staring at it.

If you are seriously planning to buy an existing hard copy of WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1992), be aware that as of this writing, MileHighComics.com shows that the near-mint copy of the gimmick cover edition costs $20 while the near-mint copies of the signed gimmick cover edition and the newsstand edition cost $60 each.

Overall, WildC.A.T.S: Covert Action Teams (1992) is recommended.

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/