Customer Reviews

StormWatch Vol. 5: Final Orbit

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This volume reprints the final two issues of Stormwatch vol. 2 as bookends for the Wildcats/Aliens crossover. The Stormwatch bookend stories in and of themselves are pretty slow, serving as bread for the "meat," the gory and destructive invasion of the Stormwatch team's orbital satellite by the critters from the "Aliens" movies.

Most intercompany crossovers have no bearing on the characters' regular series. Although entertaining, the intrusion of the Aliens on superhero worlds usually result in a clear-cut victory for our heroes, who then conveniently forget that they ever ran into the beasties who can usually kill anyone but Sigourney Weaver (e.g. Superman/Aliens and Batman/Aliens--don't Supes and Bats ever compare notes?).

But of course Warren Ellis would not be satisfied by playing the superhero game safe. Basically, the Aliens kill half of Stormwatch. Thankfully, Ellis spares the more interesting characters, who then go on to form the core of The Authority, one of the best superhero titles running. But the moral issues concerning the exercise of power by superhumans that forms the common thread linking Ellis's run on Stormwatch with The Authority are completely missing from this storyline. Too bad.

So the bottom line: the Stormwatch/Aliens crossover is a good one, and should be picked up by anyone who is a fan of The Authority. Let's not forget the art by the always-dependable Chris Sprouse (Tom Strong). Just don't expect too much.

What impressed me the most in Final Orbit is the seamless weaving in of an inter-company crossover gimmick into its continuity. In fact, its effect has very crucial repercussions in the Wildstorm Universe. I feel it's the most unexpected ending for a series (when was the last time you saw characters from another company obliterate the title group?), and even though the overall book can be improved, it's a worthy read. However, since this was the first Stormwatch book I picked up (my last one was during the Jim Lee/Brandon Choi era, so at least I was familiar with some of the characters), I share the sentiment that it would've been better if there was an idiot's guide in this TPB so it can be more accessible to the readers. Otherwise, it's good and I'm looking forward to buying more of the Stormwatch collected editions.

As much as I've come to dislike Warren Ellis's work, this volume wasn't that bad.

It certainly reads like an Alien movie, and has a dark and eerie atmosphere that stays true to the films. Unfortunately, a lot of key characters were taken out "off-screen," which leaves the audience hanging.

The Bendix situation was a little open-ended, but I'm going to assume that'll be resolved in the post-Millar Authority.

This comic marks the end of the Stormwatch series and the beginning of the The Authority.

Throughout it's brief, bright lifespan, Stormwatch introduced us to brand-new heroes, cut from a far different cloth than the "silver age" Supermen of yesteryear. This was an admirable attempt at bringing superheroes up to date with the global politics of today, infusing it's characters with a wry wit and a jaded outlook. No longer were superheroes going to be aloof, intervening only for the benefit of mankind against the usual cavalcade of supervillians and extiction-level events, these guys played politics and played it rough.

Of course, in retrospect, this series just seems to be a warmup to the Authority, who take the superhero-as-politico two steps further, with far more violence and in my opinion, even better stories and artwork. But Stormwatch is still a great series, well written and lavishly colored and it's diehard fans will be disappointed at the cavalier and laughably cliche way in which their favorite heroes are shuffled off the stage to make way for The Authority (A few make the cut, I won't give away who). Fans of the series should buy it for the closure it represents and use it like the bridge it was intended to be.

While some people may find the end of the story exploitive or stupid, it is quite the opposite. The typical character crossover in the comics world consists of two spandex-clad characters meeting, punching each other, then teaming up to solve crimes perpetrated by their opposite numbers. Nothing changes in their respective worlds.

Final Orbit is quite the opposite. Ellis uses the Aliens as a force for change, and as a result, the story is spooky and effective.

The missing Warren Ellis STORMWATCH trade paperback is finally here! For the past two years, fans who missed out on Ellis's stellar run on STORMWATCH, including the many fans of THE AUTHORITY seeking their favorite team's backstory, have been without convenient access to one of StormWatch's most crucial chapters: its ending, and the demise of some of the most beloved members of the team, massacred by Aliens !!! FINAL ORBIT plants the seeds for the birth of both THE AUTHORITY and THE MONARCHY, a must have for the fan of both series!

Reading Final Orbit is like coming into a great movie halfway through.....I'm a big Warren Ellis fan, and I own all of the other Stormwatch trades, as well as his whole run on The Authority, but for a good portion of this story, I was lost. A brief "Story so far" and character bios would have been invaluable. As it was, I had a hard time feeling anything upon seeing the Stormwatch team being ripped apart by the Aliens. The characters are pretty generic; we don't even get to see their deaths onscreen.

The Alien sequence in the middle of the book is very cinematic, and zips along briskly. The rest of the book had me scurrying to my back issue collection to get some answers..What did Bendix have in that tube in his apartment? What did he do to honk off Jenny Sparks? Why did I.O. want The Weatherman's brother dead? To say nothing of the never-explained starship the Aliens are aboard....

If you can suspend your disbelief, and go with the flow, you'll enjoy Final Orbit. Be sure to check out The Authority trade paperbacks, too.

Since the "Bleed" storyline in the previous issue, the dramatic action of this series has been building and building until what readers can only expect will be a gratuitous crescendo by the end, but the last issue just fizzles in the worst of ways. While a good story on its own, this final installment in the Stormwatch saga effectively ends the team and title without even showing the ending on the page. The conclusion to Ellis' legendary run is more of a side note in a less than significant WildC.A.T.S. story. This felt like a slap across my face when I read it. Ellis even admits in his first Authority TP that he had grown tired of writing Stormwatch and simply didn't care anymore. If only he could have maintained his interest for one more issue. These are still great stories in their own right, but this wasn't the ending Stormwatch deserved.

Stormwatch self destructs in a big way, as they have to deal with a literal Alien invasion. The WildCATS guest star here as they try and help out and save the people on the station, but nothing goes to well, as it is too much to deal with.

Many members of the team perish, and the world will be changed forever because of what Jenny Sparks has planned.

The genius of the Authority and the fantastic Transmet. has produced quite possibly the worst series ending story in existence. Garbage is what this is, pure garbage. I was truly insulted by the choice of scourge. Aliens. Sigourney Weaver's Aliens. Oh yeah. Quite insulting. I won't say how it ends because I want this review posted, suffice it to say that you'll be hurt and digusted. Ellis must have been possessed to write this disaster. DO NOT BUY.