The Millennium Chronicles is a regular column that explores the Millennium Edition reprint series that DC Comics released throughout 2000. Visit the archive for previous installments.

This time we look at:
WildC.A.T.S. #1 (miniseries)
(Originally Published August, 1992)

Writers: Brandon Choi and Jim Lee
Artists: Jim Lee and Scott Williams
Price: $2.50 US

With the publication of Wildcats Version 3.0, a look back at the series’ roots seems to be in order. It might help convince some of you how great the new series really is.

One cannot talk about Wildstorm Studios, and its place in comics history, without also talking about Image Comics. The short version: In 1991, seven of Marvel’s most popular artists announce they are leaving the House of Ideas to form a new publisher of creator-owned books. Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino, Whilce Portracio, and Rob Liefeld each establish their own studio. The publish together under the name Image Comics. 1992 sees the first Image comics top the charts and outsell Marvel. Their use of variant covers helps fuel the collectors market. Other publishers take notice, and launch their own lines of superhero books. By the summer of 1993, there are over 630 different comic books for sale, more than at any other time in history. Their quality ranged from the unique, (Valiant), to the entertaining, (Dark Horse Heroes, Ultraverse), to the putrid, (just about everyone else). The collector’s market collapsed under this “Comic Book Glut.” Sales dropped across the industry. Stores and publishers went out of business. Even mighty Marvel filed for Chapter 11 during the mid-1990’s.

Today, the only “independent” publishers left are noted for their non-superhero work. Liefeld left/was fired from Image. Lee sold control of his Wildstorm Studios to DC. Valentino has gained control of Image, and introduced a wide variety of non-superhero books to mainstream readers. While still regarded as the #3 comic book publisher in the country, its sales are only a fraction of what it posted ten years ago. A resurgence in comic book sales has followed creative changes at Marvel, (led by E-I-C Joe Quesada and President Bill Jemas), the success of comics-based movies, (Spider-Man, Ghost World, etc.), and comic books being written by “outsiders” like Kevin Smith, J. Michael Straczynski, and Ron Zimmerman.

Image helped to nearly kill comics, and now survives as something completely different. So what’s Wildstorm’s place in all of this?

Pretty big, as it turns out.

Unlike the other Image studios, Wildstorm was a coherent universe. You could read Spawn and Savage Dragon independent of one another, but WildC.A.T.S. hinted at events explained in Team 7, which affected the histories of Gen13 and Deathblow. The ancient war against Daemonites, the covert group International Operations, (I.O. for short), and the creation of “gen-actives,” latent super-humans, formed the shared history of nearly every comic published by Wildstorm. And much of this history was told in WildC.A.T.S..

Pity it’s not very good.

The art is nice to look at. It’s stylish and dynamic, even ten years later. But compared to what Jim Lee is doing now, it has the sloppy, exaggerated look of work by teenage fanboys. Even in the context of 1992, you can tell storytelling was sacrificed for “money shots.”

The story shows why many people predicted Image was doomed to failure. Remember, the company was founded by seven artists, none of whom were known for their writing. In fact, only two of them, (McFarlane and Valentino), had ever written a monthly comic series. The first WildC.A.T.S. mini-series is a fairly predictable plot about a secret war being fought on Earth between two alien races. Our heroes are led by a powerful member of one race, the Kherubim, and must prevent an invasion of their archenemy, the Daemonites. This invasion is spearheaded by a government official possessed by a Daemonite: Vice-President Dan Quayle.

At this point, the story becomes completely ridiculous. Yes, the VP is the head of NASA, so he is a likely target in an alien invasion. But Quayle? As the bad guy? The reader just can’t take him seriously. Its ten years later, and we still can’t take him seriously. He’s become a pop culture joke, like “Where’s the Beef,” and “Manly yes, but I like it too.”

The rest of the story is a predictable fight between the good guys and bad guys, and plenty of shots of women Void, Zealot, and Voodoo looking sexy and dangerous. (Is it me, or did Jim Lee draw all women alike?)

Today, the Wildstorm universe has all but disappeared. All of the comics it published under Image have been cancelled. WildC.A.T.S., Gen13, and Stormwatch now exist with new characters and new story directions. Wildstorm Studios now exists as an imprint of DC comics, and colors most of DC’s books.

Looking back at the decade that’s passed since WildC.A.T.S. was first published, I’m surprised by how much the industry, and fandom, have changed. Writers now enjoy the same star status previously known only by artists. The growth of the internet has brought readers closer together, given publishers more immediate feedback, and creators a cheap way to promote themselves. Modern superhero stories deal more and more with real-world issues, as story and characterization take precedence over action.

None of which answers the big questions: How the hell did Jim Lee make so much money doing crap like this for so long?!

History:
WildC.A.T.S. marks the birth of Wildstorm studios, but not Image comics. And neither company is well known outside of comics fandom. 3/5 Slushies.

Quality:
Not much to speak of. But it does look good. An interesting artifact from a more shallow age. 2.5/5 Slushies.

Total:
2.75/5 Slushies.

Related works:
You can find the original mini-series cheap, as well as the TPB, which was polybagged with an issue #0. But why would you want to?

Alan Moore’s run on the title has been collected into two trade books. In his stories, half the team discovers the Kherubim/Daemonite war has been over for centuries, while the other half tries fighting crime on Earth.

Wildcats Vol. 2, written by Scott Lobdell and Joe Casey, and drawn by Sean Phillips, followed the characters after the break-up of the team. Much of this run is available in the trade books, ‘Vicious Circles’ and ‘Serial Boxes’.

Wildcats Version 3.0 sees former team leader Spartan use the power of the Halo corporation to improve the world. Also written by Joe Casey.

In the 1990’s, Wildstorm’s Stormwatch series would change the way superheroes were viewed and written. But only after being written by Warren Ellis. The series led into The Authority, one of the most controversial comics ever made.

Wildstorm currently publishes the ABC line of comics. Written by Alan Moore, these books recall an earlier, more innocent type of comics, with some strange magic and super-cops. Titles include Tom Strong, Promethea, Top 10, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and America’s Best Comics.

Finally, there was a WildC.A.T.S. cartoon on CBS for one year. Don’t ever watch it. It has the worst TV theme song I’ve ever heard.