Wildcats Version 3.0: Full Disclosure

WildC.A.T.s 3.0 #2

by Joe Casey, Dustin Nguyen

The epic tale of the Wildcats unfolds in FULL DISCLOSURE, gathering issues #7-12 of the lauded series. Jack Marlowe's corporate schemes to elevate Halo Corporation's global standing persist as injured Cole Cash recruits accountant Edwin Dolby as his instant, armed successor.

Genres: Comics, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

About the author

Librarian 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

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know what this book is about? A car battery. Seriously. That’s “the plot”.

If I didn’t tell you that this is a superhero comic, you wouldn’t be able to guess. Most of the characters are guys in suits trying desperately to appear clever and totally failing because their actions and dialogue don’t convince. Grifter - the guy with the handkerchief? – is in a wheelchair for the whole book, smoking. Spartan, who goes by Jack Marlowe these days, lives up to his name by using his powers in a spartan fashion. And that’s it – the rest of the cast are made up of office managers and accountants who couldn’t be more tedious to read about.

In Batman, there’s an argument that Bruce Wayne would do more good with his wealth and power as a billionaire than Batman ever could as a vigilante. Joe Casey uses that time-worn idea in this book by having his “superheroes” use their global Halo corporation to fund the creation of a battery that never runs out. Except Casey never goes further than have the battery exist. Once that’s done, the characters are at a loss as to what to do next. I was willing them to kill themselves but unfortunately they didn’t.

It’s difficult to know what I hated more – the lack of any story or the despicable characters. One character called Agent Wax is a psychic who uses his mind control powers to hypnotise his boss’s wife in order to make her totally vulnerable and then repeatedly rapes her. A paranoid office manager called Sam Garfield believes his staff is made up of spies and then, on the drive home one evening, his road rage gets the better of him and he shoots an innocent man through the throat.

Grifter meanwhile is busy training up an accountant called Edwin Dolby to become a world-class assassin for some reason. They spend about half the book on this pointless sidestory. Edwin goes on a mission to somewhere for something, fails, then his role as assassin is forgotten and he goes back to being an accountant. Elsewhere, a woman called CC Rendozzo is blackmailing Spartan over something. Fucking hell, Joe Casey can’t write for shit!

I did like two things: Dustin Nguyen’s art, and the fact that Sam Garfield’s office staff WERE spies – though unfortunately Casey goes no further with that setup.

I got this one after DC recently announced that they were never going to republish this book again (along with another dozen or so books). However, after reading it, I can see why they made that (easy)decision. I have no clue why anyone would rate Joe Casey highly or why this series is considered “influential” when its empty of ideas and features a cast of one-dimensional characters I would never tire of seeing repeatedly hit in the face with a crowbar.

Wildcats? More like Mildcats. Full disclosure: this book is crap.

[RND · Rating 2 out of 5]

This iteration of Wildcats was based on an interesting, promising idea: vast resources inherited by an alien android, tasked to serve and improve humanity. His idea of efficiency, the elasticity of his morals and ethics, these are interesting paths to navigate. If it eventually becomes a horror story, that's alright. But there's a certain preening machismo in the tone here (present in most of Casey's work, actually) that turns me off. There's a know-it-all, cooler-than-thou attitude. Like he did a bit of research into finance but is trying to pass as an expert wheeler-dealer. There are broad blanket statements that we're supposed to take as fact just because someone in a suit and with good posture is saying them. Most disturbing actually is Agent Wax brainwashing a woman to being sort of his sex slave, and (at least in this volume) suffering no negative consequences. This is precisely the horrific treatment Purple Man did to Jessica Jones, and Wax is ostensibly one of the "heroes" of the book. His boss being a prick and the woman being terrible don't excuse his actions. And as for plot, again, it feels padded; Grifter actually asks Spartan why doesn't he just teleport Rendozzo's kid out if they know where he is, and gets a vague answer at best. There's almost a whole issue devoted to the bland, boring character who is Dolby's former partner, but he's terrible too, a racist who murdered a minority at a traffic altercation. Later it's conveniently revealed that the victim was a terrible person, but again, this doesn't excuse the action (it's also casually mentioned that the crime's been pinned on another person, another miscarriage of justice that doesn't get any follow-up). But the bigger crime is that the character is boring, not compelling, and a waste of pages. Even the story of Dolby is rushed and not believable. An important tactical op is given to a civilian with only a few days' training? It also suffers a bit from being dated, if only in the sense that Rendozzo's attempt at blackmail seems to mean nothing in a post-Trump era of Fake News.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book was one long setup, not entirely satisfying but intriguing nonetheless. As book 2 progreses the mysteries deepen, and we start seeing the cracks in the perfectly-planned idea finally start to break down. As the plot escalates and people start getting drawn deeper into the intrigue it got better for me - Jack Marlowe isn't perfect, he doesn't have all the answers and as much of a control freak as he is, it's more interesting to see what happens when the human element mixes things up. The natural tension between Grifter and Marlowe isn't just necessary, it's great.

I'm also fascinated by the handling of the villainesss - the books's character synopsis made her sound unbeatable but seeing her fallibility is far more interesting.

I think the second half is where the long setup of the first half starts to shine - wondering whether the various people and actions will crap out (and how) is very satisfying reading.

[Nicolas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Je dois bien avouer que ce tme a décidé du destin des différentes BD Wildcats qui traînaient chez moi : c'est clairement une copie inférieure à X-Men. Et même cette tentatie de transposer le style super-héroïque au monde de l'entreprise m'a laissé de glace (il faut aussi reconnaître qu'au bout de deux tomes, je n'ai toujours pas compris le début de l'intrigue).