Customer Reviews

Change or Die (StormWatch, Vol. 3)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Change is what we wanted, right? It's what you told me you wanted," Jenny Sparks says, "it's what I signed up for."

"No," Henry Bendix answers, "I want change, yes. On my terms."

The first half of this StormWatch collection (#48-50 of vol. 1) is the conclusion of Warren Ellis' 14-issue run on the superhero series. All the loose plot points from the previous two collections (Force of Nature and Lightning Strikes) draw to a close here, as we learn what Henry Bendix's intentions have been all along.

Warren Ellis' favorite movie is Citizen Kane (his affinity for journalism shows through in his science-fiction satire Transmetropolitan), and here he takes Charles Foster Kane's tragic flaw and applies it to the commander of StormWatch, the UN's superhuman crisis intervention team. Kane wanted love on his own terms, Bendix wants order on his own terms. Their arrogant and sprawling desire for these intangibles bring their incredible authorities and powers crashing down upon them.

As the book begins, Jenny Sparks, leader of StormWatch Black barely survives an assassination attempt, and apparently, Bendix couldn't care less. He's more concerned with a superhuman from the 40's named "The High", who is gathering a force of superhumans from around the world to make a sudden and startling shift in society, using their power and science and magic to cure all of mankind's ills, with no strings attached. Bendix doesn't trust them, of course, for reasons he won't share with StormWatch. But the silent, mysterious assassin Rose Tattoo knows all about The High and his allies, and she's eager to help Bendix stop them.

`Change or Die' is a story of benevolence and selflessness being crushed by selfishness. The High is the classical idea of a superhero. His naivete and idealism still live inside the bitter, cynical shell of Jenny Sparks and so she is affected deeply by his tragic ending. Call it `Watchmen for the 90's, by way of Citizen Kane'.

The second half of the story, "Strange Weather" (issues #1-3 & preview of vol. 2), has the surviving members of StormWatch, now under the leadership of Weatherman Jackson King, tracking down a rogue government agency using superhuman enhancements for wargames in America's heartland. There's more of the political flavor that made parts of StormWatch vol. 1 so unique among the superhero dreck clogging the graphic novel shelves at book stores. There's also lots of great characterization here, and dialogue that makes superheroes a bit more believable. When the officers of SW get together and sit in a bar, they talk about sex. Imagine that.

The art is this volume is phenomenal stuff, Raney does great, high-energy layout and action scenes on "Change or Die". His work does seem to slip a little bit from the previous collection --- it's not as crisp, and the faces lose some detail --- but it's still miles above the unreadable stuff that occupied the pages of StormWatch before he and Ellis took over. Oscar Jimenez handles most of the art on "Strange Weather", and it's truly wonderful. Jimenez and Ellis didn't hit it off working on the book, and he is replaced by Bryan Hitch as of the next collection (A Finer World), but Oscar does do some great work on this book --- his facial expressions and body language are dead on, and he communicates humour excellently in these pages. Judging by his work on The Flash and StormWatch, I'd have to say that Jimenez would be much better suited to a social-fiction or humour title rather than an action-based superhero comic. Still, it's exquisite work and great to read.

The major problem? It's a REALLY uncomfortable and sudden shift from the tragic, emotional ending of "Change or Die" into the less-serious, action-based story "Strange Weather". It's clear that StormWatch vol. 1 was meant to be read in one sitting: the first two collections and this first half of this one should have been one book. It would've heightened the reading experience for both halves of THIS one.

Minor quibbles aside, StormWatch: Change or Die shows you why Warren Ellis is one of the only superhero comic writers of the last decade worth your time. Check it out.

Stormwatch: Change or Die reprints Stormwatch vol. 1 #48-50, the Stormwatch Preview, and Stormwatch vol. 2 #1-3. This is an excellent next step in the series, and shows Ellis becoming ever more comfortable with his characters. He responds to this increased knowledge of his characters by sending them on in an entirely new direction, but not before showing us just how messed up everything can be.

In the first story arch, we see the true intentions and background of Rose Tattoo, the betrayal of the team by one of their own, and the shaking of the team to the core. We also see a very smart storyline that further gives hints of the Authority series to come, and lets us glimpse the Doctor and Engineer for the first time, though in different forms than we are used to. The plot itself is deliciously intriguing, and keeps you turning the pages.

The second story arch is reprinting Stormwatch #1-3, and is the revamping of the team. The story and plot have their moments, but are a bit overshadowed by the first half of the book. The pencil work is more to my taste, since Jimenez took over, so that is a treat.

By this book for the first storyline alone and you will not be disappointed. It is classic Ellis and gives new layers to the characters, and hints of things to come.

Highly recommended to Authority, Stormwatch, and Ellis fans, though I think most people will enjoy it. Not recommended for younger readers due to extreme violence and sexual reference.

Since its inception, "Stormwatch" was the bastardchild of the Wildstorm universe. The stories were boring and thecharacters lacked any sort of depth. That was until Warren Ellis came along. In his 13-issue run, he gave the United Nations superteam a heavy dose of reality where no one can be trusted and everyone is to be feared. This is a must for fans of the Stormwatch spinoff "The Authority" as well as anyone who appreciates a good read.

In StormWatch: Change Or Die, the third collection of Warren Ellis work on StormWatch, bad things happen. Worse than even Jenny Sparks has seen before.

If you were thinking Henry Bendix (Chief Officer or "Weatherman" for the organization) was a little too tightly wound before now, you ain't seen nothing yet. The member nations of the U.N. were already worried about him, but now the team members are as well. He's sent them to stop a renegade super-powered group that's threatening to...make the world a better place.

I can't really tell you more about it than that without giving away the biggest thrills in the storyline. But I can say that this collection delivers on everything Ellis has been building up to as he's been systematically tearing down everything that this series used to symbolize. Meaningfully, he finally shifts over to multi-issue stories, leaving the book's traditional single-issue adventure format in his dust. And the art finally measures up to the demands of the writing for what turns out to be Tom Raney's swan song on the series.

It's a different world from here on out...

One of the strongest trends within superhero stories over the last 20 years has been the superhero with too much power...Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Squadron Supreme, and Kingdom Come all mined that territory. With all that power, should a superhero or group of superheroes have the right to make decisions for the rest of the world? What Ellis has done in Change or Die is make it feel a lot closer to our own reality. Rather than setting it in the future or an alternate universe, he has set Change or Die in the mainstream continuity of a major superhero universe, using characters and storylines that had been introduced over the previous few years. Also, by using Stormwatch, a UN sponsored superteam, he draws effective analogies to real life, raising the issue of superpower politics and ethics. The biggest problem with this collection is that it doesn't have the whole story, though. Warren came on to Stormwatch with issue #37, and this trade collects #48-50 of Volume I and #1-3 of Volume II. The entire arc building up to Change Or Die started the moment Warren began writing the book, and without the hints and suggestions layered throughout his run, you can't get quite as good an appreciation for what he's doing. Still, this was my favorite comic story of the late '90s, hands down.

I've just picked up reading comics again after a couple of years off and when I finished reading "Change or Die" I went on a buying spree, searching for everything with Stormwatch - the UN special crisis intervention team of superhumans.

This comic is telling a story of trust, power, love and betrayal.

The artwork is decent but the best thing about this book is the story. For one thing, it's pretty realistic and differs in this way from most Marvel/DC superhero-stuff I've read. Stormwatch really kick serious butt when they go on a mission. People do get hurt when a superstrong person punches them with all their might...

I've picked these up to get my background continuity to start The Authority. The Stormwatch stuff is DECENT, and I mean DECENT. I'm hoping for better around the time The Authority starts up.

BEWARE, tho! Ellis is, at least in Stormwatch, VERY Anti-American. The work borders on anti-American agit-prop. To read it during the Obama administration is quite interesting, because Obama has to make Ellis's mouth water -- all the while the country is going to hell. So maybe Ellis made a deal with the devil, I don't know!

Warren Ellis starts his excellent revamp of Stormwatch here, as he totally changes the lineup, and splits Stormwatch into multiple teams, each with a different purpose.



Stormwatch needs all their firepower, when The High comes back out of his self imposed isolation, and decides to reshape society in his image.



Jenny Sparks had known him in the past, so they end up talking before the confrontation. Top notch hero fare.

Definitely the better of the Stormwatch collections, due in no small part to the Bendix character. This volume certainly questions the nature of superheroics, but the follow-through is sadly disappointing.

As becomes painfully clear, writing action is not Ellis strong point. The build up to a massive brawl at the conclusion of the "Change or Die" story arc leads nowhere, as characters fall into debates with each other over their role.

Bendix's return is teased at in the final issue collected here, but is never revisited during Ellis's run. Oh well.

I think this comic cemented Warren Ellis as one of my favorite writers. He takes the idea of superheroes as they had been for so long (Stormwatch) and played them off superheroes as they were conceived (The High's group). Each group thinks its ideas are right. Stormwatch is only interested in the status quo, and maybe some beneficial changes slowly introduced over time. The High's group sees the world as in need of fast, massive improvement, and they set out to do it.
The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is that the 2nd part simply doesn't flow from the first. Still an interesting read, but more padding than anything else.