Reviews - Wetworks Vol. 2 #1

The Blood-Red Game Part One of Three

After years in limbo, Wetworks is finally back and all the familiar faces are back as well. We don't get to see too much of them but Dane is definitely a familiar sight. Wetworks is the first series in Wildstorm's relaunched universe. The event has been dubbed WorldStorm and with the current creative teams, it looks promising.

As this is a relaunch of the universe, continuity is not completely inline with the old series. Dane is still head of Wetworks but this new Wetworks is a fairly large unit. There are regular soldiers in decked out gear and then the main team members. We get a glimpse of some of these new members (and old) but not the full team. In this issue we see the resurrection of Mother One, the recruitment of Red into Wetworks and we are introduced to a few new characters. The Vampire Nation and WereNation are still around but the series isn't about them anymore. Some new threat has shown up and it appears to be vampire-related.

It's exciting to read Wetworks again. I like this new take so far and I'm willing to give Mike Carey a chance on the book. There are still a lot of questions to be asked about the old team but I'm sure they'll be answered in the next few issues.

Whilce Portacio's artwork is still pretty good after all these years. He still has a unique style but he still lacks some dynamic drawing skills. Whenever Portacio tries the dynamic poses, his characters look wrong and awkward. Hopefully these little kinks will be worked out as the series progresses. Portacio's use of unconventional panels is a nice idea, but at times it is distracting. Perhaps it's just the rust from not pencilling for so long, but I'm hoping Portacio's artwork gets better in future issues.

As the first series in the WorldStorm relaunch, it's not a bad issue. Just having Wetworks back is good enough. A decent issue with some brilliant artwork.

DRAGONCRYPT Sunday, October 22, 2006