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Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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COUP
D'ETAT: STORMWATCH. This
issue has the interesting touch of starting before the end of the first issue
and taking the daring step of introducing us to a new character while developing
the expanded Coup
D'etat plot. There is only one plot
in this book, but it’s very good. Whether
it makes up for the artwork, which is so-so at best, is another question.
Through this scene Wright shows new readers how the team works, and
highlights the names and abilities of nearly every member of the team.
This allows for a completely accessible jumping on point for this series,
without bogging the reader down with a bunch of exposition. Stormwatch defeats the villain and accidentally discovers his
secret base, leading Santini (the commander of Stormwatch (weatherman) and the
principal character) to grumble about how super-powered nutcases always try to
take over the world. In one of the
worse lead-ups (somehow one cannot imagine the Authority missing it’s cue),
the team hear Hawksmoor’s broadcast, informing the world that they’re taking
over the US. Adding insult to
injury, the reader is treated to President Patrick Kent's response speech to the
Authority's threats. Kent, an
obvious mirror to Bush, goes straight to calling the Authority “evil” before
making up a whole bunch of “almost-words” to try and sound smarter.
Grrr. Don’t let that put you off though.
Santini is very quick to realise that his team (which fought and beat the
Authority once before) will be target one in the takeover.
The Stormwatch team abandon their base in the UN literary minutes before
two members of the Authority arrive, to be greeted by the bases self-destruct
system. Ouch.
It’s comforting to see that a man who later guns down the formerly
great Baron Chaos (while bound to a chair no less) has at least some compassion
inside of him. Having received the
entire teams decision to come with him (no surprises there), Stormwatch
evatuates Baron Chaos’s base – again seconds before the Authority arrive –
and vanish. Somehow, we know that
the teams will fight again.
So why did the authority over-react to Stormwatch and do it so badly?
If only two members of the Authority were sent in the first time, both of
whom had been beaten in the previous battle, did they not consider that they
might be captured and held hostage? Santini’s
decision to go underground might have been reasonable, but why not at least try
to talk? The Engineer, the only
member of the Authority who supported Stormwatch in (#5), helped the other to
find them without bothering to argue. Some nice continuities
did come though. We got a reference
to Finland and the problems involved with hiding superheroes there.
My major gripe with this
issue was the artwork. Neither
Flint nor Apollo is as ugly as they’re portrayed here. By the end of this issue
I was aching to see the Authority come to blows with Stormwatch, only to have
them miss each other by seconds. However,
I'm a patient man. I can wait to
see what happens without resorting to some silly melodrama.
Written by: Micah Ian Wright
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