Tales From the 50 Cent Bin! - Stormwatch #1

Today’s Super-Analogue is another one I really know little about: Apollo from Stormwatch and the Authority. He first appeared during Warren Ellis’s run on Stormwatch back in the 1998 for Wildstorm. He’s known for being one of the more prominent gay superheroes in comics. He was in a long relationship with Midnighter, a Batman homage. If you’re one of those Superman/Batman shippers, this might be for you, I don’t know. When Jim Lee came to DC, his characters came along with them and existed in their own separate universe.

When DC decided to reboot in 2011, they brought along a lot of the Wildstorm characters into the main universe. We had Grifter, Voodoo, and Stormwatch, a team that Apollo is known to associate with. Since I really didn’t know where to start with this character, I picked up the first issue to Stormwatch. Stormwatch #1 was written by Paul Cornell, a guy who I should probably read more of. I enjoyed his time on Demon Knights, another New 52 title. Miguel Sepulveda handled the pencils and inks to the issue.

Stormwatch #1

Writer: Paul Cornell

Artist: Miguel Sepulveda

Colors: Allen Passalaqua

Letters: Rob Leigh

Assistant Editor: Sean Mackiewicz

Editor: Pat McCallum

“The Dark Side, Part One”

The issue starts out in Hyperspace at Stormwatch HQ. Some of the members (Adam One, Engineer, and Jenny Quantum) are trying to figure some weird anomaly. Apparently, some being used a big horn on Earth… yeah, that should sound weird. As they’re figuring that out, other members (Jack Hawksmoor, Projectionist, and Martian Manhunter?) are in Moscow trying to recruit Apollo for Stormwatch. Apollo is having none of it and a small breaks out. Tensions do calm down as Jack tries to explain what Stormwatch is. They’re a team of powered people who have been trying to keep the world safe from extraterrestrials for centuries. Projectionist (a woman with the ability to control social media) shows Apollo how they were able to learn about him but this doesn’t make Apollo stay.

You know, I don't think that we've still seen those two throw down.

Meanwhile, Harry Tanner (The “Eminence of Blades”) is on the Moon investigating strange happenings. Suddenly, he gets attacked by the moon and falls beneath the moon’s crust. There, he finds the Scourge of Worlds, a being who’s awaken to help Earth prepare for the worst to come. Unfortunately, the Scourge starts to mess with Harry. We then switch scenes to the Arctic where Adam and Jenny are searching for the Horn from earlier. As they talk about how Jenny  is one of Adam’s best students, they come across the Horn. Let’s just say that if you thought that alien from that Superman issue was short, you’d be pretty wrong.

Huh... weird, man.

Back in Moscow, the team is still trying to recruit Apollo. They try to lure him on, but he says no. He doesn’t want to be a part of something this big. Then, the Martian Manhunter decides to be a bit more aggressive in the recruitment. Suddenly, a figure somehow incapacitates the three members. He is revealed to be the Midnighter. The issue ends as Midnighter asks Apollo to join him in the fight against evil.

"Oh my"... what is the Martian Manhunter doing here? The League needs him!

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This is a fine first issue. It provides a nice entry to this team that I know little about. Everyone gets a chance to have a moment. It’s got some funny moments as well. It’s a weird one that works well in its weirdness. While Apollo isn’t heavily featured, it looks like he tends to be mostly associated with teams. That’s why I went with this one. It looks like it’s setting itself up for something big and I might see what happened next for the team.

The artwork is really good. I’ve never heard of the guy before, but it all looks good.  It looks comprehensible and well-detailed.  It has that epic wide-screen feel going on with it. I don’t have much negative to say about the issue. It does feel a bit sparse with what it’s presenting and that didn’t stick with me much. You can say this about most modern comics though. Still, it makes you want to see what happens next, so it succeeds there.

Overall, it’s a nice intro to this team and the character. If you’re curious, check it out. Well, I have one more analogue to get to before the grandness that is… I’ll get to that later. For now, Peace and God Bless.

NEXT TIME: CAN’T YOU FEEL IT, IT’S MAJESTIC!