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Wildcats, Volume II #4
Wildcats, Volume 4: Battery Park
The fourth and final volume in this series, WILDCATS VOL. 4: BATTERY PARK documents the adventures of a group of descendants and half-breeds from two warring alien races as they try to escape their bloody pasts. After barely surviving the vicious attack of a demented serial killer, these super-powered operatives have no time to recover as the government begins to hound the group and a multinational corporation threatens a hostile takeover of the company that funds and shadows their work. Now as Spartan, Void, Voodoo, Maul, Noir, and Ladytron try to survive these latest onslaughts, Grifter learns the true fate of Zealot and the future of the Wildcats is changed forever.
215 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2003
49 people want to read
About the author
Joe Casey
972 books86 followersLibrarian note: there is more than one author with this name
Joe Casey is an American comic book writer. He has worked on titles such as Wildcats 3.0, Uncanny X-Men, The Intimates, Adventures of Superman, and G.I. Joe: America's Elite among others. As part of the comics creator group Man of Action Studios, Casey is one of the creators of the animated series Ben 10.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Casey
Joe Casey is an American comic book writer. He has worked on titles such as Wildcats 3.0, Uncanny X-Men, The Intimates, Adventures of Superman, and G.I. Joe: America's Elite among others. As part of the comics creator group Man of Action Studios, Casey is one of the creators of the animated series Ben 10.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Casey
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 10, 2020
The casey/phillips run on Wildcats is some of my favorite superhero comics ever, and this volume captures most of my favorite moments of that run.
You can tell the team was looking to get experimental, and they definitely succeed. It's all about 'what comes after' the big conflict, which unfolded histrionically in the original run by Jim Lee et al, and was basically popped like a soap bubble by Alan Moore. Wildcats at this stage was a book without a high concept, or rather, a book about what happens when the high concept is just...gone.
It might sound boring, but it's really not. The lack of melodramatic conflict gives Casey a chance to dig into the psychology of these characters and create a mesh of intricate subplots that unfold and overlap and climax in wildly unpredictable fashion, which is really fun to read. It totally sidesteps the predictable rhythms of monthly superhero comics to great effect. You really don't know what's going to happen from one issue to the next, but if you can get into the characters, or already have some prior investment, it's really compelling stuff. Without the need to engage in huge bombastic gestures, you see carefully nuanced portraits of love, loyalty, heroism, and the search for meaning.
You get insights into these characters that are really fascinating, especially Cole Cash/Grifter, and 'Jack Marlowe'/Spartan. You see how Cole Cash is really a wreck of a human being whose only reason to keep going is love of an immortal warrior woman who basically has no use for him 99% of the time. He's a guy who has devoted his life to fighting and killing, and it has utterly drained and ruined him, but he nevertheless idealizes and adores this 'person' who embodies that life of fighting and killing in a form that can never age, get ugly and slow, or die. She is more like his object of worship than his girlfriend.
'Jack' has the most interesting arc to me, and something rarely seen in the treatment of android/robot superheroes. It's completely clear he is NOT human, and doesn't particularly need or want to be, but he still has recognizable emotions and drives, but in somewhat alien form. The best way to describe it is that he changes over the course of this run from robot soldier to a heroic machine, with an almost spiritual undertone to the way he thinks and acts. This volume contains the events that complete that transformation and set the stage for the 3.0 run, which is much different and not quite as enjoyable for many reasons, but this run is the goods.
Read a bit of what comes before to get the context if you need it, but this is great experimental character-driven superhero stuff, and very under-appreciated. Casey is a true writer's writer, and Phillips has long since been acknowledged as a master, mostly for his work with Ed Brubaker--you see here exactly why that is. In my view, you can't go wrong.
You can tell the team was looking to get experimental, and they definitely succeed. It's all about 'what comes after' the big conflict, which unfolded histrionically in the original run by Jim Lee et al, and was basically popped like a soap bubble by Alan Moore. Wildcats at this stage was a book without a high concept, or rather, a book about what happens when the high concept is just...gone.
It might sound boring, but it's really not. The lack of melodramatic conflict gives Casey a chance to dig into the psychology of these characters and create a mesh of intricate subplots that unfold and overlap and climax in wildly unpredictable fashion, which is really fun to read. It totally sidesteps the predictable rhythms of monthly superhero comics to great effect. You really don't know what's going to happen from one issue to the next, but if you can get into the characters, or already have some prior investment, it's really compelling stuff. Without the need to engage in huge bombastic gestures, you see carefully nuanced portraits of love, loyalty, heroism, and the search for meaning.
You get insights into these characters that are really fascinating, especially Cole Cash/Grifter, and 'Jack Marlowe'/Spartan. You see how Cole Cash is really a wreck of a human being whose only reason to keep going is love of an immortal warrior woman who basically has no use for him 99% of the time. He's a guy who has devoted his life to fighting and killing, and it has utterly drained and ruined him, but he nevertheless idealizes and adores this 'person' who embodies that life of fighting and killing in a form that can never age, get ugly and slow, or die. She is more like his object of worship than his girlfriend.
'Jack' has the most interesting arc to me, and something rarely seen in the treatment of android/robot superheroes. It's completely clear he is NOT human, and doesn't particularly need or want to be, but he still has recognizable emotions and drives, but in somewhat alien form. The best way to describe it is that he changes over the course of this run from robot soldier to a heroic machine, with an almost spiritual undertone to the way he thinks and acts. This volume contains the events that complete that transformation and set the stage for the 3.0 run, which is much different and not quite as enjoyable for many reasons, but this run is the goods.
Read a bit of what comes before to get the context if you need it, but this is great experimental character-driven superhero stuff, and very under-appreciated. Casey is a true writer's writer, and Phillips has long since been acknowledged as a master, mostly for his work with Ed Brubaker--you see here exactly why that is. In my view, you can't go wrong.
May 30, 2022
The FBI are tracking Jeremy after hacking a government computer to steal research on DNA manipulation. The computer called Madge has an AI that develops an attraction for Jeremy.
Cole becomes obsessed with Zealot's image. He has several one night stands with women that resemble her. Then Zealot herself shows up, followed by her former sisters of the Coda who want her blood. Cole is only too glad to help her deal with them.
Spartan has assigned Noir to help Void with her investigations of the Otherworld, a parallel dimenson. Their experiments are yet to be successful.
Cole becomes obsessed with Zealot's image. He has several one night stands with women that resemble her. Then Zealot herself shows up, followed by her former sisters of the Coda who want her blood. Cole is only too glad to help her deal with them.
Spartan has assigned Noir to help Void with her investigations of the Otherworld, a parallel dimenson. Their experiments are yet to be successful.
March 26, 2023
best book of 2.0.
Read
June 9, 2015This was a weirdly toned book. It's a falling action collection; the main event has happened in a previous book, and now the individuals are picking up the pieces of their lives and figuring out what to do next. Although there are a few action sequences (mainly revolving around Grifter), they are definitely not the focus. Instead we have characters evaluating their lives and trying to find new goals. The characters spread out, but also pull closer together in some ways. It definitely feels like a book of closure, and the art is serviceable (although I had trouble distinguishing between some of the male leads in the first couple of issues), but nothing exciting. Very much a middle of the road book that will be appreciated only by those invested in these characters and not dedicated to action sequences.
May 22, 2010
The highlight are a couple awesome battle sequences Sean Phillips gets to draw with Grifter and Zealot. They're almost word-free, yet more gripping than most violence on a page, probably due to the large panels and lack of sound effects.
This book I guess wraps up some of Casey and Phillips' storyline, as Noir gets what's coming to him, Halo Corporation takes a step forward, and Voodoo learns a bit more about her Daemonite powers--what's the point of cutting off the legs of a shapeshifter?
Still, these characters aren't all that comprehensible or interesting. I feel like Casey had the characters say "covert action teams" eight times in the book to point out the ridiculousness of the concept, or at least the name, of WildC.A.T.S.
This book I guess wraps up some of Casey and Phillips' storyline, as Noir gets what's coming to him, Halo Corporation takes a step forward, and Voodoo learns a bit more about her Daemonite powers--what's the point of cutting off the legs of a shapeshifter?
Still, these characters aren't all that comprehensible or interesting. I feel like Casey had the characters say "covert action teams" eight times in the book to point out the ridiculousness of the concept, or at least the name, of WildC.A.T.S.
July 12, 2013
A nice conclusion to the plotlines of Joe Casey's V2, ending this story of the Wildcats as private citizens. Very much a story of private people more than heroes.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews