WWE Attitude Era 2018 Special #1
Writers: Aaron Gillespie, Kevin Panetta, Julian May, & Ryan Ferrier
Artists: Michel Mulipola, Dominike “Domo” Stanton, Hyeonjin Kim, & Kendall Goode
Colorists: Doug Garbark & Jeremy Lawson
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Like most of the Boom! WWE specials, this Attitude Era issue has four stories about four different important moments from that amazing era of wrestling. Each story is special to me because I can specifically remember watching these moments and these wrestlers when I was a child. WWE and Boom! have accumulated a great group of talented writers and artists for their ongoing series and their specials and we get to see that team take on the Attitude Era.
The first of four stories, “Funeral For a Rattlesnake,” is a fantastic comic book retelling of some of Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock’s feud. It is definitely a more dramatic version of the story but that doesn’t take you out of the experience. This first story is told by Aaron Gillespie who writes from Steve Austin’s perspective, which allows us to do some fun mind-reading.
The second story, “3 Faces of Foley,” is easily my favorite of the four. Kevin Panetta has proven time and time again that he is a great writer for these WWE comics and this story reassures us of that sentiment. Mick Foley is an amazing wrestler and may just be my favorite wrestler and his three personalities have always been very entertaining to me. To watch these three personalities have dinner together is almost a dream come true.
What impressed me most about this story is how well Panetta wrote the dialogue for this story. Dude Love speaks exactly like Dude Love, Mankind speaks exactly like Mankind, and Cactus Jack speaks exactly like Cactus Jack. The writing was so accurate that as I read this story, I could hear their voices speaking the dialogue in my head. Sure, I kind of do that all of the time when reading comics, but this was different because it was so seamless.
“Trish vs. Lita” follows some of the feud between those two wrestlers up until Lita wins the championship. I have always really enjoyed Trish Stratus and Lita and I definitely enjoyed seeing them fight in comic book form.
Hyeonjin Kim, who I first became aware of when she did the Asuka story in the ongoing WWE comics a few months ago, also illustrates this story. After seeing her work in that Asuka story, I have become a fan of Kim’s and she impresses me again with some action-packed fighting between Trish Stratus and Lita. The blows looks like they actually hurt and both wrestlers look incredibly determined to win. One of the things that I love about Kim’s artwork is her backgrounds during fights. As soon as Trish Stratus and Lita start fighting the background always stops being a crowd and becomes a colorful and intense new setting which makes me feel like when they are battling, nothing will distract them and nothing else exists in their minds except for that championship.
The last story is a fun take on the Degeneration X WCW takeover lead by Triple H. “Behind Enemy Lines” has us tag along with Triple H as he acts as a drill instructor to X-Pac, Billy Gunn, and Road Dogg who are all equivalent to 90’s slapstick movie tagalongs. This story gives us a very fun face to face showdown between DX and NWO.
All four moments in the Attitude Era’s history are iconic moments and are especially important to me. I really enjoy seeing them told in a comic book by an amazing set of writers and artists who make each story a delight to read. Fans of the Attitude Era will definitely want to pick this up because you’ll have a lot of fun reading it and it's a really neat thing to add to your wrestling memorabilia.
Artists: Michel Mulipola, Dominike “Domo” Stanton, Hyeonjin Kim, & Kendall Goode
Colorists: Doug Garbark & Jeremy Lawson
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Like most of the Boom! WWE specials, this Attitude Era issue has four stories about four different important moments from that amazing era of wrestling. Each story is special to me because I can specifically remember watching these moments and these wrestlers when I was a child. WWE and Boom! have accumulated a great group of talented writers and artists for their ongoing series and their specials and we get to see that team take on the Attitude Era.
The first of four stories, “Funeral For a Rattlesnake,” is a fantastic comic book retelling of some of Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock’s feud. It is definitely a more dramatic version of the story but that doesn’t take you out of the experience. This first story is told by Aaron Gillespie who writes from Steve Austin’s perspective, which allows us to do some fun mind-reading.
The second story, “3 Faces of Foley,” is easily my favorite of the four. Kevin Panetta has proven time and time again that he is a great writer for these WWE comics and this story reassures us of that sentiment. Mick Foley is an amazing wrestler and may just be my favorite wrestler and his three personalities have always been very entertaining to me. To watch these three personalities have dinner together is almost a dream come true.
What impressed me most about this story is how well Panetta wrote the dialogue for this story. Dude Love speaks exactly like Dude Love, Mankind speaks exactly like Mankind, and Cactus Jack speaks exactly like Cactus Jack. The writing was so accurate that as I read this story, I could hear their voices speaking the dialogue in my head. Sure, I kind of do that all of the time when reading comics, but this was different because it was so seamless.
“Trish vs. Lita” follows some of the feud between those two wrestlers up until Lita wins the championship. I have always really enjoyed Trish Stratus and Lita and I definitely enjoyed seeing them fight in comic book form.
Hyeonjin Kim, who I first became aware of when she did the Asuka story in the ongoing WWE comics a few months ago, also illustrates this story. After seeing her work in that Asuka story, I have become a fan of Kim’s and she impresses me again with some action-packed fighting between Trish Stratus and Lita. The blows looks like they actually hurt and both wrestlers look incredibly determined to win. One of the things that I love about Kim’s artwork is her backgrounds during fights. As soon as Trish Stratus and Lita start fighting the background always stops being a crowd and becomes a colorful and intense new setting which makes me feel like when they are battling, nothing will distract them and nothing else exists in their minds except for that championship.
The last story is a fun take on the Degeneration X WCW takeover lead by Triple H. “Behind Enemy Lines” has us tag along with Triple H as he acts as a drill instructor to X-Pac, Billy Gunn, and Road Dogg who are all equivalent to 90’s slapstick movie tagalongs. This story gives us a very fun face to face showdown between DX and NWO.
All four moments in the Attitude Era’s history are iconic moments and are especially important to me. I really enjoy seeing them told in a comic book by an amazing set of writers and artists who make each story a delight to read. Fans of the Attitude Era will definitely want to pick this up because you’ll have a lot of fun reading it and it's a really neat thing to add to your wrestling memorabilia.
A Look Inside
