WALLER vs WILDSTORM #1 Review

Waller Vs Wildstorm is published by DC Comics, written by Evan Narcisse and Spencer Ackerman and illustrated by Eric Battle and Jorge Fornes.

Issue #1 is available 29th March 2023 either directly from DC Comics online or from your local comic book store, digital copies will be available to download from the usual content providers.

Synopsis

In the early 1980s, as the Cold War stubbornly refuses to thaw, a new battle heats up… for the soul of the intelligence agency Checkmate. As the agency’s super-heroic public face, Jackson King a.k.a. the armored Battalion, former leader of Stormwatch and the symbol of American might has long suspected that Adeline Kane is up to dirty tricks overseas, engineering horrors that betray everything he believes about service to one’s country. But King doesn’t know that Kane has a clever new ally, an ambitious young woman named Amanda Waller.

She has her own ideas about how metahumans can serve their country. And honour, dignity, and long lives don’t factor into them…National-security reporter Spencer Ackerman (the Daily Beast, Reign of Terror), comics and video game writer Evan Narcisse (Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Gotham Knights) and veteran artist Eric Battle (Aquaman, Kobalt) celebrate WildStorm’s legacy of espionage-flavored superhero morality plays, pitting Stormwatch against the deadliest people in the DCU, including Deathstroke himself!

Review

In this first issue we are taken deep into the intense battle against the mysterious intelligence agency Checkmate. In a coffee shop Lois Lane meets with Jackson King aka Battalion as he has some information that could topple the very top of this organisation, this information could be the biggest exclusive Lois Lane has handled, but how does she handle it? Or more importantly can she handle it?

A story of dark corruption and betrayal ripples through this issue as King relays his information to Lois which could potentially land him further in trouble. Meta-Humans are the future of war but in who’s hands? A super-human battle is about to unfold and for those involved it is set to be the most explosive yet. King is being watched but who is watching him or even why?

This issue is an introduction for myself of the work of Evan Narcisse and Spencer Ackerman and as a first impression it is definitely a good one, the story goes deep and sets the foundation for a series that will open up the corporate corruption within the DCU. A story that depicts betrayal and corruption at it’s finest, the book is intense from the first page and doesn’t let up throughout, the foundations have been laid for what is to come and what that will be at this stage is unclear but it will definitely be explosive that is for sure.

The illustrations from Eric Battle and Jorge Fornes hit hard, highly detailed and graphic allowing the reader to step into the story and feel each and every word. The book does have the standard DC tone to it, dramatically dark but does have a new freshness about it which made it a pleasure to read, I personally can’t wait for the next issue.

Verdict

A fresh new story from the DCU with familiar names, a dark story that highlights the corrupt world we could be living in. The anticipation for the rest of the story is at peak level I can’t wait for the next issue, Waller Vs Wildstorm will definitely be a battle not to be missed.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐