Customer Reviews

Stormwatch: Team Achilles, Vol. 1

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

 

 

STORMWATCH: TEAM ACHILLES, Volume 1, is yet another entry in the modern Wildstorm Universe. While I have enjoyed the adventures of the Authority, Planetary, WildCATs, and Sleeper, STA has hit a sour note with me. The writing is fine, but the book takes two steps back towards its Image Comics roots due to the utterly incomprehensible art of Whilce Portacio.

The revamped Stormwatch is a sort of counter-Authority, standing up for humanity in the face of an increasing number of super-beings. Great concept! But then you open this book and are confronted with non-proportional bodies, awkward stances, gratuitous defining lines, deformed physiques: in short, everything that was the dark days of Image art! Portacio puts far too much effort into defining every single muscle and vein on these angular characters, to the point that they look emaciated. There is simply too much pointless detail and not enough technical know-how in these panels. Also, the art does not help the reader to understand what is happening in the story, as there is no planning of layouts, and many characters look exactly alike. For example, THREE team members with dark hair and goatees. Another character is supposedly scarred over their entire body, but as every character is overdrawn and covered with cross-hatching, who can tell? While this might be acceptable in a team book full of ciphers, writer Micah Ian Wright provides us with a team roster of distinct characters with their own personalities. So how about a little variety in the art department? Thankfully, Wright's writing is strong enough to eventually claw its way out of this mess and provide us with a good story.

So aside from the art, this is an entertaining book. Stormwatch: Team Achilles is out to make sure that those super-brats don't get too big for their britches, and they deliver. They even manage to take out the Authority out of commission for a bit, and that says a lot. Check this out, and root for the little guy.

Back to the future for Stormwatch. A complete change of pace, with an all human team of highly skilled military types, and one expert computer genius putting a team together to police superhumans.

In general these are humans, and one superhuman that is no longer allowed in his native devastated Finland. The idea is to avoid US interference.

Colonel Ben Santini is obviously a student of Machiavelli, with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

This is excellent. If you like The Authority, etc., this should be right up your alley.

Published in 2003, Team Achilles picks up the slack as the flagship The Authority title rapidly degenerated. Team Achilles does a good job rehashing the timeless 'who watches the watchmen?' (topical!) question about keeping superheroes in check - and the morally-ambiguous Wildstorm setting is a perfect place to ask it.

Although a bit too super-macho (can anyone in this title do wrong?), and relies a little too much on prior knowledge of the setting, this is solid read. Worth pairing with Ennis's The Boys - same subject matter with a dramatically different tone of voice

With the combination of great art and a good concept to it's credit, I would recommend this trade to anyone interested in comic SPBs(super powered beings). Yes... great art; contrary to what some think. Portacio does a superb job here--terrific background details; his rendering of human figures is for the most part very interesting. He did a super job inking and the colors are boss. Over the top on the musculature in a few scenes? Maybe. So do just about all comics of late. I look at it this way. If I was baseline human and stupid enough to tangle in melee combat with SPBs, I would do anything in my power(steroids, whatever) to even the odds. Since these fellas don't seem to care about legalities--go for it. In some instances, Portacio does stretch artistic license a tad in those figure poses and facial expressions; but mostly he succeeds admirably, and the characters move true-to-life in the rest of the comic. Too many look-alike characters? Yeah, but that's not his fault. Too many dark haired males. No spandex to tell them apart. Later pencilers in the series had the same problem. What brings this trade down to four stars is the writing--dialogue is OK for a comic but nothing to write home about. There are multiple tech errors. The sniper rifle is known as M82A1; it's bullet is nowhere near as big as any ketchup bottle I know of; fuel-air explosions don't really work that way, etc, etc. The premise about normal humans taking on rogue super-humans is a very good concept and a big plus. Although the idea that the team would be able to easily defeat SPBs so easily--that stretches it. So, overall, a very good paperback; better, IMO, than the other volumes; in part because the art in this issue is superior to that of the others.

Many superhero comics are little more than extended fight scenes with some soap-opera moments in between the carnage.

StormWatch: Team Achilles isn't one of those books.

No schmoopy "character moments". (Almost) No super powers. No "hot chix" fighting in "battle thongs". No [dorky] "comic relief" character on the team. No impossibly noble leader.

Instead readers are treated to tightly written military fiction with a techno sci-fi edge to it. A team composed of the cream of the world's elite executes some really sneaky plans to accomplish their objectives.

If you've picked up Back the Attack and are thinking of picking up this book, take a chance. You won't be bogged down in too much continutity, and the stories contained in this volume have every bit as much political snarking and devilishly sneaky humor as Back the Attack. Also, Wright's ear for dialog is second to none.

One tip for anybody picking this up: Wright's [subtle]and you've got to read the panels very carefully. Seemingly casual dialog often contains vital clues about what comes next.

I read this comic because of its premise: a team of ordinary military people whose job it is to bring down out-of-control superhero types. It was a great read. The art, however, was lacking--too many over-muscled, steroid-pumped characters with not-so-well drawn faces. It reminded me of why I hated the Image comics of the 1990s. Because this book was so well written, I was able to plow through the lackluster art.

The good thing about volume 2 is that you get an infusion of new artists who give Team Achilles a dramatic improvement in the art.

This book is all business. It's about a group of elite soldiers tasked to police superhumans. It's tautly written and intense. Wright pulls no punches. The plot hook itself is intriguing, how can seemingly normal people match up with beings with powers of gods. You'll find yourself rooting for the characters, even if they're amoral and machiavellian. Maybe it's because Wright presents his argument well. It's just that Whilce Portacio's art, once the best in my book, has shown its limitations in terms of facial expressions and story-telling prevents it from getting the top rating.

An odd duck for an American Graphic Novel... it actually puts character and story above superpowered violence. Not that this book isn't violent -- it involves human special forces soldiers targeting and killing out of control Superheroes, but the thought put into the characterization of the men behind the guns seems a bit off the beaten trackf or American comics. From New York City to Chechnya to Bosnia, this team of United Nations volunteers fights to make our world safe from superpeople. I was amazed to learn so much about the soldiers who make up this Team Achilles.

This was not what i was expecting. Not Portacio's best work and the writing was not enough to keep me where the art lacked.