The Wild Storm #8

Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Jon Davis-Hunt
Colorist: Steve Buccellato
Published by: DC Comics

Warren Ellis’ return to the Wildstorm universe has been nothing if not successful in creating a world where I’m not always sure what is going on in the issues, but I just know there is a bigger plan at work behind the scenes.

This issue of Wild Storm is no exception. After the big reveal of last issue where we saw the true nature of who the members of Halo are, we get to learn how they came to be here on Earth. This revelation leads to a proposed deal by Marlowe to Angela: full access to the Halo labs to allow her to continue to do her work in exchange for a full data dump of what her special suit can do.

In the subsequent stories of this issue, we get to follow along as Jackie King, chief analyst at I.O. continues to try and decipher who this rogue Cat group is (from the Halo group) and getting an unexpected lead in the form of Grifter (I knew that mask would get him in trouble one of these days). However, knowing who Grifter is still doesn’t tell her who he works for, which she tasks her employee Mitch with discovering. The scene is interesting insofar that it seems there is more to Jackie King that Ellis is letting on at this time. Time will tell.

Finally, in the third act, we meet two characters that have yet to be seen: The Doctor and one of the mainstays of the previous Wildstorm universe: Jenny Sparks. Ellis saves most of the issue to their introduction, but wisely leaves a lot of mystery surrounding them both. Even after getting some background on the Doctor and a bit on Jenny, I’m still unsure where they will fit into the larger context of the story.

Davis-Hunt continues to work his magic in this series and gets to flex his artistic muscle throughout the issue. The scenes with Marlowe explaining his origins to Angela and the interactions between Jenny and the Doctor are visually beautiful and continue to add to the story in ways that have to be seen.