Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: Trevor Hairsine
Publisher: Marvel

American comics have been recruiting writers from other industries for a while now, with US television providing a number of the bodies. From the British side of things the move has mostly been in the opposite direction, with comic writers working on soaps. However, after a brief period working for 2000ad a few years back, Paul (Doctor Who, Robin Hood) Cornell makes his Marvel debut.

Wisdom #1

What we have is probably one of the best debuts for a new Marvel writer in quite a few years. This is a gloriously fun caper, which bodes well for the rest of the series. Cornell has been paired up with Trevor Hairsine (last seen on X Men: Deadly Genesis). If you’ve seen Hairsine’s art before then be prepared to be wowed. He’s had that Davis/Hitch vibe before, but here there is a little more roughness, and his own style is starting to come through more. Maybe it’s the gorgeous colours, provided by Guru eFX, that really sell the artwork, but it manages to nicely blend the fantastical and the real - something which is at the heart of this story.

So with a top notch team delivering the goods what is the story all about? Our protagonist is the British Mutant Secret Agent Pete Wisdom. Connected to the Excalibur team, Wisdom also works for MI:13, the British government agency dealing with… well weirdness. He’s a Warren Ellis creation, which means he’s a hard talking, smoking Brit with attitude who has been described in the past as being derived from Jack Regan of the British television show The Sweeney. Wisdom is a very easy character for the audience to understand. He’s a cynical secret agent trying to do what he thinks is right, but he’s no superhero. Wisdom is quite prepared to kill, but only combatants. Wisdom’s Wikipedia entry can be found here - Peter Wisdom

The setup is that the faeries of the Otherworld have started attacking our world. Various deaths have occured, but it’s the kidnapping of a Government Minister’s child that has led to the decision to take decisive action, and go into the Otherworld. A team of odd bods - all of whom are brilliant creations ranging from Captain Midlands to John the Skrull (who looks an awful lot like some dead Liverpudlian) - is assembled and they mount up for an invasion.

What you have here is an intelligent script, some brilliant dialogue with some eminently quotable lines, beautiful artwork, with a fun cast and even some nasty foreshadowing. It’s not blockbuster action, but what it is a cracking story with heaps of potential. If you’re not interested in good comics then don’t look here. If you want something a little fun and different then seek out Wisdom. That Cornell boy’s got a bright future I think.

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