Wanted [Paperback]

Mark Millar (Author), Image Comics (Author), J. G. Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 27, 2007

What if everything in your life was out of your hands and those around you propelled your fate? Your girlfriend left you for your best friend; your boss gave your job to someone better. What if then, after all this, someone gave you back total control? What if he revealed you were the next in line to join a secret society of super-villains that controlled the entire planet? Mark Millar and J.G. Jones provide a look at one man who goes from being the world's biggest loser to the deadliest assassin alive.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wanted is a fresh, vivid and uncensored look at the world of villains... intelligent, a little provocative and a whole lot of fun" - IGN.com" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Mark Millar is one of comics' most commercially successful writers, whose work includes Judge Dredd, Superman Adventures, JLA, Ultimate X-Men, Superman: Red Son, The Authority and the bestselling The Ultimates. J. G. Jones is one of the comics industry's most sought-after cover and interior artists, with work including Marvel Boy. He is also the painter of all fifty-two covers for the multi-million-selling weekly 52 series, an incredible and unprecedented achievement. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Top Cow Productions/Image Comics; First Edition edition (November 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582404976
• ISBN-13: 978-1582404974
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.3 x 10.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (133 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Image Comics

More About the Author

Along with Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar has been one of the key writers for Marvel Comics in the 21st century. After proving himself in the '90s as a talent to watch while writing for DC Comics and the UK comic 2000AD, his arrival to Marvel came at a time when Ultimate Spider-Man had just shot up the sales charts. It was in this environment that Millar made his first major contribution to Marvel with Ultimate X-Men, as Millar integrated forty years' worth of X-Men history, characters and lore into a solid two-year run, making the companion title to Ultimate Spider-Man every bit the creative and commercial success. Next up was The Ultimates, a new rendering of the Avengers that was to continue building on the success of the Ultimate line. He and artist Bryan Hitch pulled it all off in spades: The Ultimates and its sequel, Ultimates 2, were ensconced at the top of the sales charts every month; what's more, they were critical successes, as well. Meanwhile, Millar was invited to enter the regular Marvel Universe to take a stab at two of its most iconic characters: Spider-Man and Wolverine. Paired with industry heavyweights to draw his stories -- Terry Dodson on Marvel Knights Spider-Man and John Romita Jr. on Wolverine -- Millar brought the same fast-paced and cleverly constructed plots with which his Ultimate fans were already familiar. Amid building a small library of Millarworld indie comic books -- including the titles Chosen and Wanted, the latter of which was turned into a Hollywood blockbuster starring Angelina Jolie -- he managed to write Civil War, the epic seven-issue miniseries that definitively reshaped the landscape of Marvel's heroes. Kick-A**, a Marvel Icon project done in tandem with John Romita Jr., made an impressive impact on the sales chart before also being adapted for a major motion picture. In addition, Millar has reunited with Civil War artist Steve McNiven in both the pages of Wolverine and their creator-owned book Nemesis.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

160 of 177 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A subversive masterpiece certainly not for everyone May 21, 2008

By Clifford A. Hicks

Format:Paperback

It's kind of amazing the type of reactions that Millar and Jones' "Wanted" evokes in people. Some people absolutely despise it. Other people absolutely adore it. I personally think it's wonderful, but I also understand why a bunch of people don't like it. Let me explain.

Upfront, let's say this: This is a book about villains. They're going to do villainous things. They aren't going to hold hands. They aren't going to be nice people. They aren't going to have a change of heart. They aren't going to see the error of their ways. Not because they couldn't, but because they don't care. Many of the criticisms people have leveled at this book take that one thing for granted. They want the protagonist to be a nice guy (he isn't), they want him to do good things (he doesn't), they want the story to have a happy ending (the jury's sort of out on that one). Make no mistake, this is not intended to be mainstream fiction. And to me, that's part of the appeal.

Wanted is the story of Wesley Gibbs, an office drone who's been walked on his entire life. He's been kicked by nearly everyone who could have a chance, and twice on Sundays. His girlfriend is sleeping around on him, his boss is abusive without cause, and Wesley takes it, because he can't envision any other way to live. Until someone comes along and tells him he's the son of the greatest killer who ever lived, and that he's just inherited his legacy. And while he fights it at first, he comes to embrace it, and that's where things start getting complicated.

I don't want to walk you through the book. I don't want to tell you that you should like it, because, frankly, I understand why a lot of people wouldn't like this book.... It's violent, it's unsympathetic to, well, everyone, it's remorseless, it's brutal, it's needless cruel... but that's sort of the point. While I see a lot of people in other reviews comparing "Wanted" to "Fight Club" (fair) and "The Matrix" (not really applicable), in many ways, "Wanted" is an extension of some of the ideas presented in a much older book, "The Lord of the Flies." What DOES happen in a society without rules? What would you do if there wasn't a law you had to follow? What would you do if there wasn't anyone to tell you no, or stop you from doing whatever you put your mind to? The easy answer is to say that you'd just go on living your life, but with some improvements, but at the cost of what? The world is about systems. Give yourself a ton of money, money goes down in value, suddenly you have less money than you intended. Don't want to pay a speeding ticket? Now you're breaking laws, just because you can. Millar takes that concept and runs with it about as far as he can, then keeps running past where it was before.

If "Fight Club" wasn't your cup of tea, then steer clear from "Wanted." If you're looking for something with a positive message, steer clear of "Wanted." If you want a story where you agree with the actions of the protagonist, steer clear of "Wanted." It's not a book for kids. It's not a book for people who want a story that holds their hand the whole way. It is, to borrow a phrase, very bad men doing very bad things. Again, I return to my original point -- this is a story about villains.

With all that said, Jones' art is fantastic, the dialog is crisp and leaps off the page, the characters are memorable and the story is a wild roller coaster ride that asks the question "When there are no rules, and the only people who can tell you no are your fellow degenerates, what do you do?" It's uncomfortable, it's vile, it's twisted, it's darker-than-dark... and that's why I love it, and why most of you probably won't... Read more ›

53 of 66 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars 98% shock value March 9, 2006

By Babytoxie

Format:Paperback

Sporting a cover image that is simple yet sure to grab attention on the shelves, Mark Millar and JG Jones' WANTED trade paperback had been on my "to buy" list for some time. I finally plopped down the cash for the book this week with high expectations, as Millar had accomplished the near-impossible several years ago by piquing my interest in the Authority, as well as producing some interesting work with DC's Superman: Red Son and Marvel's Ultimates. After reading WANTED, I have to say that, while the premise is quite fascinating, the story itself was yet another case of shock value substituting for good writing.

WANTED collects issues 1 - 6 of Millar and Jones' series, plus a great pin-up and sketch gallery. Let's get the basics out of the way first: Wesley Gibson is the ultimate loser - he has a dead-end job, a cheating girlfriend, and no backbone. This drudgery is interrupted when Wesley is surprised by the information that he has just inherited the legacy of his deceased deadbeat dad, the rapid-firing supervillain The Killer. He is even more surprised by this information because no one is aware that superhumans even exist! Over the following months, under the tutelage of arch-criminals Professor Solomon Seltzer and The Fox, Wesley learns of the shadowy history of superhumans on Earth and is transformed into a killing machine in the mold of his father, while slowly coming to the realization that things aren't quite what they seem to be. Rumor has it that Millar pitched this idea to DC Comics as a story of the son of either Deathstroke or Deadshot, and I can believe it, as almost every character contained within is an analogue of some DC character (with a few Marvels thrown in for good measure).

Jones' art is excellent - seriously: WOW! It couldn't be better.... His skill with faces, physiques, action sequences, and layouts are all on good display here. My favorite aspect of the art, however, is the backgrounds, which often consist of glimpses of thinly-disguised DC and Marvel villains. It's much like the "spot-the-hero game" readers could play with Alan Moore and Gene Ha's Top Ten.

As for the story... it started out quite well; in fact, the first 2 issues really had my attention. But it quickly slides into a mess of blood, guts, cursing, sex, and general amoral behavior, and while this story IS indeed about super-villains, I don't feel that the gruesome details were necessary to make that point. In some ways, these elements undo a lot of what Millar was trying to accomplish by showing Wesley's growth from weakling into warrior. For example, you can have heroes, and you can have anti-heroes, and while villainy may not a noble profession, you can't help but root for Wesley to leave his dreary life behind and accept his destiny. But when the writer then dives so deeply into the nature of that character, to the point that the anti-hero is no longer just a victim of circumstance, but revealed to be a mass murderer, terrorist, thug, thief, elitist, and serial rapist (and what's more: just for the thrill of it), there's nothing left for me to root for. In fact, as I neared the end of the book, I was hoping that it would conclude with Wesley taking a bullet to the brain, as that's the only way I could see this story ending on a high note: you live by the sword, you die by the sword. As for the ending, by the time I reached the final chapter, I realized that Millar had pulled a fast one, where the events depicted in the beginning of the story were not quite as they appeared. While he did leave himself some leeway for this, he took great liberties with the introductory narrative, to where the ending was essentially a cheat, pure and simple. If that was the plan all along, then chapters 2 through 5 seem pretty unnecessary, upon reflection. In spite of all of this, I will give Millar a thumbs up for the way in which he blurs the line between fantasy and reality. The supervillain community has indeed pulled a fast one on the general public, and it's something that could conceivably be based in our own reality, depending on how much you trust in conspiracy theories.

In conclusion, if that rumor involving DC is true, I think they may have missed out on a good thing here. If this story would have been anchored in the DC Universe (even as an Elseworlds), with some tighter editorial control and toning down of the shock value, it might have been much better. Read more ›

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars All Shock and some substance June 2, 2008

By Kristopher J. Wise

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I liked the art in this, not the best I've seen but still good. The story was good at the beginning and building to be something great but I have to say I was disappointed in the ending, an ending that again was only meant to shock. Most of this novel is filled with vulgar words, situations, and ideas (The Shock of the novel) but in the end the characters never deal with there actions. in the end i felt the writer couldn't close the deal on this story. It was OK at best

26 of 36 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars An adolescent power trip that ignored interesting potential for shock value December 20, 2009

By JRGumby

Format:Paperback

A friend of mine who routinely passes very good comics my way recently had me read this. Apparently I had offended him in some way. After I finished it he apologized.

The story here plays out the fantasy of every teenage boy who wasn't popular in middle school. A loser suddenly gets all the power he can dream of and uses it to murder, rape, and say 4 letter words in front of his mother. The entire plot of the book is a poor construction to drive a parade of juvenile brutality and attempts at shock value.

There's an interesting premise that drives the setting of the book: a world where the supervillians won, and reforged the world to be apparently mundane. There's the potential for something truly interesting. But the villians themselves showcase the creativity behind the book far better: a riddler knock-off covered in obscenities, a Bizzaro character named ****-tard, and a clayface made of poop. Instead of developing characters or investigating evil or any one of a dozen things that would make this book work it blows past them to fill another panel with the obnoxious main character happily shooting a pregnant woman.

After reading an entire book filled with almost insultingly juvenile substitutions of substance with pulp and lame attempts at shock the ending tops it all. After suffering through one man's painfully uneventful and dull power trip he actually insults his audience, pushing himself as free spirit and the readers as pitiful sheep. I'm sure it appeals to someone wearing a Rage against the Machine t-shirt spray-painting Che Guevara on stopsigns and thinking they're some misunderstod genius, but to anyone whose passed 8th grade it will come off as a pitiful.... If you're someone's grandmother you may be distracted or insulted by the violence, sex, and profanity it's possible you'd take your offense to mean that this book actually had some meaning or message. It doesn't.

I cannot, in any way, understand why there are so many that would defend this or exalt it as worthwile. The most accurate positive statement I can make is "There aren't a lot of comic books out there like this." Which, in my opinion, is a good thing. I've seen a few comparisons to Watchmen and other icons of comic writing. They do both have violence, the problem is that Wanted stops there. There's no character development, no exploration of humanity, or evil, or violence. It's a childish indulgence that I'm suprised merited collection and publication, but I guess someone is willing to buy it.

Bottom Line: If you're old enough to buy this for yourself you shouldn't enjoy it. Read more ›