Wildcats Version 3.0: Brand Building

WildC.A.T.s 3.0 #1

by Joe Casey, Dustin Nguyen, Richard Friend

Box V

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Superheroes

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

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

[47Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the feel of this comic. It uses the perfect amount of violence, preparation and dialogue to deliver an entertaining story that involves corporations, information brokers, illegal and legal businesses alike. Spartan focuses on creating a positive brand for his company that is entering the battery market with technology from the parallel dimension called Otherworld. He intends to spread worldwide and bring a quality product to the market that will bring the whole world together.

Wax rejoins the National Park Service and is secretly sending information to Halo. He and Cash investigate some old FBI tech where they meet C. C. Rendozzo, a woman with similar interests. They decide to join efforts against a family with experimental enhancements from an old FBI project. They are protected by Agent Orange, another of the very few surviving test subject of that project. After Cole gets his legs shattered by the young girl of the family, Spartan teleports in to disable Agent Orange. Rendozzo and Wax are left behind to pick up the pieces, but they retreat hastily when attacked by the father and son. Spartan intends to reprogram Agent Orange to work for Halo.

Dolby is an employee from an accounting company Halo bought. Spartan finds his ideas for business expansion quite useful, but the man wants everything done above board, so Cash and Wax's dealings must be kept secret from him.

[RND · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nguyen's art isn't as slick as it is now, and while the ideas and treatment of this as corporate espionage over the traditional superhero hijinks are interesting, it also doesn't feel enough to really justify what it is they were after beyond being an experiment. Which is to say that I felt the story was a bit padded and could've used more beats. More content.

[Cave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually like to take each graphic novel – and sometimes even singular issues – and analyze how each contributes to the overarching narrative. Since I read Wildcats Version 3.0 is a rush over a course of a couple days, I’m finding it easier to think about the narrative as a whole.

Wildcats Version 3.0 is not necessarily a third reboot, but more like the new third starting point in the series. Not having the previous two versions of Wildcats, there were some history and character relations that were lost upon me. Even the final several issues dealt with antagonists I had no idea who they were. Yet, I found such issues were not detrimental to my enjoyment of the series as a whole.

The story centers on a godlike hero – Jack Marlowe – who starts the HALO Corporation, which is privately owned and thus does not have to answer to public shareholders. Marlowe, the CEO, starts manufacturing a battery – using alien material – that never runs out of energy. Using the profits the revolutionary product generates, he starts buying entire industries. Marlowe explains that his goal is to expand the corporation in order to create a one world order under the corporate umbrella.

While I found this idea both fascinating and frightening, Casey presents the idea as an utopia we should be striving towards. Given that this run of Wildcats was cut short (it was projected for 40-plus issues, but ended with only 24), I wonder if Casey would have examined the darker implications of such a world order.

Other plotlines and themes were hinted at, but again were not fully explored. One was how frightened by the US Government was over this inexhaustible power. They demanded the HALO Corporation reveal their secrets and intent. They had to contend with the Oil Industry and other power industries that would lose a lot of money from limitless energy. It’s actually sad that Casey was not able to cover all these points.

Wildcats Version 3.0 is an intriguing, wildly fascinating superhero comic that unfortunately is anticlimactic and slightly unsatisfying due to its premature ending. That said, I still highly recommend it.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not what I expected - actually better in many ways. The espionage angle is well-played, and the characters are actually interesting in that they are all a little dirty. The main thrust of the storyline - corporate global dominance - is definitely moving at a fast, curvy clip.

I was expecting more capes and powers out of this, and while I would've said this mostly-unpowered-human approach wasn't up my alley, the writing is definitely hooking me. It's hard to say what about it is attractive, because at times I still find myself more interested in puttering around the house than reading more of this book - so something's not quite right for me. But when I *do* pick it up I find myself reading a few chapters at a time.

I think what it is, is I find myself a teensy bit disappointed - the reputation this book, this run of WILDCats has gained in the years since its release made it out to be mind-blowing. And maybe it as at the time, who can say? It's darned good, but for any good student of Chomsky there's really nothing on the corporate criticism side that's fresh or eye-opening.

I am looking forward to the next book tho.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Casey take the idea of the guy that runs a vast corporation that also has superpowers and turns it on its ear.
What if the guy gave up on being a super hero and instead used his business empire and access to funky technology to save the world instead?
It's so brilliant you wonder why nobody else has tried it ( Yeah, I'm looking at you Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark!)

Along with some gritty, full of intrigue stories, a sprinkle of past Wildcats history there are some well done story threads about how do we deal with change, how do we live with the consequences of our action, what does a super hero do when he starts getting older and doesn't know how to do anything but beat up bad guys, and some moments when we get reminded that violence isn't always as glamorous as the action movies make us think.

One of those rare comics that claims to be adult and has something more to offer than just characters that swear, lots of violence and sex.

Don't worry Wildcats has all those things, but there's actually some stuff that makes you think.

[Cale]

I don't have a huge background with these characters which may be I was less than thrilled with this book. It's an interesting concept, following an android building a corporation for 'the benefit of the world,' but it doesn't seem to go very far. Instead it gets sidetracked with a subplot about supernatural government agents being hunted by Grifter, Mister Wax, and a female information broker. It feels unfocused; the threads hardly tie together at all, and it tends to go off on tangents. And then there's its ending; it doesn't have one. It just sort of stops. Granted it's part of a series, but usually there's a little more closure than here. If you don't have access to the next book in the series, there's really no point in reading this one; you'll get no resolution.The artwork is suitable but nothing special. It all supports a decent concept barely explored.

[F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a progress/transition!
A former superhero / scifi spy team comic book now conquers the business world. And that's carried out very clever.
Unfortunately it's quite complex at the beginning. And this book marks just the beginning of a new era in Wildcats history. So after reading this book you might feel not that satisfied.
The art department, however, is top-notch. Dustin Nguyen & Co. really make the characters shine.

In the end this book is probably for more advanced readers. But it has a nice action thriller vibe.

[Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best super-hero books I have ever read, and I can't recommend it to anyone. See, the series was canceled early due to low sales numbers.

Since the numbers were low, the publishers never collected the final issues into a collection. Meaning you can never read the ending, unless you have the individual issues coming after the vol. 2 collection. Good luck finding them.

It's a shame, really. This was some of Casey's finest work.

[Brad · Rating 2 out of 5]

The switch from Wildcats vol. 2 to 3 included two changes for the worse. First, Sean Phillips left the book. Second, Jack Marlowe/Spartan talks about branding and economics a lot more. Both these items are bad for comic books.
I don't get the near-universal love for version 3.0. I think Nguyen's art doesn't do anything interesting, these characters still react to their circumstances too much, and the confusing back story is still mostly a drag on the enjoyment.

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drôle d'histoire reprenant certains personnages des X-Men pour les projeter dans les guerres corproratistes du XXIème siècle.
Ce qui est intéressant, c'est que Jack Marlowe reprend peu ou prou l'idéologie actuellement dominante (d'après les médias) dans la Silicon Valley : ce mélange de post-humanisme et de philosophie libertaire assez délirant. C'est même curieux de voir cette idéologie reprise de façon aussi flagrante par ce personnage de bon devenant mauvais.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

An new and interesting take on the Wildcats franchise. Not to mention an impressive feat to make the machinations of a multinational corporation interesting in comic book format.