Wildcats #26

“Desert Storms” (No Spoilers)

Writer: Adam Beechen
Pencils: Tim Seeley
Inks: Andy Smith
Colors: Carlos Badilla
Letters: Wes Abbott
Assistant Editor: Kristy Quinn
Editor: Scott Peterson
Cover: Howard Porter & Allen Martinez

Wow! If you are a long time Wildstorm fan like me there are a ton of references and appearances in here that will make you giddy! Much like Christos Gage did in his run, Adam Beechen is finding great ways to incorporate old characters we haven’t seen in years.

Beechen is still juggling several stories but for the most part we get two stories here with two distinct themes. One is the more epic story involving the mysterious character Aeon and the majority of the other heroes. But the second is a more personal story as Warblade takes the nurse who helped him when he was wounded and they go to Earth to find her family. In the midst of all the grandness of the Aeon story, the Warblade story is more down to Earth and very human. I hope your heart is prepared for the outcome.

The only story Beechen throws our way and then moves on is Majestic’s story. But even then it’s a teaser showing us that his story is about to move into a whole other level. The rest of the stories seem to begin separately but then they all converge with the Aeon story. And boy does Beechen give us a huge tease with Aeon! But he doesn’t stop there! He attaches an awesome cliffhanger associated with Aeon AND we get another second cliffhanger as we finally see what John Lynch and Team 7 are up to.

Tim Seeley continues to give us great renditions of the Wildstorm heroes. One subtle thing that Seeley is doing a great job with is the facial expressions of the characters. This is especially true with the Warblade story. The emotion is already bursting through in the dialogue and the situation but Seeley makes sure we see it on the heroes’ faces as well. This is a small detail that could easily be overlooked but to me it’s the sign of a truly great artist because it shows me he’s working well with Beechen and bringing the script to life.

I had to bump up my rating for this one because I loved everything that Beechen packed into this issue. I didn’t feel like any part was slow and the emotions displayed here were genuine and believable. Things are getting worse for our heroes but the ironic thing is that makes it better reading for us fans.

9 out of 10 (Excellent!)