Posted in: Comics, Review | Tagged: Comics, dc, peter milligan, stormwatch

Review: Stormwatch 12 by Peter Milligan, Will Conrad, Julio Ferreira and Guy Major

Published Sun, 05 Aug 2012 18:00:40 -0500

Eliot Cole writes for Bleeding Cool

I'm not a fan of this issue, it felt like an overly long exit for one of the key characters.

I've spoken up about Stormwatch before on here, and I think that Issue 12 is where I jump off. It's nothing to do with the exit either, nor the quality of the Peter Milligan in general. But it really isn't clicking for me as an ongoing.

I find the art to be rather uninspiring, nothing really marking it out from the pack at DC. It has a story that really doesn't appear to be going anywhere, either. I know Milligan can write the arse off of most stories that he puts his pen to. I just really feel that not much of any real note has happened in Stormwatch since the promising upturn about four issues in to the nu52 launch.

On the makeup of this individual book itself; whilst I'm certainly no authority (unintended), I feel like a lot of the interaction involved with the separate members could have been lessened to a panel a piece. This would have given some more time, and perhaps emotional pull, to the goodbye, however much was deserved. An added bonus to this approach would be that there might be perhaps a little more space available to handle the coda. But, again, I am not a writer (which I'm sure is obvious by all these bracketed statements!).

In fact, perhaps it is the lack of any emotional involvement in this book that really has me staring blankly at the last page. It's a straightforward enough plot to follow, and I don't feel like the cast is overly crowded, especially when you look over at some of Marvel's ridiculously large ensembles. So with all the elements in place, it still seems to struggle to sell a cohesive whole.

All I get out of this issue, is that it could be *any* super hero team, and that's down to every facet. I think that the Midnighter Apollo relationship seems a little better than I did last time but only a little. The whole affair really seems rather pedestrian, and not really befitting of Stormwatch. I'm definitely well informed, by my proof reading mate Kevin, that Milligan's gay characters in X-Statix were certainly more fleshed out, which is strange for this relationship which is possibly one of the most well known gay couples in mainstream comic books. It feels like we're getting just a little bit more than the cliff notes of the relationship, which is fine, as this is a group comic book. However just a little bit more comes across as trying too hard. Plus, Milligan has absolutely no problems with John Constantine's voice and relationships in either universes he's writing him in.

Sorry that I don't have much more to say on the matter, but I don't want to sound like I'm weighing in unfairly on this book. I've wanted to give it a hell of a chance, but after a year, it's just not gripping me as it should. This issue is a two, and since I'm ditching it, and we're a year in, I'd go two overall, I'm afraid, despite some excellent issues around four to six. I really hope that it picks up from here for other readers.

Eliot's review copy provided by Chameleon Comics – 3 Maiden Lane, New York City

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