The legacy of WildStorm embodied in Stormwatch faces a young Amanda Waller in a work with an 80s espionage flavor published by Panini Comics
If you’re looking for a comic that combines espionage, superheroes with dubious morals and an international setting with a lot of narrative power, Waller vs. Wild storm hits the mark. Originally published under the imprint DC Black Labelthe story takes as its central axis Amanda Waller and his clash with the universe WildStormand it now comes to us in a wonderful volume from the hand of Panini Comics.
Those wonderful eighties
We could say that the premise is as seductive as it is direct. We are at the limit Cold War and the secret agency Checkmate (very current thanks to his appearance in the second season of Peacemaker) is neck-deep in espionage, metahuman manipulation, and covert military missions. Amanda Waller, the architect of Impossible Missions, labels metahumans as weapons and not as companions, while Jackson King represents the ideal of the state superhero who saves the world.
By putting these pieces together, writers are free to explore and capitalize on themes of power and morality Spencer Ackermann his experience as a national security journalist to give credibility to the entire military mechanism. And all contained in a plot aimed at an adult audience, without being tied in any way strictly to the usual continuity, which allows Ackerman to Evan Narcisse play with darker or more complex ideas.
The story begins when Jackson King, better known as Battalionbegins to suspect that something does not fit the glorious ideals of Stormwatch and that Waller has her own agenda, thus both representing two very different ways of understanding power. The conflict escalates when the island nation of Gamorra It becomes an area of operations and traditional alliances are blown up. In all this confusion we will have Lois Lane (yes, the one from Daily planet) as a journalist who is not willing to sit idle in the face of a hidden truth that should come to light.
Authors and visual style
Ackerman provides that journalistic voice for coffee-loving people, as a good professional experienced in military environments of covert operations and uncomfortable questions. For his part, the other screenwriter, Narcisse, complements the work with his experience in comics and video games to make the narrative flow as it should. And in the visual section we have a glorious Jesus Merino, supported by the inks for the great work of Vicente Cifuenteswhich gives a dynamic and realistic but stylized trait that goes well with both the more superheroic action scenes and the more typical ones of a 1970s spy film. The color of Blessed no strengthens the distribution between illuminated areas of the heroic stadium and dark corners of the plot.
Why is it worth it?
If you like superhero comics, there are plenty of them here. But this volume has something more. He is concerned with making the reader reflect and putting him in an ethically uncomfortable situation, and he does so without losing the narrative rhythm. And all this in a single reading of four numbers that forgets all the continuity of DC Universe and it works by itself.
But it’s not a perfect comic, far from it. If you’re expecting an epic story arc or a revolution in the genre, it’s going to be a disappointment. But not all comics have to be Guardians. Also, the ending may seem a little rushed, but in a volume of these pages there isn’t room for much more. In short, this comic is a gem for those looking for a superhero story with a twist of spy plot that goes beyond what is conventional in the genre. And Merino’s work helps everything go much better…
AND tome published by Panini Comics In hard cover with dust jacket it contains 152 color pages with a format of 24.5 x 31.5 cm. and includes the translation of the American edition of the four issues that make up the limited series Waller vs. Wildstormplus all issue covers included and a gallery of alternate covers at the end. The recommended retail price is €38 and it went on sale in September 2025.
DC Black Label. Waller vs. Wild storm
Homeland Security journalist Spencer Ackerman and comic book and video game writer Evan Narcisse celebrate the legacy of WildStorm and its spy-flavored superhero morality plays, pitting Stormwatch against the deadliest people in the DC Universe in a story set in the early 1980s. Jackson King is suspicious of Adeline Kane’s wiles abroad, but can imagine little of his new ally: an ambitious young woman named Amanda Waller with her own ideas about how metahumans can serve their nation… and they have little to do with honor or dignity.
Authors: Evan Narcisse, Spencer Ackerman, Jesús Merino, Vicente Cifuentes and Michael Atiyeh
