Stormwatch #7 – Review

By: Paul Jenkins (writer), Ignacio Calero (penciller), Sean Parsons & Julio Ferreira (inkers), Pete Pantazis (colorist)

The Story: Add one more item to the “Nuclear Risks” list: alien beacon.

The Review: I’m just gonna put this out there: I believe Paul Cornell is one of the burgeoning great comic book writers out there.  Sure, he doesn’t have nearly the recognition that Grant Morrison, Matt Fraction, or Geoff Johns do, but I’d argue he can pen a script with the best of them.  Like all the greats, he has a very recognizable storytelling style completely idiosyncratic to him, which from the start made Stormwatch a totally distinctive series of its own.

In a way, such strong and inimitable writing is a double-edged sword; you really feel the painful end of it when once the writer departs and someone takes his place.  It’s not that the new guy (or gal) is necessarily deficient or ineffective in any way; it’s just not the same without the original around.  Unfortunately, that was always going to be the case with this title once Cornell left.

Then again, you can make the argument that Jenkins simply doesn’t have what it takes to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps.  If you have any experience with Jenkins’ writing from DC Universe Presents, you already have a good idea of the range of his ability: competent, wordy, and mostly blunt in the way he tackles theme and meaning.  Hence you have the personification of Pripyat (the Soviet Union town emptied by the Chernobyl disaster) hacking and wheezing into an oxygen mask as suffers the spread of his cancer.

Truthfully, Jenkins’ work would be serviceable enough if not for his completely bland take on the characters, characters whose voices have developed tremendous personality over the course of six issues, only for it all to be abandoned here.  All the wit, intelligence, and boldness you’ve grown to love have gone.  Perfect example: Jenny Quantum used to sport the perfect blend of precociousness, youthful malaise (“Okay.  I vote for you.  Whatever.”—one of her best lines, from #6), and pep.  Jenkins has reduced her to a default “action-exposition” dialogue and a running gag about wanting a puppy (“Pleeeaase?”).