WildC.A.T.s by Matthew Rosenberg: The Complete Collection

At first I wondered why this softcover collection cost $50 when its two hardcover collections were priced at $25.  Where’s the savings there?  Then I found out that it also collected the five-part prequel story “The Long Con” from “Batman:  Urban Legends” as well as some shorts that (I don’t think) were previously collected.  So that’s good.  As was the fact that Amazon and CheapGraphicNovels.com were both selling it for 40% off cover price (and they still are).  Which is nice.

Why am I mentioning all this?  Because this latest revival of the seminal 90’s Image launch title is a mess in terms of storytelling.  Rosenberg can be irreverently snarky in a fun way when he’s on his game, and this isn’t it.  “The Long Con” reads like his aborted “Astonishing X-Men” run with Grifter coming off as a more violently dumbass version of Havok as he works to protect Lucius Fox from the threat of Leviathan.  At least that’s what he wants his employer to think as he’s really up to… something else that I’m still wondering about.  Ryan Benjamin tries to channel the 90’s as best he can with his art, but the results are pretty thin.

As for the main twelve-issue series, it’s not any better.  In fact, it’s worse because I’ve seen main artist Stephen Segovia do better work elsewhere and the many fill-in artists that are called in to replace him as the story goes on vary wildly in terms of quality.  Not that they’d be able to save the story being told here, which is just a mash-up of familiar WildStorm characters, DC hero guest-stars, and callbacks to much better “WildC.A.T.S.” runs like the Casey/Phillips one.  I don’t know what Rosenberg was trying to accomplish here, but after this and “DC vs. Vampires,” I’m not sure I’m inclined to give much more attention to his work with this publisher.