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WildC.A.T.S #7 from DC shows fans you can’t keep a Grifter down, much to his regret. Matthew Rosenberg writes this issue with art by the duo of Danny Kim and Christian Duce. Elmer Santos and Tony Aviña tackle the profound colors while Ferran Delgado graces the panels with letters. Grifter is a suffering kind of guy. Since the start of the series, he’s been bled out, killed (almost), dead (a different version of him), beaten up, left for dead, etc. After finally getting some backup from (most of) his team, Grifter went off to solve one of the problems they faced. Void. Solving meant shooting her in the head. But then the Halo Building’s upper floors chose to go boom.
I know. So Grifter must be dead. Again. But he isn’t. Again. Because killing Void leads Grifter on a wild romp through the Multiverse, a popular thing these days in DC books. Meanwhile, the rest of his comrades try to snoop around the rubble of Halo and find out who planted the bomb. However, they run into interference from Maul and Mother One of the Seven Soldiers, along with the usual wordplay shenanigans from Marlowe. Yes, most of them are still in the dark, but pieces are coming together, and there are some surprises in store within this issue.
Grifter can’t catch a break, but I love how Rosenberg continues to cycle this character’s life into a vicious circle. Cause and effect work wonderfully in WildC.A.T.S; every action comes back hard to punch Grifter in the gut. There’s some great dialogue between the other team members as they try to incorporate Voodoo into the fold. Overall I love how the story is progressing. My sole quip is that I had hoped this issue would, at last, give us a realized team ready to take names and kick tail. But alas, we must see Grifter run astray once more. On the plus side, he ends up in very interesting times.
Stephen Segovia is away this issue, so Kim and Duce have come along to grace this book with their art. On the whole, they manage to perfectly grasp Segovia’s style at a distance. Aside from a slightly more squat Grifter, the panels look very similar to the series’ regular penciler. It’s in the close-ups where things diverge. Faces hold more lines; there’s a stronger reliance on inks. But that’s good news. I would hate to see them be so close to Segovia as to be undetectable. Things need to stand out. And they do. I love how they drew Ladytron, perhaps my fave character in this series.
WildC.A.T.S #7 is a craftily written, lovely, bright issue. Check out what Santos and Aviña do with the coloration on Mother One, the choice of reds and pinks in the background imagery of Salvation. This is cool coloring that creates remarkable points of focus and standout characterizations. And I love the font Delgado is using for the word balloons.
This issue may not bring you the team you want, but the story is steadily releasing new clues, new dramas, and excellent, well-rounded personas for these 90s classics. I feel this is a newer, cleaner version of Wildstorm that’s doing more than just integrating them into the DCU. This is amplifying each individual, so they’ll be bright and ready to form that Covert (or Crisis) Action Team we all love. If you have yet to read the fun, bloody saga of the C.A.T.S, do so.
WildC.A.T.S #7 is available wherever comic books are sold.
WildC.A.T.S #7
TL;DR
This issue may not bring you the team you want, but the story is steadily releasing new clues, new dramas, and excellent, well-rounded personas for these 90s classics. I feel this is a newer, cleaner version of Wildstorm that’s doing more than just integrating them into the DCU. This is amplifying each individual, so they’ll be bright and ready to form that Covert (or Crisis) Action Team we all love.
William J. Jackson is a small town laddie who self publishes books of punk genres, Victorian Age superheroes, rocket ships and human turmoil. He loves him some comic books, Nature, Star Trek and the fine art of the introvert.