Wild Storm #20: Confronted with Finesse

Whether you have been with this arc from issue #1, or just jumped into the chaos due to the appearances of two fan-favorite characters, Wild Storm #20 will excite you with its fast-paced and action-packed story! Jenny Mei Sparks made an important discovery which causes tensions at I.O. and brings a new player into the field. The opening pages, we find Miles Craven and Ben Santini discussing their plans to terminate some of their rivals.

Meanwhile, most of this issue is shifted to an isolated farm in a small town with ground troops and flying saucers.

Needless to say, the bulk of Wild Storm #20 is almost entirely an action scene, as the soldiers arrive in the barn and confronted by Apollo. There are stunning action scenes with Apollo’s killer bursts of light an awesome panel showing him tearing through a tank. There are some exciting pages showing off Midnighter’s skills. We see pages that fiercely show Midnighter killing an army with a single blow.

The writer, Warren Ellis, provides little dialogue in this issue, which works well with the storytelling. This allows the artistic talent of Jon Davis-Hunt and Steve Buccellato shine through panel after panel of action sequences. I cannot give enough praise to Davis-Hunt’s ability to tell a suspenseful story through his artwork from the panels leading to the fight scenes and to see the romance between Apollo and Midnighter. The colors by Buccellato provide the right special effects with the correct amounts of reds, orange, and yellows in the bursts of light and fire. Buccellato’s exquisite choice in purple, blue, gray and black in the background sets the mood that works wonders with both Ellis and Davis-Hunt.

Even though Apollo and Midnighter don’t talk much in this issue, their bond is very clear. I do have to point out that Davis-Hunt and Buccellato made some small but bold alterations to Apollo and Midnighter that may not be taken well from some fans. However, I say; “Embrace the change!” I am hoping that this final arc will continue the spotlight for these characters and maybe, just maybe the last issue will leave a cliffhanger to the next chapter for Apollo and Midnighter.

Comic book writers and their artistic team create many avenues for their readers. Ellis’s writing about Jennifer’s battles promotes “awareness” of alcohol issues. Along with Jon Davis-Hunt and Steve Buccellato, this team sparks the imagination through their science fiction story telling. The most important aspect of this team for me is how well they work together in tackling issues that lead different types of discrimination through embracing the unfamiliar and expressing sociological achievement.